Volume 3, No. 11. June 13, 2003
Eric's Turn
It’s
a small world
On a visit to Miami, Florida, to get a preview of the new Parrot Jungle Island,
Kristen Koch, the director of marketing at nearby Cedars Medical Center, came
in for me to interview her about her hospital’s sponsoring the theme park
(see story in this issue). After our introduction,
I extended the pleasantries before the formal interview by offhandedly asking
if she were related to the Kochs of Indiana. A throw-away question proved to
be a revelation: turns out she is the great niece of Mrs. Pat Koch, making her
second cousins with Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari President Will—or
first cousins twice removed (I get confused about genealogy lineage).
No wonder she took the unusual step of agreeing to have her hospital become
a sponsor for a theme park. Not only did it make good business sense and provide
a tremendous marketing opportunity for the hospital, being involved with theme
parks apparently runs in her blood. So does a pleasant personality.
It’s a small
world II
On a visit to Wavre, Belgium, to cover the opening of Challenge of Tutankhamon
at Six Flags Belgium (THE LOOP
May 23, 2003), I rode in the back seat of one of the attraction’s Treasure
Recovery Vehicles behind two park guests from the local community. Because of
their keen attention to details of the ride, I asked to interview them afterward.
I introduced myself, gave them my business card and Geert Smets of Tessenderlo
immediately brightened. “Oh, I’ve seen your web site,” he said.
Turns out he is a member of the Belgium Roller Coaster Club, which was in the
park en masse to experience the new Sally Corporation dark ride. Later in the
day, when I had finished my official duties at the ride, I hooked up with the
whole group to ride the park’s fine coasters. Though they jostled to walk
next to me and sit next to me on the rides and at lunch, it wasn’t so much
that I was Elvis but that I was just an American Coaster Enthusiast with whom
they could compare experiences here and abroad. It drove home again for me how
global the amusement industry truly is, and that coasters is an international
language.
A special thank you to Geert and the Belgium Roller Coaster Club for a good
time and great friendship.
It’s a small
world III
In the picture above, Stan Checketts, President and CEO of S&S Power, and
I are about to set off on our first front-row trip on Timberhawk, S&S’
first wooden coaster, at Wild Waves and Enchanted Village in Federal Way, Washington
(see New Arrival in this issue). When I flew
to Seattle for the ride’s media preview, I knew Checketts would be there,
so this wasn’t a happenstance meeting.
Still, it was a particularly special meeting because we were on hand to witness
a significant birth for Checketts, his company’s first effort at a traditional
roller coaster; not one that goes 100 mph (160 km/h), straight up and down,
not a ride so scary that tough-dude teen agers refuse to even look at the ride,
but a nice little woodie with great drops, turns, scrunches and some decent
air. And Checketts was understandably proud of his new baby.
Our industry is a labor of love, but "labor" carries both its meanings
when it comes to building and opening new attractions. That is why we format
our “New Arrivals” as birth announcements. For more than a year we
have offered the “Enhanced New Arrival” option of a linked logo with
the story and a jump page with more pictures and information from on-site coverage
(as exemplified by the Timberhawk New Arrival in this issue and the Tutankhamon
New Arrival in the last).
Now we are introducing an extension of that advertising program for either manufacturers
or parks, a New Arrival announcement accompanying our story on the new attraction
for just $250, which gives you all the typical benefits of advertising in THE
LOOP plus ideal placement and an in-story link to your web site. With issue
of THE LOOP now being read by more than 7,000 people, it’s a great way
to broadcast your happy news to your world.
For details, click here,
or contact THE LOOP’s advertising manager, Lynne Mosman, at lynne@gettheloop.com,
toll-free 866-902-LOOP, or 937-294-3406.
THE LOOP is written and produced by Eric Minton, Minton Enterprises, LLC. To see more examples of Eric Minton's work and Minton Enterprises services, visit www.ericminton.com.
©2003, Minton Enterprises
LLC
All rights reserved