santa barbara zoo

I always enjoy when the effort invested into a project culminates in a successful go-live. But occasionally I get to be involved in very special openings. By special I suppose I mean memorable. Memorable because it is a miracle the venue actually opening on time (ya'll be there, right?), or memorable because of witnessing something I'll only get to see once, or memorable because I get to be part of something historical. . . even if my part is just a bit part in the periphery of the actual event.

Once I got to see the Eagles jam together in a warm-up sound check at American Airlines Center in 2001. It was the only US stop on their 2001 tour. The day before opening the stadium was supposed to be completely empty of anyone but the band, security, and roadies. But me and few others were preparing for opening the next day and had the opportunity to sneak in and listen to them warm-up. That huge stadium seemed tiny to us in that moment. . . like the warm-up was a jam session was for us. It was awesome!

My most recent client go-live at Santa Barbara Zoo was my recent memorable opening. Not because of a classic classic-rock concert, but because they made history. And not because of the technology. The logistics of the project were not complicated. The Zoo was opening a newly remodeled retail outlet and a new restaurant with the Agilysys POS system. By the way, the project went very smooth if I do say so myself and ended about 25% under budget. But that's a side point really. . .

The point is the Zoo made history with this opening. In addition to opening Explore Store, a very eco-friendly gift shop with most items made entirely of recycled material, Santa Barbara Zoo became the third zoo in the world to open a California Condor exhibit (they were heavily involved in the first exhibit in Baja California, Mexico).In 1987 there were only 27 California Condors in the world! Today there are now 325 with 138 now living in the wild. This exhibit is amazing and these birds are HUGE. The Zoo is a wonderful place which has only been enhanced by this new exhibit. I so appreciate and commend the Zoo's achievement in helping return these majestic birds to the wild and continue educating the public on their importance to our environment.I got to be a part of the Zoo's Grand Opening and felt honored to be there. . . if only to make sure the point-of-sale was working. It gave me another reason to be grateful for my job!