Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Noah Haught. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Noah, appreciate you joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

When Archery Arena first began, it really started because we wanted to share great times with great people. After experiencing it abroad, it just had to be brought back to the States. It’s such an amazingly fun time, and something unique most people have never experienced before (and sometimes never even heard of before!) It sounds simple, but that’s really all there is to it. Unless you include all the “fun” starting a business stuff from the initial opening, haha.

So, we took that initial goal and ran with it. What’s the best way we can give people a fun time? That’s our aim for every group. How can we make this the best birthday party you can have? How can we make this part of your bachelor party fun? How can we make this hour of random fun you’ve chosen to have with us the best it can be?

It took some time to really refine those questions into where we are today! We’re not always perfect, because nothing truly can be. But we aim to be close to it. Our equipment has been adapted and improved through the years, the games we offer have expanded and cover all different group types, and the space itself has received many visual upgrades as well, all in the name of making this an epic place to spend some time. And we’re not done either. There’s always ways we’re seeking to improve what we’re able.

We like to think the many repeat birthday parties, fraternity outings, and regulars year after year speak to that testament.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I actually joined Archery Arena in the spring of 2018, a week after their grand opening. While I was not one of the original owners, I run most things now. I was fresh out of my first semester of college, with no intent to return. My older brother and I had ALWAYS wanted to play Archery Dodgeball, but never had a location near us to try. He casually looked it up again and found Archery Arena was only 15 minutes from where we lived! So we came to play and then I took a job with them and now I’m here.

What we do at Archery Arena is namely this: entertain. People come here to have a fun time doing something they’ve never done before, and we’re here to have fun right along with them, doing whatever we can to enhance that experience via training, commentary, and genuine interactions. At this point you might be wondering what activity Archery Arena even is! It’s what we like to call “Archery Dodgeball.” Take the game rules of dodgeball and add foam tipped arrows and recurve bows. Never shot a bow and arrow before? No worries! It’s fairly simple and we’ll be there to teach and guide along the way. We have a plethora of games for players to experience so no matter how many times they come, there is always another element to experience.

Something I think sets us apart from other entertainment venues is that we’re focused on two activities alone. We offer Archery Dodgeball and Nerf Wars. While that may seem limited, it allows us to make sure we are excellent at what we do. With less to keep track of, we’re able to make sure what we’re offering is great and worth it for guests!

If I could have people know one thing about us, it’s that we’re real. When you call us there’s no calling center we outsource to, emails go to people that you will see hosting your groups as well, we strive to be genuine and personal with groups. There is always a level of “customer service rep to customer” energy, but we try to not channel that a ton. We’re all human and don’t want to artificialize our interactions with others. Part of staying a small business allows us to stay genuine.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Word. Of. Mouth. Hands down, the best, easiest, most effective method we’ve had repeated good outcomes with is just people sharing their awesome times they’ve had with us. Parties tell us all the time “My kid had a party here a while back and hasn’t stopped talking about it since.” Often times it is the kids that propagate us; not adults! Thanks kids!

I think there’s something to be said about the level someone enjoyed something when they speak about it aloud in person. Leaving a review is always nice, but its a bit clinical. When I’ve got to a place and loved it enough that I then just naturally tell others when the topic comes up, THATS when you know the business is doing something right.

We exist for our guests and can’t exist without them either! Not only because without guests we don’t have anyone to entertain, but also because without fabulous people to share us with their friends/family, nobody would be as convinced that we’re pretty great. (The words of guests’, not mine HA.)

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We try not to spam people with incessant reminder notifications that we exist. But we do run deals and discounts every so often and that’s about the only time you’ll hear from us. We’ve always been of the mind that once people know we’re around, they’ll make their way back to us in their own time. It’s worked for us so far! We’ve got a healthy batch of regulars that play weekly, others that come once every few months, and some awesome groups that only come once a year and we look forward to them each time!

For people that want to get involved further, we have a monthly membership so they can play as much as they want without burning a hole in their wallet. There’s a Discord server people can join where the regulars chat about game theories, when we’re gonna play next, and generally have a good time. We also have leagues periodically, which is a six-week program where people really get to know us and other players throughout. Many of our regulars began as league players.

A lot of our regulars have contributed new game types, design upgrade ideas, and other such modifications to the building/business and I feel like that’s a really fun thing to see from a guest’s perspective; that a business actually responds to your feedback (presuming it is good feedback and not just edge case nonsense. We can’t make everything perfect for everyone, sadly.)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://archery-arena.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/archeryarena/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArcheryArenaGames/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo_P-jWhHoL71faemY104ow

Image Credits
Noah Haught, Phebe Haught, Liz Haught