Volume 2, No. 21. November 8, 2002
IAAPA Preview
For exhibitors listed alphabetically, click here.
For exhibitors listed numerically, click here.
Editor's Note: Our next issue of THE LOOP will post on Tuesday, November 26, to report on the news from the IAAPA Convention and Trade Show.
Bonding
experiences
Most things at the annual IAAPA Trade Show and Conference stay the same: its
size, the camaraderie, the onset of an affliction common to all known as “IAAPA
legs.” One other thing that doesn’t change is a schedule of events
so impossible to manage that even James Bond could feel defeated; and this year
one 007 will at least challenge IAAPA.
Roger Moore (the second of the major Bonds) is scheduled to appear both at the
What’s New Theatre that officially kicks off the trade show and the General
Managers and Owners Luncheon on Thursday. A longtime UNICEF ambassador, Moore
will be promoting IAAPA’s new partnership with the international charity.
Though much remains the same, for its 84th edition IAAPA has made some significant
changes. The seminars have been labeled according to one of three tracts: Best
Practices for veteran amusement professionals, Building Blocks for industry
newcomers, and Industry Trends for everybody. The seminar schedule will also
be supplemented by a series of vendor presentations in two Exhibitor Pavilions
on the trade show floor, one in Hall A, the other in Hall E.
In addition to these ongoing presentations, the Hall E Exhibitor Pavilion will
serve as the site for the annual Changing of the Gavel Ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
Saturday, when Chairman of the Board Alain Baldacci hands over IAAPA leadership
to John Collins. Hall A's Pavilion will host the exhibitor awards at 5 p.m.
(17,00) Wednesday, and the plaques will remain in the pavilion throughout the
rest of the week.
One program continuing to evolve this year is the daily “Information Exchanges”
sessions, a chance for you to bring a lunch and join your career-field colleagues
for discussions of the challenges you face. All scheduled for noon starts, Wednesday’s
gatherings include human resources professionals and financial management and
information technology workers; Thursdays meetings are for the zoo and aquarium
operators, the entertainers, and the marketing and public relations people;
and Friday’s conclaves are geared toward lawyers, family entertainment
center operators and waterpark operators, while Latin American operators will
meet for a roundtable at 2 p.m. (14,00).
On
Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. (13,00) the small parks and attractions folks
can gather in their own “Chat Room,” while on Thursday 4 p.m. (16,00),
the Small Parks and Attractions Town Hall Forum has emerged as one of IAAPA's
most important traditions, this year being moderated by Vic Nolting of Coney
Island in Cincinnati.
Of course, you’ll have to make room on your schedule for such essential
tasks as, oh, selling and purchasing equipment and networking with colleagues.
However, here are a few other scheduled events for the week you should try to
shoehorn into your schedule.
Monday, November 18—Zoo and Aquarium Day starts with what might
be the most significant seminar of the entire week, “Culture Shock: Bridging
the gap between the business and non-business sides of zoos and aquariums”
featuring scheduled speakers Beth Stevens of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Thad
Lacinak of Busch Entertainment, and Gregg Hudson of Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical
Garden in Ohio, and moderated by current AZA President Mark Reed of the Sedgwick
County Zoo in Wichita, Kansas. That night, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme
Park hosts the invitation-only zoo and aquarium social and AZA Conservation
Endowment Fund auction.
Tuesday, November 19—The workshop schedule begins in earnest, and,
wouldn't you know it, two of the most appealing compete in the 2:30 p.m. (14,30)
time slot. Steve Hix, executive director of the International Recreational Go-Kart
Association, will give a presentation on management for go-kart operators, including
a look at new ASTM F24 standards. Meanwhile, Fred Lounsberry, national chair
of the Travel Industry Association of America, will give a presentation titled
“Travel and Tourism and the Road to Recovery” looking at trends in
travel tendencies among consumers. Afterward, repair to the Brass Ring Awards
where you can hear and see the best in industry marketing.
Wednesday, November 20—This year, IAAPA has scheduled a series of
daily “keynote addresses” featuring speakers which transcend the normal
workshop arena. The originally scheduled speaker for this day, Paul Pressler,
who recently left his position as chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
to become CEO of Gap, has been replaced by Al Weiss, president of the Walt Disney
World Resort. The address will be at 3:30 p.m. (15,30). For your evening social
event, purchase the $25 ticket for the International Reception at the Peabody
across the street from the Convention Center.
Thursday, November 21—This day’s keynote speech is at 9 a.m.
and features Scott Givens, the creative director of the Salt Lake City Olympics,
who will relate some of his “war stories” about staging the Olympics.
If you are not a small park operator attending your Town Hall Forum at 4 p.m.
(16,00), check out the session “Kosher in Kansas but Banned in Botswana,”
an intriguingly titled look at local cultural issues among zoos with speakers
from Germany, Singapore and Uganda. The annual Thursday Night Social this year
will be at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.
Friday, November 22—A 4 p.m. (16,00) Bill Havilek, president of
LEGOLAND California, and John Jakobsen, CEO of LEGOLAND Deutschland, will present
a workshop called "Building a Brand." Taking place in the convention
center's auditorium—the venue for What's New Theatre—the seminar will
include a showing of the parks' LEGO Racers 4D movie among other presentations.
Considering the marketing innovations the LEGOLAND parks always seem to be introducing
on a monthly basis, here’s a chance for operators from all industry sectors
to pick up some inspiring ideas.
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