Day one on the trade show floor…pretty busy, actually, especially towards the end of the day. There seems to be a big international contingency here at the show, and many of them are infatuated by the campfire “flame” at the center of the CAMP InPark booth! I probably could have sold half a dozen of those flames today had I brought some to sell. Nonetheless, it brings people over to the booth to check out CAMP InPark, especially people that have not heard of the magazine before. This makes me happy.

TEA announced their Thea Award recipients for the year at their annual champagne gathering in their booth. Or, rather, TEA President Steve Thorburn read off the recipients and then those who couldn’t hear a thing because of the typical IAAPA din read the results on the subsequently handed out press release.

Visitors to the CAMP InPark booth have been encouraged to pose for a camp picture, which I am providing here for your (and hopefully, their!) enjoyment.

The booth is ready to go for Camp InPark!
Since the aisle numbering system here in Vegas is confusing at best, here are some photos to help you find the base camp…

The World Waterpark Association has returned to Orlando and the Walt Disney World Resort for its 2009 Trade Show and Conference. I’ve often felt this is one of the best run trade shows in the industry, with a format that encourages attendees to spend time on the show floor, well-planned networking events, and just enough time for everything (read: no burnout after the 25th day on the show floor).

So far, after day one, though, it seems like things are a little slower. Typically, the lunch hour (provided on the show floor) brings EVERYONE to the show and keeps exhibitors busy. But the aisles seem more empty than full.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t some great exhibitors and ideas out there. WhiteWater West is exhibiting its new play feature that combines water play with an electronic keyboard! Photos are coming, so stand by for more information from the WWA show floor tomorrow! -Martin

> DENVER, Colorado, Oct. 6, 2009 – “It’s been shown that we retain 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, and 50% of what we see and hear. In the classroom, that points to audiovisual (AV) technology and multimedia as powerful learning tools, because they incorporate both seeing and hearing. The underlying technology is complex, but the student/instructor experience doesn’t have to be. There are new tools and knowledge to optimize AV capabilities in a teaching space, and to deliver support,” says Steve Thorburn, PE, LEED-AP and design principal of Thorburn Associates.

“It’s primarily a matter of good planning and design,” says Thorburn, whose Planning For Classroom Technology Workshop, Nov. 2 in Denver at the Curtis Hotel, will address these issues and more.

AV in the classroom is continually changing, and the Planning for Classroom Technology Workshop is targeted to benefit CIO’s, IT Directors, facility managers, interior designers, architects and anyone who is involved in the planning or design of formal or informal learning spaces, or responsible for AV presentation technology. The workshop runs 8:30-4:30 pm. Attendees will earn 6 AIA Certified Continuing Education Units or 6 InfoComm Renewal Units, and receive a detailed workbook to keep. The workshop’s title sponsor is Crestron Electronics. The Nov. 2 workshop takes place just prior to the Educause conference, Nov. 3-6 in Denver, Colorado.

For those not working on a classroom building, the information in the workshop is easily applied to the same issues, goals and concerns encountered in corporate and public meeting, training and conference spaces.

To register or get more information, contact Christina LeClerc, at Thorburn Associates, 510-886-7826 ext 205, email [email protected] or visit the workshop website at www.ta-inc.com/planning.

When you think about it, this year’s Halloween Horror Nights theme of “Ripped From the Silver Screen” couldn’t be more appropriate for Universal Studios. They are a company founded on making movies, and their park lives by the motto of “Ride the movies.” Perhaps that is why I most thoroughly enjoyed the park’s icon house, Silver Screams.

Silver Screams features this year’s icon character, the Usher, who, having been killed at the movie house decades ago, has come back to show some of his favorite hits, and perhaps trap a few more souls in the theater. Upon entering the dilapidated façade of the Universal Palace theater, it is seemingly brought back to life as the usher guides you into different hallways with giant movie posters detailing the movie scene you are about to walk into. Some, like Shaun of the Dead, are amusing, others, like The Strangers, are downright creepy. All are increadibly well themed. This house seems to be the most cerebral, and requires a second walkthrough to fully appreciate all the details.

Chucky’s house was also a favorite. As you are shrunk down to toy size, Chucky comes to life and battles it out with you and a variety of other childhood toys, like the Hanging Monkeys game, where chains of plastic monkeys hang from the ceiling and, in addition to distracting you from a scare, also are adept at grabbing glasses and pulling them from your face (bespectacled haunters beware!).

The rest of the houses run the gamut from the campy, tongue-in-cheek Leave it To Cleaver! House, to the ornately themed Dracula soundstage house. Although some themes seemed recycled from previous haunts, each house was refreshingly unique. I was impressed that there was no “house” house…that each environment brought to life wasn’t just a haunted “house” but a unique and special locale.

It also seemed as though scare tactics made more use of light and sound to scare people. Scare-actors activated switches that triggered strobe lights or other lighting effects, as a loud scene-appropriate noise startled even the most casual observer (one scare so startled a member of our party that he ran ahead of our group two scenes before finally putting the brakes on!).

The park’s scare zones are as to be expected. The typical themes of contamination, anarchy, invasion and desolation are all addressed, though the “Lights, Camera, Hack-tion” zone provided a new setting for heavily make-upped people to come up to you and plead “Help me!!”

Finally, the Bill & Ted show delivered on its annual promise of lampooning pop culture’s best and worst in a completely and unabashedly crass manner.

The entire event is well-done, especially in a year that could have seen a large number of cost cutting moves and rehashed gags. As usual, expect every night to be popular, moreso on weekends, so be sure to plan ahead and consider one of Unviersal’s Express or RIP options. For more information, visit www.halloweenhorrornights.com.

SOURCE: KAKE NEWS (www.kake.com)

What started as a fun day at the zoo nearly landed four people in immediate care after a sno-cone mixup. One was a bottle of sno-cone syrup. The other was a bottle of commercial degreaser.

A Sedgwick County Zoo employee could not tell the difference between the two and it nearly made four people sick.

One of the victims, who does not want to be identified, is speaking out.

“This could have turned out tragic,” she said.

The Maize woman was with her grandchildren at the zoo Thursday when they bought the blue sno-cones.

“And they took bites and we noticed they didn’t taste the same so I tasted it. I thought maybe the utensils were dirty and then someone ran up to us and told us it was degreaser on top,” she said.

According to the zoo, the two bottles of the same exact shape, size and color, were dropped off at the same time. Because they look similar, they accidentally got stocked side by side. When one of the employees went to get more syrup, they did not take a close enough look at the labels and grabbed the degreaser.

“We’d just like to say that we are sincerely sorry that this unfortunate incident happened,” said Zoo Spokesperson Christan Baumer. “We are terribly sorry for the families that were involved.”

Luckily, the bottle mix-up did not end up with any major injuries. Those involved did not ingest enough of the mixture to cause any harm. Still, they are not happy.

“They need to be more careful, especially serving food. Pay attention to what you’re grabbing because this could have turned out tragic,” the victim said.

The zoo says it will now stop serving blue sno-cones completely to make sure this kind of mix up never happens again.

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. — Joe Eck has named the new general manager for Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort. In this position he will be responsible for overseeing all resort operations.
Eck had been serving as the Sales and Marketing Director for the Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort for nine years.
Eck serves on the Board of Directors for the Wisconsin Dells Visitor and Convention Bureau, and is a member of the Marketing Committee for the Wisconsin Dells Visitor and Convention Bureau. He is a member of Meeting Planners International (MPI) and Wisconsin State Association of Executives (WSAE).
Prior to joining the Wilderness, Eck served as an Associate Buyer for Sax Fifth Avenue regional headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis.
Eck has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business with a minor in Public Relations from UW-Whitewater. He and his wife, Sue, reside in Wisconsin Dells with their two children.
The Wilderness Territory, which consists of over 600 wooded acres in Wisconsin Dells, is the perfect destination for a fun-filled family vacation, meeting or special event. The Territory is home to Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort, which features 444 guest rooms, 40 vacation villas, 76 Frontier Condominiums and 35 cabins. It is also home to Wilderness on the Lake which features 108 luxurious two and three bedroom condominium units overlooking Lake Delton; and Glacier Canyon Lodge, which features 448 upscale condominium units.
Combined, these three properties offer four indoor and four outdoor waterparks that total nearly 500,000 square feet – that’s over 12 football fields of water fun! The Territory is also home to Wild Rock Golf Club, The Woods 9-Hole Family Course; Dodge ‘Em City; Timberland Play Park, a 30,000 square-foot, four story adventure with ball blasters, slides and crawl spaces; the OK Corral Lazer Tag Arena; and The Wild Abyss and Wild Buccaneer 3-D black light mini golf courses.

CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on lifestyle properties, announced today that it has acquired the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park in Kapolei, on the island of Oahu, from a subsidiary of Village Roadshow
Limited (VRL:AU), a publicly traded global entertainment and media company based in Melbourne, Australia, and leased the park back to that entity to operate under a long-term lease. Park operations will not be impacted by the transaction.

Nestled amid the sunny slopes, cliffs and natural beauty of West Oahu, Hawaiian Waters is
Hawaii’s only water park. The park opened in 1999 and was acquired by Village Roadshow in
2008. Covering 29 acres in West Oahu, it can accommodate 6,000 guests, making it a significant
water park by world standards. Attractions include Shaka, “the world’s wildest half-pipe;”
Volcano Express, a 5 ½ story slide where four riders race to the finish line; and the Tornado, a
130-foot tunnel with a 50-foot drop, installed by Village Roadshow last summer as part of a
multi-million dollar expansion.

Effective this summer, Village Roadshow will rebrand the park as Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii, and will
also open a second Wet ‘n’ Wild water park in Phoenix, Ariz.

“This transaction is a homerun for both sides,” said Byron Carlock, president and CEO of CNL
Lifestyle Properties. “Village Roadshow is a major force in the entertainment industry. We were
looking for a vibrant operating partner with which to grow our portfolio of properties. Hawaiian
Waters is exactly the kind of quality attraction we look for, where families can make lasting
memories, and we look forward to working with Village Roadshow in the future.”

Graham Burke, managing director of Village Roadshow Limited said, “CNL Lifestyle Properties is the perfect partner for us as we grow our highly successful water park business in the United
States. This transaction provides us with financial flexibility, and a partner that shares our core
values and aspirations.”

Village Roadshow, founded in 1954, is a leading international entertainment and media company with its core businesses of Theme Parks, Film Distribution, Cinema, Radio, Film Production and Music. It is best known in the United States for its Los Angeles-based movie production business, which produced films such as the Matrix trilogy, the Oceans trilogy, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Happy Feet, I Am Legend and Get Smart. The company is Australia’s largest theme park owner, with extensive holdings including: Sea World, in Queensland; Warner Bros. Movie World; Wet ‘n’ Wild Water World; the Australian Outback Spectacular; and the Sydney Aquarium, among others.

Including Hawaiian Waters, CNL Lifestyle Properties owns 25 attractions properties, making it
one of the largest regional theme park owners in the United States.

Torrance, Calif. USA, 23 March 2009 – Wildfire, Inc., the industry leader in UV (aka ultraviolet or “black light”) effects, fixtures and products, announced an exclusive sales and product development agreement with Modern Masters, a leader in the decorative paint market and subsidiary of Rust-Oleum.

Effective immediately, Modern Masters will take charge of all wholesale sales and distribution of Wildfire brand paint products. The arrangement enables Wildfire and Modern Masters to combine their resources to roll out new Wildfire products, improve existing products and increase their availability to customers. Wildfire will announce two new product lines within the next few months.

“We are very pleased to announce this agreement with Modern Masters,” said Wildfire president John Berardi. “We have partnered with Modern Masters in a variety of ways over the past 18 years. We take this next step knowing that Modern Masters understands our markets as well as our paint products. Modern Masters has the foundation and global resources of its well-known parent company, yet is still run by the family that originally founded it, which allows them to provide the same high-quality, attentive and efficient customer service that Wildfire customers know and expect from us.”

“Modern Masters is totally committed to the amusement park and themed entertainment communities,” exclaimed Jim Rogers, vice president of Modern Masters. “Wildfire paints are a perfect compliment to our existing product lines, including Modern Masters Theme Paint. We look forward to working with Wildfire on developing more innovative and exciting products for these industries.”

The Wildfire team at Modern Masters includes Russell Brasher, Global Sales Manager; Neil Cody, North Eastern Regional Manager; Diana Sartor, Western Regional Manager; Mark Mattei, Mid South Regional Manager; Scott Hutchinson, Southern Regional Sales Manager; Blanca Lopez, Customer Service Supervisor; Sulie Soto, Customer Service Representative; Joe Saenz, Technical Support/Studio Manager; and Joe Saenz, Technical Support/Studio Manager.