January 2010 Blog Posts (13)

A game of Tennis,Anyone?

http://waterparkleadership.blogspot.com/2010/01/game-of-tennis-anyone.html

Article on communication and how(not to) handle schedule conversations.

Added by Andrew Vaughan on January 30, 2010 at 12:40pm — No Comments

Lifejacket Requirement for Non-Swimmers is needed NOW!

Parental Supervision is spotty at best and I fear it will only get worse in the future with the advent of new gadgets to distract adults. Its time to mandate life-jackets AT ALL AQUATIC FACILITIES for non-swimmers, particularly those under 7 years of age and 48 inches tall. Too many motionless and unconscious children are being found in pools midway between the lifeguard on duty and the "supervising" parent. Just like the auto industry now requires seat belts, car seats and airbags, the… Continue

Added by Tom Griffiths on January 30, 2010 at 11:53am — 1 Comment

The Uniform line up

We are in the coldest months here in Florida, and being a year round facility we have to address cold weather uniform.

In a climate of budget cuts we are unable to provide warm jackets and pants so we ask our safety staff to provide their own uniform with certain guidelines as far as color and style. We try to take into account the following criteria,

Must match our colors

Must be inexpensive

Must be easily available from… Continue

Added by Andrew Vaughan on January 29, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

Authors wanted- Apply within

I just discovered that I can add authors to my blog,

www.waterparkleadership.blogspot.com

If you feel like you have something to say Or would like to share wisdom on the topics of Aquatics, Running a profitable Waterpark operation, Water safety, Lifeguarding or Waterpark Leadership then let me know.

Maybe you you'd like to contribute but don't want the hassle of maintaining a blog then let me know, I'd be happy… Continue

Added by Andrew Vaughan on January 23, 2010 at 1:03pm — 2 Comments

Bring on 2010!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe it, but here we are nearly a month into 2010 already ... wow! That said, there's a lot on the schedule for Waterparks + Resorts Today and we're very excited about it all.

Check out the new look and expanded content here along with some of the best stuff from last year's Waterpark Resorts Today.

In the coming issues look for… Continue

Added by AIsrEditor on January 21, 2010 at 5:18pm — No Comments

The 1-2 Response and Care Objective

For years now I have been blessed with the good fortune of being able to speak to and train with aquatic professionals all over our country. It is these opportunities and the chance they give to us speak with other professionals, compare notes and share gripes about the industry that helps form us as professionals and helps us develop ideas that may help improve our industry. In the mid 90's I was really focused on "Back to Basic" skill building and teaching young people principles of peer… Continue

Added by Jim Wheeler on January 21, 2010 at 1:46pm — 3 Comments

Guest service vs. Integrity

‘When a guest wants a fight, you may want to let them win but you

don’t have to lie down’

I felt like this last week when a guest came to purchase an annual pass. She claimed she had been told by phone the day before by our front desk staff that the annual pass was $22.95 not $29.95, as it actually is.

She held her ground and without actually coming out and asking for the lower price (which would have been better) she felt like it was not her fault. She… Continue

Added by Andrew Vaughan on January 19, 2010 at 12:32pm — No Comments

What Does it Mean to Learn to Swim? Swimming Skill Benchmarks for a Different Ages.

What does it mean to Learn to Swim?

What does it mean to learn to swim? In an effort to help my “swim lessons parents” understand what a child can potentially learn at a variety of ages, I developed a list of “Swimming Skill Benchmarks” for infants, toddlers, and young children. Because the question, “How long will it take my child to learn to swim” is asked so often, I thought it would be helpful to define swimming in terms of a child’s reasonable capabilities at a variety of… Continue

Added by Jim Reiser on January 18, 2010 at 12:12pm — No Comments

You're only as safe as yesterday- http://waterparkleadership.blogspot.com/

I just asked Google to send me a daily update of anything in the news related to 'waterpark' and also I signed up for Aquatics International Connect and whats amazing is how many drownings across the country occur each week.

After working at the same waterpark for 15 years I am especially proud that there was no drownings during that time. I think that adopting the concept, 'You're only as safe as yesterday', helped a great deal.

If you had a safe day today, you can… Continue

Added by Andrew Vaughan on January 9, 2010 at 6:00am — No Comments

The Future is Here

When I was growing up, I used to love pouring through the pages of Popular Science. The covers would always get me with provocative headlines: “Flying Cars in Your Lifetime,” or “Humans Living on Moon by Year 2000.” The articles themselves always quoted experts who assured me that the technology was already in place to make whatever predictions the article claimed happen. There were even cool illustrations showing prototypes of the flying car or homes on the moon. I couldn’t wait for the… Continue

Added by Gary Thill on January 8, 2010 at 1:56pm — No Comments

Survival Comes First

Welcome to the Miracle Swimming blog at AI Connect. And Happy 2010!

Last year when predictions of economic gloom spread across the country like nightfall, we all hunkered down and asked ourselves, "What basics MUST be covered in the event that economic disaster hits US?" In our businesses, it was paying staff and keeping the lights on. In families, it was keeping food on the table, and paying the electric bill and mortgage or rent. Once those basics were covered, we could relax a bit… Continue

Added by Melon Dash on January 8, 2010 at 11:38am — No Comments

American Swimming Coaches Association announces Learn to Swim Clinic in Washington, DC

Mark your calendars for April 10th, 2010 to attend a terrific one day conference. The clinic will be held near Washington, DC in Gaithersburg, Maryland and costs just $49.00!

Speakers include

* Jim Reiser, “The Swim Professor” & founder of Swim Lessons University

* Steve Fenning, Owner of Vero Beach FL SwimAmerica

* Steve Haufler, Head Coach of the Orinda Country Club/Head Coach… Continue

Added by Jim Reiser on January 7, 2010 at 3:23pm — No Comments

How to Teach the Back Float in 60 Seconds or Less!

Would you like to learn how to teach a young child (age 3 & over) to float on the back in one minute or less? Read on!

1. Drop the Back Float from the Lesson Plan when Teaching a True Beginner! Because floating on the back requires the student to relax—beginner swimmers do not have the necessary prerequisite skills to learn the back float. It is simply a waste of time.

2. Why Is It a Waste of Time? Beginner swimmers don’t know how to relax… Continue

Added by Jim Reiser on January 2, 2010 at 4:00pm — No Comments