Friday, March 29, 2024

Charlie Morrow’s observations on IAAPA 2014: “The carny spirit lives on”

Charlie_MorrowThe Carny Spirit Lives On [at the IAAPA Attractions Expo]

by Charles Morrow of Morrow Sound

IAAPA 2014 is the amazing confluence of everything attraction. Roller coasters, hotdog stands, new food opportunities, design, production, infrastructure, insurance, operations, ticketing, polling, new rides, funhouse and theme park scare machines, lighting and sound systems, devices, new media and more.

The press meets those who put the rubber to the highway. The buyers meet the makers and the public is amazed.

What brings this together? Obviously the conversations between the far flung members of the attractions community now under one vast roof in the great market of Orlando. But there is more to it, something quite fundamental and traditional if not ancient.

Ours is a marvelous global community of people dedicated to real world, attraction experiences. We are the carney folk of past, present, future.

While media is part of the scene, it is media embedded in rides, special theaters, head mounted devices. While there is invisible data and wireless devices, they are in the service of the material world. The real world and the virtual world entertain and entwine. This is the steel and glitter of attractions and the dazzle of museums and amusement parks.

It is the annual crossing of the paths of all the amusement tribes and species, sparking new business and gathering the embraces old friends.

Judith Rubin
Judith Rubin
Judith Rubin ([email protected]) is a leading journalist, content marketing specialist and connector in the international attractions industry. She reports on design and technical design, production and project management, industry trends and company culture. From 2005-2020 she ran communications and publications for the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA). In 2013, she was honored with the TEA Service Award. She was development director of IMERSA and publicist for the Large Format Cinema Association, and has contributed to the publications of PLASA, IAAPA and the International Planetarium Society. Judith joined World’s Fair magazine in 1987, which introduced her to the attractions industry. She joined InPark in 2010. Judith earned a BFA from Pratt Institute. She has lived in Detroit, New York, Oakland, and now Saint Louis, where she is active in the local arts community.

Related Articles

Latest Articles