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!
An eight hour budgeting meeting sounds insane! Lol but that is probably what we are all going to face at some point. I am coming to realize that the budget drives everything so I guess taking an entire day to discuss it makes logical sense. I don’t think your blogs are bland by the way lol. We are supposed to discuss our internship experiences and our thought along the way which is exactly what you are doing. Also, for someone who has never worked in an industry like WNW (i.e. Me) it’s interesting to read and see what operations are like on that end of things.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t worry about this sounding bland, Joshua. This opportunity has set you up with a lot of fascinating projects and fun atmospheres. Maybe not so much with the eight hour budget presentation and discussion, but you take the bad with the good. In my internship, I had frequent discussion with the Resources Manager (which is basically the head budget guy). I asked pertinent questions and tried hard to make connections in my head to make sense of what he was saying, but sometimes I just stared in the direction of his face and went to another planet for a minute. Keep bringing the substance in these blogs. They’re enlightening.
ReplyDeleteThats great that on your first project you were able to provide your input and opinion. Your honesty is appreciated in regards to your struggles!
ReplyDeleteTaylor
An eight hour meeting sounds awful! Although, your internship seems very interesting. I was intrigued when I saw your initial post saying you worked with Wet n' Wild because most of the people who are in this course either are working for government or have worked for government. It sounds like you got to see first hand how these boring meetings, use of confusing jargon and hours of hard work actually turns into an enjoyable place for many citizens. People who come to Wet n' Wild probably do not think about the amount of work it takes to maintain or even build a water park, but you have that experience.
ReplyDeleteI can not even see myself being in a meeting for 8 hours so hats off to you. When you think of Wet N Wild you do not think of what everything consist of behinds the scenes such as these boring meetings. I think it is amazing that you have input on certain new things and projects that they are working on this intern seems very exciting.
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