Rink

I 've spent some time on the road this summer conducting different Certified Rink Administrator courses. It's been a lot of fun, going coast to coast with the other instructors, and I think pretty productive, too. We've had the opportunity to talk to a lot of our mem- bers in the past few weeks, and I know one of the prevailing topics of discussion for me was the unfortunate summer for Colorado. Floods, fires, mudslides, and the most tragic item: The movie theater shooting. One of the guys taking my class — a squeaky-clean, wet- behind-the-ears, brand-spanking-new, fresh-from-college manager — told me point blank that he was losing sleep over the "what-ifs" of his new position. "What if I poison everyone in the stands the next time I do an ice cut?" "What if one of my managers is attacked making a night deposit?" "What if I get a guy that comes into my Friday night public skate with a gun?" "What do I do," he asked me, "to make sure it's never my rink?" I'm not usually at a loss for words, but this time … "What can we do?" I asked him. "I guess we hope for the best. I guess we harness some of that fear that we all have, that it could happen to us, and use it to focus our energy on the positives of what we do." We teach kids how to skate. We let adults relive their glory days on the ice. We give moms a chance to grab a cup of coffee and dads a place to spill popcorn all over the floor. We even give families a place to celebrate special events. With all the great things that we provide for our communities, don't we owe it to them to focus more energy on training staff to cover the "what-is?" Wouldn't it translate into a life skill our kids can use post-rink career? We can't lose sleep at night worrying about some lunatic with a gun coming into our lobbies during public skate, but I do think we should lose sleep if we haven't spent the time to make sure our staff is trained on as many "what-ifs" as possible. What if we need to use the AED? What if we get robbed? What if someone starts shooting? As managers, it's our business to take control and make sure our staff is equipped to make the decisions they need to make. As managers, we should not only be able to ask the "what-ifs," but answer them, too. ✪ Final cut Lessons learned around the rink 54 / SEPTEMBER.OCTOBER.2012 RINKMAGAZINE.COM PHOTO: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM Taking positives measures after a scary summer Laser control systems for leveling ice Simple to install. Simple to use. Lets the operator focus on driving. Contact us today to learn more. Phone: 519-235-4585 | Fax: 519-235-0744 | Email: sales@latec.on.ca | www.latec.on.ca AS MANAGERS, IT'S OUR BUSINESS TO TAKE CONTROL AND MAKE SURE OUR STAFF IS EQUIPPED TO MAKE THE DECISIONS THEY NEED TO MAKE. Digesting Fear by JOHN MONTELEONE

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