Funworld March 2011

IAAPA Europe Committees Plan Activities for 2011

In January, the European Subcommittee for Government Relations (GR) conducted its first meeting in 2011 to discuss IAAPA Europe’s governmental activities. Among the items discussed was the first draft of an IAAPA Europe Manifesto, which details IAAPA’s position on various European Commission activities. In addition, the subcommittee addressed GR events planned for the fall and the further development the current EN safety standard.

One week later, the education and M&S subcommittees met in London to have a first look at the exhibit facilities and discuss Euro Attractions Show’s overall theming and planning.

The education subcommittee also discussed various IAAPA educational programs, including two European webinars planned for 2011 and a regional conference to be held in cooperation with national associations. The M&S subcommittee discussed a number of issues, including a standard ride contract.

IAAPA Europe is preparing the annual European Ride Safety Report for 2010. The forms were distributed in January to all facilities and national associations in Europe for the purpose of collecting data on injuries at fixed-site amusement facilities. Risk & Policy Analysts will collect the data and keep it strictly confidential. The report is expected to be finished in June.

Please check our website www.IAAPA.org/europe regularly for updates.

Meet the New Members of the IAAPA Board of Directors for 2011

Mario Mamon
Third Vice Chair
Chairman, President, and CEO
Enchanted Kingdom, Philippines

Mamon has been involved in the attractions industry since 1992when he organized, conceptualized, and managed the construction of the Enchanted Kingdom theme park. In 1999,Mamon, Enchanted Kingdom’s chairman of the board, was also named president and CEO.

Since 1992, Mamon has been an active volunteer in IAAPA. He has been a speaker at several of the association’s trade shows in Asia and was a member of the IAAPA Board of Directors from 1999 to 2002. He was also a member of the membership committee, convention and trade show advisory committee, service awards committee, and Asian Attractions Expo education committee, and he currently serves on the association’s advisory committee for the Asia-Pacific region.

Mamon was part of a core group of individuals who created IAAPA-ASEAN (the attractions industry federation of national associations in Southeast Asia) in 2005, and in 2006 he spearheaded the formation of the national association for the attractions industry in the Philippines.

Rob Norris
Treasurer
President, Seabreeze Park, USA
Seabreeze Park in Rochester, New York, bears the distinction of being one of the longest-operating family businesses in the country—fourth longest to be exact. Norris is part of the fifth generation of family operators of Seabreeze and has been active in the industry and with the association for a number of years, including serving as chairman of the board in 2006.

Additionally, Norris has served on the board of directors for two terms, served on several IAAPA committees, and is the legislative representative for New York Parks.

Norris holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Ricardo Castillo Sinibaldi,
Director
President of the Board of Directors,
IRTRA, Guatemala

Inspired by a trip to Disneyland in 1958, Castillo set out to improve Guatemalan tourism. A businessman and industrialist, Castillo helped found the Institute for Recreation for Private Sector Workers in Guatemala (IRTRA) in 1962 and now holds a 40-year presidency and 45-year directorship there.

In his tenure, Castillo created two of Guatemala’s award winning parks—Xetulul amusement park and Xocomil waterpark, both located in Retalhuleu on the Guatemalan Pacific Coast. As IRTRA continues to plan park expansions and attractions for the future, its current facilities feature attractions, including zoos, amusement rides, theaters, sports areas, wave pools, and children’s attractions.

He was inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame in 2009, and he has been recognized by several organizations, including the Central American Sport Organization-Ordeca, Order of the Guatemalan Olympic Committee, and as Celebrity of the Year by local newspapers Signo Veintiuno and Prensa Libre.

Clark Robinson
Director
Advisory Board, USA
Having grown up in the industry, Robinson learned the business from the ground up at Lagoon Amusement Park in Farmington, Utah. He ascended to the rank of controller and ultimately served as general manager from 1975 to 1998.

Robinson is a former IAAPA chairman (1981-1982), and spent 27 years on IAAPA’s board of directors, including two terms as treasurer and 12 years on the executive/finance committee. Robinson served as IAAPA’s president and CEO from 2003-2006.

He has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and management and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Utah.

Arijit Sengupta
Director
Managing Director, Nicco Parks and Resorts Limited, India
Sengupta is a graduate engineer and a fellow of the Indian Institute of Engineers. He has 40 years of industry experience in the areas of marketing, manufacturing, project management, general management, and running of an industry business with a high level of corporate governance. He is the immediate past president of the Indian Association of Amusement Parks & Industries, and he holds directorship of several amusement parks in India and in Bangladesh. Currently he is the managing director of Nicco Parks & Resorts Limited, India.

Jack Mendes
Director
Bob’s Space Racers Inc.,
President, BSR Group LLC, USA
Mendes started his industry career in the late 1960s as a game operator for Bob Cassata at the Orange County Fair in Middletown, New York, during high school. From there, he began designing and installing games for Bob’s Space Racers (BSR), ultimately joining the company full time in 1974.He served as electrician, shop foreman, and general manager, ultimately ascending to president of BSR in 1991 and then president of BSR Group LLC in 2008.Mendes is listed as inventor or co-inventor on several of BSR’s U.S. patents.

Mendes has served the industry in a number of ways over the years, including participating in IAAPA’s conference and trade show for 38 years, helping found the IAAPA Manufacturers and Suppliers Committee, serving on the IAAPA Board of Directors (1997-2000), serving as chairman of the M&S committee, and serving as chairman of the IAAPA Space Allocation Committee. In 1999 and 2007, he earned the prestigious IAAPA Outstanding Service Award. Mendes has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Finlay College (now Finlay University).

Rob Thomas
Director
President, Mulligan Family Fun Centers, USA
Thomas started in the industry more than 20 years ago with Huish Family Fun Centers, where he held several leadership positions, including general manager of the Fountain Valley, California, location. After three years with Palace Entertainment, Thomas joined Mulligan Family Fun Centers in Los Alamitos, California, in 2000, where he now serves as president.

Franceen Gonzales
Director
Vice President of Risk Management,
Great Wolf Resorts, USA
Gonzales, who has 23 years’ industry experience, oversees engineering and maintenance, safety and security, insurance, and waterpark operations for the resorts. She fell in love with the industry working at Wet ’n’ Wild Water world in El Paso, Texas. She became general manager of Water world Safari in Phoenix, Arizona, in 1998 and worked in the corporate office of Golf land Entertainment Centers Inc., which operated 10 FECs and waterparks in Arizona and California. In 2004, she joined Six Flags Great Adventure as the director of Hurricane Harbor before joining Great Wolf Resorts in 2006. In addition to serving on IAAPA’s board of directors, Gonzales serves the industry in a number of ways, including as a former chairman of the board for the World Waterpark Association, and currently as the secretary general for ASTM F24, chair of the ventilation committee for the Model Aquatic Health Code, member of the board of directors for Amusement Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers and National Swimming Pool Foundation, and chair of the IAAPA Membership Committee.

Richard Sanfilippo
Director
President, Sam’s Fun City, USA
Educated as a marine biologist and chemist, Sanfilippo had a 25-year career as an environmental scientist and ultimately as the chief operating officer of the United States’ largest environmental/construction engineering firm. In 1996 he embarked on a second career when he began the planning and construction of his park, Sam’s Fun City in Pensacola, Florida.

Sanfilippo opened the family entertainment complex in the fall of 2000, and in its 10-year history, the facility has been recognized and awarded numerous awards, including IALEI’s (International Association for the Leisure and Entertainment Industry) “The Best New FEC (family entertainment center)” and IAAPA’s “Top FEC in the World.”

Sanfilippo has been actively involved as a frequent speaker at FEC industry seminars. For more than six years he was an active board member and officer of IALEI. In his role as chairman of IALEI he spearheaded the opportunity for its members to merge into IAAPA. Upon the merger’s ratification and completion, Sanfilippo became a member of IAAPA’s FEC and membership committees.