IAAPA Institute Programs
IAAPA Institutes are extensive educational training programs that offer industry information, awareness, and cutting-edge ideas to help you and your organization succeed. Industry leaders will facilitate each Institute Program and guide you through an interactive experience designed to give you the opportunity to not only learn from the experts but to share ideas, successes, and challenges with your colleagues. Institute courses are the ideal forum for learning new ideas that can be implemented right away.
Separate registration fees are required for all IAAPA Institute Programs.
Institute for Emerging Leaders
Sunday, November 16, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.; Monday, November 17 & Tuesday, November 18, 8:30 a.m. - 5:45 p.m.
The Institute for Emerging Leaders is IAAPA’s newest management development program. The two-and-a-half day course is aimed at the high flyers in your organization—those who have demonstrated the commitment and potential to be on your senior management team. The course covers five core areas of attractions management:
• Finance: Capital, recurrent budgets, and other financial tools for the attractions industry.
• Marketing & Communications: The role of public relations, media relations, and group sales in the attractions industry.
• Leadership: Successful human resources development strategies.
• Facility Operations and Safety: Industry regulations, best facility management practices and crisis management awareness.
• Revenue Operations: The role and importance of revenue operations.
The program includes intensive course study, practical work, and hands-on activities.
Moderators: Vic Nolting, General Manager, Coney Island; Tim Ruedy, VP Operations, Burroughs & Chapin Co., Inc.
Institute for Marketing: Marketing 2.0 for the Attractions Industry
Tuesday, November 18 - 8:30 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.
New marketing and Internet-based tools have changed the face of business, including that of the attractions industry. Customers search for your facility on Google, they upload movies of their visit on YouTube, and they share photos and comments with each other on Facebook and other social networking sites. What can the attractions industry do to manage this change in marketing communications, and how can it leverage the opportunity that it presents?
This daylong program will take an in-depth look at the state of Marketing 2.0 in the industry and will consider the key characteristics of a viral marketing campaign, how to identify goals and target groups, and how to improve the look and feel of your web site. Course content includes:
• Determining your Marketing 2.0 goals
• Identifying your target groups
• Product development and co-creation
• Branding your product
• Developing a crossmedia presence
• Establishing dynamic web presence.
Speaker: Richard van Hooijdonk, Director, Marketing Mondays
Institute for Media Relations in the Attractions Industry
Thursday, November 20 - 8:30 a.m. – 5:45 p.m
In this daylong course, 20-year industry media veteran Courtney Simmons will outline ways to work with the press to generate positive coverage for your attraction and understand the secrets for effectively managing bad news coverage during a crisis.
Through a combination of classroom instruction, participant interaction, and hands-on demonstration, you will learn how to work with all types of media in a variety of circumstances.
In this course, you will learn how to:
• Understand what’s newsworthy and what’s not
• Craft, deliver, and pitch your story
• Gain confidence and effectively manage an on-camera interview
• Effectively manage difficult news stories
• Establish ground rules for and handle hostile interviews
• Look good on TV.
You will also walk away with real-world examples of interesting story angles and sample press releases. This course offers something for everyone at any organization who may need to work with the press. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced pro, the strategies, secrets, and techniques you’ll learn in this course will help you drive your business and safeguard your image.
Speaker: Courtney Simmons, Director of Corporate Communications and PR, Sony Online Entertainment
Institute for Safety: Loss Prevention and Safety Management in the Amusement and Attractions
Thursday, November 20 - 8:30 a.m. – 5:45 p.m
Safety is the amusement industry’s number-one priority. The safe care of guests, proper handling and maintenance of equipment, and health and safety of employees are all major concerns for any facility. This full-day course examines safety in the attractions industry and provides the attractions operator with the tools and resources to implement and manage a safety and loss prevention program at their facility. Session speakers will take a close look at risk management theory and demonstrate how to develop a safety culture among your employees from the executive team to the front line. Discussion topics will include:
• Defining and describing risk management theory
• Understanding ride safety manufacturing standards
• Understanding the importance of emergency management plans
• Building a safety culture at all levels of your organization
• Conducting incident investigations
• Comparing the safety of the attractions industry with other forms of recreation.
This program is presented in cooperation with AIMS International.
Speaker: Bret Pfost, Senior Manager, Park Operations, Safety, Training, and Compliance, Disneyland Resort
Institute for Operations: Certified Haunted Attractions Operator Safety Program
Friday, November 20 - 1 p.m. – 4:15 p.m
This program, presented in cooperation with the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA) and Mobile Midway Safety Institute (MMSI), will focus on code compliance and fire and safety issues for haunted attractions, and will include a site visit to the Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights haunted attraction.
Attendees will learn the importance of taking a long-term or year-round approach to safety and maintenance planning and get an overview of the current standards pertaining to haunted attractions including ASTM, NFPA, and CPSC. The day will end with a tour of Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights where attendees will visit a number of haunted houses and hear a presentation on how Halloween Horror Nights is produced. Course content includes:
• Standards governing haunted attractions (ASTM, NFPA CPSC)
• Hazard identification
• Operational compliance issues
• Inspection and maintenance systems.
Speaker: Phil Slaggert, President, Mobile Midway Safety Institute