February 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 56

NRPA Update

NRPA and the Revenue Development and
Management School Share Golden Anniversaries
By Phil Rea

he coming year is very important in the evolution of parks and recreation in the United States as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of two
iconic organizations: the National Recreation and Park Association
(NRPA) and Revenue Development and Management School.

NRPA was formed in 1965 through
the merger of five organizations,
each serving elements of the park
and recreation movement including
the National Recreation Association,
American Recreation Society, American Institute of Park Executives,
National Conference on State Parks,
and American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums. At the
same time, a group of visionary park
and recreation leaders developed
the first Revenue Sources Management School, a professional development program that would serve as
the model for other elements of our
profession that continue to this day,
such as Maintenance Management
School, Supervisors' Management
School, and Directors School.
" Revenue School " evolved from a
series of workshops and conferences
offered by the American Institute of
Park Executives from 1956 to 1964
on revenue-developing park facilities.
The motivation for developing this innovative program was in response to
the growing use of park lands in the
United States, along with ever-increasing leisure time and the escalation
in outdoor recreation participation.
These conferences were instrumental in the development of standard
nomenclature for the classification
of fees and charges in recreation, as
well as management publications that
provided guiding principles for the de54 Parks & Recreation

velopment and management of revenue-producing facilities in local, state
and national parks.
In 1961, the American Institute of
Park Executives offered the " First Annual Conference and Exhibits for Revenue-Producing Facilities... " at the
new Wilson Lodge at Oglebay Park
in Wheeling, West Virginia, one of
the nation's most successful self-supporting parks. The emphasis of the
program was on food and beverage
concessions, but other topics included philosophy of revenue-producing
facilities, salesmanship, impulse buying, souvenirs and gifts, fiscal controls and employee accountability. By
1965, this revenue conference evolved
into Revenue Sources Management
School, a program that is still the
leader in providing professional education to park and recreation professionals in the development and management of revenue resources.
Revenue School was led by Professor Thomas I. Hines from North
Carolina State University with curriculum development and instruction
provided by a team of highly successful park and recreation leaders from
across the nation. This first Revenue
School attracted 129 students to the
five-day, three-year program. Over
time, Revenue School was reduced to
two years. With the American Institute of Park Executives joining other
organizations in forming NRPA, the

| F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 5 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

Revenue School's Board of Regents
invited this fledgling organization to
become a co-sponsor of the school, a
partnership that continues today.
After 50 years of what is now titled the " Revenue Development and
Management School, " the curriculum continues to be dedicated to
generating and managing revenue in
park and recreation settings. The program is still offered by a partnership
of NRPA, NC State University and
Oglebay National Training Center;
it is still located at Oglebay Resort
and Conference Center; and it continues to be governed by a board of
professionals or regents who develop
reading materials and instruct in the
program. Currently, Revenue Development and Management School
attracts approximately 60 year-one
students annually with a return rate of
more than 80 percent for year two. Attendance records show almost 3,600
park and recreation professionals have
completed Revenue School with 2015
registrations surpassing any school in
recent history.
The Revenue School experience
includes a mix of traditional training
to active-learning exercises and case
studies. Participants earn two CEUs
for each year of participation. Information and registration materials can
be found at www.revenueschool.org,
or, contact Phil Rea at phil_rea@ncsu.
edu or NRPA Education Manager of
Conferences and Schools Tom Crosley at tcrosley@nrpa.org.
Phil Rea is Professor Emeritus at North Carolina
State University (phil_rea@ncsu.edu).

February 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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