Meet Steve Drake, SVP, global initiatives, for accesso, the technology solutions provider for services including virtual queues, ticketing, and guest experience and learn his journey through the pandemic and how he's navigating the new normal.
By providing virtual queueing, ticketing, POS, guest experience management, and more digital services in demand during the COVID-19 era, how has your business been impacted by the spread of the coronavirus?
Steve Drake: We’ve served the theme park and attractions industry for decades with our award-winning technology, this unusual circumstance has given us the opportunity to adapt our offerings to be used in new ways and to provide much-needed solutions to our partners across the globe.
accesso’s tech-driven solutions directly address many of our client-operators’ biggest concerns, which have arisen due to COVID-19—physical distancing, contactless payment, capacity management, and more.
More than ever, we see it as our mission to support our partners in their time of need with innovative solutions that not only keep their guests and employees safe, but also offer an enhanced guest experience that overcomes the challenges presented by this “new normal.”
Leading your team doesn't stop in a pandemic. What leadership principles are you relying on more than ever these days?
I’d say a willingness to adapt is crucial right now. One of the first things that changed in the midst of all this was our employees all transitioning to work from their homes instead of our offices. We already had a portion of our team who’d been remote for years, so I think we all had some understanding that home offices can present some interesting challenges. But it’s a bit more difficult when these team members hadn’t much time to prepare for the change—it was practically overnight, so some of them have needed to be quite inventive to create a work environment for themselves.
Particularly now when we’re all sort of stuck in our homes with the family, being understanding and remembering this is temporarily difficulty is critical. We all have to trust each other to show up and do our best work, even if that means we move a meeting so someone can take their turn to watch their kids. Everyone at accesso talks about how incredible all of our people are, and I have to say this challenging time has only reinforced for me how much passion and commitment our team brings to work each day.
How have you had to adjust your global operations to the new normal?
Since the start of this pandemic, our team has worked diligently to help our partners adapt their existing use of our solutions to meet the needs of their staff and guests.
A great example is the most recent evolution of our virtual queuing technology—our “100% Virtual Queuing” initiative, which was designed to alleviate operator uncertainty and guest concern as venues begin to reopen. The solution, already utilized by Walibi Holland in the Netherlands and Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari® in Indiana, allows operators to make contactless virtual queuing technology available to all of their guests. The platform is simple for operators to implement and equally easy for the end-user: the solution is accessed from a guests’ own smartphone by logging into a web page (no mobile app download necessary). By offering virtual queuing and eliminating the risk of guests gathering in long physical lines, operators can address social distancing concerns for potentially hesitant travelers.
The pandemic has changed how we live across the world. What's been the biggest adjustment you've had to make personally?
I think for me is I have had to learn to do jobs I would normally not trust myself to do, like DIY jobs around the house. I have also taken to starting a vegetable patch to grow a few things I would normally buy from a food store. I never saw myself doing any of those things. In addition, I have missed the social interaction with family, friends, and work colleagues. Zoom and the like are great, but you can’t beat being in the same space as them, so I am glad we are now beginning to meet up with people again.
What's your secret to thriving in this time?
I’ve definitely increased the amount of exercise I am doing, which helps the mind with all these things. You’ve got to just accept things are what they are and just get on with it, keep positive in the knowledge we will get through this. Keep busy and try to keep to a routine.
The odd beer or glass of red wine helps as well.
