Vegas, Baby!

It happens once a year ... at least for the last 11 years of my P.R. career, that is.

Edelman (the agency where I work) partners with our client the International Association of Amusement Parks of Attractions, and my team embarks for a one-week gig in the press office at IAAPA Attractions Expo.

For the first time in the association's 90+ years, IAAPA Attractions Expo 2009 is in Las Vegas, and tonight (Monday night, Nov. 16) is sort of like Christmas Eve as more than 1,065 exhibitors are working through the night to finalize their booths that span 500,000 square feet of the Las Vegas Convention Center's cavernous South Hall.

Good times!

As we are in the business of getting media to visit this global gathering for the $24 billion international industry event geared to operators and vendors of theme parks, amusement parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, casinos, family entertainment centers and museums, the last couple of days involved reaching out to press outlets in the region -- some local news reports are already popping up, and we'll look forward to engaging more throughout the week.

The real fun, too, comes from discovering what's cool and new for the next year in the attractions industry. One exhibitor of the past -- Dinner In The Sky -- still tops the list of "most extreme" followed closely by the HUSS "Fly Away" ride that visited Atlanta the first year we worked with IAAPA.

I'll try to post more from the IAAPA Attractions Expo later in the week. And, of course, I'll be on the hunt for some Olympic connections to the theme park industry while on site (does anyone out there recall the IZZY-themed roller coasters as part of Busch Gardens' sponsorship of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games?).

Photo via the Las Vegas News Bureau and IAAPA

IAAPA Attractions Expo, part 2

Hello again from Orlando and the Orange County Convention Center, site of IAAPA Attractions Expo 2008, which is hosted by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions - pronounced "eye-AP-pah" for IAAPA (disclosure: client of my employer, Edelman).

Yesterday we were again in awe of all the creativity on display from more than 1,100 exhibitors filling the convention hall and even part of its parking lot. Back for the Expo are some of our popular favorites, like the triple-decker carousel from Argentina's Felimina Luna Park S.A., and Bob's Space Racers and all their new midway-style games.

New this year (some of which were reported by USA Today and the Orlando Sentinel):

• Zamperla's "Surf's Up" ride, which is basically a giant surf board-shaped platform on which passengers stand while on blend, frappe or whip speed spin-cycles
• New from Europe, Haystack Dryers are the coolest and newest full-size (er, family-size) body dryers since the shower scene in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner." When you are at a water park you step inside for a quick session under heat lamps and fans and voila you are dry!
• Dr. Fish -- those little minnows that gnaw your dead derms while you soak your feet -- is here from Japan (will try that out later in the week)
• The debut of Guitar Hero Arcade Game (yes, fellow-bloggers and video game gurus, it is here and it is b-b-b-bad to the bone!

Peter Shankman from Help A Reporter Out is still in town and we are about to embark to explore and FlipVideo some more from the show (more to come!).

IAAPA Attractions Expo 2008, part 1

For the 10th consecutive year, this year my team from Edelman is working at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2008, the global gathering of the $24 billion attractions industry hosted by our client the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. Is there an Olympic connection? Absolutely! But I will save that for a post later this week.

To help Peter Shankman of Help A Reporter Out (HARO) -- a guest speaker at the Expo education sessions -- make a point about how quickly FlipVideo shots can make it online, this post includes a video just shot moments ago via FlipVideo at his session on social media at the Expo.

Shankman is making a great point about how handy the Flip is for visitors to theme parks, water parks, zoos, aquariums, family entertainment centers, hotels, casinos and other attractions served by IAAPA. Looking forward to more posts on the great new rides, games, technology, food and park news we will learn throughout the week.