ShareAndComparePlay.com-LIW news!

As each person with a dream will testify, it can be scary and lonely as you develop your ideas and seek to convince the World they can make a difference.

Well, after the amazing feedback and the number of people that visited us at the LIW, we no longer feel scared nor alone; knowing that people value our service has given The Share & Compare Play team a fantastic boost; thank you!

This was the first time we met many of the people that use ShareAndComparePlay.com and someone even walked up to say “I LOVE your site, what you are doing is really helping;” someone else said they had only come to the show to see little old us, we could not have been happier.

Although we had a limited budget and decided at the last minute to attend, our Graphic Designer worked wonders in creating a stand that was a physical representation of our indoor play equipment comparison website; as you can see, we also had our ideas table from our forthcoming competition to re-design the indoor play experience.

More photographs are available on our Leisure Industry Week Flickr stream, below are a couple of things I found particularly interesting and worthy of further exploration:

This children's Go-Kart can be made by children and dismantled before being re-built as something else. This product is exciting because it reflects a trend towards Free Play, enabling children to make their own play experience, this trend still has a long way to go but this is a great start.

VEQTOR Play released details of their exclusive agreement to design and install Soft Play Equipment utilising Disney characters. The introduction of the Disney brand for us by Indoor Play Centres reflects significant potential for Entrepreneurs seeking to start the next generation of soft play centre.

We have been talking for a while about the need for sensory play, engaging all of the senses of children playing rather than solely providing a physical play environment. Most play areas now have a soft play football pitch but when walking the show, I saw this sports area where all kinds of activities could be played on sand; really exciting possibilities with this if you have the space.

Were you at the LIW? If so, did you see anything innovative that interested and excited you? We would love to hear from you.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

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PS. Thank you to all my colleagues at ShareAndComparePlay for all their work in creating the site we dreamed of. Karen, Richard, Paul and Matt B...we could not have done it without you!

Developing a Mission Statement for Play

A few days ago, researching for our Starting a Soft Play Centre seminar, I stumbled upon this article about a Montessori School in San Francisco and these words jumped out at me:

“Nature lays down a plan for the construction both of personality and social life, this plan becomes realized only through the children’s activity when they are placed in circumstances favorable to its fulfilment...”

… Montessori who based every idea she developed about childhood learning primarily on years of observing children doing what they naturally do… understood child’s “play” to actually be what we adults think of as work. It’s how they come to master their environment.”

Supporting what children naturally do; a simple philosophy that the modern day Indoor Play Centre should have at its core, from Design to Operation.

Intrigued, I conducted a little more research and again was excited by the Mission Statement of the Montessori School referred to in the article:

"We provide a foundation for the excitement of learning, at an age when learning is effortless for children. And we create a harmonious atmosphere so children can develop all aspects of their personalities—physical, social, intellectual, and emotional."

Judith Flynn, Founder and Director, Montessori Children's Center

As we encourage new Play Operators to look beyond focussing solely on the purchase of soft play equipment and instead facilitate the use of all senses in play area design, these words and this purpose resonate as reflecting our vision for Indoor Play Centres as Centres of Communities that support the Development of Children through Play.

Recently, ShareAndComparePlay.com began to prepare a revised Mission Statement to reflect our Purpose and Values; this is what we prepared a few weeks ago:

“We Dream of a World where Children freely create and enjoy Play experiences that help them to live their Dreams.

Our role is one of facilitating the sharing and comparing of valuable experiences and information within the Play Community.

Learning through listening, observation and collaboration, we help organisations to profitably provide Play Experiences and support children in the natural process of play; to the benefit of all.”

If you are starting a Soft Play centre, do you have a mission that guides your thinking and communicates your purpose? If not, can I suggest that you start developing one that reflects your purpose, values and core proposition?

A little more Research shows that Wikipedia refers to “Child Centred” Education being at the fore of the Montessori Method, as it should be at the Centre of Play Design; the following statement is intriguing from a Design perspective:

“From the moment the child enters the classroom, each step in his education is seen as a progressive building block, ultimately forming the whole person, in the emergence from childhood to adult. All focus is on the needs of the child.”

Exchange the word “Classroom” for Play Centre and this begins to reflect the holistic approach to Soft Play Design that we must begin adopt if we are to develop the Next Generation on Indoor Play Facilities.

In summary, three questions:

- If you are Starting an Indoor Play Centre, are you thinking holistically and adopting a child centred approach to the Design of your Indoor Play Experience?

- Are you communicating your vision to Suppliers, Investors and Community in the same passionate tones as the examples above?

- If Dr Montessori was your Play Designer, how do you think your Indoor Play Centre would look and operate?

An interesting and potentially prosperous future awaits those that can answer these questions positively.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us

Asda's Carrot Cam and what it means for Indoor Play

Asda recently announced plans to become a more “transparent” organisation “run by the consumer for the consumer,” (http://tinyurl.com/yc532er.) Excitingly, this announcement begins to convey the potential for Empowered Consumers on the way in which Organisations operate.

Although “Transparency” and Consumer Reviews influencing Purchasing (and other) Activities are still in their infancy, they gain momentum with each contribution; the impact will be felt from Governments through to Soft Play Equipment, Indoor Play Centres and Weddings where Share & Compare provide people with a platform for their voice.

Regardless of the size of the organisation, I accept that the Transparency Movement represents untold potential coupled with immeasurable risk. Traditionally, organisations don’t expose their Value-Chain and internal processes to comment but Social Media has changed the game and I see limited alternatives. Unless you are Apple http://www.apple.com/uk/ your Value-Chain will soon be fully exposed and Engagement combined with considerable Added Value is the only way to thrive; Opaqueness is only an option for a select few.

As Asda seem to have decided, when people have a voice and make decisions based on reviews and Social Media / their Social Network, the best (only) response is to open your organisation for inspection and comment, to genuinely listen to customers (both satisfied and not) and become part of the conversation where appropriate .

Although Asda has perhaps started small with a Webcam that may cause drowsiness, "the ambition is to reach a point where customers can trace the journey of every Asda product: from farm to fork or warehouse to wardrobe," said (Andy) Bond, CEO of Asda; what staggering potential this has for the future Consumer – Organisation relationship!

The great news about a Company like Asda adopting Social Media to embrace Transparency is that it nudges the needle for all industries. At Share & Compare, we are excited by the possibilities of mass dialogue and personal feedback driving constant improvement and collaborative innovation; we believe the resulting scenario may determine future Organisational and Individual success.

The impact will be profound but to keep it simple, here a few things to consider if you operate an Indoor Play Centre (or any other business):

- Are there any parts of your business that you wouldn’t want a newspaper or TV station to see? If so, change them NOW!

- What are the core values of your organisation and how do these impact the operation of your business? (Note how Asda intend to install a Transparent wall to enable visibility to areas normally closed off; would a transparent wall to your Kitchen convey a message of Cleanliness / Hygiene?)

- Which parts of your business / play centre do you need to keep Confidential? (even in a Transparent world, you may still choose to protect some Intellectual Property)

- What is your Marketing strategy and what role does Social Media / Transparency play in achieving business objectives?

- What stories do you / does your organisation have to tell that will engage or inform and audience?

- What websites / social media tools are people using to comment on your organisation and Market; are you listening and participating?

- What role can your staff play in Social Media strategy (will you allow them to contribute)?

- How can you listen to the ideas and thoughts of your customers and use this as a modern day suggestion box to drive innovation?

Regardless of the size or type of your business, the rewards go far beyond those briefly outlined above; start today and learn as you go, it is not as scary as it seems.

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

Follow us at Twitter.com/shareandcompare or (Un)subscribe to our Blog by e-mailing us at contact@shareandcompareplay.com