The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PAGE 8, WHITY FREE FR.E88a WEDNESAY, JULY 2& 19WO Drop in visitors prompts layoffs at..Cullen -Gardens By Mike Kowalski An attendance decline at Cul- len Gardons recently resulted in a lay-off of 20 employee. Owner Len Cullen conflrmed that attendance probleme at the north Wbitby touriet attraction forced him to take action. Cullen said the popular facility experienced a drop i attendance of about 12 per cent during the pat year. Although he did not wish to disclose the financial implica- tions of the attendance dedline, Cullon did say it forced the company to "tdghten our ship.7 "Whon you hgave a 12 per cent drop-off i attendance and costa goup elhtpecenlt, it makes it "We adjusted our overhead to balance our income.» Noting that it was the «firet time Irve laid anyone off ini those numbers i 43 years,» Cullen said 'about 200 pople are StiR employed in eîtber a full- or part-time capacity. He traces the attendance drop to the February, 1989,, fire which destroyed a restaurant and gift shop, causing* $1.2-million damage. 1 «Business went down- from there to the middle of last month. We'r jut rocovoring from that,» saidCëullen. 1 'I think a lot of people thought that Cullen Gardoins burned to the ground: Let p=ole know were stilI alive and welL Compounding the problem was the iniclement spring weatherg sgaid Cullen. «Every weekend a rainstorm. the business, people don'corne into the gardons. Oullen Gardens and Miniature Village opened for business ton yearsagop. Since its May 30, 1980 opon- ixig, about two milion ple have visited the 25-acre facility located on Taunton Rd., just west of Brock St..N. (}Iwy 12). Launching a new product bIJ'rjuet figured out how'tW buloubetter mousotrap, your next move is Wo find the best way Wo launch it. The way you approach it is everything whon it cornes to convincing the public Wo beat a path Wo your door. There are no quick and easy answers to coming up with the best formula for launching our new product or service, but tere is a basic Ian that clearly laya it out: ACE - Research, Analysis, Communications and Evaluation. . Jane Langdon, presidont of Langdon Starr Inc., a public relations and promotions agency knows froni 15 yoars in the business that the bo= way W ,a succeseful product Iaunch is through rosoarch and planning. "Othorwise," she ays, lies like throwing darts at a dart board. Sometimos you get it in the red, and somtimos you get it i the blaclc." First, be clear about *bat you want to achievo. with'the product launch. Do you wanmt tWraSe awareness, inform, or-erase a misconoeption? Dofine your audienceoby asIng Xourself evwho 'lit turns out aur tlm ing was wrong and aur marketing strategy was way off.- Apari from.thatI think the product launch would've been successfull" Consider your budget range. Figure out the maimum you have to spend. Almost any marketing avenue will incur coets. Tbink about the timning of ycur product launch. Is it the right ime of year? Ioit theright time for the marketplace? tou had botter consider the issues out thero, othorwise it wont matter how good you mousetrap is, says Patrck 'Mcee lexecutive vice president cof OEB International, a pul?,Mc relations/ public affaire consul,5«fl rm. For McGee, one ýý e keys to the success ofprdc launching is tiinfig. "Even if 'r. a snai company, the currntisses of the marketplace have an offoct on how y product or service fits in. Bye.time Yeu get your product t, the tides may have changed. jKnow wherie: things are mnoving." After ail of the. preplanning bas been 'done, thoro are a -lot of options' for marketing-1 your mousetrap: direct mailP editorial coverage, print or bodcs advortising, to name a few. One way to break into the competitive rotail market is by sample distribution. Visit your potential distributors and leave themn with samples of Your product to hand out to cu*etmrs. Samples and media kits cen also be mailed to tardgetod media,. though it ies ometimes more coat-offoctivo to mail a newE rêease first and foilow-up with a phone. call to find out. whethei recipients want more information. For products that aron't suitod to sample distribution, displays and domronstrations at local trade shows cen bring wolcome results. Products cen also be introducod through videos, displays and domonstrations at launching parteshold during worIdng» hours, with light lunch or snack proyided for the invitod retailers and media. Chooeing the right 'product launch depends on- what you want -to say, who you want to say, itto when you want te o heritand how much money you. have to do it. A great lannch could make ail the difference to your mousetrap's succoe. By Trudie Zavadovie Dan Payne of WhLitby always wanted Wo work in a gas station. This summer the 15-year-old student from Ir. I.eo J. Austin has that opportunity thanke Wo WOW, a program sosored by the John Howard Soity and funded by Canada Employment Centres. Payne je one of 13 studenta accepted into the Work Orien- tation Workshop (WOW) pro- gram andi' started hie job At the Petro Canada gas station at Blair St. and Dundas St. on July 9. Basically ho will punxp gas and learn Wo handie money sund deal with cuÜstomers. Payne ho, sW develop a corn bination omoogwrkngsd social skills through the pro- gram. «I like the idea of work and the social activities," says Payne. "I thought it would be good. I always wanted Wo work in a gas station. I juat liked the job.» Paris Tyhonan has owned the Petro Canada station for the' pastl15 years. This year he has hired five summer students, in- cludingPayne.. Although students work mndivi- dually, the WOW program is vorv much a team effort. Jenýnifer Kay has worked for the past two monthe co-ordinat- ing the prograrn for the 13 stu- dents and Louise Chatterton joineci her about a month ago.. Together they have organized a two-,week pre-employmnit worksihop for the students so they cen sharpon their skilîs when looking for a job. "We want W sS that they al end up with rea]istic, marketable job alîs," says Chatterton. Fridays are workSlhop days for the studqnts. This FPrïday the~ will on a day at Canada s Wonderland and next week will be busy with a Frida fcuedon careers. Theyhav had guest speakers and have dealt with such issues as substance î#use. The wliolo WOW prograrn has a vory positive focus with the hope that students will en.joy their suAmer, learn1 job skilîs and also learn the importance of returnini tW echool. Some )f their goals are Wo assiet yo(uth i developing an awarene.- of their own goals, values, abilities and interests; Wo hel youlhs develop a positive sey-imagé; to strengthen skills i problem-solviIlg and personal decision-makiflg-,and tW mcrease motivation i attaining personal goals. The John Howard Society, whose focus is on prevention, is si.'nsorig Lrhese 13 students. . - -- -- - - ý---- ýI- Program provides work orientation Other sponsors of the WOW progami are South Osh awa Com- muntyDevelopuient iProject, Durham Board of Education, Simcoe Hall Sttement House, Youth Employment Services - Durham, and Durham College (UxidgoÏ). Another programi which je based 1solel i ltby is the Whitby 'W'Oý which je sponsored by the Durham Youth: Employ- ment Services in co-opeation with the Durham Board of Edu- cation. Shalene Hill is co-odinating the program for-the second year. She and assistant Muzatine Bartsch have 14 students situa- ted ibusinessos throughout Whitby. One student is taking care of animale at MacKay Animal Clinic. Staff members there were vory satisfied with the studont they got through WOW lâst year. Another student is looking after children at Whitby. Day- care, Ywhile others are w rking in ctm or service and Mtock at Beaver Lumber and White Rose Nurseries- As for ]Payne, ho plans W o njoy bis sumnmer of wock sud fun, -ad then make a good effort Wo finish hua schooling. DAN pAYNE is puinping gas for the summer, under the work orientation workshop (WOW) program sponsored ini O)sawaWhitby by the John HIoward Sciety. Dur- bain Youth Employment Services sponsor a Whitby- ii 11 À* 'r Pl ý*-& -t