Has anyone else heard that the Hemlock Overlook operation is closing in June 2009?
Personally I don't beleive that the DNR state park will find a new partner to help them throgh this difficult transition in the coming year and I am back up in this thought by the fact that they are not taking bookings passed June.
Now we have all those clients scuttling Hemlock Overlook to the other ropes course vendors for a make do for this season.
We at Upward Enterprises run a very different Team Building program that uses the much larger ropes course to its full potential in an Experiantial Learning capacity. Yes our rates can be higher and generally the programs are longer and Rome was not built in a day. To know this you must visit the site and experience the programs.
Are you game?
This is appearning to be a trend in ropes course facilities.
ReplyDeleteBoston Univ. Sargeant Center, Hemlock I know there are more teetering on the edge of economic doom.
Sad to hear at the same time at a time like this is when we need innovators and heretics to create new programs and experiential ideas.
What will come of this, perhaps many more experiential consultants and entrepeneurs popping up? A fleeing of young EE profesionals fleeing into other fields.
I hope that what comes out of this is a new face and vibrancy for Team Building and Team Development.
Maybe "closure" is a bit premature? George Mason University decided to end its contract with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) and set June 30 as the deadline because of the fiscal year. The park authority is looking for a partner and has several bids. (GMU employs the staff at the park and NVRPA is the landowner.)
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, a coalition of staff, former staff, and friends of the park are appealing to GMU to keep the facility open through the summer and fall to ease the transition and keep the revenue stream flowing (they reported a profit last year despite a significant technology upgrade). Those who support the compassionate Kurt Hahn spirit of experiential education might like to visit the Save Hemlock campaign at http://www.savehemlock.com/ and sign the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/hemlock/petition.html.
And as someone who has worked courses at both organizations at one time or another over the last 15 years, I take heart that in this terrifically diverse greater Washington metropolitan area (population 5,306,565, as of 2007), Upward Enterprises and its neighboring challenge course facilities actually enhance and complement each other without the need for the dog-eat-dog competition we see in so many other fields.
I am fairly certain the thousands of schoolchildren who have been looking so forward to their visit this coming fall--not to mention the forty-three hardworking human beings at the park who are concerned about their jobs--also appreciate this.
Thank you for your time and concern--cheers!
David Heath
Fairfax, VA
This is appearning to be a trend in ropes course facilities.
ReplyDeleteBoston Univ. Sargeant Center, Hemlock I know there are more teetering on the edge of economic doom. The park authority is looking for a partner and has several bids. (GMU employs the staff at the park and NVRPA is the landowner.) I am fairly certain the thousands of schoolchildren who have been looking so forward to their visit this coming fall--not to mention the forty-three hardworking human beings at the park who are concerned about their jobs--also appreciate this.
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