A golden ticket for a behind-the-scenes look

By Jesse Sanchez. 

The Golden Ticket Promotion gives pool professionals the opportunity to see how products go from an idea to a manufactured product!  

For pool professionals, seeing a finished product on the shelf is only one part of the story. AquaStar Pool Products’ Golden Ticket Promotion is designed to reveal what happens before that product reaches distribution, bringing seven winners and their guests inside the company’s Ventura, California, facilities. 

On this episode of From the Ground Up™, AquaStar Brand Manager Michael Krause explained that the all-inclusive experience includes airfare or fuel reimbursement, hotel accommodations, meals and a full facility tour. Michael said, “You get a full facility tour, an entire day of just AquaStar. We'll walk you through how we create our products, what it takes to create the products and show you each step by step, from a napkin to a product in a box shipping out to distribution.” 

That behind-the-scenes access reflects a shift for AquaStar. Michael said the company historically kept much of its innovation process private, but now wants stronger partnerships with pool professionals, distributors and others throughout the industry. He shared, “We want to show what we do and how we do it and why. It's been a big change for the company, letting people in, but it's been really fun letting people through the facility and showing them how we do it.” 

During the visit, winners will see AquaStar’s vertically integrated process, including product design, research and development, tooling, manufacturing and shipping. Michael said keeping those capabilities in-house also allows AquaStar to respond to feedback from pool professionals and make product changes more efficiently. 

The experience also includes time with CEO Olaf Mielda, members of the sales team and engineers, creating opportunities for attendees to ask questions and better understand how products move from an idea to the market. Interest in the promotion has already been strong, with Michael reporting more than 600 entries at the time of the interview and noting that entries during the first two weeks had already surpassed totals from each of the previous two years. 

For professionals considering entering, Michael emphasized the value of seeing the operation firsthand, saying, “You don't want to miss it. It's hard to put into words how much fun it is and just how much you'll learn by doing the tour.” 

Listen to the podcast or Watch the conversation to learn more about how the Golden Ticket Promotion gives pool professionals a behind-the-scenes look at product development, manufacturing and the people behind the process!