Assignment 3

Enrique Teran

Illinois Union Rec Room has provided students and families around the community with the opportunity to have a safe-friendly environment to relieve some stress. Again, as mentioned in previous blogs, the rec room is a leisure service and defined by Mr. Brinkmeyer, manager of the Rec Room, "leisure is a mental preperation and focus to get away from work; anything that takes you away from that 'box'". In speaking with the group about what we believe the definition of "leisure" is, we decided that it is any actvity that enables you to free your mind and escape reality while in a stress-free environment. Given the definition, we concluded that every company we blogged on fits the description.


The Rec Room's objective is to create an environment not only for guests, but more specifically for students attending the University of Illinois. Many students cannot or choose not to enter the bar scene at night, thus needing a place to hang out, even after dark. As mentioned in my previous blog, the Rec Room has a broad range of things to do such as shoot some pool to throwing that strike in bowling. It is sure to adapt to any student's preference in sport.
We see that every leisure service in our group, adapts to a certain community. For example, Jamie's research on Reins for Gains is specifically set as a thereupeutic leisure service. The Urbana Country Club is a private organization where fees help keep the Club up and running. CRCE and the Rec Room are funded by the university which includes funding from the government. In reading your comment in my last post, it is very hard to describe what type of leisure service the Rec Room is due to its unique setting in the University of Illinois. Moreover, being on campus has its strengths and weaknesses. Its strength and heart of the Rec Room is definitely the students. Without them, there is no need for the Rec Room; students make up the majority of business and will continue to do so for the years to come. However, one of the weaknesses I see in the Rec Room is lack of advertising and size. Many students do not step into the Rec Room once due to the belief that it is quite expensive, since typical bowling alleys and pool halls are. Another thing would be lack of size. There are about 40,000 students on campus and there is a clustering of students when the weekend comes.

Being a leisure service whether private, commercial, or non-profit is very hard to run. Coming into the class RST 110, I had not realized how leisure systems worked and how hard it is to keep them from going belly-up. Not only that, but the field has possibilities for employment and a decent wage as well. Many take it for granted but I feel that my fellow group students and I have come away with a different opinion of what a leisure service provides and how it excels in providing it. The Illinois Rec Room focus is the students and they make sure one is aware of it. Every service researched has a specific aim, and from the research provided, it seems that every company is fulfilling its goals. I am currently a business major and all I see in companies is the bottom line of course. This course however showed me how some people need these services to relieve stress or get thereupeutic relief. All and all, the Illinois Rec Room is here to stay and continue to provide excellent services in the community, more specifically the students. For more information about the rec room you can visit them online at http://union.illinois.edu/funspots/recroom/ Thank you for your time.