After concentrating on building Midnight on the Bayou at the Red Lantern Escape Rooms for fifteen months, my job radically changed. I became the receptionist. I had never been a receptionist before but I am a friendly person so I thought I could handle it. I did not know what to expect. First of all, would anyone come? Would I be able to answer their questions? Would they enjoy their experience? Would I have to handle complaints?
Initially I was really nervous. I got to practice on the beta testers and all went well. Then it was time for official participants and the fun began. People arrived who had never played an escape room. They were apprehensive and needed calming, repeated reassurance. Some people had played a few rooms, one person had played over 100 escape rooms and then there were those somewhere in between.
Since Red Lantern Escape Room can accommodate twelve players, different sized groups would arrive. Sometimes there would be a group of ten or twelve who all knew one another. Other times there would be two or three smaller groups who were not acquainted. I would encourage them to introduce themselves. People of all ages came to participate; from ten years to over sixty-five. Groups came to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. One group of guys brought their friend in blindfolded for his bachelor’s party. On Father’s Day multigenerational groups came to play. One grandfather was definitely leery of participating but he had a big smile on his face when he left. He said he really enjoyed himself. We have even had several Girl Scout Troops play our room. We now offer a Red Lantern patch for the Scouts to show that they participated in an escape room experience.
The best part of my job is seeing the responses as they exit the room. People are animated and talkative and still seem immersed in the experience whether they escaped or not. Sometimes they stop and we talk about the intricacies of the clues. Most are still reliving their experience and continue to talk about it while standing in our parking lot long after their game is over. They ask when our second room will be open. To me that is a success. I thoroughly enjoy my new job as an escape room receptionist. It’s fun to meet the participants, newbies and enthusiasts and know that they had an awesome experience at Red Lantern.
I hope to meet you here soon, too!
Author: Sharon Davis
