Tour Improvements, Education, Ship Maintenance, Preservation, and Refurbishment

Greetings to all of our crew and supporters!

As always, we have had a fun couple of weeks focused on achieving our goals for 2015.  The board & crew have been focused on tour improvements, education, ship maintenance, preservation, and refurbishment.

On the tour improvement front the crew began work on an arrival video for the wardroom.  Kert from Digital Park is once again putting together a phenomenal piece to introduce our guests to the ship.  He has been instrumental in providing the engaging videos that many of you have seen including the documentary available in the store.

The tour team has been working on solutions for mobile signage, improved guest flow, and enhancing the existing tour.  The great Linda Ayers is always busy on new signage and future exhibit planning.  If you haven’t had a chance to see this month’s special exhibit in honor of Black History Month, we encourage you do so.

The Iowa Veterans Association exhibit work continues with painting occurring in the space this past week and the cabinet plan coming together.  The ship operations team is hard at work bringing this area to fruition for the summer rush.  This will also result in a tour expansion on second deck, which we are excited about.  IT will play a critical role in the IVA with a kiosk setup to view information on previous crew members.  Speaking of IT, this week David Canfield's previous cohorts at Google visited to perform street view on the IOWA.  We look forward to see the new addition online in the near future!

Picture by Ross Tipps

The operations team (with help from security) began work on the aft quarterdeck deck replacement project.  Led by Stan the Wood Man, the tedious tasks of scraping, chipping, and preparation began this past week.  This will be a great area to see complete, especially considering our focus on fun activities for kids (such as shooting basketballs in the authentic hoop).

Stan and Derek once again came together to pick up another item for population on the tour route.  They located a dental chair in Sylmar and rushed up to pick it up.  It is in good shape and is from the 1980’s era.  I am excited to see the acquisition of items such as this including the candy machine this past January.

Let’s not forget about our great paint team that has been trimming out the 02 level and painting the top of vents.  If you haven’t had a chance to go up to the 02 level yet, you must do so.  The decks that Stan worked on and the dark gray trim paint enhance the area tremendously.  Look out for the custom stencils that are going up daily.

Battleship IOWA Gray Radio Gang (Jim Jerzycke, Michael Vulpillat, Art Veiga, and John Pajusich) deserve special recognition for reactivating a transmitter onboard the ship.  They received some press on this activity over the past week as they continue to bring the IOWA back alive.  Bravo Zulu team!

On the fundraising front, we were awarded a grant by Insperity this past week and are focused on the collateral material that will go along with our campaigns in the future.  PowerPoints have been assembled with a focus on the target areas for this year which include safety, accessibility, and education.   Fundraising will be essential in accomplish our objectives and the continued support we receive is tremendously helpful.

One of our crew members and loyal supporters include Captain Carl Clausen.  We welcomed him back aboard with his family on February 14th to honor his service by attaching a plaque on the bridge.  For those of you not familiar with Carl, he was critical in the early development of our American Spirit focus.  He served in the US Navy and following retirement was a management consultant.  I personally credit Carl with putting us on track in our thinking late in 2012 and I will forever be appreciative for his support.  I ask that the crew keeps Carl in their prayers in the coming months as he continues to deal with health issues.

Public events are busier than ever.  I credit the events team led by Jamie Perez and Todd Caleca for working around the clock to produce the numerous community programs.  Earlier this month, we hosted Music Under the Guns and Movie Under the Guns.  We were blessed to have Lt. Col. Robert Friend, USAF (ret.) in attendance for the showing of Tuskegee Airmen.

Coming up this week, will be the President’s Day & Birthday Celebration on Monday, February 16th.  Kicking off with a ceremony and cake cutting, we will have a day full of events including a workout, dancing, the Sailor’s Bar, and other events.  On Wednesday, February 18th, we will honor Yvette Chapell-Ingram with the Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr. Leadership & Service Award.  Please join us for our events this coming week.

We were able to arrange a special luncheon for the HMS Victory on the Queen Victoria in April for our loyal crew and supporters.  Please watch your email box for the special invite, as these tickets will go fast.

Later this year we will be hosting a ceremony to honor the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.  In conjunction with Spirit of 45, we will have numerous activities and events to commemorate the greatest generation.

This coming week, a contingent of Pacific Battleship Center crew will be headed to the annual California Association of Museums conference.  Thank you to Barry Herlihy and Associated Foundations for sponsoring some of the cost.  This will be a valuable activity to help increase our exposure and knowledge in the museum field.

Over the past couple of months we have been working on assembling a Victory STEAM Field Trip book.  The first drafts prepared by the very capable Tobias Geye of Vessel Design Group have arrived.  We are looking forward to the introduction of this education program in April.  Thank you to Harbor Community Benefit Fund for contributing to the development and implementation of this program.

We continue to work with LAUSD to introduce an engaging program for our local youth.  This program is coming together and we look forward to hosting kids from LAUSD on board the IOWA over the next year.


On the sales front, December and January attendance was better than the same months of the previous year.   This can be attributed to our focus on engaging activities for kids and the excellent stories our tour guides tell our guests on board.  We have also fine-tuned our marketing and advertising to target visitors in the region with the highest interest levels.  A reminder that our entire crew and supporter base are our best sales people.  Please consider handing out our posters, BOGO cards, and encouraging visitors to give us 5 star reviews on TripAdvisor.  This is a tremendous help!

Poster available in the Tour Office

Our sales team has been hard at work in booking special events, Camp Battleship overnight, and group sales.  We have seen increases over the past month in all areas of sales, especially Camp Battleship and Special Events.  We will be hosting approximately 500 kids during the month of February.  Dates are booking fast, so make sure to tell your friends and family to spread the word.
Next week, I will be joining the Port of Los Angeles in presenting the LA Waterfront and the new Passport program to the LA Tourism & Convention Board.  The passport collateral is complete and we plan to introduce the program in March.  We will be offering this program for sale at the ticket booth and we expect a change in signage to occur at the building to focus on the sales of the Passport.  The relationships that we have built with our community partners regarding this program are unprecedented and we owe a special thanks to the Friends of the LA Maritime Museum, Hearken Creative, Barry Herlihy, and the Port of Los Angeles for assembling this program.

The Port of Los Angeles will be presenting a policy on the future of Waterfront redevelopment this week.  This policy has received numerous hours of community input and it is a step in the right direction for the future of the LA Waterfront.  A health vibrant waterfront is one of the most important components for the future of the Battleship IOWA.  We can’t go at it alone and we appreciate the community support, the Port of Los Angeles, and Councilman Joe Buscaino for continuing to push the future of our waterfront.

In closing… Be safe, have fun, take care of each other, and see you on deck!

Tour Sales, New Orleans, Swearing In, and Billboards

What an adventurous few weeks!  We continue to develop and strengthen our community and national presence.

AAA Los Angeles Guide
Map

On the tour sales and marketing front, Craig Post attended a national summit for a large membership club.  This is a huge step and undertaking that has been made possible due to numerous steps but began by Hal Grotke.  Thank you Hal for beginning the process to connect us with them two years ago.  We plan to strengthen our tie with by creating special packages in the future.

I attended by the NTA conference in New Orleans and spoke to numerous tour operators.  They are all excited to bring people to us and we expect to see a bump in traffic from these groups over the next 9 to 12 months.  It was interesting to learn what the foreign markets are interested in and we look forward to fulfilling them.  This week we have someone visiting all of the major Asian tour operators to hopefully secure there business.

While in New Orleans, we combined it with a museum scouting mission.  Thank you in large part from a ticket grant by Delta, registration waiver from NTA, Tourismcares helping coordinate, and our partner museums hosting us.  We visited the WWII Museum, USS Alabama, and USS Kidd - all on top of a busy schedule of meetings.  We ran into our good friend from the USS Bowfin and discussed ways to make all of our ships more successful.

Visiting other museums gives us a sense of pride and accomplishment.  I commend our crew for the huge progress they have made in a short period if time.  It is absolutely incredible.  We must remember that we have been open in LA for 2.5 years at this point.  WOW!  We spoke with the WWII Museum and realized very quickly they are also an entrepreneurial organization.  The dedication of their team made it possible to make them one of the top museums in the world.  We can do it also!

A touch screen at the WWII Museum.

Some of the significant highlights at the WWII Museum include the arrival experience, the follow a service member cards, the Road to Berlin, and the Tang Experience.  We spent 5 hours at this museum and easily could have spent longer.  The information was well planned and executed with a focus on telling a human story.  This is a perfect example of an organization that stays focused on an end goal and keeping the quality high.  We are striving to do the same.  Keep up the great work!

While touring the USS Alabama, you quickly get a glimpse into IOWA past.  The bunks were all chains and canvas.  They pulled many of them out and there are wide open spaces throughout 2nd deck.  We also quickly realized how unique the Battleship IOWA is and how we can utilize the natural assets in telling the story.  Imagine for a moment on what we can do with the compartmentalization of the ship and how we can tell the story!

The USS Kidd is absolutely beautiful and well restored.  There crew is passionate and dedicated to the long-term preservation of the KIDD.  The WWII configuration is neat to see and we could even see the bottom of her hull in its unique mooring configuration.

When I returned, I went straight to work in supporting the rapidly developing LA Waterfront initiative.  Councilman Joe Buscaino has grabbed the bull by the horns so to speak and leading the charge in waterfront redevelopment.  Our neighbors have joined the cause and we are seeing some great movement. Special recognition to the Chamber of Commerce, Neighborhood Councils, and the Port of LA for taking on the important effort of creating a world class waterfront.

Assembly-member O'Donnell Swearing In

We welcomed our local elected officials to the ship on Saturday for the swearing in of Assemblymember Patrick O'Donnell.  What a great event!  The crew came together to assist and execute the plan flawlessly.  The attendees and staff mentioned to me how it was obvious we knew what we were doing as it was seamless.  This is a testament to a maturing organization and the teamwork necessary to pull off an event such as this.

We continue the planning and fundraising surrounding the "IOWA Story".  The story we intend to tell covers from "Cradle to Today", includes a large human story presence, and will encompass the vast majority of the ship.  Currently we have 33 possible topics to cover within the tour and museum experience.  The first topic will be the IOWA Veterans Association exhibit.  As we grow our museum and experience, it will take focus and dedication to execute appropriately.  A consistent and fun experience is necessary to maintain a strong audience.

Our planning for the annual Gravely award came together last week and we have a recipient selected.  Please join us on February 18th for this important event.  Speaking of events, we have Music Under the Guns, Movie Under the Guns, and a Presidents Day festival coming up.  Give our events team a round of applause for executing this aggressive public events schedule.

Our marketing folks had phone calls with KRLA on our annual Memorial Day festival to begin the planning process.  We also had conversations with a few of our cooperative partners on expanding our advertising and reach in the area.

We welcomed aboard Johnny Wu to assist in executive admin and marketing admin functions.  He has a degree in history and is jazzed to be working on the IOWA.  When you have a chance, please welcome on board.

To close out this week, you will see a few great graphics that Tobias from Vessel Design Group created.  Tobias and Vessel Design Group volunteer much of there efforts and I encourage anyone looking for a graphic design and / or marketing branding experts, to please contact them.  The first one you see is for new billboards that were donated from Outfront Media.  This company continues to support the IOWA and please support them if given a chance.  The second card you see is an early draft of a card we are working on to give veterans.  This was an idea present by Arthur Huhta and it is finally coming together.

Billboard donated by Vessel Design Group.

Veteran VIP card by Vessel Design Group

Until next post, have a fun and safe couple of weeks!