Hey everyone,

I've noticed that there's a few new readers who aren't just friends and family--welcome! It sounds weird, but there's nothing more encouraging to an aspiring creator than connecting with complete strangers. Ah, the magic of the internet. On to this week's idea:

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Alamo Drafthouse's Unreal Customer Experience 🍿

There's a lot of things I miss from pre-pandemic. But I think the biggest one (next to seeing friends and family) would be going to the Alamo Drafthouse.

I remember the first time a friend told me about Drafthouse, when we found out we were getting one here in Raleigh. He said, "It's a movie theater where you can order food and craft beer and they also have VCRs you can rent to watch old movies." I thought it sounded weird. Who gets food at a movie theater?

When I finally went, it was clear I had been wrong. Drafthouse takes the movie experience and elevates it to a level that was previously unimaginable. It eliminates the worst parts of going to the movies (for example, by banning people from talking or looking at phones) and adds things you didn't know you needed, like excellent food and extra-wide chairs.

It's clear that the people behind Drafthouse love movies and want you to love them too. And love them I did. Before the pandemic, I had the Season Pass, which allowed me to see as many movies as I wanted for $20/month. I was absolutely getting my money's worth before the pandemic hit.

But why does Drafthouse go to such lengths to make going to the movies awesome? To quote the founder, Tim League:

The cinema industry is competing against everything else people can do on a Friday or Saturday night. If they don't have a good time, you're going to lose them to something else. So much of what we do is trying to make the Alamo experience special.

They decided to be different in order to remain relevant. To be top-of-mind for people who were looking into entertainment options. In this way, providing an unrivaled experience allowed Drafthouse to be the signal in the noise.

Another thing that makes Drafthouse special is that there are typically a few moments of pure delight in being there, whether via the first sip of milkshake or the excellent customer service. To quote The Power of Moments by Chip Heath:

Defining moments can be consciously created. You can be the architect of moments that matter.

For me, at some point during every trip to Drafthouse, I always have the conscious thought that I'm having a great time. That's a defining moment for any experience.

So, what's the point? Why am I talking about an excellent movie theater this week?

Well, we all ostensibly work in jobs for businesses that have customers. So make the customer experience so good they can't not talk about it.

If you can surprise and delight your customers, you'll have their loyalty. How can you captivate them this week?

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Pete's Picks ✅

1. What I'm Reading: I've been waiting for my hold on Little Fires Everywhere to come through. This book got a lot of hype a couple years back, and I've enjoyed it so far.
2. What I'm Watching: I came across this video about what school lunch is like in Korea and let me just say OH MAN. This stuff looks good! What are we doing in the U.S.? Anyway, the video has sent me down a rabbit hole of Korean school lunch videos..it seems the whole country is crushing the culinary game.
3. What I'm Listening To: On a whim, I searched for "mid 2000s hits" on Spotify and found this playlist. It's mostly full of music that was popular when I was in middle school and early high school, so it's pretty nostalgic stuff. I wouldn't say it's great music, but there are some bangers in there for sure.

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Video of the Week 📹

How I Passed the AWS Solutions Architect Exam

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Little Luxury of the Week 😊

Most mornings in the week I do the 5 Minute Journal, which has a part for expressing three things you're grateful for. Most of mine often end up being what I would call a "small joy" or "little luxury"--a warm cup of coffee, sleeping in, etc. I like thinking about these and thought maybe I could give you a few recommendations on small things that can make big improvements for your quality of life:

Heated Blanket

We got one of these as a housewarming (get it?) gift last year and I've used it religiously in the cold months. There's no going back!

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Tweet of the Week 🐦

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Cheers,

Peter