Nov. 25, 2024

IAAPA Expo 2024: Networking, Learning, and Building the Future

Philip and Scott unpack the networking and education opportunities that defined IAAPA Expo 2024.

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IAAPA Expo 2024 broke records with 41,429 attendees, over 1,100 exhibitors, and approximately 27,000 buyers from more than 20,000 buying companies. However, off the show floor, IAAPA offered over 140 educational sessions. This week, we focus specifically on the education and networking of IAAPA. From Scott's perspective as an education committee member and Philip's perspective as media, we dissect some large takeaways from various sessions. Beyond the structured events, we explore how informal networking—on the show floor and after hours—fosters critical peer-to-peer learning.
Notes:
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Okay, from our studios this week back at our home

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bases in Los Angeles and Tampa. This is Green Tach

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the Parking thirty and this episode is all about the

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IYAPA Xpo twenty twenty four. We're going to be breaking

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down a lot of the education and the networking sessions

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from this year's show, because that's kind of on brand

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for us, and because Scott was basically teaching everything at

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the convention, got a little bit of you guys have

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an inside track because we have one of the featured

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IAPA teachers here with us.

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And the funny thing is, I would love to sit

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here and do an entire show talking about the trade

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show floor, but I was on it for a total

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of about forty five minutes, so.

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Yeah, I wish I had a booth, and I was

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barely there, so I know, I spent.

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About your booths in my five minutes and you weren't there,

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So there you hell did everybody else there.

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But its first, I thought i'd give some context to

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our listeners who were not able to make it, to

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give you a sense of of the scale. This is

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from the AYAPA Press Office. They did a recap of

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the event and they said IOPA XO twenty twenty four

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successfully wrapped up today at the Orange County Convention Center,

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concluding a remarkable week that brought to together forty one thousand,

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four hundred and twenty nine attendees from across the globe.

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This year's event saw a new attendance record, cementing its

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position as a premier annual event for the global attractions industry.

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Reflecting the growth and innovation in the industry, I Ought

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the Extra twenty twenty four featured more than eleven hundred

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exhibitors and approximately twenty seven thousand buyers from more than

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twenty thousand buying companies. With over one hundred and forty

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learning opportunities. The education conference provided unparalleled insight, best practices,

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and thought provoking knowledge to attendees. In addition to the

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insights shared during the EDU sessions, attendees received a first

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look at the twenty twenty five North America Economic Outlook Report,

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which forecasts the advancements of the attraction industry across the globe.

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This year's report marks the first complete inclusion of natural

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adventure and eco attractions, highlighting a six fold increase in

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the industry's reach as combined attendance across destination succeeds more

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than a billion visitors, supporting over one point one million jobs.

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Making the debut in the North, concoct pavilions like the

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Haunting Grounds and street markets delivered immersive experiences and cuttingani trends,

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while special events such as the Legends Hall of Fame

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celebratory Affair and the inaugural inaugural Women in the Industry

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Networking Lunch captured the essence of perseverance in progress. That's

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a great recap. They really hit on all the notes there.

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It was good and I've been going, I mean, just

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to put things personally, to give a little personal insight

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into that, I didn't have obviously all of that data

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while I was in attendance, but having attended IAPPA Expo

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for close, if not thirty, close to thirty years at

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least at least, let's put this way, at least twenty five,

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this was by far the most vibrant, the most engaged

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expo I have ever been to. Now it could partially

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from a personal extand point, it could partially be because

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my focus shifted from you know, hanging out on the

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trade show floor to the what we're going to talk

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about mostly in this show the networking and the educational side,

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but sitting on the education task force, which is now

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done for the year, It's just it was just non stop,

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super exciting and reached out to industries far beyond just

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your standard theme parks, zoos FEC's aquariums, et cetera, et cetera,

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et cetera. It seemed as though this year it drew

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in more and more what I would call adjacent industries

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like touring theater companies and things like pop up events.

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You know, we've talked a lot on this show about

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pop up events in various locations that aren't necessarily affiliated

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with the theme park or any full time attraction, but

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they are in and of themselves their own entity. And

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I wouldn't be surprised if going forward that doesn't become

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more and more a focus of IAPPA Expo, because these

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people were there in great force at this years event.

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So for those of you who have never attended IAPA,

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just this recap alone should show why it's a good

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idea to put it into your budget. The way it

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is the only it is the only expo I am

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aware of where you can literally reach out and make

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contact with people from all over the world. Now, there

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are regional expos that AYAPA does, there are regional expos

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that other organizations do that do give you some of

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that as well. But this and Philip, you had ten

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more expos than I do. But I would say that

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this is by far the most comprehensive when it comes

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to global coverage or global innovation.

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I I the reason I read it brevedim is because

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I actually I love that. I think it captures every

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every dimension of AYAPA. And I agree with Scott. I've

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only been going about ten years, and you know, I

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think the thing with with can you know expos like

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this or whatever, I don't you know, like those the

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industry ones where people go every year. Right, First of all,

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it become it kind of you know what with the

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weird analogy, but stick with me. All it reminds me

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of Mickey's very married Christmas party, and I always, you know,

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rant about how the Chris's party. They don't change anything,

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you know, but it sells out, especially in the early weekends,

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and people just go every year, and that kind of

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reminds that's I think that's for me. What I don't

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like to see is no innovation and AYAPA could do nothing.

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But because people go for twenty five years like Scott

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and they tell everyone they would still grow, they wouldn't

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have to do anything, and they would still grow. And

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yet they're continuing to push. Like what they've been saying,

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they've been expanding and not just trying to include other

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niches of the industry, but also expanding to provide more services.

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Because what the thing I noticed is the North Concourse

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having the pavilions there, like that was innovative, like the

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street market, I mean, clustering all of those food demos

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in one place, putting the haunting grounds, and then they've

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even got now onto the third floor where they had

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the professional development center up there. I mean, like come on,

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like you can bring your resume and make appointments with

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people to talk about what you could do for the

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industry and have portfolio reviews on the third floor, and

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then the second floor you could demo food and then

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you have the show floor. I mean they'd expanded the

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show floor and now they're doing a parking garage with

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shuttles cause there's to bring I mean, like this is

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you know they didn't they wouldn't they wouldn't have to

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do any of this and it could still be a

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successful show. But I think the fact that the teams

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are really trying, and I think again they always say

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that AYAPA is member driven, and sometimes that's just lip service,

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but I do think in this case it is not.

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Then you see it because you see how AYAPA is

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trying to adapt to the needs of the members by

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doing these things, by adding the women panel, by adding

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the food section, by adding all this stuff that's all

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member ideas because the members need these resources. They want

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to learn about new food and food trends to bring

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into their parks. Mean like because again you know, you

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could argue theme parks or ecosystems right of many many

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ecosystems of the world, so they have all the elements

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that everything has. But but yeah, to me, that's the

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biggest thing is that, you know, because I think after

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after I went, after like my fifth year, the short floor,

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the show floor was less appealing to me because it's

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the same people and sometimes even the same boost, but

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just with different you know, different projects are trying to

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sell and I think AYAPA knows that, and they're like,

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but the more you go, the more you realize there's

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so much more that they keep adding levels and levels

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and levels and levels to this experience. So I anyway,

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that's my thing.

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No, I agree with you and I think the thing

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too so because I am as I always have to

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do on the show my full transparency. I currently well,

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I just finished sitting on the IAP Entertainment Task Course,

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which I said. I am on the awards task force

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for IAPPA Honors, and I was also part of the

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team that put together the current testing process for ICAP

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and i CE, which is certification two different levels of

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certification within IAPPA plus I teach, I wrote and teach

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the IAPPA Attractions Professionals training. I teach the Entertainment module

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for that. So I'm very much involved with AAPPA, and

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we are on the task forces and all of the

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organizations that are all the factions that I have contributed to.

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We are constantly listening to and reading the surveys from

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the previous year. And you know, yes, the the trade

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show floor it used to be when I first started going,

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That used to be where I spent almost all of

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my time. That was the place to go. And to

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Phillip's point, when you see you know I don't think

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that you know some of the some of the food vendors,

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for example, I don't think they've changed their their booths,

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and to be honest, micro melts and dippin dots really

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don't have to because people will still line up to

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get free samples of ice cream, so duh. But I

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think where the real, the real vibrancy and the real

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excitement is happening is in all the things that happen

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off of the trade show floor. And that's kind of

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what we wanted to focus on in this particular episode.

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Exactly exactly, so that leads us right into the session.

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So of course there are educational sessions, there are also

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sessions that are open to a wider range of attendees

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and to press and media. So I think Scott and

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I will be handing it back and forth as we

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talk about the different ones they and I guess they

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have like some of theirs that are like billed as

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more like for all passes and then some that are

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built only for education passes and tracks and back and forth.

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So the first one I want to talk about was

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the fireside chat, which was hosted by Yakab who's the

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president of AYAPA and it featured a three panelists that

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are i would say from different ranges. There was like

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a kind of like a Strawba farmer turn fec and

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then there's Merlin Entertainment in there, so you had this

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like really wide range. You know, someone who's focused on

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one location plus then Merlin, who's focused on everything. And

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during this panel, they talked about news that broke while

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we were there at IAPA, which was all planned. That's

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the other thing that's so fun about AYAPA is that

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even large companies that are not there, you know, don't

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have a booth or whatever. I mean, Microsoft planned there

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like you know, Minecraft announcement during IOPA so that they

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could talk about it on this fireside chat, which is

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really cool that you get these kind of overlays. But

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so basically, Merlin announced that they are partnering with Mike

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with Minecraft and they're going to bring two Minecraft attractions

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to the US and the UK, so one in the

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US and one in the UK in twenty twenty six

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and twenty twenty seven, and it's they haven't announced this

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specific locations, but they announced two attractions in the one

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in US and one of the UK twenty twenty six,

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twenty twenty seven. They're going to be investing about one

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hundred and ten million US dollars Merlin will be into

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making this happen. They did release some concept art for

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these and it looked like it looks basically like themed

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areas where you would walk into some of the areas

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from Minecraft, and so we got a little bit of

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information about this. They I'll link to the press release

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in the show notes so that you all can read it.

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But the thing that they mentioned during the fireside chat

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that they didn't talk about in the press release basically

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they almost followed the press release exactly, so you can

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tell they were really rehearsed about this, because one does

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not one does not just magically repeat what's in the

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press release word for word and pretend it's a conversation

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unless you have practiced. But it the only thing that

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they mentioned was Yakub asked specifically if Minecraft would be

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to Merlin and like Legoland was to them back in

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the nineties, you know when that started, and Scott from

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Merlin said that's the plan.

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Yes.

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So it's very clear that they planned to take this

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brand and expand it into something very large, and that

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the first two locations are just testing really to see

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to learn about how it's going to go right, and

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then they're plan to expand it. But that was the

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biggest kind of mix of news plus discussion that during

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the fireside chat some other things that Merlin talked about.

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It was a great chat because he was pretty candid

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about a lot of trends that he was seeing in

235
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the industry, and of course he has, you know, Merlin

236
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Entertainments touches so many different markets that they have an

237
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interesting perspective. But he talked about how numbers were down

238
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across the board and that it was again like we've

239
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been talking about, to be expected, and that he thinks

240
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that a lot of the attractions kind of missed the

241
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pricing curve, which was interesting. Basically, he kind of was like, look,

242
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after the post pandemic bubble, we should have adjusted our

243
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pricing faster to kind of like to meet people where

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their income was, especially in markets that were not the US,

245
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because remember Merlin operates everywhere, and so he kind of

246
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was like, a lot of other markets are in a

247
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worse economic position than the US, and so they have

248
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you know, missing the pricing on that was kind of

249
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a missed opportunity for him. And he did talk about pricing,

250
00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:34.600
specifically about how he believes that this, and this was

251
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a topic he was eviscerated in the press for and

252
00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:41.399
in previously, which was he kind of had a dance

253
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around it in the panel, but essentially he just reiterated that,

254
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you know, airlines have dynamic pricing. Everyone has dynamic pricing,

255
00:13:51.080 --> 00:13:53.799
and attraction should too, and it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

256
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It's more like allowing you to meet the kind of

257
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families where they are at the particular time and then

258
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to spread out demand. But he was eviscerated in the

259
00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:07.840
press for that previously because he says, you know, he

260
00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:10.799
still thinks that theme parks have a stigma against you know,

261
00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:15.159
entertainment writ large has a stigma about that, even though

262
00:14:15.519 --> 00:14:17.840
his argument was, you know, you pay different prices or

263
00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:19.919
different seats in theaters and that's okay, but for some

264
00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:23.840
reason other entertainment you can't. And on the other end

265
00:14:23.879 --> 00:14:26.279
of the spectrum, you know, the gentleman who had the

266
00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:29.879
strawberry farm that turned in the FEC, you know, his

267
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business model is attendance. So his is very low like

268
00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:39.679
subsidized ticket prices that are always the same because he's

269
00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:43.360
pushing people to purchase jam and food and beverage and

270
00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:45.120
stuff to get that, which was kind of like he's

271
00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.360
using it as a marketing tool, right, So it's like

272
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the old model and the new model, I would say,

273
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you know, and to kind of cap that off, you know,

274
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Merlin talked about how they really think IPS are the

275
00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:00.159
future across their entire portfolio, and they think that not

276
00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:03.360
all eyps are created equal, and that it's not enough

277
00:15:03.480 --> 00:15:06.840
to have a good story. It needs to be a

278
00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:10.399
good story, an IP that has depth and story to it,

279
00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:14.080
but also an IP that has global recognition, at least

280
00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:16.720
for them, which is why the Minecraft thing is really

281
00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:20.039
He's really like, there's not many ips that we could

282
00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:24.200
even use because we need something that every market that

283
00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:27.919
we're in would recognize, and there are very few IPS

284
00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.600
that you could actually get that have that broad appeal.

285
00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:37.000
And then Microsoft, you know Minecraft, a representative of Microsoft

286
00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:40.440
actually joined after they made the announcement, and they talked

287
00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:44.080
about how I had no idea, but the Microsoft the

288
00:15:44.320 --> 00:15:49.480
Minecraft player base is stupidly I mean, it's an enormous

289
00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:52.120
player base, Like I'll look for the numbers, but it's

290
00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:54.799
it's in the it's in the hundreds of millions. I mean,

291
00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.600
it's a ridiculous. But she talked about how half of

292
00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:03.000
their of their like Minecraft, whatever their might have community,

293
00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:07.039
fifty percent of them don't play actively, they just watch

294
00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:09.720
people play, and they kind of talk about how that

295
00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:14.840
behavioral trend is why they're trying to do this experiment,

296
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:18.679
right because basically, if if you had this huge base

297
00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:20.559
and then half of them are just fans or they're

298
00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:23.559
just watching people play, that could you know, directly relate

299
00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:26.639
to then going into themed locations and again, who else

300
00:16:26.679 --> 00:16:28.320
are you going to get? If you partner with Disney

301
00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:30.960
or Universal, you only have a few locations. If you

302
00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.759
partner with Merlin, you have almost every market in the world.

303
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.679
Right, right, So it's interesting because it's interesting that you

304
00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:40.799
start you let off with a panel in essence. One

305
00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:44.000
of the panels that I was championed for or co

306
00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:47.679
champion for was the It was a we wanted to

307
00:16:47.720 --> 00:16:51.320
do within the entertainment track. We wanted to do a

308
00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:56.120
panel on ideation, diversity, equity, and accessibility, but we wanted

309
00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:57.919
to make it instead of just a general panel, we

310
00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:01.759
wanted to make it specific to design, so we did

311
00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.799
a panel which I think went exactly as we had

312
00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:10.960
hoped it would. It was it was led by It

313
00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.799
was led by Jeanine Letford, who is an educator and

314
00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:17.440
a brain scientist. She basically talks a lot about how

315
00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.960
the arts can continue to expand our brain. But the

316
00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:25.119
panelists and she also is very very much involved with

317
00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:29.440
equity and inclusion, diversity and how to how that's not

318
00:17:29.759 --> 00:17:32.519
just beneficial because it's the right thing to do, it's

319
00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:36.559
beneficial because it provides a much broader spectrum of ideas,

320
00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:39.599
a much broader spectrum of history, and can therefore attract

321
00:17:39.640 --> 00:17:43.480
a much broader spectrum of audience. Also on that panel

322
00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:48.920
was Mel McGowan and Money Rooney who you may not

323
00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:53.079
know Monae's name, but you should. She works for BMRO Productions.

324
00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:59.119
And they were really fascinatingly focused on what we asked

325
00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.839
them to do, which was how to incorporate diversity, equity,

326
00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:09.240
inclusion and accessibility from the design process. And it was

327
00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:13.440
fascinating because they had one very simple takeaway that they

328
00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:16.279
expounded on in so many different ways, and that was

329
00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:19.200
people have to be at the table from the get go.

330
00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:22.720
It's not let's design something and then run it up

331
00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:27.839
a flagpole with tests and market research. It is have

332
00:18:28.039 --> 00:18:33.559
somebody have a diverse group from the get go in

333
00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:37.759
the design process so that it is not just something

334
00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:40.680
that is slapped on a seal of approval, but is

335
00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:45.000
organically woven throughout the design of the entire attraction experience whatever.

336
00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:47.680
And it was so refreshing to hear somebody say that

337
00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:51.119
because it basically gave a really strong takeaway as to

338
00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:57.920
how to what can we do to specifically to specifically

339
00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:00.640
move the needle, and it was it was pretty much

340
00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:02.440
it all starts at the beginning, it doesn't start at

341
00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.279
the end. And then later that day we did it.

342
00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:07.039
I did another panel. Sorry, I'm kind of melding these

343
00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:08.519
two together because I don't Philip, You've got a lot

344
00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:11.960
to talk about in the next one. But I'm kind

345
00:19:11.960 --> 00:19:13.759
of melding these together because a second panel we did

346
00:19:14.039 --> 00:19:20.720
was the Entertainment Professional Networking Group And as usual, this

347
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:24.559
has become this has become a very popular, very popular

348
00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:27.920
element within the entertainment track because we were it was

349
00:19:27.960 --> 00:19:31.720
a full house, it was all around, big round tables,

350
00:19:32.200 --> 00:19:34.480
and the way we've decided to do it instead of

351
00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:36.240
just putting a bunch of entertainment people into a room

352
00:19:36.240 --> 00:19:38.720
and say, okay, now go talk. Three of us from

353
00:19:38.759 --> 00:19:41.839
the task Force all select a topic that we would

354
00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.839
like to speak about. We do a mini presentation, and

355
00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:48.119
then at the tables give people an opportunity to share

356
00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.880
their experience on that topic. So it's it's sort of

357
00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:57.599
guided networking, and then they would all change tables, we'd

358
00:19:57.640 --> 00:19:59.680
have another short speech, then we'd all change tables, have

359
00:19:59.680 --> 00:20:02.920
another speech, and then there was a fifteen ten to

360
00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:05.960
fifteen minute sort of free for all gathering to get

361
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.720
those last little business cards exchanged or go back and

362
00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:11.759
finish a conversation that time would not allow them to

363
00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:17.480
finish earlier. And as usual it was the response we

364
00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:21.160
heard was so incredibly positive. It was just really really exciting.

365
00:20:21.799 --> 00:20:24.240
And the nice thing is, you know, as we were

366
00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.440
sitting back, because when the task Force looks at these things,

367
00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:29.240
were of course evaluating how can we make this better?

368
00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:30.599
Did we go too far?

369
00:20:31.079 --> 00:20:31.119
What?

370
00:20:32.480 --> 00:20:35.160
And when we're sitting back looking at it, going this

371
00:20:35.319 --> 00:20:41.480
is the ideal interactive and immersive experience that allows the

372
00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.039
kings and the pawns to all just hang out together.

373
00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:48.240
So at these tables were young professionals who were just

374
00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:53.039
starting their careers, talking to people who were owners of

375
00:20:54.079 --> 00:20:58.680
companies or CEOs of theme parks, vice presidents of various

376
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:01.759
departments and all not just walking in going okay, so

377
00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:03.160
what can you do for my company or what can

378
00:21:03.240 --> 00:21:05.400
I do for your company? Talking about things that really

379
00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:08.920
matter within the industry, and it's it's just I'm so

380
00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:10.839
in hopes that we will get to continue to do that,

381
00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:15.039
and if you know, if after my tenure within the

382
00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:20.039
task force world ends, I hope they continue to invite

383
00:21:20.039 --> 00:21:22.319
me to participate because I really am very passionate about

384
00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:25.640
how well that particular one works. Because networking, Let's be honest,

385
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:30.160
networking is for some probably the most important reason to

386
00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.359
go to AYAPPA because you will always find people that

387
00:21:33.640 --> 00:21:36.559
you didn't think you could ever possibly meet, or you

388
00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:40.680
never knew you wanted to. So it's just a great session,

389
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.039
a great seminar that I'm really proud to have been

390
00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:43.359
a part of.

391
00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:49.079
That reminds me exactly I went to the A Pack

392
00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:53.720
breakfast and the networking was exactly what you say, I mean,

393
00:21:53.839 --> 00:21:56.440
it was guided. So what I liked about it because

394
00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:59.680
I always like a mix, you know, I'm not a like,

395
00:21:59.799 --> 00:22:01.720
let sit here for a whole time and network. But

396
00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:04.759
you know, I like how it's a mix because it

397
00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:07.759
was very similar. So that the APAC Breakfast, they had

398
00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.200
the speaker from Village road Show and he talked a

399
00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:14.480
little bit about Villa droad Show, but he it was

400
00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:16.319
like ten minutes. We're talking like a ten minute, like

401
00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:18.400
here's a background on Village road Show. And then he's like, look,

402
00:22:18.759 --> 00:22:21.200
here's what we're the trends were seeing in the Asia

403
00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:23.960
Pacific reason, so he really tailored it for that group

404
00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:27.839
of people and then listeners at home. Of course, I

405
00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.759
went to the Asia Pacific Breakfast and that's where I

406
00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:30.680
spent my networking time.

407
00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:33.799
Not a surprise look on this face. No, yeah, I

408
00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:34.240
know right.

409
00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:39.519
But then the networking where they did Uncommon Commonalities was

410
00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:42.559
the Networking Challenge, So you sat with your table and

411
00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:45.079
tried to come up with five things that are uncommon

412
00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:47.759
but that you all have in common. Oh I love

413
00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:53.359
that at Yeah, And then they had table share and people,

414
00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:57.559
you know, the winner. The winner table was like about

415
00:22:57.720 --> 00:22:59.960
socks and whether you put them on like socks shoe,

416
00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:03.519
sock shoe or sock sock shoe shoe, right, and and

417
00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.200
so they were talking about and so that that was

418
00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:08.200
cute and it's great. Our our table was like talking

419
00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:11.119
about all of us having goldfishes when we were young,

420
00:23:11.240 --> 00:23:13.279
which is, you know, it was pretty good, but you

421
00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:14.039
know it's neat. Yeah.

422
00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:16.880
See, our topics. Our topics were, let's see, we did

423
00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:19.160
one on the more you do, the more you get

424
00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.200
to do, so basically yes, and as a career builder.

425
00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:26.319
One topic was should I use uh should I develop?

426
00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:29.400
And keep in mind it was entertainment focused, so should

427
00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:32.920
I develop, Should I develop uh new products internally or

428
00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.039
should I use outside contractors or both? And and the

429
00:23:36.440 --> 00:23:39.559
discussing the advantages and disadvantages and then them sharing the

430
00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:47.279
actual the actual yuh, their actual experience within that within

431
00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:50.160
that topic. And then the last one, I can't remember

432
00:23:50.200 --> 00:23:53.799
what the last one was. Oh, the last one, I

433
00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:56.240
don't remember what the last one was. Anyway, we had three,

434
00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:58.759
but they were specific. They were very specific uh to

435
00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.799
uh and they were designed that way just like the commonalities.

436
00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:05.359
We specifically chose topics that we knew everybody in that

437
00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:09.359
room had actual practical examples.

438
00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:13.279
Of yeah yeah something to say, yeah, yeah, I really

439
00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:15.799
and actually it went worked. So I was able to

440
00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:18.279
for some weird reason, whenever I go to these things,

441
00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:21.880
like I always end up sitting near like the premier sponsors,

442
00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:25.119
which I feel like it's not good for them or me.

443
00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:26.880
But in this case, it was fine because they were

444
00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:29.880
you know, the pro slide manufacturers, and it was great

445
00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:31.680
because I was able to talk with them about some

446
00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:35.039
of the tariff concerns that I have as a manufacturer.

447
00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:38.480
And if anything, I would say that AYAPA is missing.

448
00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:41.119
If anything, it is that there's not a place for

449
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:45.079
the manufacturers to gather and discuss the challenges that we

450
00:24:45.200 --> 00:24:48.839
have that are unique from operators. And that's the only

451
00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.039
thing I would say is that normally, like manufacturers have

452
00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:54.440
to go to stuff that's for operators and we don't

453
00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:57.119
have our own space. But I like it when I'm

454
00:24:57.160 --> 00:24:59.960
able to find other manufacturers and discuss issues with them.

455
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.440
But the only thing I've noticed is that manufacturers don't

456
00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:04.799
like to go to education, you know, because they're busy

457
00:25:04.839 --> 00:25:07.480
on the floor or they're It's like manufacturers go to

458
00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:09.599
AAPA because they think that the whole thing should be

459
00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:12.720
about getting leads, which is you know, not terribly.

460
00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:15.319
Wrong signing contracts. I mean there's some there's some manufacturers

461
00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:17.480
who want to go and sign contracts. But I will say,

462
00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:21.119
you know that we mentioned earlier about Iappa and Iappa

463
00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:24.279
Expo being membership led, Well, if that is something that

464
00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:27.000
you truly think is important, put it in as a

465
00:25:27.079 --> 00:25:30.000
potential for next year. You know, go ahead and do

466
00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:33.680
a manufacturer's forum, because if that is something that is

467
00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:36.640
truly in need, and you know, it gets to the

468
00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:39.440
Because what people don't realize is when you submit for

469
00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:42.720
an education session, you you are asked to submit in

470
00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:47.119
your primary You're in a primary track, whether it's you know,

471
00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:53.000
entertainment or zoos and aquariums or whatever. But everybody on

472
00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:58.000
every task for us gets the opportunity to see, you know,

473
00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:59.960
all of the stuff that was was listed as second

474
00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:04.759
or even tertiary. And for example, one of my sessions,

475
00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.960
what I submitted as entertainment centric but also submitted to

476
00:26:09.039 --> 00:26:10.559
marketing and it was actually picked up as part of

477
00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:13.480
the marketing track. So I co presented with with Christy

478
00:26:13.559 --> 00:26:19.200
Chase Tozer from rumble Buzz on the topic of blurring

479
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:23.759
the line between promotion and product and once again deciding

480
00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:28.200
where the where that line fell and is there really

481
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:30.079
a line? Is it not better to just kind of

482
00:26:30.359 --> 00:26:33.039
give and take and utilize, cross utilize each other's skill sets.

483
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:36.759
And what was really interesting to me was, once again,

484
00:26:37.160 --> 00:26:41.319
just like the the IDA panel, the main takeaway, which

485
00:26:41.359 --> 00:26:43.200
I don't even think we intended it to be, but

486
00:26:43.279 --> 00:26:46.079
based on questions and the way we the way we

487
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:50.240
kind of answered those questions is make sure that both

488
00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:52.240
of those key stakeholders are at the table from the

489
00:26:52.279 --> 00:26:54.960
get from the get go, so that as the as

490
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:58.039
the project develops, it's developed in such a way that

491
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:00.559
the marketing is truly in line with the product and

492
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:04.200
the product truly complements the marketing and allows for marketing

493
00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:08.359
opportunities to happen organically, because that's becoming more and more important.

494
00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:11.640
I have a story about that, but we might have

495
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:18.079
to wait for Unhinged because because yeah, well what I

496
00:27:18.279 --> 00:27:20.559
was going to say about it just remind me in

497
00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:23.079
a hinge because I have a story about that, Okay, But.

498
00:27:23.279 --> 00:27:29.000
What I I really the conversations that came out for

499
00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:33.160
me from the networking similar to that was like so

500
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:37.799
to me for me right now, obviously, the biggest challenge

501
00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:41.240
is the tariffs and planning for the tariffs, and I

502
00:27:41.440 --> 00:27:45.799
felt a little bit alone in that because we're you know,

503
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:49.319
we're one company, but also like you know, I can

504
00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:51.599
sit with my team and have crisis meetings and all that,

505
00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:53.160
but like at the end of the day, like I'm

506
00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:56.039
the CEO, it's my responsibility and I kind of like

507
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:59.240
am just in a silo. And so the networking opportunities

508
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:01.960
when I met other men manufacturers, allowed me the opportunity

509
00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:04.880
to ask them what they were doing about this problem,

510
00:28:05.319 --> 00:28:08.599
you know, and some of them really had no idea,

511
00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:10.279
but I will tell you all of them were thinking

512
00:28:10.319 --> 00:28:12.279
about it, and it was we were able to have dialogue.

513
00:28:12.279 --> 00:28:18.319
And I will share one one big, I think direction

514
00:28:19.400 --> 00:28:22.559
that I was able to get on just from conversations

515
00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:28.640
during AYAPA is we're now planning on taking if the

516
00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:32.000
terriffs do happen, the way that we're going to show

517
00:28:32.079 --> 00:28:34.680
them in the bills is we're actually going to line

518
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:38.000
item them out and call them a US tariff tax

519
00:28:38.599 --> 00:28:41.880
and explain that it's only applicable to product delivered in

520
00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:44.319
the US, but we're going to line item it as

521
00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:47.880
a tax item. And I talked to this is what

522
00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:50.759
this is the solution again, this is IYAPA and NASH

523
00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:53.599
and this is solution that came from networking with other

524
00:28:53.680 --> 00:28:57.279
manufacturers at Ayapa and other designers and other people in

525
00:28:57.359 --> 00:28:59.440
the in the chain, because you know, we're one part

526
00:28:59.759 --> 00:29:02.400
of of the sale cycle for attractions and we're at

527
00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.240
the very end. So I had to talk to other

528
00:29:04.279 --> 00:29:08.559
people and when in talking with them, they all told me, look,

529
00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:12.000
if you could do that, it would help so much

530
00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:14.759
for the transparency, because the problem is we have to

531
00:29:14.799 --> 00:29:17.599
go back to the client, and the client's going to

532
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:20.559
ask us, why are the Gantum products suddenly all, you know,

533
00:29:20.640 --> 00:29:22.920
sixty percent more expensive or twenty percent or whatever it

534
00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:25.519
ends up being. And you know it's hard for us

535
00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:27.359
to explain. But if you add it as a line item,

536
00:29:27.400 --> 00:29:29.720
that really would make it easier for us. And so

537
00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:32.200
this is the kind of brainstorming that we just had

538
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:35.920
in between these networking sessions with other manufacturers that helped

539
00:29:35.960 --> 00:29:37.640
me get to that solution. And then I could go

540
00:29:37.799 --> 00:29:39.599
talk to other people and see what they thought about it,

541
00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:41.599
and it seems like everyone thinks it's a good idea

542
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:44.759
because they can then just say that they can then

543
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:47.519
show their client down the line, this is a tariff tax.

544
00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:50.960
This is precisely how much the teriffs are costing, and

545
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:54.160
Gantum hasn't raised its prices at all. You know, this

546
00:29:54.319 --> 00:29:56.200
is just a tariff tax, and it makes it easier

547
00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:59.519
for them to sell that adjustment to the budget to

548
00:29:59.640 --> 00:30:02.559
their to the operators, to theme park operators. So it's

549
00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.400
just this type of thing, you know, because I could

550
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.160
talk to the theme park operators, and I could talk

551
00:30:08.160 --> 00:30:10.279
to the designers, and I could talk to the manufacturers,

552
00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:11.400
and where else could you do that?

553
00:30:11.519 --> 00:30:14.680
Right exactly? That's like I said, that is by far

554
00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:19.799
the most is by far the most robust opportunity to

555
00:30:19.920 --> 00:30:23.359
meet people throughout the industry, throughout the world. And on

556
00:30:23.480 --> 00:30:27.039
that we are out of time. So obviously we rambled

557
00:30:27.079 --> 00:30:30.039
and we only really scratched the surface. But we are

558
00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:32.319
going to continue this conversation in this discussion as we

559
00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:36.960
move into green tag Unhinged, which we do right after this.

560
00:30:37.640 --> 00:30:40.680
If you are a Patreon follower and have joined us

561
00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:42.880
for Unhinged, you'll get to hear even more and what

562
00:30:42.920 --> 00:30:45.759
we're going to cover there are how this networking and

563
00:30:45.880 --> 00:30:49.359
this these discussions actually expand outside of the trade show

564
00:30:49.400 --> 00:30:52.160
floor and outside of the convention center with the various

565
00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:57.559
parties and offsite events and experiences that you can only

566
00:30:57.640 --> 00:31:00.799
happen at IAPPA Expo. So on behalf of Philipernandez and

567
00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:03.000
myself Scott Swinson. This has been green tagged theme Park

568
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:05.400
in thirty and we will see you all again next

569
00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:05.640
week