Hate it or love it to obsession, there’s no doubt that the reality TV craze is popular enough to spawn any far-fetched concept. Put them on an island, on a road trip, or with a bunch of suitors—it doesn’t seem to matter; people will watch. So wouldn’t it be worth trying simple live promotions to capitalize on this trend? Of course, your promotion will have to consider facility size as well as staffing and liability issues, but any operation should be able to tailor a promo that fits budget and capacity needs. Your idea might be worth a try to attract extra attention and traffic to your location.

The key is to engage different groups to foster a competitive spirit and attract customers from wider areas of your market. Do a survey, meet with potential civic groups, and enlist your employees to brainstorm zany challenges. Rival schools will attract parents and students to support their teams. Church or civic groups will bring member families and friends. Use groups that can help market the event among their members and community. Don’t forget to choose groups from the edge of your marketing area. This can increase your customer base.

Maybe some variation of a “Survivor” elimination game will work for you. You could also try a simple battle of the school or church groups, civic organizations, local businesses, local leaders, radio personalities, etc. Just like on TV, challenges can be mental or physical. Mental challenges can include puzzles, trivia quizzes, or code breaking. Walk through your facility to see which existing attractions can be utilized at minimal costs and how much available space you can afford to occupy for the event audience. Use your imagination—rock-wall climbing races, go-kart obstacle courses, bumper boat relays, or mini-golf. Batting cages, water balloons, laser tag, paintball, arcades, or midway games can all be adapted for some type of competition.

Any event should transcend the typical application and be easy to implement. Each individual event must be quick enough to set up and take place without a lengthy disruption of the attraction’s revenue stream. For example, a batting cage event can have players bat southpaw if they are right-handed. Mini-golf can have blindfolded players using spotting guides to coach them, or regular mini-golf using trick golf balls. Two-person teams can become three-legged laser tag or paintball teams. Make sure you have an energetic personality to emcee the events and interact with the teams and crowds. The idea is to make it different from the normal operations of the facility and comical for the audience.

The use of mental and physical challenges and applying different points to each event depending on its difficulty can cause team standings to rise or fall in each round. This will help to prevent single-team domination and keep the final outcome suspenseful. You can also have a point category for team supporters that gives the team credit for the number of supporters they attract—an impetus for teams to bring as many people as they can.

Have teams arrive early on event days for individual practice sessions with the competitions taking place later in the day. This allows team supporters to pass the time patronizing your attractions before the actual competitions. You can also incorporate “practice nights” to enhance traffic flow—choose a day of the week that has the least business. Different team groups can compete on different nights to minimize the time devoted to events each night. Encourage teams to come on the nights they are not competing. Friendly heckling of rival teams adds to the show and increases traffic flow.

The awards ceremony should have a set time and take place an hour or so after the last competition. Again, allow time for teams and the audience to patronize your offerings. Awards can come from sponsorships, facility gift certificates, redemption prizes, or prize money donated to the cause of choice.

Allow extra time to organize the event and market it. By utilizing schools, churches, and civic organizations, you can achieve simple marketing through their meetings and member publications. The groups may also be a source for volunteers to help run the events. Radio stations may want to run a contest for participants. Announcements can be made at school games and rallies, further stoking the fires of competition and pride. Contact local television and newspapers—they may be interested in running a community interest story. Discussions with the potential groups and marketing partners will help achieve a successful event that is marketed well and keeps costs down.

Live acts and events don’t have to be expensive for your facility. This highly popular “real people doing silly things” genre can be adapted to create a stir in your community during off-peak times. Who wouldn’t want to see some good-hearted reality FEC?