Disney Makes Springdale It’s Latest Magic Kingdom

Institute stop rewards city’s chamber efforts, offers unique opportunity for business training

The prestigious Disney Institute comes to Springdale later this month and local businesses had a hand in landing the coveted date with the training company.

Disney offers various training seminars, at least some of which it provides through traveling shows of this kind. But landing the engagement can be difficult.

Disney spokesman Craig Taylor says invitational letters from area businesses made a difference in Disney’s decision to conduct the “Disney Keys to Service Excellence” seminars in Springdale.

“We are quite excited, obviously,” says Bill Rogers, director of economic development for the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. “This is quite a coup.”

Receiving recognition from Disney as a site for the seminars is an achievement for the Springdale Chamber of Commerce. Other Northwest Arkansas chambers of commerce have requested Disney’s seminars before, but none was successful in locking in a date.

To encourage Disney’s interest in the area, the Springdale chamber requested invitational letters to Disney from several Springdale businesses. Tyson Foods Inc., Northwest Health Center and First National Bank of Springdale each signed letters asking Disney to consider Northwest Arkansas as a site for the Disney Keys program.

“This seminar offers a wonderful opportunity to experience a little ‘Disney Magic’ right here at home,” according to a letter written to Disney from Sarah Faitak, marketing director of Northwest Health.

Kicking off the Northwest Arkansas Business Expo in Springdale, the Disney Keys program will consist of two seminars articulating successful business techniques.

“Management, Disney Style” is one of the programs included in the seminar. Developing, recruiting and training “cast members” – what other companies call employees or associates – is the emphasis for the management seminar.

Relating the quality of the employees to the profit of the company is important for businesses, Taylor says. With 55,000 employees at its Florida park, Disney World, Disney is the nation’s largest single-site employer. Other companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., have more employees companywide, but no one has more workers on a single site than Disney.

That experience obviously makes Disney an expert in employer/employee relationships, and the company shares some of that expertise in its seminars.

“Service, Disney Style” completes the seminar, emphasizing the importance of “guests,” or customers. Standards of service and customer relation techniques are detailed in the service seminar.

Registration for the program will continue through the morning of the seminars, and 500 positions for the seminar were initially available. The registration desk opens at 7 a.m. on Aug. 17 at the Springdale Holiday Inn.

More than 80 representatives quickly signed up for the programs after the initial press release, Rogers says.

Because this is the first program of this type for the area, “Disney doesn’t expect a full house,” Rogers says. However, a growing appreciation for the seminars is expected, Rogers says.

Each member of a Northwest Arkansas chamber of commerce may register for the seminars for $150, while non-member registration is $175 per person.

Several businesses, including Fayetteville’s Walton Arts Center, knew the Disney program was coming to the area, and they waited in line to register for the program, says Perry Webb, CEO of the Springdale Chamber of Commerce.

Disney may have also been influenced by demographics since Northwest Arkansas is home to several Fortune 500 companies. But Taylor, the Disney spokesman, says smaller businesses can benefit from the programs.

“Walt Disney is actually many, many small businesses,” Taylor says. “We want to share some of the Disney magic.”

Businesses in the Northwest Arkansas area can attend the program to learn specific details of Disney’s service techniques, but Disney also benefits from the experience, Taylor says.

After attending the seminars, “[Customers] better appreciate the level of effort we put out for our guests,” Taylor says. Any one of the business representatives who attend the Disney Keys program could be a guest of Disney’s in the future, and that is kept in mind by Disney’s cast, Taylor says.

Originally, the business seminars at Disney got started after guests kept requesting tips on service and strategy, Taylor says.

The Disney Keys program will take place immediately before the Northwest Arkansas Business Expo opens, and Webb says the two events are being held separately at Disney’s request. The ribbon cutting for the business expo follows the program at 12:35 p.m.

More information concerning the Disney Keys program is available at the Disney Institute web site at www.disneyseminars.com.