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fairly with people, from vendors to patrons<br />
to financial partners. I think we have a good<br />
reputation as a company of integrity. When<br />
you have good solid principles, you survive,<br />
even through tough economic times, or<br />
changes of managerial style. I'm trying to<br />
advance things along that<br />
same line, but even deeper<br />
into the fabric of our company."<br />
Dickinson<br />
knew his<br />
grandfather, but says<br />
he wasn't old<br />
enough to leam about the<br />
exhibition business from<br />
tlie company's founder "I<br />
was just a little kid. Most of<br />
what I know about my<br />
grandfather comes from<br />
folks who knew him a lot<br />
better than me." Instead,<br />
Wood Dickinson says he<br />
learned by watching his father<br />
run the Dickinson Theatre<br />
chain. "He taught me<br />
that people are important and things aren't.<br />
We need to leam to lead people and manage<br />
things. We kind of got away from fliat for<br />
several years, where we were much more<br />
focused on efficiency without regard for the<br />
human element."<br />
In fact, Dickinson is aware enough of his<br />
father's management style to know he<br />
wants to emulate it as the Dickinson circuit<br />
closes in on the century mark. "I've kind of<br />
taken us back to the way my father used to<br />
think of things. I'm a big believer in people.<br />
That's probably the best thing my dad ever<br />
taught me, that and to be charitable." [Dickinson<br />
Theatres supports Kansas City's<br />
Ozanam Home for Boys, and established<br />
the Glen Dickinson Jr. Family Center, a<br />
homelike setting for family members visiting<br />
youngsters at the home.]<br />
As the child of a movie-loving household,<br />
Wood Dickinson says<br />
as a youth he saw "tons<br />
and tons" of films, in<br />
part because his father<br />
was the buyer for<br />
Dickinson Theatres.<br />
Initially, he thought<br />
his love of films would<br />
lead him along a different<br />
career path. "I always<br />
said that being<br />
president of this company<br />
was not one of<br />
my goals, " states Dickinson.<br />
"I wanted to get<br />
involved in die production<br />
side of movies, TV commercials or<br />
industrial videos. I did that for a while, but<br />
we decided it's a very volatile area. We<br />
[Dickinson Theatres] had a little company<br />
called Wood Dickinson Productions that<br />
produced TV commercials and industrial<br />
videos. It's a real tough business to be in, and<br />
after a couple ofyears, I decided to shut that<br />
down and focus on theatres.<br />
"I went through a little transition and<br />
worked with computers here in the office.<br />
At that time, a lot of us had no prior experience<br />
with desktop computers, so no one<br />
knew what they were doing. That was a real<br />
fascinating career move, because it kind of<br />
''We've always been a<br />
company that believes in<br />
dealing fairly with people. I<br />
think we have a good<br />
reputation as a company of<br />
integrity. When you have<br />
good solid principles, you<br />
survive, even through tough<br />
economic times, or changes<br />
of managerial style. "<br />
put you out in the frontier,<br />
DICKINSON THEATRES<br />
75th<br />
ANNIVERSARY<br />
portant for us to focus on ever\' opportunir\'<br />
as a moment of truth. Something to make<br />
them think 'Wow! This place is a cut above.'<br />
"Hopefully moviegoers will experience a<br />
courteous attitude. A cashier, for instance.<br />
The second and third generation of this family-owned business are,<br />
left to right: Scott Dickinson. I'.p., Georgia Dickinson, chairman<br />
emeritus: and Wood Dickinson, president, chairman of the board.<br />
charting new<br />
territory."<br />
During that transition. Wood Dickinson<br />
uTote a Macintosh-based ticketing system.<br />
"We had that in several theatres for quite a<br />
few years, but it's since been replaced. I<br />
didn't have time to keep working on it and<br />
updating it," explains Dickinson. [T/ie Dickinson<br />
chain IS currently a beta test site for the<br />
B.E.A.T (<strong>Boxoffice</strong> Express Automated Ticketing)<br />
ticketing system, distiibuted by Schult Industries<br />
—Ed.] "I stuck with [computers] for<br />
about 10 years until Itent decided to resign.<br />
And then I got really involved with management.<br />
So when I tentatively stepped into the<br />
job, I said, 'Yeah, this could really be fian,'<br />
because basically being president of a company<br />
is learning to lead people and trying<br />
to bring out the best<br />
that people can be, and<br />
diat's sometliing I really<br />
enjoy."<br />
n trying to encourage<br />
people to become<br />
more<br />
I:<br />
self-managing and to<br />
supply quality management,<br />
continuous<br />
improvements and<br />
team concepts to his<br />
employees, Dickinson<br />
drafted a mission statement<br />
called Wow! Service.<br />
"We decided we would be dedicated to<br />
providing 'Wow!' service, die kind of service<br />
that would make patrons tinink, 'These people<br />
really do care about me, they are really<br />
trying to make a difference.' We know that<br />
in a lot of cases the patrons come in, they<br />
hit the boxoffice and then they are in die<br />
who maybe able to provide information on<br />
a show, what it is rated, why it is rated that<br />
way. It's hard to do that with evers' transaction,<br />
especially when there's a line, but<br />
that's what we aspire to."<br />
The theatre chain currently has approximately<br />
900 to 1,000 employees (increased<br />
to 2,000 during the summer months), and<br />
Dickinson's executive roster includes Wood<br />
Dickinson's mother, Georgia Dickinson as<br />
chairman emeritus; brotlier Scott Dickinson<br />
as \'ice president; and wife Patti Dickinson,<br />
vice president of communit\' relations.<br />
There could be other Dickinsons waiting in<br />
the wings— Patti and Wood Dickinson are<br />
the parents of seven children, all under the<br />
theatre sitting down. We don't have time to<br />
interact with them, so it becomes real im-<br />
age of 13.<br />
Dickinson admits thai he's uncertain<br />
las to whether patrons at the concession<br />
stand or lire ticket coimter can<br />
tell that the theatre is a famUy-nm business.<br />
But one of the reasons die chain recruited<br />
all-around cartoon good guy Popeye ("I am<br />
what I am") to be the company representative<br />
was to personalize \'isits to the theatre.<br />
"This isn't corporate America out here, running<br />
diis company," he says of his desire to<br />
keep expansion from eroding Dickinson's<br />
commitment to die personal touch.<br />
In laying the foundation for continued<br />
success, Dickinson believes his company's<br />
longevitj' continues to be linked to acting<br />
upon what patrons say tiiey like in a theatre.<br />
"Comfort is one of the top two or three<br />
things that patrons say is important to them,<br />
so we want to gi\-e tliem a comfortable seat.<br />
The\' come in and walk tlirough \-oin- million