Facilities That Move You
Both my 15-year-old daughters passed driver’s ed. All that stood in the way of an actual, honest-to-goodness driver’s license was 50 hours of daytime and 10 hours of nighttime driving—all conveniently tracked in an app—which meant no cheating or rounding up. Dang.
I wasn’t looking forward to 120 hours of driving nor was I looking forward to those moments when, having been almost killed by my teenage driver, I had to hold my temper as she told me to, “Chill out.” She had it under control.
So, the process began. The girls downloaded the app, and we started driving.
As the weeks turned into months, we started to run out of places to drive. So, one Friday, I suggested we drive down to Boise, hit a climbing gym, and then drive home.
They were enthusiastic; so we got up the next morning and wound through the fall fog and ice down the canyon and into the big city. We arrived at the gym still friends and went inside to meet their older sister for a climbing session.
Once inside, a good day became a great day. I watched as the twins belayed each other and scaled quickly to the top of the various 45-foot routes laid out all over the gym. My college daughter belayed me and laughed when I turned around at the 30-foot mark, plenty high enough for me and not impressive to her.
After a couple hours of fun, we headed into town for lunch and then worked our way back up the mountain with twin number two now behind the wheel.
As we drove, I marveled once again at the power of a good facility. The climbing gym was so well designed and so well operated that we took our fun day for granted. We wanted for nothing. Needed nothing. And simply enjoyed our time.
This issue is dedicated to just such a concept. We cover various ideas for using facility design to streamline your customer’s experience, providing them with everything they need, intuitively, and nothing they don’t. This design is often the difference between a profitable program and one that struggles to pay the bills. I hope you like what we came up with and that you find a few tidbits you can add to your operation.
And, of course, I hope you and your team have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Till next month…
Rodney J. Auth
Publisher
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