Volume 2, No. 23. December 13, 2002
Eric's
Turn
Down
the line
Sometimes,
the getting of the stories in THE LOOP is more meaningful than the actual stories
we publish. This issue has four cases in point, and they happen to be from three
successive phone calls I had Wednesday morning and another yesterday.
First was with Sylvie Faujanet in Paris. I’ve had dinner
with this woman along with other European amusement industry leaders in a Barcelona,
Spain, cafe, and have long been impressed with her devotion to the industry
and her work in spreading the gospel of good training among young workers at
amusement facilities. While I felt the honor and privilege of talking with her
by phone through a translator, I was most taken with the persistent humility
emanating from her voice. This was a woman who had been accorded one of her
nation’s highest honors. Just by her very personality and bearing she teaches
us all so much.
Next on my list was Eiran Gazit, the CEO of Mini Israel.
This New Arrival is most apropos to this season, of course, as the three major
religions depicted in Mini Israel all celebrate major holidays this time of
year. However, for me reporting on this great event is bittersweet. I have closely
followed the history of Mini Israel’s development, and I know what was
SUPPOSED to happen. Back in 1999 when I first came to know Eiran, his Director
of Sales and Marketing Yoni Shapira, and his Technical Directors Koby Paz, they
were pushing ahead on a project that could have attracted up to a million visitors
during the Millennium. Furthermore, they were actively pursuing regional partnerships
utilizing their model-building expertise and an international association of
miniature parks, efforts that had them in close contact with professional counterparts
in neighboring countries.
That was when the region was basking in prospects for lasting peace. Bureaucratic
delays pushed Mini Israel’s construction back, and in the meantime the
peace process fell to pieces. Now the region is suffering as much upheaval as
it ever has. Yes, Mini Israel is a victim of the circumstances, but more importantly
so is Eiren’s goal for a network of purveyors delivering quality entertainment
to people throughout the region. On the phone he sounded weary, but he never
once let on that he was relinquishing hope. I’m guessing his mission is
simply put on hold.
Immediately after hanging up the phone with Eiran I was talking with Dollywood’s
Pete Owens in Tennessee. He was on his mobile phone as he
told me about the park’s new Doggywood kennels; many of my contacts are
out in the park so much that interviews on cell phones is not unusual. But then
Pete started interrupting our interview to give driving directions to Jill Thompson,
who also works in Dollywood’s public relations department. Pete then explained:
a former employee of Dollywood had recently broken her back, and Pete, Jill
and some of the crew who decorate the park for Christmas were on their way to
decorate her house. It would be a surprise for the woman.
Yesterday I interviewed by phone Universal Florida’s Brad
Goeb, the project manager for Give Kids The World’s new miniature golf
course. I was looking for matter-of-fact information on their clever designs
of the dinosaurs and special effects, but it quickly became obvious that Brad
was more than proud of his team’s work; he was enraptured with the whole
experience. Universal’s creative team has come to represent the highest
quality of entertainment experiences in the industry, and their first-ever miniature
golf course ranks right up there with anything they've done in Universal Studios
and Islands of Adventure. Yes, anything, Mr. Spider-man. Yet, the company will
get nil from the product in terms of income; only the satisfaction of contributing
such a fun experience to the families visiting Give Kids The World.
So this is the season of giving? In our industry, the season lasts 365 days
a year, in good times and bad.
Happy holidays, everybody. We’ll see you in 2003.
©2002, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved