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!