Ask Lochlan what he does for a living and you'll get the best job description in the business. "I take care of the fun."
He's Head of Entertainment at Le Mans Entertainment in Australia, and there's a lot of fun to take care of. Le Mans is one of Australia's largest entertainment complexes: 23 acres in Melbourne with four outdoor go-kart tracks, a bar and restaurant, function rooms, mini golf, laser tag, an arcade and Zero Latency VR, hosting around 200,000 guests a year.
This year he was named Community MVP, chosen from across Zero Latency's 150+ sites worldwide.
We sat down with Lochlan to find out how he does it and reveal his winning tactics.
WINNING WAYS
Sharing is caring for Lochlan. "I'm generally pretty open to everyone in the community," he says. Zero Latency runs forums where operators across the globe exchange insights.
"A lot of the promotions I do here, I try to make them so they can be used at every other site." Whether it's content from a press event or a site strategy that worked, he shares it with the whole community to use.
He's passionate about the Zero Latency brand and product. "It's the difference between rocking up at a venue overseas and rocking up to ours and getting the same experience."
HE SELLS THE SURPRISE, NOT THE HEADSET
Lochlan knows exactly what gets people through the door. It's the thrill, and the rush that comes with Zero Latency experiences. Most people reckon they've done VR. They've tried it at home, or in an arcade. Zero Latency is a different sport.
"To have full free-roam virtual reality is just an absolute advantage," he says. "It changes how they view virtual reality completely."
His favourite part of the job is watching guests take on Zero Latency for the first time, especially the adrenaline-pumping experiences like Outbreak and Haunted.
HIS TOP THREE TIPS FOR A WINNING SITE
We asked Lochlan for the three things that make his Zero Latency site a success:
1. team culture
Lochlan builds a team that's genuinely passionate about everything entertainment. People come to have fun, and a great team takes that experience to the next level, which is often the difference in whether a guest comes back. "They are the people interacting with your guests." Hire well and keep an open mind for every kind of customer who walks in. In his words, the GM is the difference between "they're coming again" and "they're not."
2. SELL THE STORY
This one's a gift, so take it. "If I just turn to you and go, Far Cry, you're shooting pirates," he says, "versus, you're trapped on a deserted island being tracked down by Vaas and his pirate militia." Same game. Two completely different bookings. The story you tell at the counter decides how invested someone is before they even pick up a headset.
Le Mans chose to work with Zero Latency on the quality of the content, and building anticipation for what's about to happen is a big part of it. You're taking guests on the journey, into the mission about to unfold.
3. PUT IT ON SHOW
Le Mans cut a big window into the VR arena wall so anyone walking past can pull up a seat and watch the adrenaline in action. "It's so important to get people's eyes on it." Watching strangers scream and laugh is the best ad you'll ever run, and it's entertainment in itself. People see it and think, I want that with my mates. That's your upsell.
No penalty shootouts, no Game 7 needed. Congrats, Lochlan. MVP of the Zero Latency community, and a deserved one. 🏆
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ABOUT LE MANS ENTERTAINMENT
Le Mans Entertainment has been all about heart-pumping fun since 1990, when it opened with a single outdoor go-kart track and one goal: let people race. More than 30 years on, it's grown into one of Australia's largest entertainment complexes. It's still home to Victoria's fastest karts across four tracks, a double-storey Star Wars-themed laser tag arena, free-roam Zero Latency VR, 18-hole mini golf, an arcade, and a sports bar and restaurant to celerbate and refuel.
