This past week, I was in Nashville at a conference. The conference was held in the Music City Center convention building. It is a massive building and it would be difficult to find the room you are teaching in, where the restaurants are, where the bathrooms are, etc. without some help.
Yes, they had good signage, but even that can be difficult to navigate in such a large building.
But we were able to find the places we needed to go to because of what you see in this picture. Throughout the building, they had these stands that said "Ask Me?" They were a great help for someone who had not been in the building before. And the people staffing it were very knowledgeable about the building and where everything was located.
I was reminded of how it feels to walk into a building needing help finding where I need to go. I was also reminded of how our guests feel when they walk into our church buildings for the first time. Not sure where to go. Wondering where the children's area is. Anxiously looking around for help. Where are the bathrooms? Where is the auditorium?
Signage is important, but nothing can take the place of a person you can approach and get help from. People are what make the difference.
Right before Walt Disney opened Disneyland he said this...
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
Good signage can't take the place of a person. Should you have good signage? Absolutely, but it should be in addition to people who are there to help. Signage can compliment the people you have in place, but it can never take the place of the people on your guest services and greeter team.