Zoo and Aquarium Day

Kicking off the trade show that saw the highest attendance of zoo and aquarium members in IAAPA history, Monday’s first session focused on the marketing and cultural needs of today’s zoos and aquariums, which are centered more on conservation and environmental education than ever before.

Mark Reed, the new president of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, introduced a panel of four speakers who talked about zoo evolution and how to keep up with the times and trends. Speakers gave details on building naturalistic, immersive exhibits and creating successful special events and lasting partnerships.

Dr. Beth Stevens, who has worked from the beginning in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, which is now five years old, reflected on the merger between the zoo world and the theme park world, and offered important tips on making a successful transition.

Greg Hudson of the Cincinnati Zoo—the second oldest zoo in the United States—talked about the balance between educating, entertaining, and helping and conserving the ecosystem.

An important aspect of his 20-minute talk was cross promotion and how creative marketing plans can help the zoo, the animals, and the community.

After the presentation and a luncheon, the group of 200 IAAPA members headed to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for a tour of the facility.

From the African Safari to the Tree of Life, the group was given a behind-the-scenes look at the perspective to Disney’s marketing methods and programs and treated to a social in the evening.

Birthday University

Creating an exciting and memorable birthday isn’t as easy as you think—Frank Price presented this course complete with balloons and party hats at the trade show to impart some of what he’s learned over the years.

Price’s Birthday University seminar, held on Monday, November 18, offered a step-by-step look at the key elements of spectacular birthday presentation. The seminar incorporated music, greetings activities, games, and sound clips to create an overall “wow experience” that demonstrated the positive aspects of controlling birthday party fun.

Attendees were encouraged to participate in children’s games and exercises, such as table volleyball and a greetings game, to bring out everyone’s birthday-loving inner children.
Price, a 10-year birthday party consultant, discussed the process of developing party programs focusing on emotion and how to meet the wants and needs of the birthday boy or girl.
According to Price, in the process of creatively engaging the children, planners can increase the value of the party. “Consequently, you can increase the price of the party and parents will gladly pay for it,” he assured.

Busch Gardens Tour
This year’s Food Facility Tour, held on Tuesday, November 19, took attendees on three loaded tour buses to Busch Gardens, Tampa, roughly an hour-and-a-half-long drive from the Orange County/Orlando Convention Center, and provided a broader view of overall facility operations than just that of a behind-the-scenes food tour.

Busch Gardens opened its doors to IAAPA food facility operators and managers, who enjoyed a complimentary breakfast of fresh fruit, pastries, and muffins at The Crown Colony House Restaurant while Busch Gardens executive vice president and general manager Robin Carson welcomed attendees. “We know that you know how to run a food facility,” she said. “We know that you care.”

Several groups of attendees were then dispersed across the park grounds to tour Busch Gardens Tampa’s kitchens, bakery, freezers, warehouse, and smokehouse; sample beer and learn marketing tactics during Introduction to Brewing at the Anheuser-Busch Beer School; and feed giraffes and antelopes while witnessing animals in their natural habitats on the Serengeti Safari Tour.

As the tour’s finale, attendees were invited to ride Montu, an inverted roller coaster that reaches speeds exceeding 60 mph and boasts a G force of 3.85. Participants also received “Budweiser Beer Master” certificates to commemorate their tour.



Using Humor in the Workplace

A three-legged dog walked into a saloon and said, “I’m looking for the man who shot my paw. . .” That was the tone of Ronald Culberson’s session on “Using Humor in the Workplace” on Tuesday morning.

By regaling the audience with personal stories, like the time his wife accidentally shaved a strip of hair off his head the day before a lecture, Culberson shared the power of humor.
He explored the idea of thinking about everyday events in a different way and retraining yourself to see the humor in difficult situations, especially in the work environment.

Culberson, of FUNsulting, a company whose mission is to help people and organizations enjoy humor, wrote two books on the subject.

The comic speaker told funny stories and used body language to keep the audience’s attention because, as he said, “anything learned with humor is learned well.”

Universal Tour

Attendees of the Small Parks Maintenance and Safety Tour were given a three-hour crash course in the mechanics of maintaining rides, park safety procedures, and guest hospitality practices from a panel of veterans within the multi-facility operations of Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Universal CityWalk.

Among hundreds of useful tips, shared trial and error experiences, and rules that every park owner should practice, Jeff Polk, 12-year director of operations, stressed the importance of selecting quality employees who will bring communication skills, energy, and self-esteem to better serve your facility.

Polk, as well as guest operations staff, discussed in detail Universal’s “Quality Performance Management” program, which allows management to stay informed on employee practices by doing surprise park walks every three months.

From the Central Shops Facility, John Pierce, quality insurance manager, outlined inspections that are done at each park from day to day to help sustain the rides.

Pierce noted that regular tests on paint thickness, welding, ride meters, padding on headrests, seat cushions, and stock shipments are necessary to prevent problems. “If we can check it, we’re checking it to ensure safety for our guests,” Pierce said.

The tour wound down with a candlelit reception near Suess Landing and a ride on The Incredible Hulk roller coaster.

Disney Institute

The first of two speakers from the Disney Institute, Chris Carraci, led a motivational seminar on “Raising the Bar,” imparting some of the knowledge the company has gleaned over the years.

After a history of Disney—from Walt and Steamboat Willy to Michael Eisner and the resurrection of the Magic Kingdom—he explained the concept of performance excellence in leadership.

He offered examples of ways Disney implemented employee suggestions to make the work environment more pleasant to retain loyal and productive individuals. One example he gave was the recently designed electronically powered vacuum cleaners to protect laborers who were complaining about severe back pain.

Cirque du Soleil Backstage Tour

On Wednesday, a “dark day” for the cast, IAAPA members were treated to a rare opportunity in downtown Disney to see backstage of Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba. Led by company manager Richard Dennison and the show’s technical director, Ray Forton, attendees walked across the stage where the cast of 72 performers would amaze audiences 14 hours later, and then up 74 feet above the stage to the grid, where many of the aerial acts originate.

Forton and Dennison explained the origins of the show that debuted December 23, 1998, in the 1,671-seat theatre, built by Disney. They walked the tour through the various levels of the set, across the catwalk, through the halls draped with wires, cords, harnesses, pullies, bungies, and lighting instruments—1,400 in all—to the control booth. The tour finished beneath the stage, a floor adorned with costume rooms, dressing rooms, bike shops, a training room, and a physical therapy room.

The ultimate culmination of the tour was two days later when the group was treated to the 6 p.m. performance of La Nouba, which brought everything to life.

Salt Lake City

Scott Givens, creative director of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, who oversaw 1,150 staff members and 2,000 volunteers, offered a perspective into the marketing and planning of the two-week event, and the steps leading up to it. The organization and marketing of the show, Givens said, were massive, with a $1.3 billion budget, taking more than seven years to prepare. Just the torch lighting and the opening ceremony, which was watched by 3.5 billion people from 183 countries, required the planning and vigilance of a staff of hundreds.

With the help of two videos, encompassing the spirit of the games, Givens explained that he and his staff worked with a theme throughout the planning and execution of the Olympics, titled “Light the Fire Within.”

He showed the audience how they applied that theme to each aspect of the planning stages, including the design of everything from the press kits to the stage for the medal ceremonies, creating a visual identity for the games.

Salt Lake City itself, Givens said, was adorned in billboards, colors, and images of the games, including 60-foot-tall banners that were tied across the cityscape.

The seminar closed with a Q&A, which focused on how Givens handled early scandals that surrounded the games and how the theme translated to the volunteers and staffers. Someone also asked if he thought New York has a decent shot at the 2012 Olympics—“New York has a great opportunity to get 2012. It’s the biggest city in the work that hasn’t held the games.”

Welcome to Food Service

IAAPA’s new training video and CD-ROM “Welcome to Food Service” got a plug at the 45-minute long mini-workshop Food Service 101, held on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Hosted by Ken Whiting of Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, Calif., the seminar featured a presentation demonstrating the topics covered by the IAAPA video (guest relations, food safety, food presentation, equipment use and safety, cash handling, and teamwork).

In an open discussion, attendees offered tips on effective means for training future employees, as well as keeping open lines of communication within
the workplace.

Whiting gave personal anecdotes from his experiences employing high school students and discussed his training technique of “MBWA—management by walking around.” Whiting suggested small training group sizes and frequent quizzing to keep employees thinking, and reminded food facility managers and operators that the most important aspect of maintaining a successful food facility is to “stay inspired.”



Steve Koonin

Steve Koonin knows emotion. As executive vice president and general manager of Turner Network Television (TNT), Koonin supervised the first strategic brand positioning “TNT: We know drama,” and spent 14 years previously at the Coca-Cola Company, where he brought emotion-targeted marketing to amusement parks and sports venues worldwide.

At IAAPA Orlando 2002, Koonin spoke about his experiences in the marketing and entertainment fields, the public’s desire to be emotionally stimulated, and how it relates to the amusement park industry. According to Koonin, “Visitors want to enjoy and experience as much emotion as possible within a safe, controlled environment.”

He noted that adrenaline junkies, for example, have been a staple of the themed entertainment business for many years due to their inability to turn down a thrilling total body experience, such as felt on a roller coaster ride.

Koonin discussed his Entertainment Experiential Marketing plan, STAR—Scope; Target; Associative imagery; and Relevance, then bridged into a question and answer session that focused on the question “What emotion are you trying to elicit from your customers and how are you trying to elicit it?”

From that focus, Koonin maintains, emotionally appealing marketing tactics fall into place.

LEGOLAND

On a stage decked in life-size LEGO figurines, Bill Haviluk and John Jakobsen explained why they believe 400 million children have played with Lego bricks at one time or another and how that translates to LEGOLAND success.

The company’s own vision of itself as the “LEGO Universe” is what makes itthe world’s fifth largest manufacturer, they said.

The presentation was accompanied by visuals, images of LEGOLAND products and parks, and culminated with a showing of a brand new movie, LEGO Racer 4D. At Legoland theaters audiences will dodge smoke, wind, snow, water, strobing lights, and other special effects as the race roars to life on the big screen, but the IAAPA audience, wearing 3D glasses, got its own version of the movie with a snowfall and a confetti-covered finale.

Haviluk and Jakobsen outlined upcoming events and products that Legoland will debut in the upcoming year, including a recent partnership with the National Basketball Association as they move into the sports arena.

Haviluk reiterated the main theme of the presentation after the movie—“Stay true to your brand, have trust in it, and implement it every day.”