Well, for one thing, the universe, the zoo universe, zoo and aquarium universe in my first go around was small. Everybody knew everybody. Most of us as directors shared similar backgrounds. We were all animal people. By the time I served a second term, we had a quite a few… Read More
So my staff is gonna go to the conference. Some of that’s good. Some of that’s not so good. But that to me would be the main thing. Just the involvement by the chief op or chief executive and operating officers of some of the major zoos are less involved… Read More
Oh, it’s no comparison. It was, for lack of a better term, when I started, it was a mom and pop operation. We had an executive director, and he had three employees in Wheeling, West Virginia. And today it has a huge staff, professional staff managing accreditation and membership. And… Read More
So it truly has gone from being a very small mom and pop operation to a pretty, I think, effective and sleek professional association. You served twice as president of the Zoo Association. Read More
Animal collections, sustainability, diversity in animal collections. I just think that needs to be the primary focus of the AZA right now. It really does, or we’re gonna wake up one day and not have any animals. You know, when I started, we had this incredible bird house, and even… Read More
But, you know, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and every time that those things just put greater pressure on our collections. Read More
How does the AZA of today compare with the AAZPA when you started?… Read More
We talked about AZA. Read More
What issues would you like AZA to be addressing now?… Read More
Should zoos be doing anything to help governments protect land masses?… Read More
I don’t know. That’s what I would almost call mission drift. That’s not our thing. That’s a much bigger piece of the world than our little part in it. I think our resources can, when it comes to conservation and preservation, can probably be spent somewhere else. Read More
What issues would you like?… Read More
And unless you’ve- But on the other extreme, on the other end, you’ve got kids who are committed to it and will do anything and everything to stay connected. And I had kids over the years who I was so impressed with, who started coming to the zoo as little… Read More
So how do you want kids to feel about the zoo?… Read More
I want them to love it. I want them to know and feel that a visit to the zoo is a great experience. It’s a great place to bring a date. It’s a great place to come on Saturday afternoon and be just an integral part of their life. Read More
How can a zoo improve their connection with kids and teenagers to heighten their zeal and awareness about the natural world?… Read More
Tough nut to crack. Teenagers are a different species. You know, over the years we had Explorer Scout troops at the zoo for teenagers and some other programs geared to teenagers. We took them on field trips, overnight trips to places. And while I think the kids loved it and… Read More
Do you have any advice for the neophyte zoo director about the importance of marketing zoos, and what do you think are the most important aspects of marketing?… Read More
Well, if you are a neophyte zoo director and you are not totally committed to marketing, you won’t last long. We were spending 10% of our budget on marketing, and at times I wished it was 30 or 40%. I don’t think you can spend enough money telling your story… Read More
That’s what they want to know. They don’t want to know about the carousel. They don’t want to know about anything, but you’re taking care of your animals. And that’s gotta be the center for, I think, of a lot of our marketing efforts, is animal care and animal welfare. Read More