Floyd Hall Arena Floyd Hall Arena - Ice Skating Institute

48 Pages·2006·5.95 MB·English

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
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Benefits of
Computerized
Systems
Comparing
Mechanical
Controls
5 Steps to a Stronger
Party Program

Volume 9, Number 21 C September/October 2006
ONTENTS
OPERATIONS
Publisher
Ice Skating Institute Electro-Mechanical vs.
Direct Digital Control Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . 6 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2006
Editor
Lori Fairchild by Gerry Fitzsimmons
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systems in the ice arena
Advertising Sales Manager
Carol Jackson by Richard Wise
Art Director PROGRAMMING
Cindy Winn Livingston
Rethinking Your Party Program . . . . . .14
Contributors
5 principles for gaining
Gerry Fitzsimmons
DRaovibd M JaccBorbidsoen tbhye F readngke W in. Pyroicuer market ComputBeerniezfites dof
Frank W. Price ena Systems
Richard Wise Ar
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The ISI EDGE (USPS 017-078, within reach of the entire industry yd Controls
IbMANINSciuoeS.ma g NvrDSucoek hanms1atl/5tt,lAbh i2aSnepl2seyrg r-p/;P i4D lItJk6,nea ew5Mmsnct1eyuiab)tm.a yue,ir /rstbSyJ/ eupeOt/,F ernu1c;e. bet 7bbo1,l1 yribJ4su2 uhet0a0lhreyr,,edy/, bIbSyyI RLPoorrboi fFMialeicrB:crhPiidaldeige Scott. . . . . . . . . 22 FloCOVERFEATURE: Floyd Hall Arena, pP5aa gSret te2yp4s Ptor ao Sgtrroanmger
Dallas, TX 75248-1187.
Annual Subscription Rate
COVER FEATURE
is $24.00 per year.
Periodicals postage paid at Floyd Hall Arena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Dallas, TX, and at addi-
A unique public/private partnership
tional mailing offices.
by Lori Fairchild
POSTMASTER NOTE: Send
address changes to ISI EDGE,
c/o The Ice Skating Institute, ISI District Fall Seminar Schedule. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
17120 N. Dallas Pkwy., Ste.
140, Dallas, TX, 75248-1187.
Printed in the U.S.A. Developing Competitors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Subscriptions available Part 1 of a 2-part series
through membership only. by David Jacobson
©2006 by the Ice Skating
Institute. Reproduction in ISI 25-Year Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
whole or in part is prohibit-
ed unless expressly autho-
rized in writing by publish-
er. All rights reserved. D E P A R T M E N T S
Opinions expressed by con-
tributors do not necessarily
Message from the President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
represent the views of the
Ice Skating Institute, the
Power Ice with Wendy Marco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
publisher or the advertisers.
Submissions of manuscripts,
ISIA Education Foundation Report. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
materials, photographs, and
artwork are made at mailer’s
Coaches’Corner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
risk and must include self-
addressed envelope with suf-
Ice Arena Association News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
ficient postage for return.
No responsibility will be
CalendarISI-Endorsed Competitions & Shows/Exhibitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
assumed for unsolicited
materials. ISI reserves the
Classified Advertising. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
right to edit material sub-
mitted for content and
And Another Thing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
space consideration.
M P
ESSAGE FROMTHE RESIDENT
Dedicated to providing leadership,
education and services to the When my predecessor, Jim Lange, con-
ice skating industry.
vened the first ice arena industry sum-
ICESKATINGINSTITUTE mit meeting on Feb.16, 2005, it was his
17120 N. Dallas Parkway, Suite 140
hope that it would be the first step toward bring-
Dallas, TX 75248-1187
Phone: [phone] ing together all of the related organizations to
Fax: [phone] address the many issues and challenges that we
e-mail: [email protected]
www.skateisi.org share in the ice sports industry. I think all will
agree that the meeting was a significant step in
ISIINTERNATIONALHEADQUARTERS
that direction.
Executive Director
Peter Martell It was agreed at the conclusion of the sum- Jim Hartnett
Managing Director, mit that we should try to identify a project or President,
Member Programs & Services ISI Board of Directors
Patti Feeney initiative that we, as a group, could accomplish
National Events & as a result of our historic gathering. After some
Skating Program Coordinator
discussion it was decided that before we could do anything to further
Barb Yackel
Administrative Assistant develop interest and encourage continued participation in ice sports,
Kathy Chase we needed to conduct a survey to learn more about the demograph-
Controller & Tradeshow Manager
Karen Schaffer ics of our current members and customers, their likes and dislikes,
Membership Coordinator and patterns of participation. A committee was formed under the
Kimberley Russelle
Advertising Sales & leadership of Tom Hillgrove of Rink Management Services Corp.,
Print Production Manager funding was secured from the five leading industry organizations and
Carol Jackson
an independent research company was hired.
Sponsorship Sales Manager
Stuart Sedransky I am pleased to report that the survey has been completed and
Information Services Coordinator soon will be ready for distribution. While the results do not present
Jeff Anderson
Customer Service Coordinator any shocking revelations, there is, for the first time that I know of,
Angela Tooley independent, statistical confirmation of figure skating and ice hock-
ey customer profiles. It is important to note that the survey sample
ISIOFFICERS
President Jim Hartnett group consisted almost exclusively of USA Hockey and U.S. Figure
1st Vice President Mike Paikin Skating past and current members and did not include new or entry-
2nd Vice President Janice Forbes
level users.
Treasurer Richard Arenella
Secretary Margy Bennett
Immediate Past President Jim Lange
Some of the information gleaned from the survey includes:
Past President Boyd Wietecter
• 77 percent of all user families had household incomes of
DIRECTORS $75,000 or more per year.
District 1 Katy Hayden
• Having “fun” is the most important and greatest benefit
District 2 Robyn Bentley
District 3 Lisa Fedick received from participation.
District 4 Christine Wilson Brinton • Cost and parental time demands are the two major barriers
District 5 Shane Douglas
District 6 Toni Cooper to participation.
District 7 Maria Koman • There is too much travel involved in ice hockey, and figure
District 8 Tom Hickey
skating is viewed as being an “elitist” sport.
District 9 Dan Smith
District 10 Char Martin • Loss of interest by and time demands of the children are the
District 11 Liz Mangelsdorf
two leading reasons for discontinued participation.
District 12 Debbie Lane
District 13 Cindy Jensen
District 14 Paige Scott Completion of this project is a significant accomplishment and
District 15 Bert Blanchette
District 16 Cindy Solberg the sponsoring organizations are to be commended for their com-
District 18 Glyn Jones mitment. However, it is not an end unto itself. If we are to work
Hockey Kevin McCormack
toward what we all agree is the ultimate objective — developing
Builders & Suppliers Doug Peters
Instructors David Santee interest and increasing participation in the ice sports — then we must
Commercial Facilities Scott Slavensky take it to the next step, which is to survey the casual participants
Public/Not-for-Profit Facilities Pete Carlson
Schools, Colleges, Universities and non-participants about their perceptions of our activities and
iAIM Chair Rob McBride why they do not participate more. This next step will be even more
PSA Representative Gerry Lane
USFS Representative Homer Hagedorn time- and cost-intensive, and will require additional commitments
ISIAsia Representative Raul Gomes from other stakeholders within our industry. As your professional
AMMA Representative Trudy Ivory
trade association, we will continue to press forward in the spirit of
MAMA Representative Rob Mueller
MIAMA Representative Russ Rose collaboration — not duplication.
MIRMA Representative Judy Sniffen Members who would like a copy of the survey e-mailed to them
WIAMA Representative
Education Foundation Don Bartelson should contact the ISI office at [phone].
Lifetime Honorary Member Carol Zdziebko
4 ISIEDGESEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2006
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Electro-Mechanical vs. Direct
Digital Control Systems
S
N Decoding the Differences
O
I
T
by Gerry Fitzsimmons
A
R
The world continues to move along at a torrid pace, with 1 Floor Slab Tempera-
E digital everything taking over. But what is this all about ture) as the slab tem-
P and how does it impact ice arena operations? Let’s look at perature rises (indicat-
O both electro-mechanical and direct digital control systems ing a rising ice surface
in order to provide a better understanding of the benefits temperature) at a pre-
of each system. determined set point
(e.g., 24 degrees Fahren-
Electro-mechanical (thermostatic) control heit), and a set of con-
tacts closes and starts
(EMC) systems
the refrigeration plant
Electro-mechanical components and systems have been (Fig. 2, Cold Glycol
around since 1885, when the Buzz Thermo-Electric Regulator Pump No. 1). EMC con-
Co. registered a patent for a thermostatic system that auto- trols have a predeter-
matically adjusted room temperatures in a residential build- mined dead band (e.g.,
ing. In 1924, another pioneer named Mark C. Honeywell between 23 F and 25 F)
developed a clock-controlled thermostat. This was the start of in which no action
the electro-mechanical control industry as we now know it. takes place. Once the
EMC controls are individual controls that measure a sin- set point is achieved,
gle parameter, such as temperature or pressure, and through the control turns off
some mechanical action use this force to cause a mechani- the refrigeration plant.
cal/electrical switch to operate (for this discussion, ther- The logical control
mostats are included as electro-mechanical devices due to sequences for an EMC
their singular control functionality). With an electrical power system reside within
source and relays connected to these controllers, various the control and the
pieces of equipment are started and stopped. The earliest ver- wiring between various
sions were completely mechanical, with moving parts includ- components. The most Figure 2: Two-stage slab tempera-
ing springs, levers and mercury switches (Fig. 1). Over time, difficult challenge with ture controller
new technology re- this system is the con-
placed many of the straint on control strategy.
mechanical compo- Then, along came direct digital control systems.
nents, reducing the
costs and improving
Direct digital control (DDC) systems
the reliability of the
controllers. Although the EMC systems provide basic operation, the tech-
Although the hard- nology boom has yieldedmore sophisticated electronic con-
ware has improved trols. The transistor patent was completed in 1928, but it was
over the years, the not until 1948 that Bell Labs produced working models and
basic system architec- set the digital revolution in motion. Over the next 50 years,
ture has remained the these products progressed and became commercially viable,
same. These devices allowing the use of digital controls for everyday functions
continue to measure a and equipment.
single parameter and, A key difference with a DDC system is the ability to sep-
through a manual set- arate the control strategy and system logic from the control
ting, have a single devices, components and wiring. With DDC systems, con-
stage of control. trol strategies are only limited by the knowledge and imagi-
For example, in an nation of the system designers. How is that possible?
arena, a temperature DDC systems are set up under a completely different
controller measures architecture. The systems are divided into three functional
Figure 1: Reverse acting high-pressure the rink slab tempera- blocks. The first block is inputs. Inputs are all types of mea-
controller ture (Fig. 2, Rink No. sured parameters (temperature), date and time functions, vir-
Continued on page 8
6 ISIEDGESEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2006

Continued from page 6
tual inputs (set points and desired operating temperatures or human to tell them what to do in every situation. For exam-
pressures), status points (pump on) and positional points ple, the DDC programmer tells the DDC controller to start
(valve is 75 percent open). the refrigeration system if the ice surface temperature is
The second block is outputs. Outputs are signals and greater than 22 F, and to shut it off if the surface temperature
information leaving the DDC system, including equipment goes below 18 F. The logical controller will continue auto-
stop/start signals, variable signals to modulate valves and matically performing this and many other functions until
pumps, and equipment status for other control equipment. programmed otherwise. Figure 3 shows the relationship
The third and most important piece of the puzzle is between inputs, outputs and system intelligence.
the programming, or intellectual property, component. The
DDC controllers have no built-in intelligence and require a
EMC and DDC System
Comparisons
EMC
Advantages
• Lower initial cost
• Interchangeable components
• Larger labor service pool
• Generic vendor options
• Troubleshooting ease
Disadvantages
• Inflexible
• Limited capability
• Single function
• Single-facility oriented
• Limited measured parameters
• Adjustment requires manual intervention
• Manual changes will not revert back Figure 3: Direct digital controller
• Calibration points move with time
The DDC hardware (Fig. 4) resembles the block dia-
DDC gram, with the various system inputs wired on the left side
and the resulting outputs
located on the right. The
Advantages DDC controller contains
• Lower life-cycle cost all the programming and
system intelligence.
• More energy-efficient operation
Both EMC and DDC
• Multi-facility capability
systems have their place in
• Very flexible
ice rink applications. As
• Programmable logic an arena owner, ensure
• Better operating conditions that you completely
• Ability to look ahead understand the long-
• Intelligent data management term advantages and dis-
advantages prior to mak-
• Built-in operational protection
ing important decisions
• Improved remote communication capability
regarding your control
system. Using either sys-
Disadvantages tem with an effective pre- Figure 4: DDC hardware
• Proprietary systems ventive maintenance pro-
• More difficult to troubleshoot gram, you will realize the maximum operational perfor-
mance available.
• Smaller/specialized service labor pool
• Higher first-time costs Gerry Fitzsimmons,P.Eng.,is the business development manag-
er-service for Cimco Refrigeration.
8 ISIEDGESEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2006

Get with the Program!
Advantages of Computerized Systems
in the Ice Arena
by Richard Wise
Anyone who works in the ice skat- tem. Many immediate benefits can be Implementing a combined PC-based
ing industry will probably agree realized from investing in a PC-based POS and accounting system will allow
that the majority of us are stuck POS system versus a standard dedicated you to spend more useful time on the
in the dark ages when it comes to fully cash register/keypunch system. First and floor or out in the community generat-
utilizing technological advancements foremost is the accuracy and efficiency ing awareness of your facility.
to improve and streamline our day-to- in transaction processing, reducing the Perhaps a PC-based POS system’s
day facility operations. This is because chance of human error. Transactions are most valuable tool is the ability to
most ice arenas still lack inexpensive, less complicated for the cashier, who is retrieve and maintain customer data,
out-of-the-box, user-friendly solutions assisted visually step by step, often with allowing for the ability to create catego-
that can tie together all the facets of our added helpful tips that are simultane- rized mailing lists and accurately track a
daily operations. ously displayed on the computer screen customer’s spending habits in your facil-
In most skating facilities, outsourc- as the transaction data is keyed in or ity and other statistical data. This might
T
ing technology upgrades is not eco- scanned. Less training and memorization assist you in developing and maintain-
N
nomically viable; therefore, arena oper- are needed; the byproduct is a significant ing a customer rewards program for your
E ators are forced to take on myriad roles, reduction in the cost of educating new loyal patrons or an informational tool to
M including that of the information tech- employees or retraining existing ones. assist a cashier when customers enroll in
nology specialist. It isn’t easy to find Another benefit is that even the new programs. Many POS systems give
E
G the rare individual who is not only a simplest of PC-based POS systems you the option to track customer data
career ice arena professional but also include some form of employee track- only when necessary, so a cashier is not
A
a mechanic, electrician, plumber, ing for added security and assistance inundated during peak hours with
N accountant, marketing guru, human with reconciling daily balances. It also inputting customers’ contact informa-
A resources manager and, last but not helps eradicate any temptation to steal. tion into the system.
M least, techno-savvy computer geek. Depending on the system, you may also There are even more customized
Like so many other arena man- be able to automatically transfer your all-in-one applications developed by
agers, I frequently struggle to find ways daily cash register activity into a back- several companies to address some of
to improve the efficiency of our daily end accounting system that generates the challenges facing the skating indus-
operations through automation in a your daily and monthly income reports. try, although not always without a hefty
way that is economically practical and
Continued on page 12
beneficial to both the company and the
bottom line. The most common chal-
lenges I am faced with today in imple-
menting new technologies are finding:
• applications that are (or can be cus-
tomized to be) pertinent to our indus-
try and that actually improve opera-
tions while justifying their costs
• new technologies that are easy
enough to use so that when com-
bined with reliable employees they
are fully implemented and adminis-
tered, not put on the back shelf and
demoted to the functions of a glori-
fied paperweight
T
PC-based POS systems ho
m
a
Fortunately, while operational costs are s E
steadily rising, off-the-shelf technology .B
la
costs are coming down. There are count- c
k
b
less advantages to utilizing computer- u
rn
ized technologies in the skating arena.
A PC-based POS system offers numerous benefits, including accuracy, efficiency and reduced
Consider the point of sale (POS) sys-
training costs.
10 ISIEDGESEPTEMBER/OCTOBER2006