Services

ORCA Consulting is a unique consulting firm that specializes in planning, development, implementation, and improvement of leisure, entertainment, recreational, and pedestrian venues.  ORCA’s objectives in our project support include: (a) reduced capital and O&M costs, (b) increased facility throughput capacity, (c) improved visitor experience, satisfaction, and repeat visitation, (d) sustained visitation due to reversing negative word-of-mouth / increased visitation through increasing positive word of mouth, and (e) reducing visitor and traffic congestion through application of effective management strategies, such as promoting a more balanced distribution of visitors throughout the site and shifting visitors to lower visitation periods.

On the operational side, ORCA evaluates all aspects of venue operations and programming to assist clients to achieve efficient and sustainable operations that minimize costs and maximize satisfaction of visitors, staff and owner.  ORCA’s services cover all aspects of operations including review and critique of plans and layouts; organization plans, manpower plans and operating budgets; hiring, training and staff development; operating procedures and manuals; wayfinding; reservations and ticketing systems; and implementation strategies / schedules.  ORCA’s experience in planning / opening / operating world-class venues enables ORCA to (a) quickly and cost-effectively identify program and service improvements (incorporating industry trends and cutting-edge technology), and (b) recommend program expansions and ancillary business opportunities that pave the way to increased visitation and revenues.  ORCA’s expertise includes addressing programming / operational issues from the perspective of both the client (to augment operational effectiveness) and the visitor (to enhance the visitor experience).

On the quantitative side, ORCA analyzes complex issues related to visitor circulation, attendance capacity and facility layout/sizing.  ORCA’s objective is to ensure that the public spaces and support facilities (including circulation, attractions, entertainment, ticketing & admissions, information, retail, food services, restrooms, vertical transportation, and security screening) of a project are optimally sized and configured to support anticipated attendance levels and minimize crowding / wait times.  To conduct these analyses, various types of analytical models are developed to assess the visitor flow volumes and patterns through the planned facilities, and their interactions with the facilities, and to evaluate the impact of alternative design alternatives and operating scenarios.  These models often include animated simulation  models, which provide visual insights into the visitor flow characteristics and enhance the understanding of all members of the planning team regarding visitation.  The video shown below provides clips of animated simulations developed by ORCA for three projects: the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, DC), the museum at Statue of Liberty Island (New York City), and Presidio Tunnel Tops (San Francisco).  For each of these projects, the results of the animated simulation models led to modifications to the project/exhibit layouts and operating procedures, such as implementation and development of timed ticketing and reservation system and staffing plans.