My Story - Part II ( Park Tours Inc)

Near the end of my tenure at UCSD I started working on websites. Pretty much entirely front end development, no web services , nothing complicated. Though it made me some dough, which is EXTREMELY appreciated when you are a poor college student, I learned quickly that i HATE front end development.

Its not that i wasn't good at it ( not that i was exceptionally great either) , it's just that I'm not an innately creative person which in my opinion makes it difficult to design a website. For the most part the gigs I landed either already had a site that needed some modification or had a good idea what the needed and how they wanted it to look.

During my last year at UCSD I stumbled upon a lady that work on websites as well but more on the up front design side rather than the actual implementation. We quickly became a great tandem since she was able to mock up wire diagrams and story board sites while i could focus on literally translating the mock ups into an actual site.

After quickly proving my worth she introduced me Rob Baronowski founder of Park Tours. This small start up located out in Rancho Penasquitos quickly became my new home and I eventually started working there full time as i attend UCSD part time finishing of my minor.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed I completely bought into the Kool-Aid. Park Tours idea was basically providing location based information for enclosed venues as well as a navigation and scheduling component. Walking around a place like the San Diego Zoo can get quite tiring if you dont know where you are going or in what order.

Venues like the Zoo has TONS of information online about each exhibit ranging from videos and audio clips to an infinite amount of research but none of it is accessible to the park goer while they are AT the park. They are limited to the information thats on the little sign that you can almost never see properly and is sometimes quite outdated. Past that you have shows and attractions that a venue may provide and all of a sudden making the best use of your time becomes a serious challenge.

Kids want to see the polar bears and make it to the elphant feeding. Parents want to make sure they dont miss out on the tram tour but have no idea when the best time to go and stand in line. Its literally a scheduling nightmare and most people just make their best effort to see and do what they can while they are there and usually leave the park having wished they had more time!!

The park tours app provided all of the above for its park goers. Using some slick triangulation with towers we were able to show you on a digital map where you where and routes to selected locations. You could even choose all the attractions and shows you wanted to see and let the reservation engine plan and plot out your whole trip taking into count things like:

- walking distance
- location crowds ( long lines )
- show times

Providing a system for the park to use themselves to enable a reservation system for shows and help do load balancing for crowds this product was a great idea in my opinion. I think in the end it was too early for its time and lacked proper funding to really make it out the door properly. Disney has a similar concept with its Pal Mickey.

Either way this was where it all began for me. The team was small and there was a ton of work to be done. Back then i didnt worry myself with much about the product and the decisions the company made...mad if i could go back with what i know now... :) Hopefully one day they will be able to surface the product back up and get properly funded. I think a location aware system can be exteremely valuable for any enclosed venue and if these guys dont do it im sure some one else will...