If you’ve ever been to Minnesota in the fall, you know there are few places on earth more picturesque during late September and early October, so it may seem a bit odd that Life Floor employees spent so little time in our Minneapolis HQ over the last six weeks. Trips to Ann Arbor, MI; Tampa Bay, FL; Dubai, UAE; Baja, Mexico; St. Louis, MO; Chicago, IL; and New Orleans, LA brought us closer together as a staff, gave us a tremendous opportunity to meet with our partners and customers, and allowed us to capture some amazing photographs of Life Floor doing what it does best: Making people safer when they’re around water.
The nearly 50,000 miles -- equivalent to a pair of trips around the equator -- our staff traveled between mid-September and mid-October, while impressive, barely scratches the surface of how much has happened since the leaves began to change. Here are the highlights to get you up to speed:
Presenting to the NSF/ANSI Standard 50 Joint Committee on Splash Pad Safety
The work that went into preparing our white paper on why splash pads need safety surfaces culminated with CEO Jonathan Keller’s presentation to the body charged with making such safety standards. The committee voted to form a task group, which Jonathan will lead, to make a draft standard the full committee can vet and vote on. This was exactly the outcome we had hoped for!
Even more encouraging than the committee’s vote, however, was the feedback we got from the members. People who had been in the aquatics industry for years came up to thank us for the work that went into the presentation and told us they were excited to see what we could produce to improve these areas. The task group’s work is set to begin later in October, but we are still soliciting feedback to help guide their discussions. You can download the white paper here and send any thoughts you have to solutions@lifefloor.com.
Receiving the Kelly Ogle Memorial Safety Award from The World Waterpark Association
It’s hard to overstate just how much winning this award means to us. You can see by the grins on the faces of the people who accepted the plaque on stage that we were thrilled to be recognized by the board for the work we have done over the past five years helping to keep guests at waterparks safer while they play.
In a broader sense, this award is a validation of all the things we have been saying about the product since it was first installed: It makes people safer, it prevents injuries, it makes for better family outings, and it doesn’t require facilities to compromise on design or comfort. We’re proud of that legacy and we’re keenly aware of the fact that these are high standards to live up to, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Looking to the Future
For years, we have said that aquatic spaces could be made safer by simply using a better surface. Now, we’ll be leading that charge by working with partners all over the world who are excited about our mission to bring the absolute best in aquatic surfacing to the places that need it most, and by driving the regulatory changes that produce safer standards.
Through all this: through the travel, and the presentations, and the trade shows, and the awards, we’ve been looking at the future. We’re excited. The work ahead of us is formidable, but we’re more confident than ever that our team and our external partners are ready to tackle the load together. If that gets you excited, we can always use more help: From finding and specifying new aquatics projects to getting photography of installations and quotes from the people who love Life Floor. Email solutions@lifefloor.com to find out how you can help us continue to improve the lives of people all over the world.