Rink

N ow that spring is upon us and summer is just around the corner, it is important to set aside some time soon to evaluate the performance of your business and staff over the past season. Did your revenues meet or exceed your projections? Were you able to control expenses better than in the past? Were enrollments up in all of your pro- grams? Did you and your staff step up and deliver exceptional customer service consistently? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then you might want to think about investing in training or in some cases re-training yourself and your staff. Whether or not you attend the North American Rink Conference & Expo (NARCE) in Dearborn, Mich. in May, attend one of STAR's regional training programs this summer, or choose to attend one of the state ice rink manager associations' conferences in the fall. I encourage you to take the initiative to continue your education and improve your skills through some means of training before next season. Investing in the professional development of yourself and your staff is always money well spent and will not only be a bene- fit to the individuals receiving the training, but will also be a tremendous bene- fit to your business. With all of the various training programs available, we are looking forward to meeting with many of you starting the third week in May at NARCE. This is the industry's largest event and has been held annually since 2003 to meet the educational needs of thousands of rink professionals from the United States, Canada and countries around the world. During the last eight years, more than 2,000 rink owners, managers, super- visors, operators, and hockey and skating directors have attended NARCE edu- cational courses. Since its inception, NARCE has also showcased the newest products, services and innovations in the industry during the RINK Expo. Many, if not most, of the leading manufacturers in the ice rink industry will once again be on hand to display their products and services. So what does this all mean? It adds up to an event at NARCE this year that we anticipate to be better than ever! We will be in a new city, at a new hotel and ice rink, and we have also added new classes and new vendors to the RINK Expo! On top of all of this, NARCE provides our industry with the best opportu- nity to get together to share ideas, make new friends and get plugged in! If you have already registered for NARCE, I would like to take this oppor- tunity to thank you. Your participation will help make the event valuable for everyone. If you haven't registered yet, I hope you will consider doing so soon, as we are only a few short weeks away from the start of the premier ice rink industry event of the year! We hope to see you soon, because before you know it, the summer will be over and another season will be upon us! Will you be prepared? Jeff Theiler, Chief Operations Officer, STAR Opening address 8 R INK MAGAZ INE May/June 2011 Greg Anzelc Dan Berry, Dave Gyger, Andy Kaasa, Adam Knutson, John Monteleone, Aaron Paitich, Cory Portner, Norm Spitzig, Susi Wehrli-Mclaughlin, Dave Wescott, Dylan West Dave Gyger, T.C. Lewis, John Monteleone Mike DeArmond, Joe Wetzel Dave Jensen Bryan Nelson rinkmagazine.com info@rinkmagazine.com Editor: Contributing Writers: Editorial Board: Design & Production: Sales & Marketing: Advertising: Web Site: E-mail: PUBLISHING PARTNER 505 North Highway 169, Suite 465, Minneapolis, MN 55441 phone: (763) 595-0808, fax: (763) 595-0016, touchpointsports.com | info@touchpointsports.com S T A R www.starrinks.com • www.rinkmagazine.com • www.narce.com Mission of STAR: "To be the premier national organization designed to foster the development, growth and success of ice skating rinks and in-line facilities in the United States." STAR is a program of USA Hockey and US Figure Skating. Volume 14 • Number 3 Jeff Theiler Dave Wescott Cory Portner 719-538-1149 719-538-1160 info@starrinks.com Chief Operating Officer: Director, Facility Programs: Director, Membership Development: phone: fax: email: RINK Magazine is the definitive business publication for professionals in the ice rink industry and is the leading source for information on facility management, operations and programming. CEO: Ste ve Farbman President: James McEwen Senior Vice President: David Jensen Vice President: Greg Anzelc Controller: Greg Paulson Production: Mike DeArmond Advertising Sales: Bryan Nelson Production and Sales Coordinator: Gina Krusemark Spring into Action

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