What greater place for kids, they’re getting to go out in the zoo during their time at the zoo, their morning or their afternoon. It’s like any rental facility that you do that you get people there for those extra things. I used to say Halloween, which zoos own, has… Read More
How many people are going to the zoo?… Read More
How much does it cost per animal?… Read More
And all these benchmarking things that you can figure out. And I was always amazed at the attendance figures and our goal was to hit a hundred percent of our statistical metropolitan area, and we were constantly in the 90%. We went over a hundred percent a couple times. And… Read More
First off, confidence in yourself ‘cos you won’t feel that for about five years. And I’ve told that to several people and they said yeah, at five years all of a sudden things started clicking. You know, I think it comes down to if people see your passion and if… Read More
It’s not the big, big zoos, but the medium size to the mid upper medium. Marketing can make a hell of a difference. I used to do those benchmarking surveys every year, which I’d print and send to the zoo. And you know, you look at the saturation of your… Read More
Any advice you’d give the neophyte zoo director about the importance of marketing zoos?… Read More
What would you say are the most important aspects of marketing?… Read More
Most people don’t even know who the AZA is. I mean, I think more do now. In certain communities it’s well known, but I’m hopeful that things like this show at the zoo that was done by the Conservation Society, that Discovery Channel said it was the highest rated new… Read More
Now we’re saying get out to your zoo. It’s an outdoor experience. And we all did that when we got home from school when we were kids. Now they’re in front of their computers. You know, things continue to evolve. And I am very confident zoos will make the changes. Read More
And most of ’em are only gonna be able to do it as zoos. Read More
I think it’s this whole governance issue is dealing with the age old question, which has been asked for 30 years. Read More
Are we an institutional membership or are we a membership organization?… Read More
How does AZA compare with the AAZPA of 30 years ago?… Read More
Oh, it was lightning difference in that you know, originally, I think it was originally conceived. They have a voice in Washington actually to a certain agree. I know pre ’71, my father did a tremendous amount of lobbying in Congress. AZA is a nonprofit and has to be very… Read More
They’re selected for us by a nominating committee. We used to be a lot more open about what was going on and that’s all been changed and you know, I mean, nothing gets better without change, but I’m just not sure we’re at the final evolution yet. Read More
What issues would you like the AZA to be addressing now?… Read More
Well, I can tell you at the time that the first one that I do think it was a mistake. I understand the thinking for that ‘cos I was on the board during that time and a lot of discussions. The single most important vote I think we took, and… Read More
There’s no question we live in such a mixture. In fact, our association is undefined. You know, I’m starting to have pretty strong feelings about what I think it should be, but you know, the purest will say well, there’s no guarantee that the zoo will be there tomorrow if… Read More
And there’s been some changes in the governance. And I don’t think it’s resolved. I personally think to be successful, I think it has to be more institutional oriented. And it’s a combination right now of membership and institution. And it’s hard to blend those together because the deeds are… Read More