Do you play undercover boss when your haunt is running?

[HauntChick]

I think it allows you to see what your actors are doing when it's not you and you get to see true customer reaction so you can fix what doesn't work. I end up constantly walking through the houses, and I let them know that I am so that they are on guard consistently.

I'm a haunt junkie! I know alot of haunter prefer to SCARE people, but I love to BE scared. and this has proven valuable when checking on actors. I'll walk through with groups (or if a single person comes to walk through, i'll go with them) , I also follow behind groups (far enough back so actors don't notice me and i peek around the corner, through doors and peep holes to get the reactions and scares) but I also pop into rooms without telling the actor and i'll get a scare with them. Each of the three keeps my actors on their toes. They never know when i'll be in or how i'm gonna be coming. BUT when they see me in a group, they do their best to scare me any way they can. It's like a constant challenge for them. If they can still scare me on Halloween night, I say that's a job well done.

[lonewolfmage]

Hell all ~

When I used to be able (before I had "locked" myself in to a particular character with latex and all ) to through haunts I helped design .. it was a great aspect as to seeing the creation "come alive" .

While I didn't use the "fast areas" for staff ( unless needed) it was still good.

Now... what I try to do currently is find a TRUSTED friend of mine who is from out of town(either out of state or from the next town over) .. or has NOT seen what we have done for a few years and invite them through and see what their take on it is.

Seeing as though all the actors I have KNOW what i will be wearing .. AND the fact I'm the only 6ft tall 38 year old on the crew LOL its makes it a bit difficult to go thru " incognito".

Just my thoughts.
LoneWolf

[Raycliff Manor]

Something we do that has proven very effective is to invite members of the Fire Department, Police Department, Press and Media, other Haunts, etc. to come through for free throughout the season as "scouts". The Actors know this will be taking place, however, they never know when a scout is in the house or who the scouts are. At the end of the season at our Golden Ghoul Awards Dinner, in addition to announcing the winners of the Scariest, Most DEADicated and Team Player award winners, we also announce the winner of the Scout Award. The Scout Award winner is determined by the feedback of our scouts. At the end of the evening we'll make mention of the fact that we had one or more scouts in the house and remind everyone that we're tallying their feedback. We also let everyone know how impressed the scouts have been, which is typically the case. : )

Just an FYI, The Fright Team members, Actors and Security, vote on the other three awards, Scariest, Most DEADicated and Team Player, and management is not allowed to vote. We encourage the team to pay attention to one another through the season and to share their scare and entertainment stories with one another. This really gets everyone pumped up and involved in a friendly competition.

Kel

[Raycliff Manor]

I uploaded some pictures to Facebook from the 2010 Raycliff Manor Golden Ghoul Awards Dinner. You can check them out at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/fb...37849559616444

Kel