Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Building Welcoming Culture and Trust: JoAnn Newman's Leadership Philosophy at Orlando Science Center

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Building Welcoming Culture and Trust: JoAnn Newman's Leadership Philosophy at Orlando Science Center · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:12
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is Joanne Newman. She serves as President and CEO
0:22
of Orlando Science Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated
0:27
to inspiring science learning for everyone.
0:30
The Center features hands on exhibits and immersive
0:33
educational programs, welcoming more than 660,000 visitors each
0:39
year. Under Joanne's guidance, the
0:42
Science Center has nearly doubled its attendance and
0:45
revenue, earned grants from NASA and the Office of Naval
0:48
Research, and received multiple accolades including two
0:53
nominations for the Institute of Museum and Library Services
0:57
National Medal. Joanne joined Orlando Science
1:00
Center in 2003, working in roles such as Director of Operations
1:06
before becoming its CEO in 2009. Before that, she LED
1:11
manufacturing teams at companies like AT&T Microelectronics, and
1:16
She holds degrees in industrial engineering from Purdue and Penn
1:20
State, which have helped shape her approach to leadership and
1:23
problem solving. Now before we get into all that
1:26
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Add Back benefits.com. All right, back to our guest
2:08
today, President and CEO of Orlando Science Center, Joanne
2:12
Newman. Thanks for making the time to
2:13
Share your story today. Of course.
2:17
So, Joanne, what first drew you into the field of engineering?
2:22
Well, I really had no idea what I wanted to do.
2:25
And I'm the youngest of five and my oldest brother had already
2:31
graduated and he was an engineer and he is the one that really
2:34
talked to me. He's like, you don't know what
2:37
you want to do, but you're good at math, you're good in science.
2:42
I think you need to look at this and try it.
2:45
And so I did I because, you know, I'm first generation
2:49
College in my family. My parents did not graduate.
2:54
And so it was really the influence of my oldest brother,
2:57
who is also an engineer. What type of engineering did he
3:01
study? He did civil and I so I started
3:06
looking at all of them and I was the industrial and sort of
3:10
system side of things is the one that seemed the most appealing
3:15
to me. So I thought I would try it.
3:17
And and then I'm just stubborn because, you know, half the
3:20
class drops out in the first year.
3:24
Oh yeah. And I was like, Oh no, I'm now
3:27
I'm going to see this through. But but it yeah, I was just
3:33
going to say it just gave me that great foundation in problem
3:37
solving. That's what I think engineering
3:39
degrees do for you. So, degrees from both Penn State
3:43
and Purdue, when you watch college football, where's your
3:46
allegiance? Oh, Penn State is my heart.
3:49
Penn State is my heart for sure. Now, how about basketball?
3:52
Do you flip over to Purdue because they've got a stronger
3:54
program? No, I don't.
3:57
I'm not really a big college basketball fan, but I'm, you
4:01
know, professional sports, professional football, you know,
4:05
Pittsburgh is a football town and I grew up outside of
4:08
Pittsburgh, so I'm a big Steelers fan as well.
4:12
That's fun. OK.
4:13
So you held a number of technical engineering and later
4:17
managerial roles at a variety of different semiconductor
4:21
companies. Talk to us about what that path
4:23
was like. And was it more difficult being
4:26
a woman in that field? Yeah, it definitely was back in
4:31
the day. You know, I remember when I, I
4:34
graduated, so I got my degree, I got the job with AT&T and I was
4:39
like, I'm all set here, this is going to be great.
4:42
But I remember walking in on day one and back then I walked into
4:48
a room. It was a big bullpen with 40
4:50
desks, no cubicle walls or anything, just 40 desks.
4:54
And this was before computers were on every desk and I was the
4:58
only woman of the 40. And not only that, you know, I'm
5:03
a 22 year old kid and these people all seemed really old.
5:08
They're probably in their 40s, that is.
5:10
Really. Old, but yeah, now looking back,
5:13
I'm like, yeah, long for those 40s, right?
5:17
But so it was and the main feeling was just what am I doing
5:23
here? I don't belong.
5:24
I don't fit into this and having to sort of work my way through
5:29
that. And I don't think they quite
5:30
knew what to do with me either, to be honest.
5:33
At first, it was here, read a lot of these manuals and I was
5:36
like, this is, this doesn't seem right.
5:39
But eventually I connected with some other folks there and found
5:45
work that I really was interested in and that I started
5:49
to enjoy and and then just building upon that is kind of
5:53
how it worked. So when they hired you, they
5:55
didn't have a specific role or task for you in mind, they were
5:58
just trying to fill a seat. Well, really I was part of a
6:04
hiring, there was a plan to build a new facility and the
6:09
location hadn't been announced yet, but it was either going to
6:14
be in Florida, which is where it ended up to be or in North
6:18
Carolina. And I was supposed to be in
6:22
Pennsylvania in Allentown for about a year and then transfer
6:25
with a new facility. So I was hired really for the
6:29
new place and I think that caused a little bit of the
6:34
uncertainty that kind of went with the initial, the initial.
6:39
Phase. That role wasn't quite ready for
6:41
you yet. Exactly.
6:42
And, and by the way, that one year turned into four years.
6:45
So it was carving out the role and finding it.
6:51
What really changed it for me. There were some Bell Labs folks
6:54
who worked with our facility and I connected with them and they
6:59
were doing really interesting work and I just was able to sort
7:04
of be a part of that. What was that early work that
7:08
sort of lit the fire and had you feel a purpose and connection
7:11
there? Yeah, it was, it was simulation,
7:14
it was modeling and simulation. And So what we were doing was
7:17
modeling the the clean room, the wafer fab room to, to make sure
7:23
that we were as efficient as we could be and that we had all of
7:27
our processes down in the right way.
7:30
So that's what kind of got me started.
7:33
And so when you say modeling, you didn't have a computer on
7:35
your desk, So what did it look like back then?
7:38
Well, we had to run and then I actually did end up getting a
7:42
computer because I started to get into that work.
7:45
But I remember we had to run the software overnight in order to
7:49
get any results. So it was way, way back.
7:54
Was there a hand crank on the side of this giant computer
7:57
closet thing? Yeah.
8:02
So as you think about sort of the arc of your career before
8:04
you found your way to Orlando Science Center, which of those
8:08
stops do you consider to be most formidable for you?
8:14
I think that that initial, the initial fitting in within AT&T
8:21
and it it you know, it was really high tech is a high tech
8:25
business is semiconductor manufacturing.
8:27
And by the way, that's all one career.
8:30
We just changed names and it it that I had my whole career was
8:35
with AT&T and we just kept changing the name of the
8:38
company. So it was continuous.
8:41
Once I got to Orlando, it was exciting and fun.
8:44
We built the whole new facility. I was there when we opened.
8:49
It was, you know, kind of came up through the ranks there.
8:53
And then I was also there when we shut it down.
8:56
So I it was a full full cycle there.
8:59
Why was it shut down? Really we just could not be
9:05
competitive in semiconductor manufacturing and you see some
9:09
of the push of that today with incentives and the Chips Act and
9:13
things like that. It's a tough business to be
9:16
competitive in. And I think, you know, you need
9:18
more of a campus to to absorb all the costs that it takes.
9:23
You know, it's hundreds of millions of dollars worth of
9:26
equipment in the clean rooms and, and we were also a union
9:32
shop, which meant our pay was higher and, and in the end we
9:38
really just couldn't compete and everything kind of went
9:41
offshore. And so we were, we were shutting
9:43
it down. And that was when I, I'd had a
9:46
20 year career there and I, but I didn't want to leave Orlando
9:50
at that point in time. What was it about Orlando that
9:53
had captured your heart? Well, the the first thing was my
9:58
family was here, right? You know, my husband had a nice
10:02
job and we had two children and we were settled.
10:06
And I mean, Orlando is a great town, though.
10:10
I think everybody thinks theme parks and there's a big push
10:14
about, you know, the other side of Orlando, the hidden Orlando,
10:19
which is, which is beautiful and you know, the weather and all
10:26
the access to beaches and parks and you know, everything that
10:31
you can do, it's it's pretty amazing.
10:33
So did want to leave Orlando. Was there a thought about trying
10:38
to stay within a a similar industry?
10:40
Because it seems like a pretty big shift to join the Science
10:44
Center, yeah. It was all my colleagues thought
10:46
I was crazy. Anthony for sure to to stay in
10:52
the industry, I would have had to leave the state for sure.
10:54
And a lot, a lot of people I know that's what everybody was
10:57
doing. They were leaving the state,
10:58
finding other places because it really, you know, I had built a
11:03
career there. So it was, it was important, but
11:07
I felt like I had had this sort of corporate career and I was
11:12
heads down and I really wanted to do something where I was more
11:15
involved with the community and where I felt like I was giving
11:19
back more. And I always cared about
11:23
education and I cared about girls in education because of
11:29
that. The experiences I had as a woman
11:31
in in the field when there really weren't many and there
11:35
still aren't very many today, to be honest, but they're really,
11:39
it was, it was an unusual situation back then.
11:43
And so I really just sort of put it out there like maybe
11:48
something with education, something with children, I
11:51
wasn't sure. And then I, I always hope it was
11:55
kind of a fluke that I ended up at the Orlando Science Center.
11:59
And it turned out that a guy that had run our facility at
12:02
AT&T, he, he went out to the University of Central Florida
12:09
and became the Dean of the College of Science.
12:13
And the science, the Orlando Science Center had just hired a
12:17
new CEO who had been Dean of the College of Physics.
12:20
So they got talking and the new guy said, you know, I really
12:25
need somebody who knows how to run an operation then who knows
12:30
certain things. And this guy said, oh, I, I know
12:33
somebody who I think would be perfect for you.
12:37
And that's kind of how it happened.
12:38
So part of the reason why you made this shift is you wanted to
12:43
help, want to help the community.
12:45
And I heard you specifically say you wanted to help girls get
12:48
more involved in science because, you know, the own your
12:52
own path and how kind of lonely it must have felt, you know,
12:56
walking into that bullpit and there's 40 people and you're the
13:00
only woman and you're young. You know, I think there's this
13:03
natural human tendency to sort of look at where we are today
13:06
and then look in the past and be like, oh, man, things were so
13:09
backwards then. But we, you know, we're
13:11
enlightened and we've made so much progress now.
13:14
But I'm hearing you say that here we sit today in 2025, and
13:19
there still aren't that many women in the field of
13:22
engineering. Why do you think that is?
13:27
It's, it's a great question, Anthony.
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And I, I think, I do still think there are, I think it comes down
13:35
to fit and culture in many cases.
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And sometimes there is a culture, especially in high tech
13:41
companies, where women just aren't going to feel comfortable
13:47
and just don't feel welcomed. And then I, you know, and then
13:52
there's so many other things. It's family and you know, I
13:57
think still, you know, women as the prime caregiver of a family.
14:03
I think that's still very true today.
14:06
And so it's hard. It's hard to juggle all of that
14:09
as well. And the cost of child care is
14:12
extremely high. So there's so many things that
14:16
go into it, but I do think a part of it starts with what is
14:22
the culture like? And it's something that I've
14:25
taken with me, if you asked me today, like one of the most
14:29
important roles I have as the CEO of the Orlando Science
14:33
Center is creating a welcoming, respectful culture so that
14:39
people can bring all of who they are to the table.
14:43
And I think that's where, that's where innovation lies, right?
14:47
Where people are free and the ideas are flowing and we, we
14:52
listen to each other. We need each other, but there's
14:56
this creative spirit that flows and you're not, you know, and
15:00
it's OK. We want we, we're, you know,
15:02
we're brainstorming, we're throwing out ideas.
15:05
They may be crazy, but let's go to town and and feel good about
15:10
that. I'm curious, somebody in your
15:13
role is the CEO of the Science Center.
15:16
Do you think it's necessary for that person to have a really
15:20
strong science and technical background like you do?
15:24
I do not, but I know it was important when they hired me.
15:29
I think people felt it was important, but I personally do
15:33
not believe that you have to have a strong.
15:36
I don't. I don't think you have to be a
15:39
scientist. I don't think you have to be an
15:41
engineer. I think you have to be a strong
15:43
leader. These are businesses, after all.
15:46
They're nonprofit businesses, but if you you know, no, no
15:54
money, no mission, we say, and it's really true, you have to
15:58
run these places to a certain degree as a business.
16:03
They are, we are a, we're a, you know, we're a $21 million
16:07
business when you look at our last audited financial.
16:11
So it's a big operation and but the wonderful part of it is you
16:18
do have this beating heart of a mission and you have this this
16:23
purpose that feels so good to really inspire science learning
16:30
and to support that. And how do we support our
16:32
community so that there's so many positive aspects to it?
16:38
So when you first came in as Director and VP of Operations,
16:42
what were you tasked with? The, I think one of the biggest
16:49
things that I brought in was I'm the very process driven person
16:55
and that does come from the education and from the AT&T
16:59
training and culture and it, it was things were a mess here.
17:06
They were messy. And it was the, you know, the
17:11
building it, it's, we still call it the new building today, but
17:14
this building opened in 1997 and there was great fanfare.
17:18
And then it took this dive, it started to nose dive.
17:23
And so when I came in, it was in chaos.
17:26
And that original group of people had pretty much all
17:28
exited and a new group of people were trying to sort of resurrect
17:33
this thing and. Sorry, let me interrupt you
17:37
right there. I just want to understand what
17:38
the root of the chaos was. Yeah, well, I mean, the reason I
17:42
think it went downhill, they moved from.
17:46
We're in a beautiful cultural park here in Orlando called Lock
17:50
Haven Park. And in this park we have the
17:54
Museum of Art, we have Repertory theatre, we have Orlando Family
17:59
Stage, which is a children's theatre.
18:01
There's another American Art Museum.
18:04
So it's a really nice sort of cultural park.
18:07
At the time, the Science Center was in a building that was about
18:10
34,000 square feet that now houses the Shakespeare Theater.
18:15
But they, they were busy and packed and they wanted a new
18:20
space. They moved into this new
18:22
building, which was built in design.
18:24
It was, oh, it's over 200,000 square feet.
18:27
So it was a huge move. And part of the business plan
18:31
was that Taurus would come and support the business model, but
18:35
it it took us years to get to the right attendance levels to
18:40
support a building of this size. And so, so it just, it wasn't
18:46
working. You know, there's always when
18:48
you open up a new place, it's the big thing in town.
18:51
Everybody's going to come out. The people would come once,
18:54
maybe twice, and they just didn't feel there was enough to
18:57
come back to. And so all of that was sort of
19:02
happening. So the staff had been reduced
19:05
severely. There was severely reduced
19:09
staff. I don't, I, yeah, just it was,
19:14
it was somewhat chaotic. People were trying to do the
19:18
right thing, but there wasn't a real strong direction of where
19:22
should we be going? What should we be focused on?
19:25
So it was just trying to fight fires every day it felt like.
19:30
And at some point, let's see, were there three years, five
19:34
years before you moved into the CEO rule?
19:37
Yeah, six years. Six years, OK, Thinking about
19:42
that transition from what we'll call industry into the Science
19:46
Center, what was the biggest thing that surprised you?
19:55
It the biggest thing that surprised me I well, I think one
20:01
thing that surprised me was how transferable.
20:06
I think a lot of the skills were.
20:08
So you didn't feel like a fish out of water?
20:10
No, I'd never felt that way at all.
20:12
Seems like quite the opposite. Was like, I can take all this
20:15
structure that I learned over here at AT&T and I can layer
20:18
that in here. Exactly.
20:20
That is how it felt. And I, I do remember we have
20:23
this, we have a parking garage on one side of the road and then
20:28
a pedestrian bridge that you walk across to get into the
20:31
building of the Science Center. And it, it's beautiful.
20:34
And I remember walking across that bridge and music was
20:37
playing and I was like, this is this is amazing.
20:40
I mean, I had been in, you know, the trenches there at AT&T for
20:45
many years. And it just, it just felt great.
20:50
It really felt like a wonderful change for me.
20:53
Yeah. Speaking of changes, what
20:55
changes did you make as CEO to nearly double attendance and
21:00
revenue? Yeah.
21:01
Well, the real focus for us was quality.
21:06
And, and it all starts with the quality of the experiences and
21:10
the services you provide. You can't be all things to all
21:14
people. And we had to just sort of
21:18
start, you know, narrow that down a little bit and start.
21:22
And we started with exhibits because that is the main thing
21:26
people come to you for this great exciting exhibit
21:29
experience. And it, we, we didn't have any
21:33
money, you know, we, it was not in good financial shape at all.
21:38
But we would start even, you know, sometimes we would just
21:41
move the exhibits around or some that were really not good, that
21:46
just were not good exhibits, remove them, get them off the
21:50
floor. How do we build this back up?
21:54
We kind of started one prong of that.
21:56
Just what is the experience feel like?
21:59
And we started immediately, even when I, before I was Ceoi came
22:06
in as the director and then I was the COO and we implemented
22:10
a, we call it the review of quality service Roqs.
22:13
So we just caught rocks for short, but we implemented that
22:17
many years ago and it started with asking people, you know,
22:22
it's about listening to your community is a big, big part of
22:25
this. It can't be some just, oh, I do
22:27
this because I like it or it's convenient or the team was like,
22:30
well, we could figure this out, but I like that's we we needed
22:34
to listen a little bit more to our community.
22:37
And that's what the review of quality service is all about,
22:40
surveying and getting as much feedback from our community and
22:45
visitors as we could and really listening to that feedback and
22:49
making appropriate changes. And you, we just started
22:52
grinding that out like sort of couple things at a time.
22:57
And then and then there's that exhibit experience.
22:59
And then there was the whole other side of how are we getting
23:03
out into the community and how are we supporting our community?
23:08
And that that came a little bit later, but it's such an
23:11
important component of the work that we do and that I think all
23:16
science museums and science centers do.
23:18
And it's really how am I out there supporting the community
23:23
and how do I get to those folks who might never step through our
23:26
doors? So the first part of that that
23:30
you talked about, I was sort of expecting an answer of we made
23:35
this massive change. We closed off a wing, we
23:38
completely redid it. We had these brand new shiny
23:41
exhibits come in. You're like, we didn't have the
23:44
money for that. We had no money.
23:46
It was just like lots of. These incremental changes
23:49
looking for loose change in the couch cushions.
23:52
So how can we take this experience from A2 to a 2 1/2 to
23:57
A to a three sort of incrementally turn the dials?
24:01
That's that's kind of how it unfolded, huh?
24:03
It really is and. Then, you know, when you think
24:06
about it, nobody is going to set the quality bar for you.
24:09
You have to set it. So we set it really high, like
24:12
if something didn't meet that bar, get it out of get it out of
24:16
the purview of the public. And if our guys in the shop
24:20
could do something with it and make it better, great, we'll
24:23
start on that. If not, it's done and what else
24:28
can we do to to bring in new content and, and we, you know
24:35
it, it was not a great situation.
24:37
Donors felt. I think donors felt honestly a
24:42
little let down. They may have given some money,
24:46
but as things got worse and worse, that money may have been
24:49
used to pay the utility bill instead of whatever they really
24:55
had hoped that it should be used for or designated what it should
24:59
be used for. And so there was a lot of
25:01
rebuilding of trust in the community as well, because there
25:04
are so many generous people here who are willing to give, who
25:09
give so much today. But you have to earn, earn the
25:14
trust. And I remember early meetings to
25:18
Anthony where I would go and, and very early just become the
25:22
new CEO. And they were like, why are you
25:25
here? The only time the Science Center
25:26
comes is when you need something you want, you want something
25:31
from me. So what is it you want?
25:32
And I was like, I'm the new person and I'm sorry that it's
25:36
been that way. And all I can tell you is I it
25:39
won't, it won't be that way in the future.
25:42
And and So what are the other? Reasons to connect with donors
25:47
then. What do you mean?
25:50
Oh, well, it's all about your relationship with a donor.
25:54
It isn't just, hi, how are you? Give me your money.
25:58
And they're, you know, I think there are so many generous
26:02
donors here. And people who have the capacity
26:06
to give want to, in a lot of cases, leave a legacy.
26:12
They want to do something that's meaningful.
26:15
They want to know they have had an impact and that takes a lot
26:19
of that takes a strong relationship and building trust
26:23
and really understanding and listening to your donor.
26:26
What is it that you want? What are you trying to achieve
26:31
and what do you want to get out of this?
26:33
And when it's the right fit and we say, well, look, we can do
26:38
this thing over here. And I think that's going to be
26:41
something you're going to be so proud of and love and want to be
26:45
a part of. That's when it's magical.
26:49
Because it. Sort of struck me that you have
26:51
this chicken egg problem, right? You, you need the money to make
26:54
the place better. But the donors are kind of jaded
26:57
because they've been given money for a while and they haven't
26:59
seen it get better. They've seen it decline.
27:02
So it sounds to me, and tell me if I'm right, Joanne, that what
27:05
you did is you really focused on building that trust, building
27:10
that relationship, while also painting a bigger vision of
27:14
here's what we have in mind, here's what we can do, and yeah,
27:19
we can put your name on that. So, you know, kind of continue
27:22
your legacy. Am I connecting the dots?
27:24
Yeah, absolutely. And for we had to start to
27:29
change the way we operated so that we could become healthier.
27:34
You know, we still to this day our earned revenue is probably
27:37
65% of total revenue. So those people coming through
27:41
the door and buying tickets and fee for service programs are
27:47
really critical to managing the Science Center.
27:52
And we had to build that business back up.
27:58
And it starts with what will people want to come and see.
28:03
And some of that, you know, we cobbled together some money like
28:07
at one point traveling, we we always bring in what we call
28:10
traveling exhibits. So it just helps you have
28:13
something new and fresh and you have one hall pretty much
28:16
dedicated to something that comes in.
28:18
So you get three of those a year primarily, and it always allows
28:23
you to have something to announce.
28:24
So we did, you know, we tried to focus on what could we bring in
28:28
that would, you know, bring back traveling exhibits because 1,
28:31
you know, we were starting to learn what people didn't like
28:35
through our review of quality service through the Rocks
28:37
program and starting to make changes there.
28:40
And, and the building was in disrepair too.
28:44
I mean, it's a big building and it costs a lot of money to
28:48
support this place. And it just, there was just some
28:52
digging out that had to be done. And we sort of started to do
28:55
that. You know, you're doing a lot of
28:57
things at the same time, but there's a group focused on the
29:00
internal building. There were some of us focused on
29:03
meeting with supporters and constituents and donors on that
29:08
side and starting to talk about a vision.
29:12
And it took, but it took a couple years before we could
29:14
actually launch the unlock science campaign, which is our
29:18
major capital fundraising campaign that we've been very
29:22
successful with. But it you had we had to prepare
29:27
more and we had to continue that sort of incremental change that
29:31
helped us start to build back some revenue and make sure the
29:35
business was right side out. What's different about?
29:38
The unlock science campaign versus what you were doing in
29:42
the early days to get donor funds.
29:45
It's just a bigger, bolder vision.
29:48
It was the big bold vision that you sort of talked about.
29:51
I we, we put it down on paper. We got some advice from
29:58
fundraising professionals at that point and we certainly
30:01
needed it. And one of the things I remember
30:05
is, you know, they were, they said, you go for the big vision.
30:10
What is that big vision? And we had some great ideas and
30:14
I think we had a good, we kind of understood enough at that
30:17
point about what the community needed and desired and where we
30:22
felt we could really meet those needs and desires that were in
30:25
our wheelhouse. And so we laid that all out and,
30:31
and it's, it's been a multi, you know, we knew it was going to be
30:35
multi year multi projects, sort of a multi phased approach where
30:40
we did and, and we had done our research and like the first
30:43
project we pitched was providing a space for young children in
30:49
our community. They're still to this day is not
30:52
another children's museum in Orlando.
30:55
We fill the need of both the Science Center and the younger
30:59
children, the children's museum aspect and we knew we had to
31:04
knock that out of the park. So that was our very first
31:07
project. That was the first $5,000,000.
31:10
We actually had to reconfigure our lobby a little bit and fill
31:13
in a space and, but we were able to put in an 11,000 square foot
31:17
area designed for children ages 7 and younger.
31:22
And it, it was game changing. As soon as we did that, there
31:26
was such a demand and a need. And we knew that from some, from
31:29
listening from some of the research and the, the Orlando
31:33
Science Center had a smaller area for young children.
31:36
It just wasn't, you know, it needed to be better and it
31:40
needed to be great. And that's, that was the first
31:43
project we implemented. Is it unusual?
31:46
To have the Science Center for the older kids and for the
31:50
children in the same facility I. See more and more people doing
31:54
it today, but it was it was a little bit unusual back then,
31:58
but I do. I've seen a lot of examples of
32:01
it today, and some of it depends on if there's already a great
32:04
children's museum near you or in your area.
32:09
You're probably not going to go in that direction.
32:13
So I live in. Columbus, OH.
32:14
We've got what I think is a great Science Center called Cosi
32:18
COSI, but I've not been to many others around the country, so I
32:22
don't have points of comparison. I've got two boys.
32:26
They're 9 and 11, and when they were several years younger, we
32:31
had an annual pass. We went there all the time.
32:33
We play areas, you know, things for them to kind of do and climb
32:36
on and experience. And now we've just lost interest
32:40
in it. Like, you know, it just didn't
32:42
seem like there was anything for them once they, I think, kind of
32:46
aged out. Is this a common experience?
32:50
Am I missing things that may be happening that, you know, kind
32:54
of go beyond the young kid experience?
32:57
Yeah, I. Mean that it's such a common
33:00
theme. It's something we wrestle with
33:02
today because we did that younger children's area and we
33:06
did it really well. There are times where somebody
33:11
will walk in through the doors and just if, if all you see are
33:14
younger children in the museum and you're an adult couple, you
33:18
may feel I'm in the wrong spot. And we are, we are really trying
33:23
to combat that because we for, for an example, like we run
33:29
nights that are for adults only 20.
33:33
Well, they were 20 and 1 and up. We just changed it to 18 and up.
33:36
And you can purchase alcoholic beverages, but they are adults
33:40
only, no children. And we have the same exact
33:43
exhibits that we have during the day.
33:46
And the adults have a ball. They have, you know, a great
33:49
time. And I think there's something to
33:52
this. People don't think you're
33:54
learning when you're playing. And that is not true.
33:58
Learning through play. I think our brains like to
34:02
learn. It's probably one of the best
34:04
ways to learn is to do it through play and interaction and
34:08
hands on. And one of the things we talk a
34:11
lot about is having sort of a multi layered exhibit
34:16
experience. So you have this interactive,
34:18
it's fun, it's engaging. And then allow the adult, you
34:22
know, maybe there's AQR code and they can go and dive a little
34:26
bit deeper into either the science behind that or some more
34:31
information behind that so that we satisfy, we're trying to
34:34
satisfy all these layers of adult teens, you know,
34:42
elementary aged kids and then young children.
34:46
Why is this so? Important for the community.
34:48
I mean, they've got school, they've got college.
34:52
If they want to pursue it, what's the, what's the larger
34:55
purpose here? This is.
34:58
Informal science learning. And it is.
35:01
It is so important because I think science has a bad
35:05
reputation. Kids think it's boring, It's
35:08
hard, they don't like it or they don't like math.
35:12
You know, you either love math or hate math, it appears to me.
35:16
And this is a way to bring our youth in and show them that this
35:22
stuff really can be fun. And we lead with that.
35:25
You have to show that science can be fun.
35:29
And then as we go a little deeper into it, one of the
35:33
things we try to do is let these kids know you can do this.
35:37
You belong in this field. If you like this, you're going
35:41
to love this. Starting to show career paths,
35:44
starting to show some of those deeper layers.
35:48
It's, it's really, really important because we, we do have
35:52
a shortage still of science and STEM, you know, STEM workers and
35:57
these jobs are absolutely critical.
36:00
I mean, these are, these are really important for all for so
36:05
many aspects, you know, for breakthroughs in science, who's
36:09
going to, you know, find that next cure for cancer?
36:12
Who's going to go to Mars? Who's, you know, who's going to
36:16
do all these things? It's our youth who are going to
36:18
figure these things out. All the problems that we face,
36:21
the most complex problems that we face, I feel like the skill
36:25
set we're trying to teach today is the skill set you need to
36:28
solve those problems. And we do, we try to get to
36:32
those underlying skills. I mean, it's, it's critical
36:35
thinking and how do you solve problems and how do you, you
36:40
know, even today making a decision about your health or
36:44
science fall, you've got to follow the evidence.
36:47
And we talked a lot about that at our Science Center, trying to
36:51
instill that process of science. It's really important and
36:55
critical, I think to to all of us.
36:58
So if I were to sum up. What I think I just heard, it's
37:01
not only education, but probably the bigger thing is igniting a
37:04
spark. Exactly.
37:06
Yeah, I mean, our mission is inspire science learning for
37:10
all. And it is in it's that
37:12
inspiration and curiosity is so important.
37:16
We want to feed the curious minds.
37:19
Keep asking those questions. I, I worry because you can now
37:25
type in a question and get an answer right to anything.
37:29
And my fear is kids, and you know, adults too, are just going
37:34
to think, well, all the answers are all the questions have been
37:37
asked. All the answers are out there.
37:39
And so you stop asking questions, you stop questioning
37:42
the answers. We, we can't go there.
37:45
We really need to dive in and stay curious and ask those
37:50
questions and and do your do your research, right?
37:55
It's really, really important. So you're obviously.
37:58
Referencing AI, right? We can go to any one of the
38:02
models and we can ask a very complicated question and most of
38:06
the time we get a a pretty accurate answer.
38:09
Sometimes we don't, sometimes not.
38:11
Completely hallucinates. Or it gets important details
38:14
wrong. But.
38:16
How well, I guess first, are you incorporating AI in any way into
38:22
the Orlando Science Center and the exhibits the way that the
38:26
public interacts right now? I mean we.
38:29
Brought in a travelling exhibit on AI and it was it was very
38:35
well done and I'm glad we brought it in.
38:37
In trying to help educate, I think part of our mission should
38:41
be to try, try to help educate the public around AI.
38:45
And then one of the other legs for us in AI is we, we've
38:51
partnered with a national organization, it's called
38:53
code.org. And their mission was to make
38:57
sure that every school has computer coding as an option, as
39:01
a class. And it's surprising how many
39:04
don't, but that's, that's sort of their mission.
39:09
And as part of that, our staff has gotten trained by that them.
39:14
And then we go out and train teachers in our more in our
39:18
region. And one of our, one of our
39:22
teammates got certified in teaching AI to I think it's
39:27
middle or high school teachers. And that's been a really
39:32
wonderful thing. And actually that training has
39:35
been more an online training because people from all over the
39:37
country want to kind of dive in and see like, what should we be
39:42
doing? How does this work?
39:43
What should we be teaching our children?
39:46
So I think those sort of in the ways we interact with the public
39:50
are, are some of the main ways that we're looking at AI.
39:56
And I mean, AI is embedded in so many things that we do now.
40:02
So you know, there are probably aspects of it in pieces of an
40:06
exhibit, an exhibit component. But you know, the way we look at
40:11
technology and exhibits is, yes, we want to wow people, but or
40:16
that technology has to be tried and true and work every single
40:19
time or you will get destroyed. So I'm really curious.
40:24
To get your perspective on this, Joanna, it's a conversation that
40:27
I've had a lot with friends and family, had a number of times on
40:30
this show, you know, is I think about my boys, 9 and 11 years
40:36
old and what I want to coach them on or expose them to that
40:42
might be suitable career paths for them.
40:45
You know, five years ago, everybody would have said O
40:48
computers, programming software, get them comfortable, you know,
40:52
around all of that. And now I know people graduating
40:54
with those degrees who can't find jobs, can't get interviews.
40:58
And things are changing so fast with what AI can do.
41:03
And I think some of the hype is is overblown, right?
41:05
It's going to replace all these jobs.
41:07
It's going to replace some jobs for sure.
41:10
But how do you think about this as somebody with a very strong
41:13
science background and somebody who's trying to instill, you
41:17
know, this spark and in excitement to pursue education
41:23
in STEM, How do you think about sort of justifying these two
41:27
things, Like where are we going to be versus where we are now
41:32
and what's a safe career path for somebody?
41:34
Yeah, and IT. It's such a good question,
41:37
Anthony and it, it is difficult because things are changing so
41:40
rapidly. And I think that's why we have
41:43
tried to go to that layer below which is skill set.
41:48
If you can develop these skills, then you are going to be
41:54
successful. And when the time comes, then
41:57
you're going to decide which, which of these specific careers
42:01
I want to go into, right? And, and they are basic skills
42:06
because to your point, these jobs, if we're, if you say, I
42:09
want to be this today, that might not even exist by the time
42:13
your children are ready, you know, or have, are ready to get
42:16
into college. It's changing so fast and so
42:20
rapidly. And I but I think the underlying
42:23
skills are truly important. And we talked about critical
42:26
thinking, problem solving, teamwork and collaboration.
42:30
Nobody's going to do this stuff in a cubicle by themselves
42:34
anymore. It it really does require a team
42:38
effort. And I think though, if there is
42:42
this interest in science and STEM, it's making sure that they
42:46
get into those courses now, you know, as they start to be
42:51
available. Because if you get to be, you
42:55
know, late middle school or even early high school and you all of
42:58
a sudden say, yeah, I want I do want some of this math or
43:02
science. It's almost too late.
43:04
You know, we we talk about inspiring kids as young as we
43:10
can get them at that the Science Center.
43:13
And we have I told you, we have that early childhood space for
43:16
kids 7 and younger. We also run our own preschool
43:20
here and that is for 3 and 4 year olds in the early fives if
43:27
they're not in kindergarten just yet who are potty trained.
43:32
But we we have an amazing preschool program that it talk
43:37
about critical thinking and what these kids are exposed to.
43:41
It's it's unbelievable. It's amazing so hearing.
43:45
You say that, you know, once they hit junior high high
43:48
school, if they haven't had exposure to these things, that
43:50
it's almost too late. Not something parents want to
43:54
hear, but can you kind of expand on that a little bit?
43:57
Well, I. Just, you know, more and more
44:01
what I'm hearing and like if I talked to some of the university
44:05
folks, they're saying even kids who have maybe taken the right
44:10
math courses all along and they've been exposed to these
44:13
when they get to university, they're they're still trying
44:17
having to run maybe a remedial kind of a class to really get
44:21
these kids where they need to be to start to launch into certain
44:26
STEM careers. And so, yeah, I mean, I, I don't
44:32
want to say that to be negative or, or make it sound like it is
44:36
impossible, but you, if your children show any interest in
44:42
this and taking them to a Science Center is a great way to
44:46
figure that out and to try to see if they're excited about
44:51
this stuff, then you can start to nudge them.
44:56
And then there are other, there will be other resources in your
44:59
community too, Like if they are interested in, you know, like
45:04
there are summer camps that will be run by our universities or by
45:07
other places that, that are a higher level than maybe the
45:11
summer camp that I would run, that we run here at the Science
45:15
Center. Like you can start to find,
45:18
there are a lot of resources out there that I think you could
45:20
find for your kids and let them try it out and see if they like
45:25
it. And but do that.
45:27
I'd start that young and I the conversations I think should
45:30
start young. So I'm hearing summer.
45:33
Camps a good way to get some exposure to to STEM.
45:36
What are some other things? Maybe during the school year?
45:39
If it's not a specific course that's being offered at their
45:42
school, there are. Clubs, a lot of schools will
45:46
have some kind of after school programs that exist and clubs
45:51
that exist. I think those are all really
45:53
good ways to do a little bit of a a deeper dive, so I want to
45:58
make sure. We give proper voice to this.
46:00
We sort of talked around this a bit and all the changes and the
46:02
upgrades that you've made. But paint a picture for us.
46:05
What is the customer experience like today coming into the
46:10
Orlando Science Center? Yeah.
46:13
Well, we have 4 floors of interactive exhibits and IT
46:18
people who hadn't, who probably haven't been here even in a few
46:21
years are sort of amazed at the changes.
46:24
We've, we've raised just about $48 million through that Unlock
46:30
science campaign. And we have two projects that
46:35
are in, in the works that are funded through those funds.
46:39
But all the rest of the stuff has already been done.
46:43
And so that includes like that new children's area.
46:45
We built a virtual reality flight lab here.
46:50
We did the one we premiered about a year and a half ago is
46:54
all about conservation and the environment.
46:57
It's called life. And we have a an enclosed
47:02
rainforest. We have a couple of monkeys and
47:05
a sloth and it's a free flight aviary that you walk, you know,
47:09
you're walking into their environment.
47:11
There's an ocean habitat, there's the swamp, sort of a
47:15
Florida centric space. So it just it, it looks very,
47:21
very different and looks so much better, I think.
47:25
And then we care so much about the visitor experience.
47:29
So you know, you should be welcomed when you come up to the
47:34
front and you one of the things that I think does differentiate,
47:40
differentiate us a little bit is we have a team or a programs
47:44
team. So we have try to have people
47:46
out on the floor. Sometimes you go to centers and
47:49
you you don't encounter any staff that are really out on the
47:52
floor and those folks are there to do sometimes shows, sometimes
47:56
pop up demos to help you have the best experience you can with
48:01
these exhibits that you're encountering.
48:06
And I've got a note here to ask about the Doctor Phillips
48:09
Synodome renovation. Can you tell us about that one?
48:12
OK. That one, that's one that's
48:14
underway right now. It's under construction.
48:18
I think we were one of the last big theaters and this is an 8
48:22
story Dome theater, about 300 seats.
48:25
And so it's one of the larger theaters in the country.
48:28
I think we were one of the last to still run film.
48:31
So we have these big platters and it is kind of an art.
48:35
I mean, in some ways it's a little bit of a, it's a real era
48:38
change to go from threading that film up through one big
48:42
projector that came out. We're moving into 8K digital
48:48
laser projection. And so instead of 1 big
48:52
projector that filled the Dome, we now will have 8 digital
48:57
projectors, an all new sound system, all new seats.
49:01
And then we're replacing what, what is the projection surface,
49:06
the screen of the Dome and it's like 400 panels that come out.
49:11
And what's going in is it's called a nano seam material
49:16
because you don't want to see any seams when you put those
49:19
panels in. And it's one of the best
49:22
projection surfaces that exist. So it is going to be
49:27
spectacular, Anthony. We're so excited about it and
49:30
it's going to allow us to get back into planetarium shows.
49:34
And there's a, you know, planetarium shows are the
49:36
coolest things. And the library of content that
49:39
exists today is amazing. Like we could, we could take you
49:43
into our Dome, give you give me your birth date and we could put
49:47
up the night sky from the date you were born and we could take
49:52
you anywhere in the solar system to any planet, black holes,
49:56
whatever. And our thought is we're going
50:01
to, we'll have some what they call canned planetarium shows,
50:04
but primarily we're trying to have our staff that programs,
50:07
team narrate and take you on this journey.
50:10
So they will be driving the show, if you will, and taking
50:15
people through the through the universe.
50:17
So where does the content? Come from.
50:19
How does that get cataloged? It's.
50:22
There are some major companies that have created these
50:27
libraries and then there's also what they call user group
50:31
content. So some of the larger
50:32
planetariums will create their, their creation houses as well as
50:38
displaying for, for their visitors and they will put stuff
50:41
together. You know, some of the, the James
50:46
Webb images, if, if you've seen some of those, there's a, a show
50:50
that's out there that we're looking at getting that shows
50:55
you all the James Webb images, which are gorgeous and you know,
50:58
an AK digital laser, it's massive filling the Dome.
51:04
And then but our team is going to make sense of that for you
51:07
too. They're beautiful images.
51:09
But when you have somebody who has some knowledge about what
51:12
you're looking at and kind of takes you on that journey, it's,
51:15
it's amazing. When is this going to?
51:17
Open reopen should reopen in. March, OK.
51:21
March 20. 26 so just a few months away from.
51:25
It'll be here before we know it. Yes, you guys have.
51:28
Accomplished so much in a relatively short period of time
51:31
in terms of turning this place around.
51:34
Obviously, you know, your vision, the work that you've put
51:37
in is making a a huge difference.
51:40
But it's not just you, right, Joanne?
51:41
Like there's a great team underneath you.
51:44
How do you think about building that team, whether we're talking
51:49
about recruiting, hiring, retaining, training?
51:53
What's kind of your philosophy there?
51:55
Yeah. Again, you know, I feel like I'm
51:58
talking about skill sets a lot, but it's true.
52:01
We look at, you know, we compete for talent just like everybody
52:07
else does and you know, as a non profit, we're not going to be
52:10
competitive with corporate pay. You know, we we can't match an
52:16
AT&T pay. So, but I think people today, a
52:23
lot of young people especially are looking for mission and
52:28
looking for doing something where they feel they're giving
52:31
back and they feel they're a real part of their community and
52:35
that they have the sense of purpose and we can give that to
52:39
people in a huge way. And and then we the way we look
52:46
at folks like we really have identified what skill set makes
52:49
somebody successful in this finance position or in this
52:53
marketing position or as a program or presenter on the
52:57
floor or whatever, you know area it may be.
53:03
And then we'll give people a shot.
53:05
You know, they might not have had five years of experience
53:08
doing this specific job, but they've had some experience and
53:12
they have a skill set. And then we feel they're a good
53:15
fit. You've got to find the right
53:17
fit. And if we can see those things
53:20
starting to align, we will hire people.
53:22
And and then, you know, you know, pretty quickly if they're
53:26
if if they love it the way they think they are and if we love
53:30
them the way we would hope we would.
53:33
Do you have a magic? Question that you like to pose
53:35
in an interview that kind of helps to reveal if they're a
53:39
good fit or not I. Don't think there is a magic
53:42
question, but I don't sit in on many of the interviews anymore
53:48
either. I have to ask HR if they have
53:50
any magic questions, Anthony, but I not that I'm aware of.
53:54
I think it's, it is trying to get a sense of somebody and we
53:58
will, we will sometimes like I know when we hired A exhibit
54:02
design folks, we'll ask them to, we might give them a prompt and
54:08
ask them to create something or give us a sample of their work,
54:14
you know, so there's we'll dive into it depending on what the
54:18
specific role is well speaking. Of magic questions, I have one
54:23
for you, Joanne. This tends to be my favorite one
54:27
because we end up getting some really great answers.
54:29
I would love to explore a serious challenge that you've
54:32
overcome in your life, whether it's something personal or
54:35
professional, and how you got through it, what you learn
54:38
coming through the other side of it.
54:40
Yeah. Well, you know, one thing that
54:43
comes to mind related to the Science Center is shortly after
54:50
I took over as the CEOII think I mentioned the maintenance of the
54:55
building had been deferred. So the building was not in the
54:59
best shape and the HVAC system in particular had just been band
55:06
aided and band aided and band aided.
55:09
And here we're coming into summer in Orlando and the HVAC
55:14
system just failed. And I will never forget that
55:18
because we had people coming in, we had fans everywhere.
55:21
We were handing out bottles of water and then the press showed
55:25
up and I'm this brand new CEO and they're like, hey, what's
55:31
happening here? I see these fans of water and,
55:36
you know, and we had been struggling with it for years.
55:39
So we, we were running, we ran on that edge and we, you know,
55:47
it failed and we fell off the Cliff.
55:50
But it did give us, the US opportunity to talk about the
55:54
dire need and where we were. And we went out and got help.
55:59
And I remember a couple of things happened after that.
56:02
One, there had been a grant that my predecessor had gotten from
56:07
our county. We live in Orange County,
56:09
Florida, and it was designated to do some type of an exhibit.
56:16
And so I had to go back to them and say, look, I really want to
56:20
do this exhibit, but nobody's going to come.
56:23
If we don't have HVAC, can we repurpose that and use it toward
56:27
HVAC? And they allowed us to do that.
56:30
Yeah. And we had the city of Orlando
56:34
came in and we got AI think we got a block grant and then they
56:39
gave us a loan for the remainder.
56:42
And one important thing that happened from that loan was they
56:45
said, look, basically as you're paying us back, we're going to
56:51
start putting some money aside for a long term like maintenance
56:56
reserve because that's the discipline that's needed and it
57:00
was so desperately needed. And that started, that started a
57:07
maintenance reserve that they held on to it first.
57:09
They didn't, I don't think the trust was strong enough at that
57:12
point to let us have it. But they held on to it at 1st.
57:16
And then eventually what we've done is we still have this
57:19
discipline today of we put a certain amount of Monday money
57:23
usually like probably 350,000 annually we put into our
57:28
maintenance reserve. We probably have about a million
57:31
and a half dollars in that reserve and we have 20 years of
57:35
projects planned out. So we go out 20 years and we
57:38
show. So I know in 10 years I need a
57:42
new roof. It's not going to be a surprise.
57:44
I know what the lifespan of all this equipment is that we use of
57:48
the facility. You know, we replace carpeting
57:51
or flooring on this cycle. And so it's all laid out and
57:59
it's it's what allows us to sleep at night because that is
58:02
an experience you don't want to go through having no AC in
58:05
Florida and the process. That you're talking about having
58:09
to talk to the donors, having to get loans and grants, and that's
58:13
not something that happens in 24 hours.
58:16
Like how long was it before the AC was replaced, repaired,
58:20
whatever the situation was? Yeah, well.
58:23
I think what happened was we might have been able to buy like
58:27
another compressor that band aided it for a period of time,
58:30
but it probably was a year I'd say before we were into the
58:37
project of whole new replacement, which was
58:41
absolutely what was needed. It just you just couldn't
58:44
Band-Aid this thing anymore but that.
58:46
Compressor or whatever the piece the component was that you were
58:49
able to replace bought you time in between, bought us some.
58:52
Some additional time and you didn't hide.
58:55
From what was going on, when the press shows up and they start
58:58
putting microphones in your face, I wanted to.
59:01
Andre, I bet you did trust. Me I.
59:04
Wanted to but there was no there was no you you couldn't you had
59:08
we had to be transparent and and then that's that's a tough
59:13
that's a tough situation because we didn't want to air all the
59:17
situation out in public. You know, you're afraid of
59:20
people knew that the situation was as dire as it was that
59:24
they'd be assuming your doors are closing and all of that.
59:27
So. So what did you share?
59:31
At the time, what words were you saying?
59:36
Well, it was obvious that HVAC was was just fried.
59:42
And so that's that's what we focused on.
59:44
That was the immediate very large problem.
59:48
We didn't talk about the other deferred building maintenance at
59:52
that time. We, we talked about that and,
59:55
and our message was, look, we, we have plans to do more and to
1:00:00
bring newer exhibits and improve the quality of the offerings,
1:00:06
but we have to start with the building and, and you have to
1:00:10
have air conditioning. So I'm curious.
1:00:12
When the press first showed up, this is probably something you
1:00:15
didn't really have experience with.
1:00:17
Did you kind of go out there and wing it or did you have somebody
1:00:21
available that could kind of coach you through this?
1:00:24
Well, we have. We have, you know, you, you
1:00:27
asked about the team earlier. We do have a phenomenal team of
1:00:30
people here. And so there is a guy who is
1:00:33
still here. He's our VP of marketing
1:00:36
communications, Jeff Stanford. And Jeff had a good bit of
1:00:43
experience with the media, but the media wanted to talk to me
1:00:47
and I was the new person and and it was Jeff and I talked briefly
1:00:54
like, you know, OK, what is the messaging?
1:00:58
What kinds of things should I be saying?
1:01:01
How should I say this? You know, I was trying to get
1:01:03
some coaching from Jeff. And there wasn't, I think at
1:01:08
that point also, it was like we just have to be transparent and
1:01:12
talk about what's going on and talk about the help that we need
1:01:16
and, and then going out and figuring out how to get it fixed
1:01:21
and what was the initial. Reaction from the community was
1:01:24
there, Shock, surprise, outrage, understanding?
1:01:28
I think it was. Probably a combination of those
1:01:31
things there. I mean, I know the people who
1:01:34
were there that day were surprised what they were walking
1:01:39
into and and, you know, our relationships were not that
1:01:45
strong. The people who I had to go back
1:01:48
to at that time, the county was that one Grant and the city was
1:01:52
another one. The, you know, the, those the
1:01:57
we're at where you have such great relationships with those
1:01:59
folks today and they are huge supporters of our institution.
1:02:04
But it wasn't like that back then.
1:02:06
They felt somewhat betrayed, I think as well.
1:02:09
And so the folks we had to go to, but they also didn't want
1:02:15
our Science Center to fail. I think they inherently wanted
1:02:19
to have a good Science Center and they wanted something that
1:02:22
they could be proud of. And so they were digging in and
1:02:25
trying to help. And I was new, so there was
1:02:28
maybe a little bit of grace. You're the new person.
1:02:33
You have a little window there. You don't have too long, but you
1:02:36
have a little bit of time. What's your superpower?
1:02:39
Joanne. Gosh, I don't know.
1:02:45
I, I think, I think I'm good at building the culture of an
1:02:52
organization. I think that's, I just take that
1:02:55
to heart. I think there's so many things
1:02:57
we do as I'm very collaborative and I love working with this
1:03:01
group of people. They are amazing.
1:03:04
And there's a lot we do in a collaborative mode.
1:03:09
But as a CEOI think I have to model the behavior that I would
1:03:15
like to see from our employees. And I think I have to work
1:03:18
really hard to create a culture that is where we listen to each
1:03:23
other, we hear each other, we're willing to change as we listen
1:03:27
to each other and we're open and we are, we are so transparent.
1:03:33
We, we are very transparent with there isn't anything I wouldn't
1:03:37
share really with the team. I want them to know where we are
1:03:42
and what we're doing. And it, and it's, you know,
1:03:44
maybe that's easy to say today, because it is, we're in a great
1:03:47
place. But it, I think I've, I've
1:03:51
learned over the years, you, you know, like the pandemic, wow,
1:03:55
that was, that rocked us for sure, as it did everybody.
1:03:58
And we were very honest and open with employees and we had to
1:04:03
make very difficult decisions. And, but in the end, you know,
1:04:07
we were able to bring everybody back was a short window.
1:04:11
We took pay cuts. We we did all of that, but we,
1:04:17
we restored all of that as soon as we could and came back
1:04:22
healthy and strong. So it was, but it, it's just
1:04:26
being, you know, I, I think that's a culture that you create
1:04:29
that we're going to be honest and open and, and that I want
1:04:33
you to be who you are and I want to have the ability to be who I
1:04:36
am. And then some great things
1:04:39
happen. Where did that?
1:04:41
Commitment to honesty and transparency come from.
1:04:44
Was that instilled in you during your time at AT&T?
1:04:48
Is that something that you kind of developed more once you got
1:04:53
to the Orlando Science Center, I think.
1:05:00
I think I saw examples of it in my career where like I always
1:05:07
wanted to know as an employee or as that person, I always wanted
1:05:11
to know what was really happening.
1:05:13
I wanted to hear and I wanted people to be transparent with
1:05:17
me. I would rather have feedback and
1:05:21
know the good and the bad and not, not just hear, you know,
1:05:28
great shiny paint, a great shiny picture if it's not the way it
1:05:32
is. So I think it comes from me
1:05:36
wanting that. I saw examples of that working
1:05:39
well and I saw examples where people didn't share and it
1:05:42
didn't, it backfired. And so I think it was a
1:05:45
combination of experience and just maybe what I desired as a
1:05:49
as an employee. Joanne, I've just got one more
1:05:52
question for you today. But before I ask it, I just want
1:05:55
to do 3 quick things. First of all, anybody who wants
1:05:58
to get in touch with Joanne Newman, you can reach her on
1:06:01
email.j.newman@osc.org. So that's J new NEW Mann MAN
1:06:09
j.newman@osc.org and we'll have that in the show notes for
1:06:12
everybody. Also, as a reminder, if you want
1:06:15
to get more employees access to benefits that won't hurt them
1:06:17
financially and carries a financial upside for the
1:06:20
company, reach out to us at Add back benefits.com.
1:06:23
And finally, if you'll take just a moment to leave us a comment
1:06:26
or review on your favorite podcast app, you will hold a
1:06:30
special place in my heart forever.
1:06:31
Thank you. So last question for you,
1:06:33
Joanne, a year from now, you and I reconnect and you were
1:06:38
celebrating a big thing. What's that big thing you hope
1:06:41
to be celebrating one year from today?
1:06:45
Well, one will be celebrating. The Synodome will be open and
1:06:50
thriving. I think that will be really
1:06:53
exciting. And then we have our next big
1:06:56
project in the works. We have a on our 4th floor.
1:07:00
We have an outdoor terrace right now.
1:07:03
That's a beautiful spot, but it doesn't get used that often
1:07:07
because of weather and, you know, the unpredictability of
1:07:10
weather and rain. So we're going to fully enclose
1:07:13
that and create 6000 more square feet of interior exhibit space.
1:07:18
And we've landed on space science, so we are early in the
1:07:23
process. We just sent out RFPs for
1:07:27
design, the conceptual design portion of that exhibit and then
1:07:34
we'll move into, you know, we'll do RFPs for the general
1:07:37
contracting side and then we'll move into the full detailed
1:07:41
exhibit design and build. And so a year from now that
1:07:47
process it we that process will be well underway with selecting
1:07:51
who we're going to work with on that project and what direction
1:07:56
we're going to take. But it's what do you think it
1:07:57
looks? Like what's the overall goal or
1:07:59
purpose? I I'm not sure I I don't know.
1:08:05
So this is still very. Much idea stage it's very.
1:08:08
Very idea stage. And also that's one of the
1:08:11
things about doing a concept design with a, a firm that does
1:08:15
this work. This is all they do.
1:08:17
They're so creative. I think they're going to help us
1:08:22
narrow down a vision and help us get that right in our heads.
1:08:27
That's why we were doing the concept design first, just that
1:08:30
piece and that. And then even there might be
1:08:33
some things we learn that will feed into the general
1:08:35
contractor. But yeah, so that's that's super
1:08:40
exciting. We have two big, big things on
1:08:42
the horizon. All right, well.
1:08:44
Joanne Newman from the Orlando Science Center, I want to be the
1:08:48
first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story
1:08:51
with us today. I really appreciate it.
1:08:53
Thank you, Anthony. Folks, that's a.
1:08:56
Wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast.
1:08:58
Thanks for learning with us today.