Volume 2, No. 5. March 8, 2002
Eric’s Turn
Life
lessons
When Odysseus sailed for the Trojan war, he entrusted his young son's education
to a teacher named Mentor. Odysseus, aka Ulysses, remains a popular figure of
Greek mythology, thanks to his much-detoured return trip from Troy, but only
Homerphiles know about the character of Mentor. Yet, that character's name is
more often used today. Indeed, the word "mentor" has assumed a revered place
in the English language with its definition of a trusted counselor or guide:
people like Merlin for Arthur, Yoda for Luke, and, I hope, me for Karen.
Karen Kennedy works at Magic Waters Waterpark in Rockford, Illinois, and I was
paired with her through the Women Of Water mentoring program for young women
entering the waterpark industry. WOW started as a movement within the World
Waterpark Association at last fall's WWA trade show by Kim Adams-Bakke of Rockford's
Magic Waters, Franceen Gonzales of Waterworld Safari in Phoenix, Arizona, Judith
Leblein of Water Technology, Inc. and Splash Magazine's Marilyn Turner. At their
first meeting the women solicited industry members who were interested in either
being mentored or being a mentor. A month later mentors were paired with their
proteges and asked to initiate the mentoring relationship.
I signed up to serve as a mentor (I'm no WOW, but I believe in the program's
aims) and yesterday met with Karen for the first time (that's us above outside
her office). She joined the business staff of Rockford's Magic Waters last summer
after being graduated by Northern Illinois University with a math major. She
already has begun coursework toward an MBA. Karen started off working as business
development and cash control supervisor at the waterpark, but has since added
marketing duties and group sales solicitation to her job. Intelligent, personable,
confident and already an obvious asset to Magic Waters, Karen could eventually
be an important contributor to the whole amusement industry, and my role is
to encourage and smooth her progression by providing a little insightful light.
That light is not fueled by wisdom so much as experience.
The amusement industry has long had a tradition of networking and sharing information,
but WOW's program and an initiative announced just this week by the International
Association of Haunted Attractions are taking such educational interrelationships
to another level.
Wednesday evening I attended the IAHA's annual "Crazy Bob" Talk-back session
heading into the annual TransWorld National Halloween Costume and Party Show
at the Rosemont Convention Center in suburban Chicago, Illinois. Robert "Crazy
Bob" Turner, owner of the Haunted Hydro Dark Attraction Park in Fremont, Ohio,
monitors the session like Oprah working a talk show audience, soliciting opinions
and experiences from a crowd of 140 haunt operators. A third of that audience
were newcomers to the industry, and the veterans readily shared their knowledge
on everything from effective scare devices to effective customer surveys. Robin
Downward (above) of Mysterium Entertainment in Medford, Oregon, gave his colleagues
tips on using masks.
With the ongoing popularity of the Crazy Bob sessions—this was Turner's
fifth year hosting the event—IAHA is looking to provide a more formal mentoring
program. As currently proposed, members would list their particular expertise
in a directory that would be posted on the association's web site. "Right now
we don't publicly say, 'Here are the 17 people who do pneumatics,'" said IAHA
President D'Ann Dagen. "My own area of expertise is not-for-profit management.
Somebody else may be carpentry." Members would use the directory to locate such
expertise to answer immediate needs and concerns, she said
This is not mentoring in the classic sense of a long-term educational relationship.
"We're talking expertise made available for brief encounters," Dagen said. But
it does formalize the brotherhood that already exists in such IAHA encounters
as Crazy Bob's sessions.
It's no myth that when we share experiences with the young talent entering the
industry, we ensure long, continued success for all of us.
