Tag: training

The Company You Keep

15yearsagoBy Brian Van Bower

‘If you ask a roomful of watershapers about the toughest of the basic business challenges they face,’ wrote Brian Van Bower in opening his Aqua Culture column for January 2005, ‘there’s little doubt in my mind that a large percentage of them would say that finding, hiring and keeping good employees is near the top of the list.’

‘Depending upon several factors – the size of your company, its business volume, its focus and how much work you submit to outside contractors – your own approach

Natare Manufactures Moving Bulkhead Systems

Natare Pool Corp. (Indianapolis, IN) offers moving pool bulkheads that meet all current FINA, USA Swimming and NCAA requirements. The engineered structures move easily, provide varying course lengths and feature wave-quelling, flow-through openings at the water’s surface. Designed for durability, they also have slip-resistant lane targets. For details, click here.

The Anxieties of Influence

15yearsagoBy David Tisherman

‘I can be quite outspoken,’ declared David Tisherman in opening his Details column in the November/December 2001 issue of WaterShapes.  ‘Here’s the unvarnished truth:  No more than a hundred pool builders out there can legitimately call themselves designers, . . . while only a handful design at the very highest level.’

‘Almost always, the difference between these top-level designers and

Key Conversations

8-10 triplett artBy Eric Triplett

As a professional, I’ve always seen myself as something of a calming influence – basically as an instructor who offers reassuring guidance.  I teach my staff, I teach my clients and their families and, through all of the videos I’ve made, I also like to think I help other pond professionals by giving them tools they can use to

The Educational Imperative

15yearsagoBy David Tisherman

‘It’s great that more and more people in the watershaping business are interested in becoming custom designers.  The way I see it,’ wrote David Tisheman to start his May 2001 Details column, ‘the future of the industry rests in the hands of those who strive for creativity and excellence in their work.’

‘Unfortunately, however, there are those out there who are brash enough to declare themselves

2016/5.1, May 4 — Tile Intricacy, Pond Intervention, Community Interest and more

THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS May 4, 2016 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE Double the Pleasure As Jimmy Reed knows well, glass tile can be an unforgiving material. But with meticulous planning and surface preparation, he insists, even surfaces as complex as those he encountered in this project can be tiled efficiently — […]

Powers of Observation

10-year logoBy Stephanie Rose

‘Science tells us that the human eye can see about seven million colors and that our minds instinctively perceive depth and dimension.  This visual capacity,’ noted Stephanie Rose at the outset of her Natural Companions column in April 2006, ‘enables most of us to move around without bumping into things, some of us to swing at and somehow hit a golf ball and, in the case of a beautiful garden (we can hope), all of us sense

Whitewater West Publishes Waterpark Maintenance Guide

Whitewater West Industries (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada) has just released its “Guide to Waterpark Maintenance.” Prepared by the company’s expert staff with input from experienced park operators, the digital publication offers information on ensuring rider safety, extending the lives of park attractions, boosting visual perception and more. For details, click here.

Let’s Do It!

'Breathtaking' is the best word to describe both this project and the leap Jimmy Reed took in persuading the client that the tile-installation part of this huge job -- which was to involve application of thousands of square feet of glass tile to ten unique pools -- was just a piece of cake. By Jimmy Reed

Several years back, the luxury car maker Lexus described its corporate mission as the relentless pursuit of perfection, and I’m willing to step up and say that working with glass tile on the shapely, detailed interior surfaces of swimming pools and spas is just that sort of pursuit.

That’s not saying we hit the mark with placement of every single piece of tile across surfaces that frequently cover thousands of square feet, but we have

On the Ground Floor

Back in his high school drafting class, Tanr Ross took a chance in pursuing what were then brand-new computer-design technologies. By the time he encountered the team launching Pool Studio some years later, he was all set to take off on that software's rising digital wave. By Tanr Ross

I grew up in my father’s pool business – a successful design/build firm based in Henderson, Nev.  Even in high school, I was consciously preparing myself to get involved on the design side of things and had signed up for a drafting class to start developing the requisite drawing skills.

But something big was happening in the late 1990s:  I was all set for my drafting class and had equipped myself with the tools I’d need