Today we’d like to introduce you to Noah Haught.
Hi Noah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started from the bottom! I’d just gotten back from my first (and only) year of college and my family took me out to the Arena for my birthday. My older brother and I had seen Archery Dodgeball online before but never had one near us. He randomly looked it up again and saw that a facility was having its grand opening a mere 15 minutes from our house. What are the odds!
So we went and played during their opening weekend (multiple times). I was looking for a summer job and they were hiring and I *loved* the sport, so one week later I was in training. Over the next few weeks, I solidified the thought that I wasn’t returning to college. One or two months later, the original owner, Bradey, met with me too see if I was interested in becoming a manager at Archery Arena. I was all in.
Gradually Bradey gave me more tasks and responsibilities until I was capable of handling almost everything there was to be done for the Arena. Some guests probably have some funny interactions with the Arena because I handle most everything. Sometimes people might think I am the only one working for Archery Arena because they’ll call and talk to me, then when they get to the Arena I’ll be their host. Then when they come back the next year the same thing happens again, haha. I promise it isn’t just me, it just happens that sometimes I’m the only person they interact with!
Around the late spring/early summer of 2019, Archery Arena changed ownership to Jesse. Jesse had a location in Denver and was looking to expand, while Bradey’s life was taking him places he couldn’t keep the Arena as a responsibility. Jesse came to visit and a few weeks thereafter he became the new owner. Now, Jesse maintains the Denver location and I operate the Cincinnati location.
Things were pretty steady for us and we really started hitting our stride in the early spring of 2020, right before Covid hit and everything shut down. We’d just taken a bunch of extra bookings from another business that shut down (pre-Covid) and were having a grand ole time. I have a distinct memory of the Tuesday the shutdown was announced that all I did for 4-5 hours was contact people left and right with cancellations and refunds. As lowkey depressing as it was to have to do that, we survived the shutdown and the ensuing difference there was upon reopening. We were significantly slower than before Covid. It took a good while to get back to where we were before.
All that being said, we’re still here! So I am thankful and blessed to remain. There are many other businesses that did not survive or are still struggling. We are blessed to have amazing guests and recurring bookings from companies, schools, families, and friends. A lot of our groups that weren’t able to come during the shutdown of 2020 ended up booking a later date with us. It will never cease to make me feel honored that people choose us to celebrate their free time with us, even after the wild ride that 2020 was. We exist because of our guests and so long as they exist, we’ll be around to keep entertaining them!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s been a pretty smooth road for us! I touched on the setbacks we had during the initial shutdown of 2020 during the onset of Covid. Outside of that, we’ve been very blessed.
As of late, we’ve been struggling with staffing as the labor shortage continues to impact hiring all around the nation. I never struggled with hiring pre-Covid, but ever since then it has been more difficult. We lost some of our most senior staff when they left for college and we’ve been hiring ever since the beginning of the summer, with little luck. For every interview I schedule, I’ll have four no shows for every one person that actually shows up. It’s been rough. People will schedule an interview, even sometimes go to the length of rescheduling an interview time that didn’t work, and then still not show up and I won’t ever hear from them again. Jesse and I have pondered as to why, but can’t quite figure out any logical reasoning behind the matter.
We’ve been impressed with Archery Arena, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Archery Arena is an entertainment venue that hosts Archery Dodgeball and Dart Wars. Dart Wars uses Nerf blasters and is catered towards younger audiences in general, but it is open to all ages. Our Dart Wars are more loosely structured and most of the games only have short periods of time where players are “out” as we focus on maximizing gameplay time and keeping kids entertained. Nobody wants to come to have fun and then be out half the time.
Our Archery Dodgeball is our primary experience. This experience is exactly like it sounds. Take the base rules of dodgeball and add recurve bows and foam-tipped arrows and that’s what we’re all about. Archery Dodgeball is more structured and strategy based than Dart Wars, but each game more-or-less revolves around shooting opponents while also not being shot back. It’s something most people have never heard of, much less done before, and the vast majority of our guests leaving talking about how crazy fun it was. That uniqueness is a huge part of the activity. Most people have played dodgeball, some have fired a bow and arrow before, but have they ever spliced those two things together and shot a bow and arrow at their friends? Probably not! But now they can and it’s always a blast.
Whether its our Dart Wars or the Archery Dodgeball, people keep coming back so I know we’re doing something right. I think a big part of it is our customer service during people’s events with us. While we’re only with guests for 1-2 hours on average, we always aim to make that time a highlight of their week. People choose to celebrate their birthdays, their kids birthdays, bachelor parties, youth group outings, corporate events, and even sports team outings with us and that is such an honor. If people have options for where to go and what to do, if we are chosen as part of their free time then we’re gonna make that worth their while. The gameplay itself is ridiculously fun, but the part that makes it shine with some groups is our Hosts. We take guests through any necessary training and safety rules, but then we just get to have fun with them after that, and I think that synergy with groups is what is special about us. We’re not just there to referee game rules but to have fun with you, to hype you up, to highlight the epic moments people have during games, and maybe even sometimes the funny moments too! Invariably someone is going to trip or run into a wall or rip a hole in their shorts and those are memories people won’t quickly forget. Creating memories, as cheesy as that sounds, is a succinct way of putting it.
Whether you want to set up a birthday party, bachelor party, corporate event, or just come out at random and play with friends or even strangers, we’ve got you covered! We’re reservation only, but that doesn’t mean players NEED a group to book in. They can book into a group of other strangers and play with them!
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I think the number one thing I’ve learned with the Arena is that flexibility is supreme. I have to remind myself that we are providing a part, or the entirety, of someone’s special day. Primarily with birthday parties, but with all bookings really, we try to be as flexible and customizable as possible. We really want all of our events to go just as people imagined and sometimes our guests have unique ideas and we always try our best to accommodate them. Obviously we have limitations, but if people are kind to us we will bend as far as we’re able to make sure they are taken care of in kind.
At the end of the day, I think that really stands out to people. Even if it is just a show of effort and we’re not able to do exactly what a guest desires, the attempt or discussion as to what we ARE able to do means a lot. To see that you’re not just being blown off as an abnormal impossible request, but being worked with to solidify ideas to make your event the best it can be. That’s worth any extra effort or difficulty on our end, if kindness abounds and the customization in question is possible.
Pricing:
- Public Archery – $27/Adult and $25/Kid
- Public Darts – $21/Player
- Private Archery Birthday Party – $300
- Private Darts Birthday Party – $260
- Standard Private Event – $425
Contact Info:
- Email: info@archery-arena.com
- Website: https://www.archery-arena.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archeryarena/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArcheryArenaGames
