JANUARY 2005

Anyone who runs a skate facility will tell you: Marketing them is tough. It requires someone with the right mix of business background and youth-culture knowledge, and it's almost never a cheap proposition. But when skateparks do well, they really do well. We take a look at ways to help yours be one of the successful parks.

When it comes to safety, you've got to do more than just test the waters. You've got to dive right in, making sure your pool protects your patrons and staff from harm and your facility from lawsuits. We offer tips on how to make your aquatic facility as safe as possible.

There's nothing quite as scary as the unknown, and for facilities considering therapeutic recreation programming, fear of the unknown can hinder the process of getting a successful program off the ground. Demystifying that process is the answer. Find out how equipping your staff with the right education, partnering with professionals and selecting the right programming for your community's demographics will provide TR programming that works.

As the interests and demands of guests change, the worldwide amusement industry is working overtime to develop new experiences, implement new technologies and generate unique thrills. It seems the hard work is paying off in terms of more visitors and higher profits.

It's easier and easier for facilities to bring entertainment to exercisers. Learn how providing entertainment solutions is a simple and convenient way to enhance the exercise experience and how these tools can help facilities differentiate themselves from competitors and retain members.

A new initiative is afoot in New York City to create financially sustainable public parks for the benefit of future generations. Recently, the idea of such a park has been fully embraced with the creation of Brooklyn Bridge Park in New York City. Integral to this initiative is the concept of incorporating Integrated Maintenance Planning or IMP into the planning and design process.

Science is not taught with slide rules anymore nor is computer technology taught on main frames. So why teach physical education in spaces with the same construction technology as 25 years ago?

Education has changed, and so should the buildings where education happens. At the St. Vrain Valley School District in Longmont, Colo., physical education has made the leap into the 21st century of "high-performance schools" with a new breed of gymnasium design.

Getting kids active never has been more challenging. Pastimes that keep kids sedentary seem to grow more numerous by the day, but ones that get them moving can't seem to keep up the pace.

Adding to the problem is that kids today are accustomed to lots of stimulation, the kind that can make throwing a ball through a hoop seem boring. (Throwing a ball through a hoop on a PlayStation video game is another story, though.) Kristin McEwen, executive director for the Cowart Family Ashford Dunwoody YMCA in Atlanta, discovered that firsthand.

A dynamic new band headlined and performed at the most recent SXSW Festivals in Austin, Texas—not a rock band, but a wristband.

For the first time in SXSW history, admission wristbands with embedded RFID (radio frequency identification) chips were used to prevent counterfeiting and over-crowding while increasing public safety and ticket sales.