2014-15 MIAMA ANNUAL REPORT

2014-15 MIAMA ANNUAL REPORT
The 2014 -15 M.I.A.M.A. Annual Report provides a summary of the
organizations activity as directed by the Board of Directors and committee
members.
On behalf of the Board of Director’s we would like to thank all that served in
making 2014 -15 a successful year for MIAMA. This report would not be
possible without the hard work of each Board member and committee
representative.
It was a pleasure to serve as your President in 2014 -15.
Craig Flor, MIAMA President
2014 - 2015 MIAMA Annual Report
MIAMA OFFICERS 2014-15
President
Craig Flor
Mariucci and Ridder Arenas
Vice President
Shanye Ratcliff
Lakeville Arenas
Secretary/Treasurer
Dean Mulso
Burnsville Ice Center
2014-15 MIAMA Board of Directors
Jon Balvance
Dave Black
Walt Bruley
Troy Ciernia
John Cole
Rich Czech
Craig Flor
Jon Jackson
Travis Larson
Dean Mulso
Mike Newton
Rick Ragan
Rick Rakness
Shayne Ratcliff
Dave Umlauf
MEMBERSHIP SUMMARY
2011-12
2012-13
2013-14
2014-15
Facility Members
143
144
145
145
Vendor Members
69
71
70
73
9
9
9
9
221
224
224
227
Organization members
Totals
.
President’s Report – Craig Flor
It has been another quick year serving as President of the finest arena manager association in the country. Here are a few of the
MIAMA Highlights of 2014-2015:
2014 Fall Conference
In September 2014, we completed our 39th Annual Fall Conference at Breezy Point Resort in Breezy Point, MN with 127 total
attendees including 9 attending STAR Safe Ice Resurfacer Operation course educational sessions and 21 attending the ISI iAIM
Refrigeration Principles, Maintenance and Operations educational session. The conference also hosted Ron Schera who shared some
great stories about his experiences in the great outdoors as well as an inspirational session by Joe Schmit “Silent Impact” There were
43 vendor tables at the Trade Show on Wednesday evening with many of the vendors being on hand and contributing during the entire
conference. The conference featured a number of sessions contributing programs and activities each day for management, operations
and vendors.
2015-16 Regional meetings
2 Regional meetings were held this past year. The meetings were held on January 28 at Fryberger Arena – Duluth, MN, and March 11
at Bernicks Pepsi Arena – Sartell, Walt Burley assisting in coordinating with St Cloud Refrigeration and topics were about R22, Air
Quality and Ice Rink energy savings. Both sessions were well attended and thanks to Walt Bruley and his efforts to make them
happen.
2015 Spring Workshop
Our 2015 spring workshop was held at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on the campus of St. Cloud State University May 12.
Chaska Community Center this year. There was a great turnout with 150+ members attending with 31 trade show booths with. St.
Cloud State opened its doors and allowed everyone to tour through the remodeled spaces for the Husky Hockey teams. After the
general business meeting we had quick sessions on the how Air Quality compliance has been going since the new rules were
introduced, a Rinkfinder.com update as well as an inspirational story from Sergant John Kriesel. The vendor trade show and lunch
completed the day.
A special thanks to Joe Meierhoffer and the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center staff for hosting our spring workshop. They were
great hosts and we appreciate the hospitality and ability to see everything in the newly remodeled spaces.
As an industry we need to continue to strive to be innovative with new ways to solve the upcoming issues we are all going to be faced
with, doing more with less, managing shrinking budgets, creative in generating revenue, as well as being asked to provide more and
more guest/user services. MIAMA and its members need to continue to be involved in dealing with aging facilities, aging ice plants
and phasing out of refrigeration products. There is no cookie cutter solution that will serve all rinks the same way. But as an industry
we need to share ideas and information on how each other is handling these upcoming challenges. Regarding these refrigeration
changes we all need to be diligent in talking to all Stakeholders in your community regarding what the future entails and how you are
going to fund these changes and what the solution that best fits your rink will be.
I cannot stress enough encourage all ice arenas nationwide to consider being a member of our association. Our websites,
www.rinkfinder.com or www.miama.org are resources for rink professionals and vendors to sell available ice, promote facilities,
communicate online, post job openings, network and share ideas. We believe we can learn from each other to make the ice industry
the best it can be
As president of the MIAMA board, I urge all members to get involved with MIAMA it is your association. Do not wait to be asked by
a board member to get involved. Your involvement with MIAMA is what makes this association as strong as it is. There are many
ways to be involved, attendance to the fall conference, spring workshops, and assisting the subcommittees you can make a difference
in our industry. If you would like to be on a committee please chat with any board member. Remember, you don’t need to be a board
member to be on a committee, everyone is welcome! I am excited for what’s upcoming within our association in 2016 and beyond.
.
Treasurer Report – Dean Mulso
This report provides a recap of each Board of Director meetings held and keynote items of business.
October Board Meeting: October 1, 2014 – Woodbury Sports Center – Woodbury, MN
Have sent invoices out at least twice to all outstanding Fall Conference registrations. We currently have $1,430.00 outstanding for the
Fall Conference. All told we have $1,430.00 of revenues outstanding to date. We will be discussing the 2015 budget later in the
meeting. All bills except the STAR payment for Fall Conference services have been paid except the monthly reoccurring bills.
February Board Meeting: February 4, 2015 – Wakota Arena, South St. Paul, MN
Dean M. stated that we have received 137 Arena renewals, 2 new arena member, 68 Vendor renewals and 2 new Vendor to date. Last
year’s totals were 132 arena members and 56 vendor members.
May Board Meeting: Tuesday, May 4, 2015 – Kelly Inn Hotel, St. Cloud, MN
The income and expense report were shared updated as of May 6, 2015. The annual spring Workshop will be held on Tuesday May
12, 2015 at the National hockey Center in St Cloud MN with 188 members in attendance including 31 vendor members it looks to be
another well attended workshop. Our 2015 Memberships are Arena/Association 144 = same from 2014, Organizations 7 = same as
2014, Vendor 71 = +5 from 2014. MIAMA balance as of 5-26-15 is $44,988.98
June Board Meeting: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 – Fergus Falls Community Center, Fergus Falls, MN
Spring Workshop went very well. We still have outstanding balance to collect of $935.00. We still have to receive bills for the rental
of the Husky Den and the food. Full details at the September board meeting.
Dean and Travis check in conference attendees upon arrival at Breezy Point
Vendor Representative Report – Jon Jackson
First off, I would like to thank all of our vendor members for being a part of the MIAMA organization and showing their continued
support through memberships, trade shows, sponsorships, monetary gifts and giveaways. The vendors play a large part in the
MIAMA organization and help make a lot of these events happen. This year’s Spring Trade show was held at the newly renovated
Herb Brooks National Hockey Center in St. Cloud. Yet again, we had a fantastic turnout with 30 vendor members attending. I would
also like to send a big thank you to the Joe Meierhofer and his staff at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center for being a fantastic
host. Once again, thank you to everyone for another fun and eventful year.
ANNUAL CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
2014 Fall Conference Report – Dean Mulso & Rich Czech
In 2014, The Minnesota Ice Arena Managers Association (MIAMA) completed our 39th Annual Fall Conference at Breezy Point
Resort in Breezy Point, MN with 127 total attendees. 2014 was our first year of a three year contract at Breezy Point Resort in Breezy
Point, MN. MIAMA offered two course, STAR’s SIRO class and ISI’s Refrigeration Theory/Principles, Maintenance and Operations.
There were 41 vendor tables at the Trade Show on Wednesday evening with many of the vendors being on hand and contributing
during the entire conference. The conference featured a number of programs and activities each day for management, operations and
vendors.
Our Speaker was Joe Schmit - His engaging stories, infectious humor, and impactful life reveals his heart and leave audiences wanting
more. He has averaged more than 50 appearances a year over the past three decades, and is an active member of the National
Speakers Association. If there was a going away party after work tonight, which employee would the most people show up for? That
person has more to say about the culture of your company than you think. The research we've done has identified this person and they
are not always the person in the corner office, sometimes they are the person who cleans the corner office. Do you know what kind of
"Silent Impact" you are having in your professional and personal life? This keynote will inspire audiences to amplify your influence.
It's a game changer!
Ron Schara was our after dinner speaker. Ron Schara - Ron Schara is a story teller. It’s a skill Ron learned as a boy sitting on the lap
of his Grandpa Clate Dickens. Today, Ron Schara is a writer and television personality who’s been sharing outdoor stories with
readers and viewers for four decades. He brings to life the joys of living the outdoors through nature watching, fishing, hunting,
camping and the like. Ron’s soft spoken delivery and friendly on-camera presence have made him a popular icon as an outdoor
communicator with a passion for the outdoor lifestyle
Currently, Ron is a weekly co-host of Live Outdoors heard on WCCO 830 on CBS. Ironically, the Real Star of Ron’s many programs
is his dog, Raven, a black Lab who is seen on several shows, including MINNESOTA BOUND on KARE-TV; and PHEASANTS
FOREVER TV on the OUTDOOR CHANNEL. Married to Denise and the father of two grown daughters, Ron also has one grandson,
Jake. It may explain why Ron ends most of his stories with: “Remember, introduce a kid to the great outdoors.”
“Ron and Raven aren’t misbehaving”
We thank our presenters and break out session speakers made up of Ice Skating Institute Staff and Serving the American Rinks Staff
with topics that included; Ice Maintenance, Training, Supervision and Retention, Edging and the Edger, Emergency Preparedness, The
ABC's of OSHA - Understanding OSHA, Financial Management – Budgeting, Ice Base Construction, Public vs. Private Facility
Management Employee Documentation, Energy Management, Facility Documentation and How to Generate More Revenue
Members learn from the experts from STAR as Don Moffitt leads sessions
Peter Martell & ISI staff discuss employee topics during the Fall Conference
At the Business meeting the 2014-15 Executive Board was announced with Craig Flor as President, Shayne Ratcliff as Vice-President
and Dean Mulso returning as Secretary/Treasurer.
2014 Attendance
Registrations
Courses
Vendors- Table
One Day Registrations
Sponsors
97
30
30
16
13
Fall Conference Pictures
Trade show talk
Class room work
Fall Conference Sponsors
Joe Schmit speaks of Silent Impact
President Craig offers a harty welcome
2015 Spring Workshop Report –Shayne Ratcliff & Jon Jackson
The 2015 Spring Workshop was held at the newly updated Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at St. Cloud State University. With
146 members attending and 30 vendor booths the workshop continues to be very popular due to the knowledge and ideas that are
presented.
The workshop featured a great motivational speech by keynote speaker SSG John Kriesel who survived a near death experience while
serving our country. He talked about making everyday a good day and how you have the power to do so. Travis Larson gave a
presentation covering all the updates that have been added to Rinkfinder.com. The new Rinkfinder.com should be much more user
friendly and easier for managers to work with when uploading schedules and ice for sale. John Olson from the MN Department of
Health updated our membership on the how the past two years have gone since the new air quality rules went into effect.
We want to give a special thanks to Joe Meierhofer and his staff at the National Hockey Center for all their help and the use of their
facility.
.
Members enjoy time on the floor attending the vendor trade show at the National Sports Center
.
St. Cloud State men’s Hockey coach Bob Motzco addresses our “team” at the Spring Workshop
AWARDS AND GRANTS
JAMES A.PADGETT AWARD –Ralph Engelstad Arena and Huck Olson Memorial Civic
Arena
This year we had 2 applications. All facilities were very deserving and received strong consideration for the award. The applicants
were; Ralph Engelstad Arena/Thief River Falls and Eden Prairie Community Center.
Congratulations to the Ralph Engelstad Arena and Huck Olson Memorial Civic Center arena staff for being the recipient of the 2015
James Padgett Award that was presented at the Minnesota Ice Arena Manager’s Spring Conference on May 5, 2015 at the Herb
Brooks National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN.
The annual award is presented to an ice arena that has distinguished itself as a leader, innovator and contributor to the ice arena
industry. The Ralph Engelstad Arena and Huck Olson Memorial Civic Center staff is recognized for their commitments to improving
their facility.
Congratulations to the entire staff at Ralph Engelstad Arena and Huck Olson Memorial Civic Center for being the recipient of the
2015 James Padgett Award that was presented at the Minnesota Ice Arena Manager’s Spring Conference on May12, 2015 at the Herb
Brooks National Hockey Center, St. Cloud, MN.
The annual award is presented to an ice arena that has distinguished itself as a leader, innovator and contributor to the ice arena
industry.
In 2015 the Ralph Engelstad Arena and Huck Olson Memorial Civic Center stood out for their commitments to improving their
facility. There were 20 points of focus incorporated over a long planning and improvement process which took many years until actual
implementation. Some of the improvements included new siding, insulation and lighting, occupancy sensors, increased lighting
controls and many energy saving measures to reduce consumption. There were improvements made to the boiler system to save
energy with timers, controls and pumping switches.
The arena staff at Thief River Falls works concurrently with the entire Park & Recreation Department. They had a long list of
supportive groups and individuals who worked in many different rolls along the way. In speaking of their accomplishments Parks &
Recreation Director Joe Amunson was quick to point out there were a multiple number of City departments working together to make
this happen. There was a process in place and much of the work was accomplished by previous and recently retired city employees
and much of the credit is deserved by the people who were around when the facility was opened and identified many of the needs.
MIAMA President Craig Flor Presents Joe Amundson with the 2015 James Padgett Award
Current Full-Time Employees and Titles. Joe Amundson Parks and Recreation Director, Mike Olson Parks/Arenas Foreman, Aaron
Joppru Todd Reed Ben Myers Tom Harbott Parks/Arenas Maintenance, Missy Sletten Rec Coordinator, Ashley Hejlik Secretary, and
Cindy Sanden Concession Manager.
ALAN K. PAYNE CONFERENCE GRANTS
MIAMA is pleased to announce the 2015 Fall Conference Grant recipients.
This year's recipients are:
Luke Jacobsen – Rosemount Ice Arena
Tony Seibert – Elk River Ice Arena
Geoff Clarke – St. Louis Park Rec Center
Chad Jameson – Drake Arena
CONCEPT OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Bob Balzer Richfield Ice Arena
Congratulations to Joe Balzer, Richfield Ice Arena for his Concept of the Year design. Joe designed a way to take the pain out of
varying sizes of plexi-glass when in a pinch. He developed an effective spacer to secure a good fit so the glass will stay in place.
Way to go Joe!
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Elections Report – Craig Flor
A special thank you to board members that are completing their terms: Rich Czech (Elk River), Rick Ragan (Delano Area Sports
Arena) Dave Umlauf (Fergus Falls). We look forward to all of your involvement with MIAMA as Non Board Members and are
looking forward to the newly elected folks announced during the Annual Meeting.
The MIAMA 2014-15 Board of Directors was made up of 8 voting positions from the arena membership, 1 vendor member
representative (Jon Jackson), 1 voting position of secretary/treasurer (Dean Mulso), and 5 non-voting members to include the Website
Editor (Travis Larson), the Newsletter Editor (Dave Black), the immediate Past President (Rick Regan), the Director Emeritus (Walt
Burley), and a MN Hockey Representative (Rick Rakness).
Education Committee Report – Rick Ragan
This year for the Fall Conference is a partnership with STAR and iAIM again. STAR will be offering their Human Resource
Management (HRM) course and Ice Skating Institute will be offering their Certified Arena Operator course as part of their iAIM
program. Both courses are an excellent opportunity to fine tune your skills and are a sure bet they will be well attended. Last year’s
Fall Conference had all sessions packed out!
The board will continue is ongoing discussion on what direction the Association wants to move in for future educational
opportunities. If you have any preference on what you would like to see offered at the Spring Workshop or Fall Conference please,
please, PLEASE fill out your surveys at the end of the events or email myself or another Board member.
Website Committee Report – Travis Larson
Rinkfinder.com
 Launched new web platform for Rinkfinder.com
o The new platform was launched to give our association more latitude and expansion along with making it more user
friendly on the administrative side. Most members are not utilizing this opportunity to showcase their facilities and
programs. The number one complaint from the general public….no information available on the site. It is up to the
managers to upload and keep their information up to date.
 Website Statistics: Rinkfinder.com September 1, 2014 – Aug 2015
o Unique Users: 92,955
o Page Views: 478,877
o Sessions/Visits: 224,316
 In the future:
o Get more managers uploading schedule data and keeping information up to date.
o Improving flow and functions of site to the public.
o Create a random arena showcase. This will only showcase arenas that are utilizing the functions of the site.
o Further requests to sell ice directly through website, many operational hurdles to overcome.
o Look and feel improvements.
MIAMA.ORG
o Site Statistics: www.miama.org
o Page Views: 41,697
o Visits: 12,199
o Registered Site Users: 326 active and inactive accounts
o Launched new vendor directory and onboarding of vendor members to their pages will occur.
o Working on upgraded community software to further sharing information with the membership.
o Compiling data for comprehensive arena membership directory.
o Site software was hacked through a 3rd party software that ran our classified ads section. We utilized our hosting provider to
scan and evaluate our files to secure and ensure we continue to be secure. We have disabled and removed and purchased new
software for our classified ads section to provide a secure site. As a note, we do not store any payment information as we
utilize paypal to provide transactions. Those are directly entered on PayPal’s website, and no connection to ours except for a
confirmation payment was successful.
As always, constructive feedback is welcome regarding the site or any errors. Email Travis Larson at tlarson@miama.org.
Newsletter Report –Dave Black
The newsletter format is transmitted digitally and in a format closer to real time. We have continued on this track for a few years now.
As technology and social media are further developed it is time for MIAMA to become involved to a certain degree. 2014-15 is the
fifth year of completing the Annual Report documenting the various committees and events occurring within and around our
organization. We have followed the same format in creating a report which captures the highlights of the MIAMA year.
There are some changes occurring with the Newsblast. While we will continue to capture news worthy items and bring them to the
membership on a timely basis, it is time to take the newsblast and web site focuses and merge them even closer together.
In recognizing this, I brought this to the board’s attention and felt it was the perfect timing to turn it over to someone who can add
some new perspective. I have a few more years left working in the industry and plan to help the board as much as I can, and look
forward to a fresh look for the Newsblast.
Beginning in September Jon Balvance will take over duties of the Newsblast and begin learning more of the website committee and
provide back-up in that area. He is more in tuned with social media and has more tech experience which will help further the
information stream to the membership.
It has truly been an honor to cover the news for MIAMA since 1997. We have grown so much as an organization and I plan to help in
any way I can during and after the transition. Jon will do a great job and provide some new ideas and take it to another level of value
for our group.
Member Recognition Report – Dean Mulso
2014 Service Award Honorees
10 Year Service Awards
Jared Larson
All Season Arena
Dan Halverson
Andover Community Center
15 Year Service Awards
Mike Bauer
Brendan Flaherty
Lon Sorenson
Wade Carlson
Bob Baltgalvis
Rogers Activity Center
Mars Lakeview Arena
Chaska Community Center
Veterans Memorial Community Center
Veterans Memorial Community Center
20 Year Service Awards
Pete Carlson
Mark Vaughan
Kyle Collins
Kristen Connell
Chris Slettom
Chris Dolan
Joel Schares
Mark Bartholomew
Patrick Hunsinger
Mike Elam
Kyle Bodsberg
Reggie Krakowski
National Sport Center
Eagan Civic Arena
Waseca Community Arena
Augsburg College
Chisago Lakes Arena
Young Arena
Young Arena
Roseville Skating Center
Brooklyn Park Community Center
Forest Lake Sports Arena
Veterans Memorial Community Center
Parade Ice Garden
25 Year Service Awards
Bob Montrose
Terry Jorgenson
Scott Fredrickson
Todd Baer
Graham Arena
Watertown Parks and Recreation
Moose Sherritt Ice Arena
Parade Ice Garden
30 Year Service Awards
Stan Bjorklund
DECC
Mike Guzzo
Rukavina Arena
Dave Burtman
Cottage Grove Ice Arena
40 Year Service Awards
Walt Bruley
Gary Pietig
Gary Bye
Jim Becker
Bob Carr
John VonBank
Retired - Alumni
Retired - Alumni
Cool Air Mechanical, Inc.
Becker Arena Products
Bloomington
Burnsville Ice Center
Outgoing Board Members
Rick Ragan
Delano Sports Arena
Jordan Hirman
Cottage Grove Ice Arena
Members receive years of service awards at 2014 Fall Conference
Cale Potolski (left) and Jordan Hirman (right) receives outgoing Board Member Recognition 2014
Director Emeritus Board of Directors Position – Walt Bruley
We currently have 9 members. Members have been active in attending the Spring Workshop and Fall Conferences. The Alumni
Program is looking forward to being part of the MIAMA Regional Workshops as that program progresses. There is interest shown
by MIAMA members looking at retiring in the next few years. The future of the MIAMA Alumni Program looks strong.
Social Committee - Jon Balvance & Dean Mulso
The MIAMA Social committee held one event in 2014-2015.
This year’s event was held on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at the Xcel Energy Center for a Minnesota Wild Game. We had 133 people
attend which was over double the amount from 2013-2014. The evening began with MIAMA supplied appetizers during a social &
information exchange in the party room on the suite level. Our group sampled some fine food from the Xcel Energy Center including:
Nacho Bar, Meatball Bar, Chicken Wing Sampler and Gourmet Mac & Cheese Sampler. Our group then moved to our seats and
watched the Wild fall to the Avalanche 2-3. This event had a fantastic showing from our vendors with 12 companies sponsoring this
event. We’d like to thank again: Cool Air Mechanical, Apex, Let’s Play Hockey, Becker Arena Products, MIAMA, Al’s Coffee, Oven
Baked Eats, Hillphoenix, Harris Companies, R & R Specialties, Rink Systems & Zamboni.
The intent of the committee is to have events where our MIAMA members and families along with MIAMA Sponsor Members can
get together in a social setting and share ideas and to network. If you have any suggestions for the MIAMA Social Committee or
would like to be a part of the social committee, please let any of the committee members know.
Enjoying pre-game fun in the hospitality room
Sponsors welcome members at the MN Wild game
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
MN Hockey Report – Rich Rakness
Minnesota Hockey did post a modest gain in the number of players for the 2014-15 hockey season. We are continuing to grow more in
season and off season programs to help in the development of player skills and ability.
Minnesota Hockey will be hiring a person to fill the new position of Hockey Program Manager. This person will enhance and
strengthen in season community based, volunteer driven hockey by establishing new in season and off season programs.
Once again we voice our appreciation for the support that we receive from MIAMA. Member rinks have been great in helping us get
the information to the customers in most rinks. The hanging and of our banners and posters helps us promote and has made an impact
in getting our community based message to young skaters taking up the sport of hockey.
Class picture for Iaim Certification course work
Enjoying dinner and guest speakers at Breezy Point
NARCE Report – Dean Mulso, Jon Balvance & Rick Ragan
STAR/NARCE - It was another record setting year for STAR at NARCE again this year. The second year of the conference in
Columbus OH, being a little more central in the country had the attendance up again this year. The trade show also set a record with
the number of vendors it had displaying their wares. The MIAMA booth was business as usual with steady stream curious passers by
asking "What do you guys do?" It always fun explaining how we are the biggest arena manager community in the United States with
some of the best ice makers around the world as our members.
STAR presentation at Breezy Point arena
ISI Report – Troy Ciernia
ISI and MIAMA will be having a joint conference in 2017 in Minneapolis. MIAMA did this in 2007 and it was a huge success. This
year the annual ISI conference was in beautiful Danvers, Massachusetts. The conference was proven to be a success, with positive
feedback, complete with a few skating stars in attendance. Including Michelle Kwan, Frank Carroll, Julie Chu, David Santee, Mark
Mitchel and Peter Johansson. Troy Ciernia helped plan all the Management/ Operations courses for the conference. Overall, ISI wants
to be a partner with MIAMA for years to come.
Peter Martell (center) of ISI, at the 2014 Fall Conference Trade Show
MIAMA IN PICTURES
Congratulations John Von Bank on your retirement from Burnsville in September 2014
Sergent John Riesel at the Spring Workshop
Jon Olson from Dept. of Health presents at Spring Workshop
All STAR conversation
Different rinks - but same Woodbury roots
Andy looking for bargains
Rich checking out low E ceilings
Brad P shows guests the finest of Becker Arena Products
Hot coffee – cool beans
R J M at your service
Dale talks shop at R & R Specialities booth