Dan Roberge
All right, Mike. Nice to meet you.
Mike Geiler
Nice to meet you.
Dan Roberge
And so what do you do with Sports Facilities?
Mike Geiler
I am the regional director of ice operations, which means the region I oversee is the United States. All the rinks in the country, in terms of their ice specific operations, from the Zamboni, to the ice maintenance itself, the chillers and the compressors that keep the ice cold. I help coordinate with all of the general managers and operations managers at the rinks.
Dan Roberge
So some of these ice rinks are in a warm climate.
Mike Geiler
Yes, we have a handful in Texas. We have one in Los Angeles. We don't have any here in Florida yet. But yes, we do have a couple that are in warmer climates.
Dan Roberge
And so do you find there are challenges that are different than, say, the ones that are in the cooler climate?
Mike Geiler
Yes, the biggest challenge is always the humidity. In some rinks up north, you might find the general rule of thumb is Memorial Day through Labor Day, you're going to have some issues. Those get extended quite a bit further, in the other places, in Los Angeles, it's not a problem. It's the dry heat, but in other locations, and when I've worked in places like here in Florida, yeah, that can be the real challenge.
Dan Roberge
And so how big are these facilities? Are there different sizes? Like what is the typical size?
Mike Geiler
We have multiple sheets. We have some that are, for example, our Los Angeles rink, Skating Edge Ice Arena is one sheet, one facility, one Zamboni, one everything. And it's very small, but it serves a very, committed community out there, and a very dedicated group of people that skate there regularly, whether it's through the figure skating program, the hockey programs that play there. They have a very large community. Then we have at the polar end of the spectrum, we have Fort Wayne, Indiana, we have the PSM Ice House, three rinks under one roof.
Dan Roberge
Oh, wow.
Mike Geiler
And that's the home of the hockey team. There's a junior team that plays out of there. So that one sees quite a bit larger volume than the other place. So, yeah, there's certainly different needs for different rinks.
Dan Roberge
And so you're part of the team that helps manage the actual physical location. What about services around attracting teams and organizing other events? Are you do participate in that process?
Mike Geiler
No, I personally more participate in the overseeing of the ice itself. Like, again, the maintenance of the machines. The programming is left up to the general managers, or some rinks it's the general manager who does everything. Others, they have an operations manager that I'll coordinate with. And then they have a program director who will maybe either run the Learn to Skate program or decide when they're going to do, you know, certain themed public skates for big events or things like that.
Dan Roberge
So did you have to study anything related to ice making?
Mike Geiler
And so there is a US ice rink association, and they do classes, and they provide certifications. There's an administrative side and an operational side. And yes, I am a certified ice technician. I've gone through the three classes, one of which is the equipment, you know, the edging and the ice maintenance, and the Zamboni. Another is the refrigeration aspect, which in my opinion, is the most exciting and interesting, because it's a very niche aspect of what we do. Keeping the ice cold, the refrigeration plant, and the other is the painting and the technologies of actually building the ice from the ground up. So it's not like a four year, you don't go to school, to college. Florida State University doesn't have an ice technician program, but there are certain certifications that you go through to get to the level that I'm at.
Dan Roberge
That's amazing. And so then, eventually you could do a NHL ice rink?
Mike Geiler
Yes. I thought that was going to be the next level for me. My predecessor at my previous job moved on to that level. So I did think that hopefully an NHL gig was in the cards, but this opportunity opened up here. It seems very, very interesting. I've been with this company about a year now, and I absolutely love it.
Dan Roberge
That's amazing. So just briefly tell me what's underneath the ice. Is it cement? What is the technology?
Mike Geiler
It depends on the facility And interestingly enough, for example, the Los Angeles facility, we use a sand base. One of the reasons is because LA is very prone to earthquakes. So if you get an earthquake out there, it can do some serious damage to a cement floor, and you're going to have to pay a lot of money to replace that. So if you go with the sand base, then you've got a lot more leeway in that regard. But cement is preferred. Usually you have cement, and there's piping inside of that cement when they pour it. That's what brings it down to temperature, and you build up on top.
Dan Roberge
That's amazing. So interesting. Well, thank you very much for talking to us. I appreciate it, and I'm sure we'll talk again at some point soon.
Mike Geiler
All right. Thank you very much.
Dan Roberge
Thank you.
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