Connect&GO looks to move from disruptive past to customer-led future
by Andrew Friedenthal
Behind every instance of a streamlined attraction or event lies a complex technical apparatus that relies on specialized software to ensure everything runs smoothly. For over a decade now, the software at various attractions venues like theme parks, waterparks, recreational parks, zoos, aquariums & cultural attractions (including the Super Bowl, the Olympic Games, F1, and Comic-Con) has come from Connect&GO. Today, as the entire world turns its eyes towards the disruptive power and potential of AI across every industry, Connect&GO remains readier than ever to continue innovating with a customer-led approach to growth that promises to deliver new solutions for attractions management.
A history of disruption
According to Connect&GO co-founder Anthony Palermo, what has differentiated the company from other software vendors in the attractions space is something that has been in its DNA since the beginning.
“Our approach has always been different,” he notes. “We don’t just look at technology for technology’s sake. We don’t look at technology as layers of an experience. We look at technology as something that heightens an experience.”
Palermo acknowledges that the attractions industry, a field that embraces the newest and most innovative technology when it comes to putting on a show, can tend to be rather conservative when it comes to adopting new generations of behind-the-scenes software. However, he sees this as something that might be changing alongside a larger generational shift in the industry.
“The clients that call us don’t want us to do what their old technology was doing for them,” he explains. “People are calling us because they want to do something new. They want to think differently. There’s also a huge wave of newer people that have come into the industry from other fields who are expecting better, cleaner interfaces and easier technology to work with.
Connect&GO is uniquely poised to take advantage of this moment, according to co-founder and CEO Dominic Gagnon. “Connect&GO has established itself as a disruptive force in attractions management,” he argues, “leveraging unique expertise gained from deploying our technology at major events. This experience has given us a unique perspective to adapt our solutions to complex entertainment venues that now integrate multiple facets.”
What’s more, the company intends to move forward by leveraging this experience along with existing client relationships in order to develop a growth strategy that is entirely customer-led. According to Gagnon, “For us, innovation means constantly reinventing our approach, listening to our customers, and creating solutions that not only solve existing problems but also redefine industry standards. It’s a user-centered approach that focuses on efficiency, simplicity, and accessibility, integrating human- centered design principles and advanced technologies.”
The customer takes the lead
“We don’t develop features in isolation,” Gagnon explains. “Instead, we work closely with our clients, integrating their needs and challenges directly into our product development strategy.”
What this means in practice is that Connect&GO’s growth path relies upon responding directly to customer and client needs. According to Palermo, what enables this approach to work is the company’s access to guest data, the unique ways it allows clients to leverage that information, and the proximity Connect&GO’s team has to its clients.
“Today we have so many touch points and data that we can understand people just by reading and analyzing that data,” he explains. “We have their purchasing behavior, we have their engagement behavior, and we have – in a sense – their multi- dimensional experiential behavior.”
Analysis of this kind of information provides full insight into guest behavior patterns. Palermo continues, “We can now start to see what people are doing before they come to an attraction or event. What are they doing when they’re on site? When are they arriving? What type of person is coming? How much are they spending? And what seems to be the thing that is making them happiest and feels the most rewarding in regard to the investment of however much money they spent on our experience?”
With this information in hand, Connect&GO clients are now able “to allow the behavior of their guests to tell a story,” according to Palermo. However, that story is also important to the software company itself as it determines what offerings to develop and present to clients. “Let’s stop wasting our time trying to develop technology that we think is best. Let’s develop technology where we see the highest level of engagement and the highest level of satisfaction for employees. What we’re trying to do really is understand, analyze, and develop with that customer engagement in mind. And we try to put ourselves in the guest’s shoes. We’re all about watching people and understanding how they behave.”
That focus on customer needs, though, applies to individual client projects as much as it does to company growth. According to Gagnon, “A standout example is our collaboration with a waterpark that struggled to centralize its operations and manage reservations, services, and retail efficiently. They lacked a unified technology platform and were unable to access quality data to optimize their operations. With our platform, they fully automated the booking process, integrated meal and retail management, and streamlined group experiences. By incorporating our smart wristband linked to our virtual wallet technology, operations became incredibly simple, providing valuable data insights that allowed for smarter decision-making. This transformation increased their operational efficiency by 30%, enhanced visitor satisfaction, and significantly boosted revenue.”
Waterparks like the one in Gagnon’s example are part of a larger ecosystem of regional attractions that, Palermo explains, lack the budget and IT staffing of larger destination theme parks. Because of this, such businesses “have to be very careful about what they’re investing in. As a result, they won’t have a data analyst. In a sense, what we try to do is provide them with that person. Except that person is now an interface. And we tell them that their data can’t just be black and white. One-dimensional data has to become three-dimensional reports that are telling stories. At the end of the day, we’re always looking at those stories. Are people spending more time? Are they spending more money? Are they coming back more often? And are they telling more people? And are we providing the tools to be able to do that?”
Providing these tools, based on customer needs, is the driving force bringing Connect&GO into the future.
Innovating for the future
Not content to allow the company to rest on its laurels, Gagnon wants to see Connect&GO continue to disrupt the industry by placing humanity at the heart of its technology.
“For us,” he notes, “innovation means constantly reinventing our approach, listening to our customers, and creating solutions that not only solve existing problems but also redefine industry standards. It’s a user-centered approach that focuses on efficiency, simplicity, and accessibility, integrating human-centered design principles and advanced technologies.”
This is something of a dual focus, looking at the impact of the company’s offerings on both their clients and on the guests those clients service, which adds a layer of complexity that needs to be taken into consideration. To address this issue, Connect&GO relies on the partnerships it has built with its clients, making them active stakeholders and innovators in the process.
Gagnon explains, “We believe that being the most customer-centric company is how we will continue to disrupt the industry. Every day, we are inspired by our clients and, more importantly, by their ideas for enhancing our solution. We must both listen to their needs and proactively offer new ideas.”
As to what those needs might be, Gagnon and Palermo each have some thoughts.
According to Gagnon, “Attractions will increasingly look like resorts, incorporating accommodations, complex F&B operations, private events, and much more. For us, that is an opportunity for growth: we excel in turning complexity into simple, powerful solutions, making us experts in navigating the evolving landscape of attractions as they expand into multifaceted entertainment destinations.”
Palermo, on the other hand, looks towards the more technical side of the evolving industry, focusing on the looming giant of AI transformation. “I would say the majority of the innovation and the development that’s coming will be based around having AI tools built into the management platforms,” he explains. “It can make your staff that much smarter and give them the tools to make the best decisions possible in real time, including things like dynamic pricing. Let’s empower these users by taking advantage of the AI technology.”
Just as Connect&GO has been a disruptor in the past decade, it looks towards being an ongoing innovator in the decades to come. As Gagnon sums it up, “We are committed to developing a platform that meets the most complex needs of attractions, with an obsession for making it simple. We aim to continue evolving our platform not just to simplify operations but to enable attractions to fully leverage their data and enhance their commercial performance. We see every complex challenge as an opportunity for optimization, with the ultimate goal of helping our clients generate more revenue through better options, a superior platform, and strengthened strategic support.” •
Connect&GO will be bringing its technology to IAAPA Expo at booth #1840. You can book an appointment in advance at www.connectngo.com.
Andrew Friedenthal has a Ph.D in comic books – well, American Studies – and now works as a writer in the themed entertainment industry, basically living the dream of his 11-year-old self. With a body of work encompassing plays, screenplays, arts criticism, journalism, academic books, articles, and plenty of copywriting and content marketing, he is obsessed with getting to the heart of any story, regardless of format.Though based out of Austin,TX, where he lives with his wife and daughter, his New York heritage ensures he will always stand “on line” at a theme park, not “in line.”
