Volume 1, No. 20. November 20, 2001
Change
is a-comin'
This is an IAAPA Convention and Trade Show on the cusp of change, for itself
and for the industry. Yet, one thing you can count on: fun. That one constant
in our industry will be ever-present November 10-17 in Orlando, Florida. You
can also count on some snowfall, too. No need to pack a parka, though. The snow
will be falling inside the Orange County Convention Center at Unlimited Snow's
booth.
For the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, in addition
to the traditional passing of the gavel from the outgoing chairman of the board
to his successor—this year that will be Bill Sims handing off to Alain
Baldacci—the Orlando show will mark the change-over in IAAPA's day-to-day
leadership. This is the last show for retiring CEO John Graff and the first
for his successor, Brett Lovejoy, who has served as President since May. Graff,
who has helmed IAAPA for 22 years, will be the featured speaker at the General
Managers and Owners Luncheon on Thursday, November 15.
For three years the industry has looked forward to its really big show "coming
home," as it were, to the amusement capital of the world, Orlando. A great convention
city, an even greater convention facility, and the kind of ancillary entertainment
that is ideal for this particular band of conventioneers attracted a total attendance
of 33,100 in 1997, the last time IAAPA gathered in Central Florida. That remains
an IAAPA Convention and Trade Show record, and it inspired the association to
anticipate 30,000 for this its 83rd annual confab.
So much has changed in the past four years. In 1997 the global economy was booming;
since then economies on two continents crashed, the U.S. and European economies
are struggling, and the entertainment industry, traditionally recession proof,
has hurt along with the rest. So much more has changed in the past two months.
Americans don't want to travel, especially by air, and the rest of the world's
population is not certain it wants to fly to America. All of which spells trouble
for the IAAPA Trade Show, right?
Well, yes and no. The answer depends on whether you use numbers as your only
barometer for success. Though officials say international attendance is expected
to be normal, with few if any cancellations, other indicators say otherwise.
Many of the Orange County Convention Center-area hotels not only still have
plenty of rooms available but reportedly saw several cancellations for the week
of November 10-17. We hear more talk of people not attending than attending,
and that talk circulated even before September 11, thanks to economic constrictions.
IAAPA staff has mounted a heavy marketing push in the past few weeks almost
begging people to put aside their trepidations and attend, an effort which could
be a sign of either aggressive marketing or desperation.
On the other hand, some parks who, prior to September 11, had planned to send
only key people now are sending more staff because the cost of traveling to
and staying in Orlando is the lowest in years. Moreover, the international attendees
who are canceling are those who regard IAAPA as an excuse to take extended holidays
in the United States, whereas owners and managers who see the trade show as
essential to purchasing and networking are more likely to attend.
IAAPA typically touts total attendance, which includes exhibitors, their guests
and families, and with 1,253 vendors that total figure could approach the association's
30,000 goal. But it would not be an accurate accounting of traffic, which is
likely to be down this year, not only from the 1997 Orlando crowd but lower
than last year's draw in Atlanta.
However, the experience
at other trade shows this year proves that attendance is not an accurate gauge
of a show's success, at least for the exhibitors themselves. Numbers have been
down at virtually all shows this fall, but many more companies than not said
actual business at those shows was better than in previous years. Furthermore,
many vendors even liked the lesser crowds, allowing them more quality time with
clients and full concentration on closing deals.
No question the industry is retrenching worldwide, a trend that appeared likely
to continue for another year even before the events of September 11. The terrorist
attacks added more uncertainty, a turmoil that in a strange way may boost the
industry via more family bonding and stay-close-to-home travel, which would
especially help small and mid-level amusement parks, family entertainment centers,
waterparks and, a sector that already was booming, zoos.
Bottom line: manufacturers
and suppliers who provide a good product and service at affordable price points
should have a good show in Orlando.
And everybody will have a good time. Here's how.
A
leg up
"IAAPA Legs" are that moment when the lower limbs of a person's anatomy morph
from sore to bone-aching. Depending on how much walking, standing and playing
you do, and how little sleep you get, it usually victimizes most conventioneers
by the third day of the trade show. Yet, despite the dawn-to-dusk walking work
that goes into attending an IAAPA Convention and Trade Show, we tack on another
six or more after-dark hours of play. As veteran IAAPAers will tell you, the
socializing is as vital to industry networking as the convention seminars and
trade floor exchanges.
But this is not so much about business as about having a good time, and here's
your primer for fun.
IAAPA itself sponsors or hosts several events, and one annual gathering, the
International Reception, this year requires a $25 ticket. That includes food
and non-alcoholic beverages, and will be a good opportunity to mingle with counterparts
from around the world, plus take in the Plaza International Ballroom at the
Peabody Hotel across International Drive from the Convention Center. The Wednesday
evening reception conflicts with several other scheduled social gatherings for
various sectors of the industry, two of which are off-site: the Zoo and Aquarium
Social at the Central Florida Zoo, and the Waterpark Social at SeaWorld's Discovery
Cove. You waterpark operators, if you get an invitation to the last, don't pass
it up. You'll get good food in lush environs of that singular park.
IAAPA's annual Thursday Night Social will be at Universal Orlando's Islands
of Adventure. If you have never been to this theme park, take advantage of this
exclusive party to play in what is arguably the industry's best themed environment
with some spectacular rides, especially The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.
Tickets cost $65 and will include all-you-can eat and drink (including alcoholic
beverages) at the park's first-rate restaurants. Saturday night's social and
Changing of the Gavel Ceremony Reception will be at SeaWorld ($78 combined ticket,
$65 for the social only), and aside from seeing a special Shamu show, you can
count on SeaWorld's caterers producing stellar fare.
The must-do party of the week will be the annual bash thrown by the Themed Entertainment
Association beginning at 6:30 (18,30) on Friday night. The TEA is renting out
XS, a games and nightclub at Pointe Orlando on International Drive, and the
$60 ticket includes all you can eat, all you can drink, door prizes and a game-playing
card for XS' video arcade. This is also the best dance action of the week, this
year courtesy of a dee-jay.
If you want to find your own hot spots to party, head to Universal's CityWalk,
where you can dance to live reggae at Bob Marley's or gather in the quieter
confines of Cigarz. Orlando has two dueling piano bars, the famous Howl at the
Moon downtown at Church Street Station, and Blazing Pianos at the Mercado on
International Drive a few blocks from the Convention Center. Even closer to
the Center is Bahama Breeze with reputedly the best margaritas (called Bahamaritas)
on the planet, and Back Stage, a club with live music on the ground floor of
the Rosen Plaza right next to the Convention Center.
Wising up
However much you party the night before, IAAPA's seminars usually are worth
dragging yourself out of bed to attend, even the 8 a.m. (08,00) sessions. This
year's slate features some old favorites (Michael Getlan gives an encore presentation
of his "Smile" seminar on customer service Tuesday morning) and some seminars
that will help you get a grip on a few of the trends worth watching the next
couple of years.
A two-part seminar on the Americans with Disabilities Act Tuesday afternoon
promises valuable insights on serving customers with disabilities, from accessibility
issues to proper etiquette. Also that afternoon, Andrea Stueve of the Travel
Industry Association of America will cover that organization's latest research
on U.S. travelers. Former IAAPA President Gena Romano, owner of Nellie Bly Park
in Brooklyn, New York, will moderate a meeting Friday morning of how small parks
survive around the world. At The Future of Themed Entertainment presentation
Friday morning, the TEA in association with Amusement Business will be
presenting the results of a survey on the tastes and spending patterns of Generation
Y compiled by Teen Research Unlimited.
Orlando also affords IAAPA a chance to showcase the facilities of the association's
designated charity, Give Kids The World and the World Passport for Kids. IAAPA
members worldwide have donated funds and equipment to GKTW over the past few
years, allowing the organization to build a center to house terminally ill children
and their families while they visit Central Florida's theme parks. GKTW will
host a Partner Appreciation Day throughout Tuesday afternoon for those parks
and companies who have contributed to the program, and an Open Village for all
convention attendees Thursday afternoon. Complimentary bus transportation will
be available from the Convention Center.
Serving
the serving
Michael Fleming had the best of intentions when he promoted among his customers
a letter-writing campaign for the armed forces personnel serving in Operation
Enduring Freedom, the military campaign against terrorist organizations. Fleming,
the managing general partner of Mountasia Fun Center in Santa Clarita, California,
and the Northridge, California, Skateland, as well as a partner in a Farrell's
Ice Cream Restaurant, provided postcards and pencils at the service counters
in his facilitie. Staff selling tickets and tokens at the fun centers and wait
staff at the restaurant invited guests to write a quick note to be sent to troops
in the Middle East. Fleming
had done a similar letter-writing campaigns at his former roller skating center
in Orange, California, during the Gulf War, and he even got the the Roller Skating
Association, the International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment
Industry and the National Restaurant Association to replicate his current efforts
nationwide.
This week, the U.S. Department of Defense nixed Fleming's and all such letter-writing
campaigns, including the 17-year-old Operation Dear Abby. The military did not
want to add any additional burden to a U.S. Postal Service already grappling
with the widening problem of anthranx-tainted mail. Fleming's attempt to turn
his postcard campaign into an e-mail campaign has also met with what appears
to be an insurmountable obstacle as the military clamped down on e-mail traffic
to its personnel stationed overseas, too.
"It looks like our program is scuttled," he said. It's a frustrating development
for a man who saw such good come out of the Gulf War correspondence. That program
Fleming launched on a whim, when he announced during a skating session that
he would have pieces of paper in the snack bar for anyone who wanted to write
a letter to the Desert Storm troops. "We made the announcement, and all of a
sudden 200 kids came rushing into the snack bar to write those letters," he
said. Soon after, those kids had appreciative pen pals, including one sailor
who, after the war, visited the skating rink. "He got on the microphone and
said, 'You will never, ever realize how much getting your mail meant to all
of us out on that ship. We always hoped to get a box from you guys,'" Fleming
recalled.
Though anonymous correspondence with troops has been halted, the military is
encouraging people to find other outlets of support for service men and women.
Personnel at military bases in the United States are working just as hard as
their overseas colleagues, and many families of deployed troops are enduring
difficult, lonely times. Though not every community has a military installation
nearby, almost all communities have residents who are members of the National
Guard or Reserves. Many of those Reservists have been called to duty, leaving
well-paying civilian jobs for lesser-paying military service.
Fleming is now turning his attention to the efforts of the USO, through which
he had coordinated his letter-writing campaign. "They've sucked me in," he said,
noting that the 123 USO offices around the country rely on volunteer help and
donations to provide places of shelter and entertainment for military families
in need. The USO center in San Diego will be hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for
families of deployed personnel, and not only has Fleming donated some of the
turkeys and fixings through his restaurant, he and his family will be among
those serving the dinner. "I asked my kids if they wanted to join my wife and
I in doing this, and they said, 'Absolutely.'"
Truth semen
Terry Wolf, wildlife director at
the Lion Country Safari in Loxahatchee, Florida, has become something of a television
star as the butt of many jokes, a phrase you can take quite literally in this
case. With a stint on Comedy Central already to his credit, Wolf will appear
today on the television game show To Tell The Truth where the panel will
determine which of three contestants is the real African elephant semen extractor.
If everybody is entitled to 15 minutes of fame, Wolf is reaching 30-plus minutes,
a path to notoriety that passes through the urethra of Bulwagi, Lion Country
Safari's 20-year-old bull elephant. He can thank the zoo's director of public
relations and marketing, LJ Margolis, who first heard of Wolf's work during
her interview for the job. "Immediately my little mind went 'Press! Press! Press!'"
she said. Though her superiors at the zoo weren't sure semen extraction was
the kind of story a family park should tell, the local newspaper got a hold
of the story a couple months later: "I don't know how," Margolis said with more
than a dribble of slyness in her tone.
Local press coverage led to a morning radio show broadcasting a live profile
on Wolf and Bulwagi and posted photos on its web site. Stuff, a magazine
for men, picked up on the photos and ran a story, which caught the attention
of Jon Stewart's The Daily Show on Comedy Central. "They didn't make
fun of the animals, they made fun of me," Wolf said of his Daily Show
segment, which tracked Wolf as if he were an endangered species, being as how
he is an elephant semen extractor. "I was kind of concerned because they can
make you look like a jerk real easily. They told me they wouldn't do that, and
they didn't."
Next, To Tell the Truth came calling, and not only did the producers
put Wolf and two impostors on their show, they used this particular segment
as part of their fall sweeps campaign. Wolf had 30 minutes to coach his fellow
contestants, one of whom sells peanuts at Dodger Stadium. "The two people I
had with me really paid attention and tried," he said. For a schedule of the
show's airing, visit http://www.totellthetruth.tv/tune_in.html.
Ours being a virtual publication, we'll attach a paragraph below with the game's
results after today's airings have concluded.
His occupation may garner the initial attention of show business, but Wolf's
personality and quick wit make for a good fit with his comic hosts. "When the
high point of my day is massaging an elephant's prostate, you have to look at
the bright side," he said. He partners with semen extractors working with two
bulls in "a little zoo in Orlando" (i.e., Disney's Animal Kingdom), but, he
boasts, "Frankly, Bulwagi's semen is the best."
"Terry lets me ridicule him on
national television and he just grins about it," Margolis said. "Every zoo PR
person should be so fortunate as to have a Terry Wolf to work with."
As for his own fame, Wolf sees it as advancing education about the elephant
artificial insemination program itself, which has resulted in a total of five
pregnant cows since April at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo, California,
and the Toledo Zoo in Ohio. "Anything for baby elephants: that's my motto,"
he said. "Anything we can do to educate people, whether it's comedy, nature
shows, THE LOOP, whatever it takes, that's fine with me. My ego is such it can
take a little kicking around, anyway." He's also keeping his minutes of fame
in perspective. "I'll be a lot prouder when those baby elephants are born."
Fooled a
few
The segment opened with Kelly Crofton,
a hostess at an Italian Steakhouse, holding up her armed sheathed to the shoulder
in a plastic glove and saying, "My name is Terry Wolf, and I use this to help
make baby elephants." The third contestant, Terry Wolf himself, is 6-foot, 6
inches tall, and when he held up his gloved arm it likely sealed his fate. "All
three panelists who picked me said it had to be me because I had the longest
arms," he said. The other panelist and the audience voted for No. 2, Mort Rose,
the peanut vender at Dodger Stadium. Ironically, Wolf received the fewest audience
votes, 27 percent, behind Rose's 38 percent and Crofton's 35.
PHOTO: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts at a LEGOLAND food stand. Photo courtesy of LEGOLAND
Running circles
Never tell Kina Paegert hers is not
a sweet job. The senior representative of media relations at LEGOLAND California
in Carlsbad had the enviable task of promoting the park's landing of a Krispy
Kreme Doughnuts franchise. With the park and confection partnership kicking
off in a celebratory day October 20, Paegert made the rounds of media outlets
earlier in the week, hand-delivering Krispy Kremes to delighted journalists
throughout San Diego County.
"LEGOLAND was definitely the hero in the media's eyes," Paegert said upon delivering
a total of 72 dozen doughnuts to 24 outlets. The process involved 5 a.m (05,00)
pickups of doughnuts, placing LEGOLAND and LEGO brick stickers on each box,
and driving them to television stations and newspapers on the first day, and
repeating the early morning drive the second day for radio stations. She used
her own car for the task, an Acura Integra. "It's amazing how many doughnuts
you can really put in there," she said, but she had to lay the back seat down
and stack the boxes to the ceiling.
While reporters, editors and deejays
appreciated the treat, Paegert did encounter some hassles during delivery thanks
to heightened security. Some of the television stations opened the boxes to
ensure they carried doughnuts before allowing her admission. The efforts paid
off, though, from the mouths of ecstatic deejays and the visual of Krispy Kreme
boxes on the local NBC affiliate's news desk.
For Paegert this was a true labor of love. The daughter of a career Navy man,
she spent a lot of childhood time in the South growing where Krispy Kremes have
long dominated the doughnut market. Two days of close confines with the confection
did not dampen her love for the doughnuts, either. "Are you kidding? You can
never get sick of Krispy Kremes. They're awesome!" she said. And in a real test
of her professionalism, while she bought one doughnut for herself each day of
the media rounds, she did not sneak a sample from the press' gifts.
Storm watch
Face it, the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky, seems unusually blessed.
Thanks to its exhibit "Guardians of the Deep" featuring rare South
African sharks, the Cincinnati-area aquarium earned unprecedented news coverage
in the late summer when Ohio and Kentucky journalists seeking a local angle
during the media frenzy over the East Coast shark attacks visited the aquarium
in droves (LOOP, September
21, 2001).
Ironically, publicity for that exhibit had prompted a media outcry back in May, thanks to a television commercial which resembled a news bulletin featuring fictional reporter Gail Storm broadcasting that sharks had been sighted in the Ohio River, on which the Newport Aquarium sits. Two Kentucky TV stations, one in Louisville, one in Lexington, pulled the commercial two weeks after they started running. "Neither received complaints, but the general managers were worried that the commercial was so close to TV reports and they would be perceived as actual news," said Genine Drozd, the aquarium's public relations assistant.
What was Kentucky's worry is Ohio's
reward. That same commercial has received a Ruby Award from the Ohio Travel
Association. The association judges tourism promotions for impact, singularity,
the effectiveness of the message's delivery and a five-second test of instant
recognition. Though the aquarium sits in Kentucky, it promotes tourism to the
Cincinnati area, making it eligible for the prize.
Drozd submitted the spot for Ruby consideration, oblivious to the storm of protest
Gail Storm created when she debuted. "If you think about it, people in those
markets should know who their local newscasters are," said Drozd, noting that
the ad was used on several stations and so never showed a newscast logo. "And
it's almost too ridiculous to think there's really sharks in the Ohio River."
Winning the Ruby, she said, exonerates the commercial's success at being realistic but fun. Much like an aquarium.
Return
visit
In the October
19 issue of THE LOOP, the original version of the World Waterpark Association
trade show round-up cited WWA officials saying attendance was down 20 percent
over the previous year, and that seemed optimistically fuzzy math. The "fuzzy
math" comment was based on the fact that for much of the show, traffic in the
exhibit aisles and convention halls was notably sparse.
WWA President and CEO Rick Root responded to that line with numbers that, far
from being fuzzy, went four digits past the decimal point. Counting all classes
of attendees, attendance was 86.322 percent of what the association registered
at the 2000 trade show in San Antonio, Root said. Removing vendors and journalists
from the equation, attendance was 81.3838 percent of the 2000 show, he said.
I reposted the story with these figures, and I mention it here as a pointer.
Often associations and trade shows blur their attendance figures, feeling that
the more numbers they can boast, the more important their show appears. They
may have important shows, but the merits of any trade show and convention can
only be measured in results: the amount of potential and actual business a supplier
achieves on the trade show floor, the education and sense of value attendees
get out of seminars and social fellowship. The WWA, mounting a show in the face
of the September 11 attacks, an apparently floundering industry, and the loss
of its own 20-year leadership, didn't flinch from its responsibility to pursue
these kind of results though knowing it would lose the numbers game.
Consequently, the show proved how cosmetic attendance figures can be as vendors
noted their preference for quality over quantity. In that sense, the WWA Trade
Show was a refreshing revelation.
Root pointed out that he's legally obligated to provide accurate figures to
his membership as far as attendance. True, but here's a salute to straightforwardness
and, more importantly, proper perspective.
New Arrivals
PHOTO: Guests ride the SimEx theater's mission to Mars at Vienna Prater's new Kultiplexx. Photo courtesy of Kaleidoskop Kulltiplexx
It's a kultiplexx!
Prater in Vienna, Austria, announces the arrival of Kaleidoskop Kultiplexx,
October 26, 2001. Measurements: 2,500 square meters (8,250 square feet), six
caverns for educational workshops, one stage theater with 180 seats, one SimEx
theater with 12 motion seats and six stationary seats, one interactive play
area, one exhibition room, one restaurant, one gift shop and three party rooms.
Delivered by Martin Schwarz GmbH.
The second oldest amusement park in the world entered the 21st century in a
big way last Friday with the opening of a new-generation family entertainment
center that combines games with shows and hands-on educational programs. "Though
similar in infrastructure, the Kultiplexx and the Multiplexx are decidedly different
in content," said Catherine Zoihsl, Marketing and PR representative for Martin
Schwarz GmbH. "The Multiplexx offers many movie theaters, while the Kultiplexx
offers many theaters which have live performances of different types"—with
a little virtual reality on the side.
Kaleido, a robot, greets guests and directs them to one of the themed workshop
rooms or caverns: the Fairy Tale Cavern, Music Cavern, Media Cavern, Circus
Cavern, Magic Cavern and New Games Cavern (games without losers). A Cavern Master
works with the families on an interactive program that then moves to the Show
Theater. Afterward, families can take in the rest of the Kultiplexx's offerings,
from the play area for little kids to the virtual reality games for teens and
adults.
Opening night introduced this concept and the ATS 60 million (US$3.9 million)
Kultiplexx to 300 invited guests, who not only experienced the SimEx theater's
first trip to "Mars" but also were treated to two cabaret shows featuring 15
artists from 10 countries performing magic, acrobatics, break dancing, music
and rap. The weekend traffic was lighter than expected, said Samantha Fisher,
International Press Representative for Martin Schwarz GmbH, but she expected
the numbers to grow in coming weekends, especially when the Viennese realize
the Kaleidoskop Kultiplexx is open on Sundays, a rarity for such entertainment
venues in Austria.
It's an arctic exhibit!
The Detroit Zoo in Michigan announces the arrival of Arctic Ring of Life,
October 19, 2001. Measurements: Four acres, three exhibit areas, seven polar
bears, six seals (four harbor, one gray and one harp), four arctic foxes, two
snowy owls, four keepers, 300,000-gallon (114,000 liters) tank, and a 70-foot-long
(21 meters) underwater acrylic tunnel. Delivered by Jones Jones.
Underwater viewing areas have become standard fare for zoos with polar bear
or hippopotamus exhibits, but the Detroit Zoo has taken the concept to its logical
next step: a tunnel, like those used in aquariums. "It's pretty amazing when
you're walking through this tunnel and you see this polar bear right on top
of you," said Rana Kozouz, the zoo's public relations director.
The tunnel is, however, only the highest highlight of this multi-highlighted
exhibit that the zoo claims is the world's largest polar bear exhibit, giving
its ursa residents ten times more room than they had in their previous home.
Set in the Nunvat region of Canada, the exhibit showcases three eco systems:
the tundra, the open sea with the 300,000 gallons of chilled salt water, and
the ice pack that supplements its simulated ice with 1,800 blocks of real ice
machine-produced every two days. Visitors pass through a gallery featuring Inuit
art from the region, then move into the tunnel where they can watch the polar
bears and seals swimming together—except for a 12-foot-tall (3.5 meters)
acrylic wall dividing the two species. Guests end up in a cave with real walls
of ice, then move into an indoor exploration station emulating the work of arctic
researchers, complete with interactive kiosks. Outdoor viewing areas also are
available to guests.
The zoo previewed Arctic Ring of Life to the media the day before the Friday
ceremony unveiling the exhibit to zoo donors, a ceremony attended by the Canadian
general consul. The following day the general public got to view the long-awaited,
$14.9 million complex. "We had double the attendance that we normally would
on an October weekend," Kozouz said.
Eric’s
Turn
Where
are we?
Gary Slade and I are good friends, close colleagues, and we work together well.
I serve as a bureau chief and contributing editor for his publication, Amusement
Today, and he feeds THE LOOP occasional photos and information for stories.
For the IAAPA Trade Show, he is letting us share his booth. That only made sense
as I'll be covering the convention for both publications, so I might as well
hang my hats in one place on the trade show floor.
Be sure to drop by the Booth 4289 to visit with Lynne, Stacey and I as well
as the Amusement Today crew. We will also be making the rounds of as
many receptions and seminars as we can. You can also reach me on my mobile phone
during the show, 937-321-8290, or e-mail us at eric@gettheloop.com.
Not only will we have
our web site operating at the booth, we will be posting the next edition of
THE LOOP during the show, providing you up-to-the-minute industry developments
and human interest stories we uncover during the convention and trade show.
To everybody attending, safe journeys, and we'll see you in Orlando.
Correction
In the October 19 issue of
THE LOOP we ran a New Arrival on the Deja Vu boomerang coaster at Six Flags
Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Some of the information in that report was
not accurate, and because that has brought into question the credibility of
the article's source, we have pulled that piece from the issue. We regret the
error.