Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Manager Titles

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Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 12-01-2004, 09:56 PM:

Just out of curiosity, are there any managers who work in a theatre where the floor staff has to refer to you as Mr. or Ms. Last Name instead of being on a first name basis? We have this at my theatre and it's kind of awkward when someone who's twice my age has to call me Mr. Willis.

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 12-01-2004, 10:05 PM:

This is all personal preference from what I've experienced.. I have always been Jason to my staff. I'm no better than they are.. All I require is that I am treated with the same respect that I give to my staff.

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 12-01-2004, 10:10 PM:

Cinemark requires this as company policy.

Posted by Brandon Willis (Member # 2345) on 12-01-2004, 10:10 PM:

One of the old GMs at my theatre started the Mr. and Ms. thing a few years ago for the entire management staff. The GMs since then have kept it up. In casual conversation I don't care what my employees call me, I even encourage them to call me by my first name. It's Mr. Willis in front of customers or over the walkie talkie, though. It's not chain-wide (Regal) policy, in fact we're the only theatre in the Richmond area, that I know of, that does it.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 12-01-2004, 11:16 PM:

It'll be a cold day in hell when they call me Mr. Espinosa at work...

We're all on a first name basis and that's how it's been at every place I've worked including Wallace Theaters, Borders Books & Music, and Best Buy.

Posted by David Yauch (Member # 2754) on 12-01-2004, 11:28 PM:

It's Mr. or Ms. here. But again, because of our size, it has to be. When you have over 130 floorstaff and they are constantly changing, it's much easier this way. It's not like a theatre with just a handful of staff where everyone knows everyone and you can get away with being casual about it. With this many people, it helps to keep a formal relationship between floorstaff and managers.

Posted by Stephanie M. Brosche (Member # 1982) on 12-02-2004, 01:00 AM:

Informal here too. We go so far as to say Yes/No Sir/Ma'am when answering questions, especially over the walkie, but otherwise, it's first names and appropriate nicknames for us.

Posted by Allison Parsons (Member # 2728) on 12-02-2004, 01:14 AM:

I'm 99.9% sure that Rave theatres do that. A good friend of mine is the head manager at the Peoria theater and whenever I go talk to him I have to the cashier for him by Mr.hislastname.

Miss Parsons just sounds too much like a librarian so I dont think I could take that.

Posted by Chase Hanson (Member # 2779) on 12-02-2004, 02:48 AM:

Pretty much everyone is on a first name basis on the floor, from staff to GM/MD. I dont know how it goes with Regional and Corporate Officers.

Posted by Chris Brown (Member # 2800) on 12-02-2004, 11:50 AM:

Everyone at my theatre is first name basis too...although my GM made an issue last year when one of the staff called my by last name only over the walkie. I understand his concern, but I didnt think it was that big a deal. See (long story short here), my best friend used to be a manager there with me, and we're both named Chris...so for as long as we've both worked there, people just called us by last names. This was never a big deal until the walkie thing. After that, for about a week, my GM insisted on the Mr/Miss title thing. It was kinda ridiculous. Like Brandon said, it is really strange being 19 and having people twice your age calling you Mr. Brown. So I think first name basis is fine...long as the respect is there.

[ 12-10-2004, 02:49 AM: Message edited by: Chris Brown ]

Posted by Christopher Duvall (Member # 284) on 12-02-2004, 01:34 PM:

I require Mr./Mrs. over the radios and on the floor for appearance sake only. Everywhere else is informal. The reaction from the customers when I started that was VERY positive even though I hate being called Mr. Duvall. However, this has been more beneficial for my younger assistant managers and they have gotten more respect from the customers.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 12-02-2004, 02:09 PM:

Mr., Mrs., or Ms. is a title of respect just as Chief, Reverend or "Your Honor". I work in a facility where the GM allows everyone to call everyone by their first names. I believe it somewhat deminishes respect and authority (especially when a 17 year old calls a 72 year old "Bob") and would prefer to call and be called by title rather than by first name. It has been my observation that we have a generation of parents who have failed to instill common courtesy in their children. What ever happened to the "magic words" in our society. My staff seems genuinely surprized and pleased when I thank them for doing well at their job.

Posted by Jason Miller (Member # 2341) on 12-02-2004, 02:14 PM:

I liked hearing "projection" over the walkie... it made me sound mysterious.

I still react to it when I hear it on a radio at the theatres I am servicing.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 12-02-2004, 02:51 PM:

I agree on the respect thing, although things are changing. The only person I address with a Mr. or Mrs. is a lady who works usher. She is in her late 60s, and is the nicest lady....Mrs. D

Other than that...I give the same respect shown to me, first name basis everywhere at work.

Posted by Robert John Jeromson (Member # 2559) on 12-02-2004, 03:55 PM:

We're all on a first name basis here, floor staff call projection over the walkie but we only instituted this recently because my bosses name is Ross and Rob and Ross sound too similar over the walkie to distinguish.

I do agree with the respect arguement but do feel that is it to be earnt not automatically givien, just because they refer to me as Rob instead of Mr. Jeromson dosen't mean that they have any less reverence of my skills or the guidance I can offer.

I respect all of my staff equally and have consideration for them as individauls I only ask this in return.

[ 12-02-2004, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: Robert John Jeromson ]

Posted by Jason Black (Member # 684) on 12-02-2004, 03:59 PM:

Bob,

I respect your opinion but disagree with your sentiment. Seems to me that my calling you Bob at the head of this post, is no different than any employee in your operation calling you the same. By omitting a title, regardless of it's origin, one does not necessarily show a lack of respect. In my opinion, a lack of respect is shown in the method of delivery.

It is my belief that this is purely a personal preference. I simply can not believe that patrons would have a favorable opinion of my being called 'Mr. Black' while on the floor. I am as professional by Jason as I would be by Mr. Black. I actually WANT my customers to know my name, just as I want to know theirs. To me, this forms a more personal level of service, which allows me to distinguish myself from the local competition.

Thankfully, we are not micromanaged to teh point that I am required to use titles. Although our micromanagement is pretty bad in other areas, they haven't picked up on this yet.. [Smile]

Posted by David Yauch (Member # 2754) on 12-03-2004, 09:00 PM:

quote: Jason Black
It is my belief that this is purely a personal preference. I simply can not believe that patrons would have a favorable opinion of my being called 'Mr. Black' while on the floor. I am as professional by Jason as I would be by Mr. Black. I actually WANT my customers to know my name, just as I want to know theirs. To me, this forms a more personal level of service, which allows me to distinguish myself from the local competition.

But as a customer, I would much rather hear an employee who I have just had a problem with call for Mr. Black rather than Jason. Jason makes it sound like the employee is your friend, and as a customer I don't want to complain about someone to their friend. Even if that person on the floor is your best friend of 15 years the customer wont know it if they refer to you as Mr. Black. First names are all fine and dandy when its all sunshine and flowers downstairs, but when the shit hits the fan and I'm a customer choosing where to spend my money, I don't want to talk to your friend, I want to talk to your boss.

Posted by Paul Rosenberry (Member # 2870) on 12-08-2004, 12:38 AM:

I've done both. I think in many ways it's really only useful to do the "Mr." thing if you *are* a young manager. Sometimes the young ones need it not only to remind the staff who's the boss, but to remind the young manager as well. Depends on where you work, though. I've had theaters where it was natural to be called "Mr. Rosenberry", but also theaters where it would be absurd. I'm not sure if that is due to where I worked (down South versus New England) or just the times (the 80's versus now). One thing is sure, if you expect be called Mister or Miss you'd better act the part.

Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 12-08-2004, 05:00 PM:

Where I work everyone here is on a first name basis, except for the upper management, unit directors and such.

However, our policy is to refer to our customers as...

mr. smith... mrs. smith... NEVER by first name.

At work we do feel like family, but our customers do deserve a level of respect that is without comparison in our industry.

When i did manage a theater, it was the same way.

Now in my current profession, it is the only way.

Ciao baby

Dave

Posted by Alan Dallas (Member # 2537) on 12-08-2004, 06:46 PM:

Policy at Harkins Theatres is for Floor Staff to refer to managers as Mr., Ms, or Mrs. It's all about professionalism in the work place.

Besides that I'm used to everyone calling me by my last name anyway. 10 years in the Military will do that. [Smile]

Oh and floorstaff using the "Projection" call sign on the radio is usually what happens when they don't know who's in projection at the moment. [Smile]

Prefectly acceptable.

Posted by Scott D. Neff (Member # 185) on 12-14-2004, 11:09 AM:

I've never ran a theatre that needed walkies, or was so big that names would duplicate themselves. We always just called each other by first name. We were a small independent family owned theatre, I dont' think people would have responded well to Mr. Neff, but would do better when the manager was approachable and without attitude.

I know at Century there is no policy as to Mr. & Mrs., but we do have a few managers that prefer it that way. It's weird for me because I'll know the managers by first names, so when working at a particular location I'll ask for "Eric" and the employee will look at me like my face is on fire until I ask for that manager by last name.

I can see the Mr. & Mrs. thing being a big problem at theatres that are considered highly corporate. If I'm at a Regal 20, and I already feel like every auditorium is identical to the next, and that the majority of the floor staff is without a clue, and that all I am to this theatre is a piece of cattle to move through the doors, I'd feel better if somebody friendly named Jason or Eric or Allison helped me with my problem, rather than Mr. Black.

Now if they gave all their managers numbers like on The Prisoner, I'd be happy to deal with it. Only because then I could yell "I am not a number! I am a free man!" And then run off through the lobby hoping that a giant bubble would not come and take me back to the island.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 12-16-2004, 03:49 PM:

quote: Scott D. Neff
If I'm at a Regal 20, and I already feel like every auditorium is identical to the next, and that the majority of the floor staff is without a clue, and that all I am to this theatre is a piece of cattle to move through the doors

LOL! You talkin' the one in Dublin. I went there for the first time last month and I'll never go back. [puke]

Posted by Christian Volpi (Member # 2370) on 12-16-2004, 05:55 PM:

We have a lady here that refers to me as Mr. Projectionist. She is an older lady originally from the south.