Behind the Business

Reinventing Fun and Function : A Deep Dive with Mark Bingeman

Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce Season 3 Episode 3

Mark Bingeman is the President and CEO of Bingemans, a family-owned entertainment, hospitality, and event destination in Waterloo Region. After studying hospitality internationally and gaining experience with major hotel brands, Mark returned to lead the business founded by his grandfather. Under his leadership, Bingemans has evolved into a modern, multi-faceted destination, offering waterparks, live events, and innovative experiences like Putt Social.

 

Tune in to hear Mark share his journey stepping into a family-rooted leadership role, how he balances innovation with tradition, and the lessons learned while growing Bingemans. From modernizing the business to creating memorable experiences for both locals and visitors, Mark offers insight into running a complex, community-focused destination in today’s evolving landscape.

 

Let’s go “Behind the Business” with Mark Bingeman of Bingemans 

Get a look Behind the Business in Waterloo Region with Ian McLean, President & CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

Ian McLean:

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Business, presented by Gore Mutual. I'm your host, Ian McLean, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterdoo Chamber of Commerce. This podcast is recorded on the traditional territory of the neutral Anishinabe and Hoden Ashone peoples. Each week I sit down for candid conversations where we go beyond the boardroom and behind the business to uncover the real stories of Waterdoo Region's business community. Today's guest is Mark Binghamman, president and CEO of Bingamans, a multifaceted entertainment hospitality and event destination that is well known within our region. Mark has led the family business through bold expansions and innovations, transforming it into a vibrant destination with water parks, live events, and new experiences like Put Social. In our conversation, Mark shares his career journey, including his early international hospitality experience and the lessons learned over a family-rooted business. He discusses how he balances the innovation with tradition, the strategies behind new projects, and his vision for the new Bingamans and bold vision for Waterdoo Region. Join me in this episode as we go behind the business with Mark Bingaman of Bingamans. Well, we're excited to have you here today, Mark. Thank you so much for joining us in our new podcast studio. Very cool that you're here. I'd never been upstairs here before, so it's a double whammy for me. Well, we we uh we we transitioned one office into this, so it's uh it's a great way because we start to do podcasts uh and and uh and have the video with it to have this great studio. Listen, um Mark, Bingham's has been a staple in Waterloo Region for generations. So let's rewind to the early early career before um and and follow the the the family history of the business because it's it's this is multi-generational. Um I should have had Lawrence with me.

Mark Bingeman:

Yeah, that's right.

Ian McLean:

Uh you studied hospitality internationally and worked with uh major hotel brands, um, like I think it's Marriott and Hyatt. Yeah, yeah. Uh walk us through those early days of your transition into the family business.

Mark Bingeman:

Yeah, no, when uh listen, yeah, I always knew I wanted to get in the business, always saw my dad going to work, and obviously as a part-time job, yeah, work. So I knew what I want to do with my life. So, you know, when I went through high school, went to Michigan State to graduated from there, and when it was time for graduation, I said to my father, I said, Okay, I'm graduating, you know, the spring term, I'm coming home soon. What what's my job gonna be? And he said, I don't have one. And I said, What? And he said, Yeah, there's there's no job here for you. He said, You better interview and find a job. So I was panic struck. I was pissed off, but I was panic struck. And uh I took interviews like crazy and then ended up with Mary uh with actually Hyatt. I had worked for Merriott previously, but then I worked with Hyatt for uh four years ago. So where did you do that?

Ian McLean:

Was that in Toronto or wh wh what whereabouts did you do it?

Mark Bingeman:

No, I did it uh well we we interviewed at the school, and then it was the High Regency Atlanta. So corporate corporate had said sent me to Atlanta. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Oh wow.

Ian McLean:

Yeah. And so you know Hyatt and Merriott, that's where you got your, you know, in in terms of hospitality, the food side of business, the customer service, the Trevor Burrus, When you know, obviously growing up in the business, you g you you get some of that, but getting that outside experience was a total yeah, for me, it was a total shocker seeing things done differently, seeing things done at bigger scales and and different levels of it.

Mark Bingeman:

So it was just a it was just a a world of good for me for for my growth and training.

Ian McLean:

So and and it has a family business. I've been lived here for a hundred years, or at least since 1971. And so Bingamans has always been part of our family life because of a lot of political events. I remember going to big political rallies at at Bingman's back in the day, but it's been part of your family for generations, not only in the it's been in the community, but it's been part of the family for generations, starting with your grandfather and evolving into now what is clearly a multi-uh faceted destination that it is today, with and we can talk about a little bit about that. What are some of the unique challenges of taking on a family business? Because that that is that you know there's a reason why we have the Center for Family Business, and we, you know, like family-owned businesses have their own unique challenges. What are some of those challenges?

Mark Bingeman:

Well, listen, you have the same challenges every other business has, but then you I layer that on top of that. You've got the family dynamics. And you know, that's where you know the need for transparency, the need for being upfront, the need for you know, be not only transparency with family members, but also with all of your staff members and key members. Because it because there it's it's a whole lot different. Because family business is typically like it's not a nine-to-five thing.

Ian McLean:

No.

Mark Bingeman:

Like after you're done work, you go home, and guess what's discussed at the dinner table? It was either what went right or wrong that day, or just in general, blue sky and talking about different things, just like when you go on vacation. So family business is the the business uh button is never turned off. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Ian McLean:

And you have partners that are that are non-family. I mean, that that's the other part. You've got lots of lots of players involved, especially the size and scale of what Bingham's is now. You've got lots of people that that you have to manage relationships with.

Mark Bingeman:

Well, you at the end of the day, well, sure, you've got we've got bankers, we've got uh uh other things, but the biggest the biggest component and the most important is our is our management team, all of our people. You know, that that HR component and that that management team that helps guide. Like I might be the person at the top making the end decision, but uh quite quite honestly, the group makes the decision. I just I'm just lucky enough and you know to to be to be leading it on on their behalf. But it's it's that group. It's not there's there's not one voice that that calls the shots.

Ian McLean:

So over the last number of years, and your leadership, we the there is there's new things that are happening at Binghamans, right? That that weren't there years ago and you keep adding to it. Um what what I mean was that I mean, is it trends and what what customer expectations are that led to that, or is it just diversifying your business? What are how did you decide what those new experiences um that you that you've built and invested in at Bingham's uh well, you know, you still have your the traditions that uh that people have come to expect with Bangman's. How do you how do you strike that balance?

Mark Bingeman:

Sure. And you know, probably the biggest number of changes started when we knew the that the that the city and region were putting the road through, right? The the new the new road. And we knew that w well in advance, for several years in advance. And part of the, you know, Lawrence had asked, you know, hey, do we have the product that people want? Now that we're gonna have better frontage, because our challenges always were, you know, not having good frontage, people not being able to find us, having to drive around that, you know, crappy road and down the hill. I remember those days. I remember those days. Yeah. And it although it was quaint, and hey, it was great at the time, but we knew things were changing, the region was changing rapidly. And as the region has been changing, even to still today, you know, our growth and change is really at the same pace as the region. Yeah. So when we said no, we don't have the products and things that people want or need, that got us kicked into gear of starting some renovation projects. We did the embassy room back then, and then we started doing the ballroom, and then over to Marshall Hall to upgrade, putting in fiber optics. So most places have fiber optics. Well, we have two fiber services just to make sure for redundancies and other things. So when those things were there, and then it was also the water park, and we asked the question. We brought in a big park designer just to help guide us through. You know, you know, you can't navel games. Sometimes you have to bring in outside help. And sometimes it's those people that that were that asked the questions that you never either thought to ask or you were afraid to ask. And they had said, you don't have proper games room, you don't have this, this is what we had. And we couldn't do it all at once because it would have been a just an enormous cost. But we took those those thoughts, and as we started growing every year and tweaking, every time we did something, it was for a better goal. We had an end game in in in mind. So that's when Funworks came. You know, we said, hey, we've got you know millions, tens of millions invested in this water park. We water park season is 90 days in Ontario. Yeah. So it's you either you make it or you don't. Yeah. Uh and for us it was, hey, if we were to do it all over again, would we do it? Yeah, maybe we would, maybe we wouldn't. But we're there. So now let's make it the best. But how do we get that amusement component to be year-round? So we don't have to keep, you know, we can keep staff longer in those, and that's how fun works was born. Right? Because we had more washrooms, more concessions, more attractions, a big games room.

Ian McLean:

Aaron Ross Powell So water park the other water park, and then you also have funworks and Kingpin, right?

Mark Bingeman:

Aaron Ross Powell So the FunWorks building was the first to be built. Yeah. And then we built it to add on. We purposely did it. We added an addition, and then the third edition was the Boston Pizza Kingpin Bowl Lounge. Right. And that was a much longer. And that building is yet to grow into something else to add another component, but another 40,000 feet at some point in time. So whenever we do a project, we're always looking at what do we need now, what's coming down the pipe for people that's wanting, but what's next? We always leave room for the next thing. And at the same point, time, we're not afraid of changing things up because you know, prior to FunWorks, we had the lower end of the park, we had bumper boats, we had some inflatables, we had the jump by attraction, a whole bunch of other activities. And a year after we opened FunWorks, we realized no one was using those attractions anymore because they all wanted the new stuff.

Ian McLean:

Yeah.

Mark Bingeman:

So we started phasing those out. Because not everything is good as a everything has an expiry day. Yeah. And you always have to be looking what's the next best thing coming.

Ian McLean:

And I see, I mean, I see that in with my time in the beer business, right? In sp in downtown Toronto when I was working, is restaurants, they either adapt and change what they were doing because there's lots there, and people wanted the newest and the latest and something fresh. So you do have to always keep keep that in mind. Listen, I mean it it's a it's a good segue. Um and you know, our chamber and the rest of the economic development uh partners are all talking about, well, there's a vision for us to be a million people. That decision was made by the province and the region and others years ago. But we're gonna be better part of a million people in the next 20 years. And so we have needs, which I think everyone, whether it's in business or civic life, we need lots more healthcare services and professionals. We need housing, we need infrastructure across the board that are all critical priorities. Um, but one of the things that we're conscious of is saying we're gonna be a million people. How are we a successful community of a million people that's worth living in? And part of that is um is the placemaking part. Like pla places like Bangman's is a is a major tourist destination, so it brings people in, which is great for the economy, um, great experiences for locals. Um but that that when we are a million people, we have to have things that keep people animated and excited about being in this community. Talk about the the that placemaking and livability function of uh of why it's important for a vibrant community like the region of Waterloo.

Mark Bingeman:

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, you know what? Uh that's kind that that is at the crux of what we do each and every day. And and our growth pattern. Um I think our region was on the was on the path to a million, whether the prophet said you had to be or not. It's just listen, it's it's a great place to be. It's central location. Uh we we all know, you know, so I'm speaking to the choir on those things. Yeah. Um but it's yeah, placemaking is it's we need places of significance for people to want to live here. And at the same point, you know, they shouldn't feel that they need to go to Toronto, you know, to go. Yeah, and again, look at look at that now. Like it's at now, if you're having going to Toronto for an event, you have budget at least two hours of travel time, sometimes two and a half. And if there's an accident, those there's many events I've gone to in the city that I've had to cancel because accident on the 401, yeah, and just hey, we're not going to make it. So then turn back. Um, so it's those types of things that we need to be doing more of. And and you know, we talk about, you know, we hear a lot of people saying, hey, we wish we had this, we wish we had that. So we're getting there. There's no question, whether it's ourselves and many others that are preparing for that opportunity. As the demographics change, as the population grows, we will be adding more and more products and more and more, and and outsiders viewing our region as an in as a great investment because they're seeing that, they want a piece of that too. So we think about that that all the time. Yeah, we beta test all of our products here. You know, uh, we obviously we grew, we grew, we added uh Kingpin Cambridge a few years ago. Now we were doing it with the K1 in Cambridge, another product with some with partners of ours that we're doing that with. We're taking some of those products on the road. We're open, we're actually constructing as we speak uh uh Kingpin St. Catharines. So for us, this is a real great incubator for a lot of entertainment products that we like to take on the road.

Ian McLean:

And I think you're you're hit on something. I mean, it's important uh, you know, being connected to Toronto is it is going to be incredibly important for uh for not only our community, because there's actually more people that come in here to work than go the other way now. So all day two-way go is one of those examples of saying there's a there's a great uh pool of uh of potential customers saying, hey, look, we can go down and it's cheaper, more easier, less uh less busy to come to uh some of the things, whether it's Bingoins or other things back here in Waterdo Region. So uh important to have that connection. Listen, leading, you've um it's a multifaceted. We just we've talked about that uh uh you know, and it's and it's family-owned business. Um uh it it's it's you know, it's not just the operations and for running a good business, but it's also culture and it's about the experiences that you've had and and how you've grown as a leader of an organization. So but when you look back, and you've we've all had mentors one way or the other, whether you call them a mentor or not, the people that have helped you along the way, looking back at your at those that have helped you along the way, have how have they influenced the way that you mentor the next generation, whether it's your own team or others in the community? Because that's one of the the things we all sort of pay it forward, uh, and we're always informed by by those that have helped us along the way.

Mark Bingeman:

Well, yeah, it's I would say there's I've had mentors all throughout. When when with my career at Hyatt, with uh you know, going through university, like even still now I'm connected with Michigan State. Um I've I go down periodically, I was on the search committee for a new dean, uh, and still some of the old professors and asking how are things, and they're almost wanting to know so they can keep current what's going on out there. So it's that item of keeping current that really has has gone forward. And even as we go forward, you go forward, you know, our board is obviously uh made up of family members, but we have strategic advisors that are advising the board. You know, they're they're gold to us. They're they're the ones they're they're the ones, they're not telling us what to do, they're asking the questions. Does this does this fit? Does this make sense? How does this where is the growth on this? How is this with the other people? And I would say over the years, um, you know, our change in management style has changed dramatically into this management team. You know, uh we brought in a performance coach uh uh about a year and a half ago, just working with everybody, just you know, all the key uh department heads in those areas, they know everything what's going on, driving what's going on, because we're looking for exponential growth. And in order to get there, you have to have everybody on board. Yeah. And through that, and especially coming out of COVID, you know, when we started, you know, we went down, we were as low as seven staff members.

Ian McLean:

Yeah.

Mark Bingeman:

At the worst point of COVID. And, you know, so we're typically between 500 and 600 employees. So we knew the build back was gonna be, was gonna be significant and what was important, what made us us. And of course, during that time we we had some time to really talk, talk things out. And we use that time. We use that time to help with our plants and and and really shape our culture. Our our culture was already shaped. It was now how do we polish it? And you know, what makes us, what do our clients think of us, what's important to our clients, what's important to us, because we're customer-centric, whether it's a corporate client like yourselves at the chamber, or whether somebody just came into the water park for the day.

Ian McLean:

And you know, I I think it it is uh co COVID, I mean, we're sort of past because it all affected everyone. And obviously, hospitality was first impacted and last to really f fully come out of it, and that that was that was just a reality. But I think it also did there were some lessons there that we really took away from from how to how to do things. And um and and so it sounds like you took you used the time to figure figure those things out, and as you say, polish uh polish what was already a very successful um uh business. The Behind the Business Podcast is made possible through the support of our title sponsor, Gore Mutual. Proudly Canadian, Gore Mutual has stayed true to one purpose for more than 185 years: insurance that does good. It's the reason they exist. They believe that when we focus on being good, doing good, and spreading good, we all thrive together. We're grateful for their continued commitment to our local communities and the positive impact they make every day. For more information, visit goremutual.ca. Listen, you're a major employer, and we just talked about that. You know, you're from the depths of COVID to where you are now, and you're growing, and you've got your it's no longer uh, you know, I'm I'm not sure that it ever really was just local, but it's not local anymore. You're all over southwestern Ontario. I mean, you're you're a lot you're in a lot of different places, whether it's catering and and now in St. Catharines and other places. Uh, but you're a big employer, and you hire lots of um uh students starting out in their careers that get to give them their first opportunity. Um several of our, I mean, several of my my team here at the chamber have worked at the Benguins for you, and and over the years it's it's uh it's been you know, lots of people say, Oh, of course I worked at Bingham's. Everyone, everyone eventu eventually. Sooner or later, sooner or later they were at Bingham's. And um so when you look ahead to the trends in education and training, um how do you think those things are gonna change for the employees that you'll need in the future? Because the because the profile must have changed from 20 years ago to what the type of of employees that you need now. And so education and training and sort of that that new generation um uh of workers is is gonna look different. How do you how do you think uh uh how do you think both training and education is gonna have to adapt so you get what you need uh to to fulfill um the goals that you have as a business?

Mark Bingeman:

So I tell you, the one fundamental has never changed. Even with all this current stuff with AI and and everything else, that fundamental is we hire great people. You have to be a great person, you have to you have to enjoy people, you have to be able to communicate. You know, great people is where it all starts. Once we have that, now we can teach them things. You know, there's obviously great courses with Conestoga, yeah. Other, you know, just the the the scholastic and uh and uh uh uh academic around us is is significant, so whether it's Laurier, Waterloo, uh Guelph, and certainly pulling from others. But we still need to teach them how we do it. And so for us is once we once we once we hire great people, it's easy to train and and mold great people. You know, at any given time, we either have a hundred, somewhere between a hundred and four hundred of our staff are students, whether university students, high school students, like that's how dramatic obviously in the summertime ramps up pretty significantly, but in Christmas time as waiters and things like that. Um so it's it's pretty significant. And and at any given time, you know, 20 or up to about 20 percent. I was asking my HR people this this the other day, up to 20% is their first-time job. Yeah. So for us, we're great training grounds for those, for those people.

Ian McLean:

So the academic, they I mean, they gotta have some of those skills, but you know, customer service and knowing how to get the the customer experience and and how your weight staff and service staff uh are central to that. Is uh that's that's that's the non-academic training part.

Mark Bingeman:

And and you know, and and in in our day and today's day and age, with everybody with their phones and communicating only by phone, it's hard to get you know kids nowadays to get out of their shelves. Yeah. Like there's gonna be someone in front, and when we do customer service training with them, especially the summer. Sorry, but I'm glad it wasn't me.

Ian McLean:

No, no, that was me. I can't believe I didn't turn that off. No worries. I'm gonna get in trouble. Yeah, yeah, right.

Mark Bingeman:

No, but but seriously, it's it's that, you know, for them to understand, okay, we're gonna have somebody in front of you. You can't look at your phone for assistance or to talk to them. You need to say, welcome, yeah, and what can we get for you? Yeah, and then upselling or other things, or even you know, obviously you go through customer service training. Hey, if somebody's not enjoying themselves or has an issue, we want it solved by that line person. Yeah, you've got carte blanche, solve their problem. Yeah, we can deal with it afterwards. If you think you give in too much or you give in too much, don't worry about that, but just don't let that person because if it gets further up the food chain, it becomes a more it just gets worse. Yeah, right. So solve the person's problem. Yeah, yeah. We had a we had a theme, uh actually it was it was just the other year, you know, make everybody leave as raving fans. Yeah, if we do that each and every day, that's what's the key to business growth.

Ian McLean:

That's good for any business, whether you're a hospitality business or not, is that for happy customers uh is the best best advertising. Listen, Conestog or uh Bingamans has been a cornerstone of Water to Region for decades, and we've touched on that. And you've supported lots of programs and you know organizations, charities. Um, you know, we've got many events that you're participating in, Oktoberfest and other things over the years. Um what what uh what what uh what what impact does a the the positive community events that are here um mean to you personally, right? To you and the family and to the business. I mean there's two parts of this, and we want a successful community so others can be successful, but having those big events and for other organizations to be successful is just good for for the community, but it's also good for business broadly.

Mark Bingeman:

Yeah, I would say for us, that's a you know, we all live in the community. Yeah, we grew up in the community, we've prospered in this community, you have to give back to the same community. And and with that cycle, and I I personally believe in the wheel of fortune, right? From six years, what comes around is gonna go around.

Ian McLean:

Yeah.

Mark Bingeman:

Um sometimes you may not think of it that way, depending on what situations you're going through, but you have to have faith in that, and you have to have faith with with the community. And for us, uh whether it's, you know, you know, we've we're very connected with the health of the region, so healthcare, so we're very connected with supporting that and and their different initiatives. But even when it's other community initiatives, obviously we've been with Oktoberfest since the beginning, uh, so still working on that and working with them on different items, but it's it's far beyond that. You know, there was uh an esport startup trying to get to trying to get space going and they needed some assistance. So we thought, hey, listen, we have the we have the ability. When we have the ability, we love supporting and showing. Um and at some point in time, I'm sure that that'll come back to us too. But it's it's we need more of that in our community. And I think as we grow, it's a different community today. And it's in it will be a different community tomorrow. And I think some of that learning of some of the more um uh the more usual suspects of of large family businesses that were supportive, it was expected of them, and as I I I think people expect that of us as well. But we do it because we want to, and we do it, listen, yeah, we've got we've got over 500 employees. You know, uh we want them to be healthy. Yeah. So we want them when they go to whatever whichever hospital they go to, we want them to have top-notch healthcare because we need them in their seats.

Ian McLean:

Yeah, and if and uh at the end of the day, we're one community and we're all connected. Listen, you you've you've we talked about some of the new experiences, and I'm I'm interested. Uh there's a new one in the tannery, in the communitech building. Um so it's called putt social. So tell us just a little bit about that. But also, you know, I I guess the quite real question is what's next? Because you because putt social is something new. Yeah. How did you come up with that as being the idea and the location? And and how would that inform the what's next part? Like you're doing that now, but how how will you come up with that? What uh the what's the next thing after that? So talk about putt social because I'm interested. I'm a golfer, so I'm in the right.

Mark Bingeman:

We can't tell you everything that's coming up because then there wouldn't be any, there wouldn't be any surprises. But yeah, this Putt Social, believe it or not, we've been looking for something for five years on the upscale mini golf. And trying to find it, and ideally trying to find a vendor partner that could create what we wanted created uh without us doing it ourselves. Because we're not we're not the tech people, we're not those other items. So it's taken five years, and just you know, we're at a we're at a trade show, and listen, we scour the world for things. When we travel, we go check things out myself. My other other managers go around whenever they're saying they're traveling somewhere. So it was, hey, go check out this place that opened. I saw this in the trade magazine. So keeping current is so important. So we're at a trade show, and uh, our head of facilities said, I think I found what we're looking for. I mean, where is it? It was in the back of the street, you know, monstrous, you know, Orange County Convention Center in a corner. I I wouldn't even have seen this thing. I said, Where'd you see, where'd you see these things? I just walked by and I said, we talked to these people, saw their product, we said, hey, we like it. Can you make a few? Yeah, they're happy to do it. It was coming out of Brazil, believe it or not. Uh and that's how so that's how we got it. So Putt Social is really an upscale mini golf uh and and bar and and restaurant. When I say restaurant, snacking foods, you know, it's really about competitive socializing.

Ian McLean:

Yeah.

Mark Bingeman:

You're gonna go there for a few drinks, you're gonna go there and have some fun. Actually, when you when you go there, you check in at the bar, and then you get get ready, and they're saying, great, let's get you a drink to get started, whether it's alcoholic or non-alcoholic. They've got a whole bunch of huge mock tail lists, milkshake list, and all those things. But the great thing is, is the tech that it's all infused with tech. You don't do anything. It keeps core for you and plays getting games and does all these other things. So it's a for us, it was this was the beta test for us. Again, for us, we love beta testing in our region. We had we still had that space, which we hadn't have come back from COVID yet. And said, what can we do cool? Because people still aren't back to the office, unfortunately, fully. So knowing that that's going to be a challenge there, we need something that's a real destination driver. Yeah. And that's when we came up with this product.

Ian McLean:

Well, that's it. It sounds like I haven't been in yet, but I I will because corporate groups, huge for corporate groups. Well, uh at the end of the golf season, I'm always looking for something that involves golf during the winter months. So listen, before we wrap up, and this in this podcast series is as I always say is as much about hearing the story of businesses like Bangladesh, but it's also about leadership, right? It's about leaders in our community. And I always ask the same sort of series of questions. Um, because it's always interesting to see different people's take on uh uh of what is what what their growth has uh has led to their growth. So um if you could go back, um what would you tell your younger self if you could go back in time and give yourself some sort of advice?

Mark Bingeman:

Go harder. Time is time is a especially now, time is a v such a valuable commodity that I did not realize it in my younger years.

Ian McLean:

I don't know, that's good advice. Who or what inspires you in your life?

Mark Bingeman:

Uh you know, I would say the kindness of others. When I see that from our team members that are you know really living that ethos of us of of delivering great experiences. And that's that's what we do. We deliver exceptional experiences. And when I see that, that drives me more because it's it's because I one is people get it, they're getting it. But it also drives me to say, okay, I need to do more. You know, and it's that yin and yang and supporting one another is is what is what drives it.

Ian McLean:

Uh if you weren't in your career, it's hard to imagine a bangeman not in the bingamans uh uh business. But if you weren't in bingamans, what would you be doing? Aaron Ross Powell Art history. Really?

Mark Bingeman:

I know you have to, yeah, art history. Mind officially blown here, I would not have picked that. Why that why why my art history You know, I I was in in high school, I got a taste of art history through our the art the art department, through the art class. And when I went to university, I had just a couple of uh electives you had to take. And I I picked the art history ones. And I just, yeah, my own. So is it is it uh you travel on?

Ian McLean:

Is it architect- is it like what are some of the things? Architecture or architecture, art.

Mark Bingeman:

I listen, there's not a museum I don't miss or oh yeah, absolutely.

Ian McLean:

Well, you and as much traveling as you're on, you must have seen some some great ones uh along the way.

Mark Bingeman:

I've I've I've been very I've been very fortunate, there's no question it. And you know what? The best one is always the next one.

Ian McLean:

Yeah, the best one is the next one. That's good. Um and people still read books, uh, whether it's online or in paper, uh, or listen to a podcast. Now I know you listen to the behind the business podcast, but uh, what are you reading or what are you listening to on on podcasts?

Mark Bingeman:

So I am a I am a horrible reader. Reader, I'll tell you that from a book standpoint, that's not my thing. But I I have an insatiable appetite for industry trade magazines. And typically now, now that they're all online, it's a whole lot easier. Yeah. And I can, I can, I can save them. I've got I've got a file that says read later. And so if I see something and I don't have the time, I always put it in there, and then every Sunday I scan through that and it's there's something I need to pick up on and those types of things. But podcasting, there's a there's actually a gentleman out of uh I've he's a friend of mine, uh Basher Wally, who's a big uh hospitality person out of the US, does a lot of podcasts, has his own podcast. The future of hospitality is he he is dialed in significantly. He's uh he's an immense individual. When he he never stays in the same hotel once, more than one night. Because his goal is he wants to see whether he's searching for what's the next in hospitality. And he obviously runs a hospitality organization. Yeah. So it's it's those types of people that drive me of, yeah, we may not be doing the same things and exactly in the same same uh lane, but that thought process and that mental process is you know, we can apply that to our business.

Ian McLean:

Um I know uh your favorite business has got to be Bingamans, but what's your favorite other than Binghamans, what's your what's one of your favorite local businesses in the region?

Mark Bingeman:

Gosh, you know, I would say I I I gotta give a shout out Matter of Taste, Don and Fong, the the best coffee in the world. I wish they had more outlets for me to get my my my fix, but uh you know, but I always make sure make some time to see them downtown.

Ian McLean:

Good job is always an important start.

Mark Bingeman:

Well, and you know what? Uh I love what the guys are doing, uh Wes and John down at uh the Odd Duck. Have you been to Odd Doc? No, I have not. You've got to get down there. They're these guys are bringing it to the plate. It's uh my hat's off to them. They they they're doing a fantastic job and and they need and and you know I gotta say, I've my favorite bagel place, I think, is closed now, Woodside or Fireside. I just just off of uh off of Wilson there. I hope they're gonna reopen, but uh best place for bagels.

Ian McLean:

There you go. Um and you know, of course, uh people may want to get connected, and you know, whether it's a young person listening to this looking for a job and not realizing that bangamans could be there at the start of their career. Where do where can listeners go to connect with you uh and the business?

Mark Bingeman:

Yeah, you know what? It's uh yeah, the easiest thing is follow us online on Instagram, LinkedIn. You'll see all the latest things coming up. You can always get a hold of us there or you know, check out our website, sign up for our different. We've got two different uh avenues of uh of e-blasts that go out. One's for the consumer the amusement consumers and the other one is for our corporate. Uh a lot of people sign up on both, but it's that's the best way. And and listen, anybody wants to get a hold of me? It's really easy. It's mbingaman at bingamans.com. There you go. I'm it's easy to get a hold of me.

Ian McLean:

That's good. Listen, uh, I know how uh we talked a little bit earlier about the most valuable commodities is time. Uh, you said in one of your answers. Thank you for some spending some of your precious time with us. We appreciate you joining us today.

Mark Bingeman:

Hey, thanks for having me. It's great seeing you guys. And any great great job that the chamber's always doing. So keep it up.

Ian McLean:

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Behind the Business, proudly presented by Gore Mutual, insurance that does good. New episodes drop every Thursday, so be sure to tune in next week. You can also visit greater kwchamber.com to catch up on past episodes anytime. We'll see you next time as we continue to go behind the business.

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