Articles & Essays
Articles and Essays written by our team - Rick Biddle, Jill Macauley, Catherine Grace and Thomas Biddle
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"How Elk Grove is Trying to Land a Sacramento Landmark to Build the ‘Future of Zoos" BY DARRELL SMITH, THE SACRAMENTO BEE "The 60 acres at the southeast end of Elk Grove are bare now. But the real estate at Lotz Parkway and Kammerer Road potentially represents both a new chapter for a Sacramento landmark and a turning point for a city aspiring to become a regional destination." 1/7/2022 |
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"Sacramento Region Deserves a Modern Zoo with a Greater Ability to Educate Future Generations" BY JASON JACOBS AND ELIZABETH STALLARD, THE SACRAMENTO BEE "The city of Elk Grove envisions building a modern, regional Sacramento Zoo from scratch — the nation’s first new zoo since the Indianapolis Zoo in 1988, said a key consultant on the project." 1/6/2022 |
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"Rip the Band-Aid Off: More Money for More Mission Delivery" "Over the past few months, we have supported the realignment and optimization of the admissions and membership fees and programs for several colleagues. This critically important process has helped our clients identify new sources of operating revenues even without increases in visitation. We recently facilitated this process on behalf of the Dallas Zoo." 4/22/2021 |
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"Elevating Board Leadership Amid a Global Health Crisis" "As we are now fully into 2021, it is quickly becoming clear that many of the challenges of the past year will remain with us well into this year. While that is a difficult realization, it also presents opportunities – among them the chance to leverage these obstacles to continue to shape and evolve your volunteer leadership to ensure that it remains an engaged and contributing force for your organization." 1/31/2021 |
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"The WAZA Conservation Strategy, Five Years Later" - Rick Barongi "In recognition of WAZA’s fifth anniversary of its series Conservation Strategy, Committing to Conservation, RS&S Senior Consultant Rick Barongi evaluates its impact on the zoological community. In this article, Rick reflects on the value of all three editions of the series and considers the best direction for the fourth edition." 12/29/2020 |
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"Leading Mindfully in a Strange New World" - Rick Breden "The uncertainty of our new normal has many of us struggling to find meaning and to move with purpose through our days. We at RS&S have been actively engaged with our many zoo and aquarium clients and friends over the past several weeks, witnessing in real time the differences in zoo leadership and their varied approaches to managing the current crisis..." 04/15/2020 |
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“Positive Pivoting” - Rick Biddle "Getting back to normal, by getting back to basics...We at RS&S recently worked with Michele Smith and the Woodland Park Zoo (WPZ) team to outsource their food service and catering operations. We were wowed by her spirited management approach, so we reached out to her to discuss some of the strategies she and her team are employing to keep WPZ moving forward. We are pleased to share them with you..." 03/31/2020 |
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“Let’s Take the Panic Out of Pandemic” - Rick Biddle "Managing through the COVID-19 Crisis. An Institutional Leaders ACTION GUIDE: Everyone is asking – how do we best proceed given our unprecedented situation? From our collective discussions, we would like to share eight actionable steps for leaders to consider as we navigate through these challenging times..." 03/17/2020 |
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Put Your Pants On, Joe! A Strategic Planning Panel Discussion
Our planning team is never at a loss for colorful metaphors when it comes to making aspects of our work clear and relatable. This quality was on display at this year’s Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) annual meeting in September in New Orleans. 11/21/2019 |
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On Mentorships - A Young Professional's Perspective from the 2019 AZA Conference
This past year has been a particularly busy one and has led to significant personal and professional growth. One of the most significant contributors to that growth has been the mentorship of an experienced industry professional who has helped to guide my career by providing leadership, advice and support over the past year. 11/21/2019 |
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Another Voice Working to Change the Conversation
"One of our colleagues recently shared a presentation delivered in a workshop to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra by John McCann, President of Partners in Performance, about addressing the Orchestra's financial challenges and building a sustainable business model. The talk was framed to inspire discussion and new ways of thinking, as nonprofit organizations must “carve out roles of relevance and impact for their specific and unique community if they are going to garner the investment necessary for future endeavors.” 10/28/2019 |
Articles below written while staffed at Shultz & Williams
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A Deeper Dive into Bigger. Better. Faster. (BBF) -Rick Biddle Taking our article, "Are You Ready for the Next Evolution?", to the next level, Managing Director Rick Biddle launches the Bigger. Better. Faster. Chronicles in the second installment of how to enhance your nonprofit’s relevance in this ever-changing world. 8/28/19 |
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Are You Ready For The Next Evolution?
-Rick Biddle Today's thriving organizations have successfully adapted to tremendous evolution over the last several decades. But how do these and many other organizations identify, anticipate, prepare for and ultimately navigate the next evolution to stay relevant to their audiences? 7/3/19 |
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Keeping Your Eyes on the Prize: Getting the Most from Your Strategic Plan
-Jill Macauley Most leaders of nonprofit organizations would agree that there are never enough hours in the day to get their work done. And so the idea of committing a significant amount of time, money and energy to developing a strategic plan is often regarded, at best, as a necessary evil. 11/20/18 |
