One of the most disappointing things we have to do is to tell parents, and therefore their kids “No”. As more and more states come out the Pandemic, demand for private, clean, safe, in-person gatherings at your home have never been higher. In most markets, GameTruck is running at full capacity, and many owners are adding staff and capacity as fast as possible to meet the demand.

However, I wanted to share a few things you might consider to make it easier for your to get the party your child dreams of having.

Don’t Wait, Lock In Your Date

Many parents, as a response to uncertainty, have been waiting until the last minute (within days) to make the decision to host a party only to find out that supply is already gone. Pre-COVID advanced planners were booking 2-3 weeks out. Todays successful party planners are now looking out a minimum of 4 weeks and some are looking ahead six to 8 weeks. We totally understand that working with uncertainty naturally makes people more cautious. However, let’s look at the top three reasons parents wait, we believe there are solutions to these.

What if We Have to Cancel (because someone got sick)?

The GameTruck cancellation and reschedule policies are robust and designed to reduce stress not add to it. The risk of not getting your desired party date and time are starting to outweigh the risks of waiting until you have all the information. The parents that are getting their parties booked on the dates and times they want are leveraging these good faith policies to help mitigate uncertainty and risk. Which is worse? Waiting until you know and then finding out no teams and equipment are available because they are sold out, or booking early and then having to make a change at a later date?

I Can’t Make a Decision Until I See the Schedule

Sports schedules often drive the planning for many families. This is always a hard one because no one wants to schedule an event in the middle of a game or tournament. One of the ways we have seen parents manage this is to talk to the coach about booking the event BEFORE or AFTER practice. GameTruck has been to many ball fields, soccer stadiums, and basketball courts around the country. Surprising the kids with a party after a practice can be hugely popular. Since most practices happen during the week, this taps into time slots and days where demand is not so high and avoids some possible conflicts with game schedules. Regardless, you may find a pattern in your league. In Tempe for example, we rarely if ever scheduled a game on a Friday night or a Sunday. If you’re child’s favorite sport has a pattern like that, you can make a calculated risk and book an event when there has never been any historical practice, but if there is a surprise, you can reschedule the event to be after a practice. The goal here is to decouple the event planning for needing the full schedule in all its detail.

How Will I know if People Will Come?

Of all the concerns this one is perhaps the easiest to allay. In Fifteen years of operating GameTruck our experience is that the kids always want to play. Very often the reality is that too many kids show up, as in kids who were not invited but might have managed to tag along (brothers, sisters, neighbors). GameTruck events draw out the gamer in all of us. 

Consider an Alternative Activity

Sometimes the biggest challenge to getting something that will make us happy is not knowing what else might do just as well or better. GameTruck is a fifteen year old brand that is enormously popular. We are blessed that so many thousands of people every day think of us when it comes to hosting their child’s birthday. However, the real point of a GameTruck party is not video games, although there is plenty of that! GameTruck is really about delivering recognition and celebration in fun engaging ways. We believe friendships are made and maintained shoulder to shoulder. The joy of sharing your interests with people who care about you is at the core of what makes our events so powerful and popular. Did you notice that I did not mention equipment? When people think of GameTruck, of course they think of the GameTrailer, but did you know we also offer GameTruck @Home in many markets? The GameTruck @Home option allows you to have a video game party without the truck and trailer. What many parents don’t realize is that the Net Promoter Score for GameTruck@Home parties is higher than for game theater parties. I wrote an entire article explaining why. GameTruck @Home is successful alternative to the trailer. In a similar manner, Gelly Ball is proving to be a popular option when the better known LaserTag option is unavailable. The action based outdoor target game is proving to be enormously popular in its own right, and a great alternative to LaserTag. 

4 Tips Summary

Unprecedented demand has pushed out the event books for GameTruck from 1-2 weeks to nearly six weeks long. Here are four strategies to getting an alternative event.

1. Don’t wait, lock in your date. 
2. Remember you can reschedule
3. Decouple your plans from their sports schedule
4. Consider an alternate event activity

The bottom line is that sometimes, especially when we are feeling a lot of stress, we start to experience tunnel vision becoming fixated on the one solution we must have. However, if you take a step back, and look at what is causing the uncertainty, you can often find strategies to calm the situation down and move forward with a good plan.

The bottom line is that we would love to host your party, however as demand has increased, it is making it nearly impossible for us to honor last second bookings. Both you (and we!) will have a much better experience if you can find ways to book in advance, choose dates and times that have more availability, and find a way to decouple needing the sports schedule to plan your party. Finally, consider some of our alternative offerings. It is possible that any one of these strategies, or some combination of them can unlock the chances for you get the party you want.