My company is just me. And that’s by design. I do not intend to hire employees and I purposefully keep my fees and client volume low. I view it as a complete success, but given the common perception of “business success,” I often wonder if others would agree… In this article, I outline my business strategy of Growing Small as an alternate measure of success.
Believe it or not, many consultants, including yours truly, are actually introverts! Learn the best practices for working with introverts by reading Felis Consulting’s somewhat self-effacing and certainly vulnerable ‘Top Tips for Working with Introverted Consultants.’
As a designer dedicated to the long-term planning of zoos and aquariums, I’ve had to explain the process of master planning many times, and although every zoo and aquarium is different, the best master plans (i.e. those which have been implemented) always follow a similar structure. In this post, we address the most commonly asked questions to help you understand what master planning is, when is the right time to start, and who should be involved.
The city of Lafayette, Indiana has one of the oldest—and best—small zoos in the country. Recent renovations, thoughtful and modern designs, and focusing on providing for their local guests as top priority are a few reasons they are successful.
Zoos and aquariums have a long way to go related to being community assets that are truly reflective of their surrounding communities. Recent discussions in the AZA suggest that instead waiting for ‘best practice’ solutions, that individual organizations must start somewhere acknowledging that our strategies will evolve as we all learn the most productive ways to approach DEAI.
The iconic Bavarian building at the heart of the 40 acre, AZA accredited Utica Zoo, perfectly personifies the character and soul of the small zoo itself—a reflection of the dominant German population in Utica at the time of its opening in 1920. Utica Zoo is an adorable regional gem, but improvements in service access efficiency, upgrades to older areas of the zoo, and deeper thinking related to the selection of animals are needed.
The Aquarium, the newest add to Thailand's Chiang Mai Zoo, is finally open. In late October, the Aquarium shut down literally hours after its official opening gala, due to malfunctions in both the life support systems and the ticketing machines.
Apparently, sand had found its way past the filtration system entering the main tank, and creating water murky enough to delay the opening for about three weeks.
However, the Aquarium is now up and running, and is touted as Southeast Asia's largest with an expectation to gain 800,000 visitors annually. The Aquarium was built as a joint venture between the Zoological Park Organization (an apparently governmental body) and an undisclosed private investor for the sum of $17 million.
Boasting the World's Longest Acrylic Tunnel at 133 meters (436 feet--longer than a football field!), the Aquarium is over 13,000 sf in area divided into 9 zones. The tunnel itself not only allows visitors to gaze into the depths of a marine environment, but also takes visitors through a freshwater tank.
I've not been able to find many pictures of the Aquarium online, so if you know of any, please let me know.
