A conversation with Rachel Williams, the co-founder and President of Rec Technologies (rec.us), building the technology to power the world’s recreation. Previously, Williams was one of Uber's earliest employees, helped found Uber Eats, and led launches at MasterClass.

This conversation focuses on the parks and recreation challenge that doesn't always make headlines but touches the daily lives of millions: outdated technology that causes headaches for both staff and residents. For families, registering for a swim class or reserving a tennis court can feel harder than booking an overseas flight. For staff, hours are lost to manual phone calls, paperwork, and patchwork systems that don’t speak to one another.

At Rec, our first question to recreation and parks departments is always, “Does your current recreation technology allow parents to register their child for summer camp, on their phone, in under three minutes?” If the answer is no, the baseline problem is clear. In 2025, being mobile-first isn’t optional. It’s foundational. Yet too many departments still treat mobile access as an afterthought. From seniors booking fitness classes to busy parents juggling childcare, everyone relies on phones. Mobile-first design builds trust, speeds adoption, and removes friction.

The good news? Recreation departments don’t have to reinvent the wheel. By borrowing ideas from consumer apps that leaders already know and love—like Uber, Airbnb, and Amazon—departments can modernize their technology to reach more residents, empower staff, and bring recreation into the digital age.

This episode is brought to by BCI Burke.
Play is where development soars and communities come together. At BCI Burke, we believe outdoor spaces should be thoughtfully designed, built to last and welcoming to everyone. Because when design is intentional, people feel it. Learn more at https://www.bciburke.com.

Want to listen instead? This conversation is available wherever you get your podcasts.

Want to read the article? You can access it here.

Enjoy!

A conversation with Emily Gebhardt, Communications Specialist and Rich DePalma, Principal at FGM Architects (FGMA) where they bring design and community to life through storytelling and strategic communication

In this episode, we discuss how recreation centers, public parks and trails, pools, and athletic facilities form the foundation of community wellness and engagement and how successful funding for park districts and projects requires a multifaceted approach.

A vote on a bond referendum truly is the culmination of a marathon of assessments, surveys, data points, and community engagement. A successful recreation referendum starts years before a vote. The following are real-world lessons, success stories, and suggestions to help get a community’s next big project across the finish line.

This episode is sponsored by BCI Burke.
Play is where development soars and communities come together. At BCI Burke, we believe outdoor spaces should be thoughtfully designed, built to last and welcoming to everyone. Because when design is intentional, people feel it. Learn more at bciburke.com.

Prefer to watch? You can access this conversation on YouTube @prbmagazine/podcasts.

Want to read the article? You can access it here.

Enjoy!

A conversation with Jacob Fedosky, President of Step ‘n Wash, the leading manufacturer of step stools for commercial restrooms. Step 'n Wash is trusted by 30,000 customers, including Target, Home Depot, and thousands of parks, airports, and healthcare facilities.

Signed into law 35 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in everyday activities, including recreation. Parks and recreation buildings and spaces, such as community centers, athletic facilities, public parks, and more, are intended to facilitate leisure, entertainment, and recreation for all residents, and play an essential role in maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for entire communities.

However, only 52 percent of people say their local parks are accessible to all. It’s not surprising, given a significant portion of parks and rec buildings and spaces predate the ADA. Even facilities constructed post-ADA are often not optimally accessible. Common issues include physical barriers (for example, pathways and trails lacking smooth, even, accessible surfaces for wheelchairs and other mobility aids); communication barriers (like lack of braille signage, audio descriptions, and assistive listening devices); and inadequate facilities (such as outdated bathrooms, lack of adaptive playground swings or picnic areas, and tables that don’t accommodate wheelchairs).

This conversation focuses on easy ways to improve your facility accessibility without breaking the bank. Enjoy!

A conversation with Sarah Fingerhood, Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) Senior Associate about how to turn brownfields and abandoned or under-utilized spaces into safe, viable public parks.

Parks are powerful antidotes to many social, economic, political, and environmental ills. They improve public health by reducing stress and supporting physical activity, foster social cohesion and communal gathering, reduce crime, and increase community engagement.

Yet, despite wide-ranging superpower benefits, parks often rank lower on funding priority lists compared to other forms of infrastructure. So, the national nonprofit Center for Creative Land Recycling (CCLR) partnered with landscape architecture and urban planning firm WRT and a Community Advisory Panel composed of park professionals and community leaders to publish Let’s Create a Park: Planning a Creative Park Funding Strategy.

Through conversations with communities with park-development projects across the West Coast, CCLR Senior Associate Sarah Fingerhood found the two biggest barriers to park development are a lack of financial strategy and limited institutional capacity.

This conversation provide ideas and strategies for solving these two problems and creating more parks for your community. Enjoy!

A conversation with Dave Herpy, Extension Organizational Development Coordinator at NC State University and author of Leading with Purpose.

In today’s dynamic world of parks and recreation, effective leadership is more essential than ever. This field plays a vital role in enhancing the quality of life in our communities, yet the challenges facing our teams—staffing, burnout, and ever-evolving public needs—require intentional leadership grounded in purpose.

This episode covers strategies and ideas to become an effective leader in the parks and rec space. Enjoy!

A conversation with Leah Carlson, Marketing Director at Wilderness Awareness School, about a unique outdoor program for adults.

For over 25 years, Wilderness Awareness School's Immersion program has transformed the lives of adults through an intense, nine-month, nature connection experience. Located on a 60-acre campus in the foothills of Washington State's Cascade Mountains, the program is a powerful model for how immersive, holistic outdoor education can inspire personal growth, foster community, and build tomorrow's environmental leaders.

As interest grows in nature-based wellness, organizations are uniquely positioned to offer life-changing experiences like The Immersion. But what does it take to run a program of this scale and depth?