It wasn’t the usual big splash at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, but IAAPA offered plenty of reasons to join the Virtual Education Conference they held in the trade show’s place this year.
The event streamed live from Nov. 16-18, but all of the educational sessions are available on demand through Dec. 31. Among the most interesting for the FEC crowd were: “Is Your Entertainment Center Underperforming? Fix It with Five Proven Solutions” with Jerry Merola and Barry Zelickson; “Break the Rules of Entertainment Engagement with VR and Esports Attractions” with Christine Buhr, Jan Goetgeluk and Phil Kaplan; and “Sourcing: Improving Purchasing and Expanding New Product Development for Games and Merchandising” with Jim Weigl and Mike Weimar.
Inducted this year into the IAAPA Hall of Fame were Tony Baxter, Greg Hale and Mats Wedin. Baxter started his career in 1965 as an ice cream scooper at Disneyland and wound up assisting in the opening of attractions at Walt Disney World as a Disney Imagineer, overseeing Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland and much more. Hale was the first vice president and chief safety officer for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and invented the patented Disney FASTPASS service. Wedin, CEO of Liseberg Amusement Park, was chairman of the IAAPA board in 2007 and developed the park’s famous Christmas events.
A Buyer’s Guide from the show is also available. If you attended, click here to provide IAAPA some event feedback, and visit www.iaapa.org for future events – like info on the 2021 IAAPA Expo, currently planned for Nov. 15-19 in the friendly confines of Orlando.