“Well, we contacted the Oklahoma City Zoo and they said, ‘No comment.'” That could have been the end of it but oh no, we felt that we needed to tell our side of the story but there wasn’t any way of what you were going to say were they’re going… Read More
And when you see the final cuts come through, then you realize that they have cut out some very salient points that I was trying to make and it’s not that they piece phrases together, they just leave it hanging. It’s a real art I’m sure but that’s what it… Read More
What are they going to say?… Read More
We sold an animal, a Speke’s gazelle. Hell, this is all public record I guess. We sold a Speke’s gazelle to an animal dealer with the caveat that he was to take it to either the San Diego Zoo, which had a collection that Speke’s gazelles or he was to… Read More
And the first person they approached was San Diego and Jim Dolan And he figured out real quick what they were up to. And he called me, he says, “Brace yourself. Guess what?” And he told me, they even sent me a copy of the tape that they did. So,… Read More
What was your experience and why were you involved?… Read More
So, I was always very cautious around the media. You’re looking at I’m a victim of 60 Minutes. So, I watched them operate and you wanna see some real pros operate and distort and take things outta context, they’re great at it. And I was a firsthand witness to it… Read More
I did not like the media. I didn’t feel the media, you couldn’t trust them. They were out for what they wanted. It always used to bug me when they tried to tempt you and try to goad you into saying something. I can remember a staff member making a… Read More
It was just stuff that they hadn’t been exposed to another way of doing it. So, they were still caught in this twilight zone of non-evolution. As the director of the Oklahoma City Zoo, you had to deal with the media. Obviously there were high points and low points as… Read More
How did you view the media?… Read More
Okay. I gotta think about that a little bit when after I’ve said it. Particularly at Kansas City. Now, I started my career at the Kansas City Zoo and I basically ended my career at the Kansas City Zoo in this part-time consulting capacity. A lot of the practices that… Read More
Yeah, yes I did see common mistakes. I would also see mistakes that would keep repeating themselves. Read More
Example?… Read More
Did you see common mistakes that in your new position so to speak, did you see common mistakes that people were making?… Read More
They got a director who was there maybe three years, I guess and then they have another director since. It was just an interesting adventure but it was something that when you stand outside and you look in and some of the decisions that are made, you want to say… Read More
It was nice to pass on what skills you had to pass on but it I found that ownership wasn’t part of that. Read More
But when it came to Fresno, Fresno was looking for a director. I certainly had no interest in being the director of that zoo. So, I wasn’t even interested in it. I was just holding the fort but realized that the community was a highly charged political community. It was… Read More
What did you learn about consulting?… Read More
It’s an interesting situation to be in when you know what needs to be done. Not because you’re a genius but because this is what’s always worked and not having the ability to make sure that it’s done because all you’re doing is saying, “Here’s what you need to do.”… Read More
And so I think, well okay, my job is about done here but I was helping them with getting accredited, preparing accreditation materials because that was one of the things that they had really struggled with and had really gotten in some quagmire over. And about the same time I… Read More