Inside John's Locker

Once we decided to give Owner’s Locker's service away to a group of volunteers to just get Owner’s Locker out there to make sure it worked, exactly how should we go about finding people to try it?

Well, you don’t just stand on the street corner with a bunch of empty Lockers. Here’s how we did it…or at least this how we started the process.

I can't tell you exactly why, but it was obvious to me that Owner's Locker would need to rely heavily on web-based tools for our education and marketing. Maybe it was becasue I had been a member of several Disney-related discussion boards and could appreciate their power and potential usefulness for us. So that's where I went in search of Beta Trial Members. After following the discussion boards on MouseOwners for several months, I got up enough courage to attend a drinks party hosted by Laura Johnson (jiggerj) at Boardwalk Villa’s on May 1, 2006. Laura is one of those people that no one ever says anything bad about---because you can’t. She really is that nice and she’s the one who talked me into going. She was very warm and welcoming to me as a newbie to the MouseOwner boards. Without intending to, discussion forums can often seem a bit like a private club where outsiders aren't welcome. Laura handles those issue brilliantly. I was very uncomfortable being around a bunch of people I had never actually met but she convinced me to take the plunge and attend her party during her next visit. Have a look at this thread from MouseOwners and you’ll get a feel for what a nice bunch of people they are:

http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1549

The drinks party preceded something billed as a Grand Gathering that Linda Thompson (Colorado Belle) had put together that included a dinner. I figured I could bale out of a drinks party but there was no way I was going to commit myself to being locked into a dinner! So all I signed up for was Laura's drinks.

As it turns out, Laura’s pre-Grand Gathering drinks party was lots of fun. In addition to actually meeting Laura, I also met Linda—who was mixing wicked margaritas as well as Ken Welch (KNWVIKING 2.0) and Marilyn Garfinkel (idratherbeinwdw). I mention only these four because they became the first four Beta Trial Members and herein lies that tale. In the photo above, Mar is smack in the middle with the black t-shirt. Laura is to her left and Linda is to the left of Laura. That's the top of my head right behind Mar and Ken is to the far left in the rear--or at least a bit of his head is. If you’re a real glutton for my wordiness, here’s a link to a thread I started on MouseOwners about Laura’s party:

http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2889

I didn’t say a word about Owner’s Locker during Laura’s party but “discussed” it a few weeks later with her and then with Linda and Marilyn and Ken.

Laura liked the idea instantly and readily agreed to take part in the Beta Trial (I told you she was nice). The other three didn’t--at least at first (note to self: what does it mean that 3 out of 4 people say they don't particularly need Owner's Locker? Could we possibly have an education issue???).

Even though Laura was on board, Linda was coming back to Orlando sooner than any of the others and was adamant that she was single and didn’t need Owner’s Locker. It was a great idea for families, she explained. Four times she told me “no”. But she did tell me when she was coming to Orlando next and where she was staying. Linda was coming back to Orlando at the end of August and the others weren't returning until the first of October.

I knew that one of the reasons no one had offered a service like Owner's Locker was that people had not demanded it. So I knew we had an education issue. But I've got to admit that I wasn't quite prepared for the lukewarm reception I met at the early stages of getting Beta Trial Members. I knew Owner's Locker would work. I just needed to twist a few arms and be creative in recruiting the right people to get the word of mouth buzz started.

Now Linda is known for her margaritas and at the MouseOwners gathering, she had a bottle of tequila and a bottle of Grand Marnier that she had brought from Colorado. It took me quite a while, but I found two neat margarita glasses that had cactuses as stems. They were so obviously fragile that no one in their right mind would pack them in luggage. I put the glasses along with a bottle of tequila and a bottle of Grand Marnier into what would become Beta Trial Locker #001 and had it waiting for Linda when she checked into Vacation Village at Parkway on August 29, 2006. The first official delivery of an Owner’s Locker.

At the end of her stay, I had dinner with Linda and I asked her what she thought about having an Owner’s Locker. “It’s too heavy” was her only comment. “But,” I protested, “all it has in it are a couple of margarita glasses and some liquor.” “Oh no, honey, I filled that baby up.” Ah, success. And I do mean success. I didn't realize at the time just how much positive buzz one person could create. When someone starts out skeptical and then changes their mind about something, they can really go out of their way to convince others. Linda is that type of person and she also happened to becoming to Orlando darned near once a month. The more she used Owner's Locker, the more she like it and the more she told people....and, let me tell you, they listened. Call it luck, but with Linda, I had an outspoken convert who would be experiencing Owner's Locker three times in as many months. Small mentions of her Locker began showing up in posts on MouseOwners but I asked Linda to hold off until I had introduced myself to the owner of MouseOwners, Kim Holtman. Not a good idea to have people plugging your product on boards without the permission of the board itself.

Laura Johnson was coming back down in October along with a bunch of other MouseOwners on the first of October--about two weeks after Linda had finished her inital visit with an Owner's Locker. Laura would have Beta Trial Locker #002 waiting for her when she arrived. She didn’t need to be “bribed” to try Owner’s Locker but I still put a bottle of champagne in her empty Locker. But were there going to only be two people in our Beta Trial??

I spent a long time talking to Ken at Laura’s party in May and got along very well with him. He and I are both a bit hidden in the other photo but here we are.

A few weeks after the party, I e-mailed him and then called him to discuss Owner’s Locker. He thought it was an interesting idea but didn’t think it suited him because he and his wife, Millie, always drove down from New Jersey. But Ken liked the concept and we discussed it several times and I think I even sent him a business plan. I can’t remember how many times he told me that he wouldn’t need a Locker but I do recall telling him that I would have one waiting for him at his resort and it would be up to him whether to pick it up from bell services or ignore it. I assured him I didn’t mind delivering and picking up an empty Locker several times if necessary.

Finally, in one of our discussions, I mentioned the phrase “second home” and Owner’s Locker suddenly clicked with him. Ken and Millie had recently bought a camper for weekend trips in New Jersey and had quickly tired of packing up kitchen utensils every time they used it. So they duplicated most of their kitchen for the camper. Actually, Millie says the camper has the better kitchen gear.

But that did it for Ken. Now he wanted a trial Locker. Owner’s Locker isn’t just about keeping things you’d ordinarily throw away when you leave from vacation. It can also be a way to duplicate things you like to have around you but don’t want to go through the hassle of hauling back and forth. Now there were three. Ken didn’t need a bribe in the end either, but I still put a bottle of champagne in Locker #004 for his first visit. I was also pleased that Ken and Mille drove to Orlando instead of flying as I could learn what people who drive think of the convenience of Owner's Locker.

I was determined that Marilyn would have Locker #003 but she was just as determined that she wouldn’t! She was even more adamant than Linda (well she IS from New York) and she finally said,” listen John, I would NEVER pay for something like this because I don’t need it. And I like you as a friend but I refuse to take something for free for two years when I’m absolutely sure I won’t continue after the trial.”

Marilyn (or Mar as we all call her) explained that she kept a special suitcase with her Disney stuff at her home and that part of the ritual she went through the night before she left was to fill all of the shampoo and toiletry bottles to bring down. She also mentioned that she had a vase that she carried back and forth since she liked to have fresh flowers in her room (aha, I thought. Even Mar has an Achilles heel!)

I can’t tell you how many times I begged Mar to just give Owner’s Locker a try. She was one of the Moderators on MouseOwners and was very well respected. She was a natural opinion leader. Emboldened by my success with Linda and Ken, I told her I’d have an empty Locker waiting for her in her upcoming October trip and she didn’t have to pick it up if she didn’t want to. Not a good idea. Mar’s from NYC remember. I had already come up with an idea I thought would surely hook her but it wasn’t going to get very far if she refused to even pick up a Locker. I didn't give up and I kept digging to see what the resistance might be. About a week before she was supposed to arrive, I learned part of the reason that Mar was so reluctant. She was seriously worried that her Locker would not be waiting for her when she arrived. And it didn’t even have her stuff in it yet. She had more confidence in the airlines than us? Wow. But this was one of about 6 million lessons we learned in the Beta Trial: people will worry about their stuff showing up. I was already starting to see just how much we would be able to learn during the Beta Trial. I assured Mar that the Locker would absolutely, positively be there when she checked in and she relented and said OK but that she still just didn't think she needed Owner's Locker. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but the door was left slightly ajar and that's all I really needed.

So fast forward to September 30, 2006. Three Beta Trial Members are arriving at Boardwalk and Beach Club the next day. The trial Lockers are blue. They are sealed with various colored zip ties. There are no bar codes. I did manage to print up really nice looking arrival cards and I wrote their names on the bottoms of the Lockers with a Sharpie so they wouldn’t get mixed up!

Linda’s Locker weighed a ton and Laura’s had a bottle of champagne inside. And I’m in a panic wandering around Downtown Disney trying to find a special Disney vase for Mar that would—you guessed it—easily break if packed in luggage. Can you believe that in that entire huge Disney store that carries everything you could imagine, there are no flower vases? I couldn’t even find a drinking glass that looked slightly vase-ish.

The only thing I could find was this heavy crystal vase in the Arribas Brothers shop that was not particularly cheap. It was very pretty but it was more chunky than fragile. Well, was Mar’s Locker going to get a vase or not? I told myself that she would be an extremely vocal convert so I bit the bullet, bought it, put it in her empty locker and sealed it up. And early the next day, I made the second Owner’s Locker delivery run.

This little narrative has gone on far too long so I’ll leave it to another post to explain how these early volunteers went from being skeptical to excited about Owner's Locker and how we got from 4 to 100 Beta Trial Members…..but first I have to let you know what Mar thought of her vase. Well, she was over the moon. She LOVED it. In fact, she told me that she liked it so much, she left the vase she had brought from home in her Locker and took the vase I bought home with her to display in her living room. I didn’t say a thing.

JDVM
www.ownerslocker.com