What Happened to all the Projects?

To this day Greg is still working on finding a city to joint venture for a waterpark and/or an adventure park. Trying to partner with a manufacturing company for the adventure park was never successful. What resulted was an internal effort to manufacture the structures our selves. The expansion of the Dallas parks was successful with the installation of three new major Splashtacualr, ride manufacturer, attractions.

The Summerlin, Las Vegas waterpark never came to fruition. The building of the park was pushed off a year due to financing complications. Later the management company, HFW, and the investors, the Bulloch’s, parted ways. I do not know they details as to why the two parties separated but do know who came after HFW. Ironically enough the company that took over the management agreement was Village Roadshow. If you are unaware of their work in the amusement industry you do not need to look further than Phoenix. Village Roadshow is the parent company of Wet n Wild Phoenix! The announcement of Wet n Wild Las Vegas was made earlier this year in October. The park is scheduled to open the summer of 2013. 

The Second Opportunity

So as my work ended at WNW and Yost Advisors I decided to find work in something I loved. I started rekindling old acquaintances and tried to feel for what was out there. I remembered an old friend from elementary school who worked for the Arizona House of Representatives. I contacted him to see if they were hiring. He replied and informed me that October marked the beginning of the hiring process for the 2013 season. So I applied and moved forward with the process. Now, I thought to myself, I’m trying to do something I love, public policy. The process was rather intensive but after going through with it I was offered a position page.

I am looking forward to the new journey that the spring semester will bring. I feel beyond blessed that I get to work with our policy makers even if it is at small level. I was actually supposed to start January 7^th but was called to work early. I hope to use this opportunity to learn the ins and outs  of our legislative system to gain an upper hand when it comes to applying for jobs after I graduate. I also hope to make enough connections inside to also help me land a job after I graduate.

           

I can even admit that I will be making less money at the state than when I was a my other jobs but it doesn’t bother me as much. I am ok with where I am now and know that this is the first step to the rest of my journey. 

Not Wanting To Continue

As the year on my contract quickly approached I was faced with making a decision. Should I continue in this industry or should I try something new? I was starting to feel unhappy in my position. I know that we all have to start somewhere but I didn’t feel, as though where I was, was a position that was going to get me where I wanted to be. As I have stated I want to help and serve people. I feel as though that could be a position in a non-profit or government agency. I also feel as though I can serve people through politics. The one thing I knew was that I was not going to achieve my dream by staying in the amusement industry.

I felt that at both positions I held with Greg and WNW that I was not getting paid enough, I won’t go into details. I also knew that there was a limited amount of room for advancement. I had peaked at my positions and knew it would be a long time before I moved up or I would need change. When the time came for renewal I informed Greg that I was no longer going to work with for him. As I stated earlier he was a long time family friend and he understood where I was coming from. So with his blessing I left and moved on. 

Texas Part II

The second half of my trip consisted of spending time at the waterparks. At this point I was separated from Greg and spent time with another intern at the company. Our job was to secret shop the five waterparks in the Dallas area. We had to see if we could sneak into the park, try all the food, buy a locker, see if we were offered a souvenir cup and observe any oddities.

This task was an all day event because every park was at least one hour apart. We were successful in getting to every park by the end of the day. Every park varied slightly in their operation some executed better than others. We were successful in sneaking in a few times and did catch some odd behavior from employees but it had to be done. After we had gathered all the information we then had to compile it and send it as a presentation to the VP of Operations so that he could show it to his general managers.

It was nice spending the day at the five waterparks and trying some cool new attractions but it was also cool that our feedback was being taken on what the park operations were like. 

A week in Texas Part I

Over the course of the year Greg and I discussed spending my summer at the Dallas waterparks. This would allow me see the parks operations first hand. Time went by and no solid plans were made. So by the time we wanted to set something up it was too late! So we settled on me going out there for a week.

I arrived in Dallas with Greg and we made our way to our hotel. I was to spend the first few days with Greg and then move on to spending time at the parks. While with Greg we met with the Texas State Fair and explored the idea of installing an adventure park at their fair! We wanted to place one in Texas because the Texas fair set the standards for the other state fairs. If Texas bought an adventure park then so would everyone else!

We also met with the people at PrimePlay Inc. The direct competitors to White Water West. We tried working on an water ropes course with them too but pricing was too high. The director of the state fair was generous enough to give us a tour of the facilities, which was awesome! They also gave us the inside scoop on their up and coming attraction. The fair is in the process of building the worlds tallest observatory tower, i.e. space needle. 

100+ Projects

It was our duty to find a new location for the next Hawaiian Falls Waterpark. Greg would travel two weeks a month in search of a joint venture agreement with any city that would have it. It was my job trying to land Greg meetings in the different cities and arrange all of his agendas, directions and travel arrangements.

We were working in finding a place in states like Arizona, California, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Florida, and Hawaii. In each state named above there were at least twenty cities we contacted and continued contact with in order to try and land an agreement. It was utter chaos trying to keep everything organized and up to date. I could honestly not keep up with the rate of meetings we had and the amount of work we had to do. The list only grew larger by the week. We went from one rolling suitcase to three in a matter of weeks. Each rolling case jammed with correspondence and agendas from previous meetings with each city.

IAAPA Part III

My favorite experience at the IAAPA Conference was when we met with a major hotel CEO from the Las Vegas strip and discussed the possibility of building them a waterpark. What I enjoyed most about the meeting was the people in attendance. First was a gentleman named James Yust, also known as the father of waterparks. Another gentleman who used to be the director of Disney's Imagineers. Lastly was the CEO of the major Las Vegas hotel.

Keep in mind this meeting was to see the possibility of building a water park and what that would consist of. The Las Vegas CEO would raise a question and the experts in the room were charged with answering them. I enjoyed listening to the experts draw on their previous experiences and why they felt a certain  way. It was also cool because it is not every day that you have access to those kinds of people!

Anything 3

What's after graduation? Lately I have wondered what on earth will happen after I graduate! You will read later on that I am not longer in the waterpark industry and why! So I am left with three years experience in the amusement industry and not wanting to do anything with it. How am I supposed to catch up to everyone else who has had public service or public policy experience? 

I hope I am not met with too much adversity out the gate when trying to find a job in whatever it is I am going to do. The good thing is that I am determined to be happy and find something that makes me happy! It took me three years to realize that just having a career was not okay. If I kept the track I was going in the amusement industry I could have confidently said finding a job would be a breeze! Unfortunately that is no longer the case. But I guess I have answered my own question, I would rather work that much harder to be happy than work in an industry where  I am not. 

Here's to graduation and what's to come! :)

Anything 2

I am majoring in public service and public policy and could not be happier with the road I chose. I grew up in a family where service to others was just what we did. My parents served in prisons as counselors for 12 years, were foster parents for 4 years and visited countless orphanages to bring hope to children through the word of God.

I remember growing up saying I was going to change the world. Luckily I still believe I will. I am not going to change the word by making lots of money but my helping those in need. I know it is my duty and calling to serve others. I do not know to what capacity yet but I will. 

It was hard to find passion in my work in the amusement industry. I was working in an industry that focused on making money at the amusement of others. Yes service is involved but not significant service. The service I provided was more transactional than transformational. I want to work somewhere where my influence can be life changing or life saving. 

Balancing 2 Commitments

So as I had stated in the earlier posts I worked at Wet 'n' Wild Phoenix while woking for the "competitor" with Greg. Greg and I were in a unique place as we both worked for two organizations within the same industry. I only worked for Greg part time so I needed to return to Wet n Wild for the 2012 season for additional income.

It was rather difficult working for two competitors at the same time. Each had a preconcieved notion of the other, as wrong as each side may have been, I could not comment. I had to find a balance when it came to working with Greg and find a balance when working at Wet n Wild. Each side asking for more time than I had initially promised. I had to sit with both employers and remind them that I was hired as "part-time" and could not offer more than what I had committed. It did help that Greg was also consulting for WNW so there was not too much tension.

What I did have to be careful about was the information I held about both and not going off sharing information with the opposite party. Topics would arise and I had to play dumb and say I did not know what was going on. I personally think that playing dumb was the best way to handle the situation. If I told them I knew and did not share it could have been held against me! So if I do not know then I can not be held accountable for anything!

Adventure Park Part II

As we worked on the concept of an adventure park we knew that we needed to come up with a new attraction never seen before. So we began to partner with industry leaders such as White Water West and Primeplay Inc. All three of us knew that the adventure park concept was next in the que for big ideas. We met with White Water West at the IAAPA Conference and were pleased to see what they had in mind. They wanted to create a water ropes course, now called an Aquacourse. The aquacourse would have all aspects of a ropes course with a harness and all but the new ingredient would be water! Something that has, to our knowledge, never been done before. So we worked on partnering with White Water and placing the first Aquacourse at one of our Dallas parks.

The neat thing about the aqua course is that it could leave a small footprint, size taken up, but have a high impact, literally. We could go vertical with the structure and increase the throughput, number of riders, and the thrill as one went higher. One element the creators added was interaction with the aquacourse. A child could use certain levers to make the course spray others or himself. They also imagined a game where riders had to find certain buzzers and try to reach the buzzers in certain times. Making a competition of the interaction between riders. The Aquacourse could also be themed to match any park around the world. For example, one could think or a Finding Nemo or Sponge Bob Square Pants theme.

Google White Water West Aquacourse if your interested.

Adventure Park

The crazy part of our work was that we were working on a million things at once. Not small things but big projects! We were to continue work in Vegas, work on the expansion in Dallas, work on the adventure park concept and find a new city to plant a Hawaiian Falls Waterpark. One of my favorite projects was the concept of the adventure park.

Th adventure park was to be an outdoors amusement park. It would consist of things already being done like bungee jumping, rock climbing, ropes courses, and zip lining. The difference would be that the adventure park would bring all the separate components into one park. It is something that is starting to be seen in the amusement world. One example is the an outdoor safari in Florida. We are seeing this movement tag along with the health movement. Americans are making it a point to eat healthier and exercise. Why not provide a family attraction that can get  your blood going and help you burn some calories while your having fun with your family.

We were also different because we wanted to attach these adventure parks to our water parks. Allowing us to operate 365 a year. When the winter weather closes the pools we still have another aspect of the park that can stay open. The adventure park would have indoor and outdoor attractions. The indoor attractions to be used in winter months. We also had a vision to partner with local school districts to provide health field trips where the kids could run around and burn energy at the different courses then bring them together in class/birthday rooms and teach them the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

IAAPA Part II

The morning after the awful hotel experience we had to pick up the rest of the team. First, Steve and Dave had to attend meeting at the conference while Greg and I searched for a new hotel. We dropped Steve and Dave at the conference and went on with our journey. Finding a decent hotel in Orlando during an international conference at a decent price is impossible. We visited at least six hotels in different parts of the city. Every hotel was not in the best of conditions. We were looking at places like  Hampton Inn, decent place. The other problem was being able to accommodate for 30 individuals! Finally an hour before we had to pick up the team we settled on a Courtyard Hotel. Dave also swore us to secrecy that we never share the awful condition of the previous hotel.

After finding a place to stay, which was stressful, we had to now find a place to eat lunch! Luckily the hotel suggested a sit down pizzeria down the road. I almost forgot! We also had to reserve meeting space at the current hotel for the team building activities! We were lucky that the hotel was able to meet our every last minute demand!

As we returned to the hotel we were scheduled to meet for the team exercises. At the first team exercise I got to meet everyone that was part of the Hawaiian Falls family. It was also their opportunity to meet each other as there are five waterparks in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and they rarely get to intermingle. At that point I did not feel so alone and was more on an even playing field.

That night I was placed on one of the teams and was sent out on the town for a mission. We had to travel to Universal Studios and observe the theming taking place and how we could incorporate similar concepts at home. Our team also got to have dinner together and gave us more of an opportunity to bond.

It was great to meet the people that we were serving. Greg and I worked day in and day out changing the aspects of the organization that they worked with. It was finally nice to put a face on who we worked for.

International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, IAAPA. Part I

For some time I was working on planning a trip for Greg to Orlando, Florida. On this trip Greg was to attend the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, IAAPA, Conference. At this conference you get to see the latest and greatest in arcade gaming, casino gambling, amusements rides and attractions and food! It is a week long conference where there is workshops on anything and everything that could pertain to the amusement industry. Plus there is the showroom floor of all the attractions where vendors try to attract buyers to sign contracts on the spot. As you can imagine I wanted to go!

One day Greg looks over from his desk to mine and said, "Did you make your travel arrangements yet?" I looked at him with shock and said no. Soon after I started to make my arrangements and could not wait to go to Orlando!

The trip was set up as a team building exercise for the entire Hawaiian Falls staff, the operating side of Harvest Family Entertainment. This was the first time I was to meet the rest of the staff, remember Greg and I are based here in Phoenix and the company we consult for is based in Dallas.

Greg, my self and the rest of the executive team arrive one night earlier. Let's just say that arriving early was a lifesaver for the rest of the team. When we arrived to the hotel we were surprised to find it below subpar. The "hotel" resembled something we college students would stay in during spring break in Mexico! When we went to pick up the CEO at the airport we did not know how he would take our feed back. The first thing he asked when he entered the van was "How is the hotel?" Greg, Steve (VP of Construction), and myself bursted into laughter. Dave, CEO, could not believe that the conditions were that bad. To his surprise the conditions were awful.

Soon after realizing that the rest of the staff could not stay there he made Greg and I find an alternative place to stay for the rest of the trip.

Anything 1

It is my senior year at ASU and must admit it is bittersweet. I am excited that I am graduating soon but sad that I have to say goodbye to the life of an undergrad at ASU. I lived two year on campus and two years at home. I can't tell you that I made all the right choices while I have being here but I wouldn't change anything for the world. I enjoyed my time in Tempe and am enjoying my time at home. This year I promised my self that I would make it the best year yet and attend as many events as I could!

I ended up buying season tickets to the football games, I plan on attending some wrestling matches and hope to make it to the bowl game. I am happy that I chose to get involved on campus. Previous to this year I did not belong to any campus organization now I am working with the student chapter of the International County/City Managers Association and ASU Global Brigades. This is only the first semester and I hope spring semester has more in store.

Southern Nevada Health District

One of our major responsibilities was making sure that all paperwork for pre-construction was being turned into the proper government authority. One of those government bodies was the Southern Nevada Health District. We met with them on several occasions to discuss our lifeguard operating manual, toilet/ urinal count, restroom sink count, shower count and food and beverage plan. As you can see all of the items being discussed were pertained to human safety and health. 

We presented our idea of what we would have liked to see and they replied with what code demanded. Now, we were not trying to cut corners on human health but we were a business trying to operate as reasonably as possible. For example, the code required x amount of hot water showers. We were willing to comply with hot water in the changing rooms. Where we wished to deviate was at the showers located in the center of the park, far from any hot water source. It would cost us too much to be compliant and would take us off of budget and the construction timetable. At that point we had to decide if we were going to comply or if we were going to choose an appeal. We chose the appeal of course and had to present our wishes to a board. 

The interesting part was the viewpoints of the administrators. The people actually working with us on making sure we were being compliant. If we were deviating to far for comfort they would let us know. If they felt we had a chance on appealing they would let us know and offer support before the board. 

What was also interesting was the new codes being implemented due to the Vegas pool party scene. To their dismay as they would audit "pool facilities" at hotels they were finding large amounts of health risks in the water! This resulted in a more strict code thus passing on the code to those who had done nothing wrong. A more rigid code normally translates to larger expenses for the business owner.

Southwest Airlines Internship Info Session

We were required to go out and attend events set up by ASU Career Services. The first event I chose was the Southwest Airlines internships information session. I chose that event because I knew Southwest had a large internship program that accepted individuals in all areas of study. 

I enjoyed listening to the speaker share information that related to the process of searching for and applying for different internships. I felt like the process was set up in a very user-friendly manner. Meaning it was it to set up and account, search for internships and applying for those positions.

I also attended because I knew that Southwest had a major social responsibility division, an area of interest. After the presenter went over the ins and outs I strongly considered applying. The only reason I did not was because they required full time work during the semester and discouraged attending school. Being that I am a semester away from graduating I decided not to apply.

Free flights would have been nice though!

Landscaping to the Extreme

When we returned from our Las Vegas we went over our meeting notes. After we went over the meeting notes we went over the what was assigned to each individual contractor. Greg decided to give me two assignments and this blog post focuses on one. I was charged with getting quotes on all the landscaping at the waterpark. I started with personal networks at Moon Valley Nursey. We had a tall order to say the least and it took over a week to hear back with the initial numbers. When I received the quote I was shocked to say the least! The quote came in at over a quarter million dollars! When I went to report the numbers to Greg I was bracing myself to get a negative reaction. to my surprise Greg did not seem to bothered by the number and said "That sounds about right." I have never worked for an organization where I was responsible for that amount of money. I went ahead and started my search for another bid. I met with the owner of a landscaping firm that I cannot recall at this time. The irony of the story is that his brother was the owner of Moon Valley Nursery. It was two brothers competing for the same business. The unfortunate thing is that the second contractor never got back to me. I do not know if he was skeptical of my request. I felt in many situations during my internship that people we encountered did not take me serious due to my age. It is unfortunate that one can be excluded due to appearance in "maturity".

The First Project

As we started to settle in to our new roles my first major project was coming up. Hawaiian Falls Waterparks, HFW, had been working on a project in the Las Vegas area. To get me assimilated more quickly Greg decided to let me tag along to a budget meeting in Summerlin, Nevada. Summerlin can be compared to an area like Scottsdale, upscale neighborhood with many amenities. It was a great experience because I had never been to Las Vegas. The only down part was that I was not 21. But back to business, when we arrived to our destination I was able to meet the major investors. The Bulloch family of Las Vegas was involved in a agreement with HFW. The purpose of the meeting was to see if all contractors were falling into the estimated budget. After each contractor expressed their numbers it was time to determine what was needed and what was not. This is where it gets interesting! Each party had to explain why their numbers were so high and justify their expenses in hopes that they can keep their budget. The architects are scrutinizing the engineers and the operators are judging the architects as they are all observed by the investor.

My job was to take notes and offer operating suggestions as questions arose. I did enjoy providing my "expertise" when it came to providing operating solutions. For example, there were plans to have a staging area for patrons to wait prior to park opening. This area would allow them into certain parts of the park like lockers, changing rooms and retail store. The patrons would be separated by an elaborate moving wall/fence. The fence ended up on the budget as a huge expense. At this point I was able to offer my solution. I do not know if you have ever been to WNW but if you are there at nine in the morning we have a process that starts at nine-thirty. At nine-thirty we check your bags and let you enter up to the turnstiles then at nine-forty-five we let you enter partially. We had a staging area as well but the one thing separating you from entering the rest of the park is the loss prevention team. So we offered our version of the staging area and they seemed very receptive. It was rather difficult for me to try and keep up with the jargon. I kept the best set of notes I could and to be honest there were times where I had to fight to keep my eyes open. I had never sat in on a budget meeting that lasted eight hours!

The End

P.S. Please offer suggestions on how to improve the blog. I feel like it is rather bland!

The Opportunity

I was approached by Greg Yost, Principal of Yost Advisors, a business consultant and family friend of many years. Greg reached out to me in hopes that I could help him as his worked picked up. Yost Advisors was a one man company prior to my arrival. Greg was a consultant for Wet 'n' Wild Phoenix and Hawaiian Falls Waterparks based out of Dallas. Along with his consulting business Greg was a partial owner in three separate companies which included film and travel. My role was to help keep Greg organized and help in consulting our Hawaiian Falls client.

My duty was to help file paperwork, create word documents, excel documents, take meeting notes, manage all business accounts, manage travel arrangements, provide IT support for Apple devices and more. When I first started I had to hit the ground running. Greg's lifestyle was to move at a million miles an hour. It was my job to catch what he could not manage. When I started in August of 2011 Greg had purchased his first iMac computer. It was my job to help him transition from his PC to his iMac. As you all know purchasing your own Mac is like entering a whole new culture. There was daily interaction as to how to use the computer like maneuvering through "finder". There was also a complex filing system Greg had used for years and had to keep it up. We would create hard files of documents and then had to file the electric documents in "finder". So there was one electronic copy of a file and one hard copy of the same file. With two clients and three companies, keeping up with the filing system was difficult.

Introduction

My name is Joshua Martinez and I am a senior in the College of Public Programs. I will be graduating in May with a degree in Public Service and Public Policy with two certificates in Leadership & Ethics; Public Administration & Public Managment. I look forward to graduating and hopefully finding work!

I am originally from El Paso, Texas and have been in the valley since 2000. I currently reside in Peoria and am employed at Wet 'n' Wild Phoenix as a Loss Prevention & Park Services Supervisor. I have been working seasonally at the waterpark since its opening in 2009. My work at WnW was my introduction and gateway to my internship.

My interests include boxing, football, politics, wrestling, country music and traveling. One of the coolest things I have ever experienced was a trip to D.C. and New York City. I was able to visit monuments and world famous sites from both cities. That trip was what spurred my love for travel and try to visit as many different cities and regions as I can. I am fairly new to traveling and do not have much on under my belt but I have the Southwest covered and parts of the east coast. I look forward to taking a trip to Nashville and hopefully Europe.

I hope this gives you a small idea of who I am and look forward to share my experiences with you.

Josh