IAAPA

[WooferBearATL]

So anyone down for the IAAPA Convention?

[PKI Punk]

I will be there with GCII from Thursday to Saturday.

[RailRider]

would definately like to see a trip report.

enjoy your time

[PKI Punk]

I wil definately submit a TR on Sunday after I get back.

[KIBeast]

Pointbuzz. Seems that our fearless leader, Dick Kinzel, has been inducted in to the IAAPA Hall of Fame.

Also, it seems that the awards for entertainment have been released. PKI took two awards.

IAAPA Awards

[PKI Punk]

I just returned from IAAPA tonight, but really am not up for writing a TR right now. I will however, write one tomorrow. The short version though, it was absolutely awesome and would recomend going to anyone interested in the amusement industry. Especially those that would like to work in the amusement industry.

[PKIVortex]

Glad you enjoyed yourself. I look forward to reading your trip report.

[PKI Punk]

First, let me start by saying that this was my first time at IAAPA and my first time flying. I had no idea of the scale of the place until I got there. WOW! The convention floor is hugh, and not only is there one floor, but there are two.

Any way, I arrived on Friday via cab in front of the convention center in Atlanta. I walked in got my badge holder and checked what bags I had. I then went downstairs to the convention floor. The first thing I did was try to find GCI because that is who I was there with. I figured I could just stroll around and find them, but boy was I wrong. I looked for like a half hour and then realized that I need a floor map. I finally got to the GCI booth. I saw Jeff Pike talking with Jeff Seibert and a designer from Morgan. As I waited to talk to Jeff Pike, I strolled around the GCI booth. They had a model of the Ozarc Wildcat and a Millenium Flyer car. They finally finished talking and I met up with Clair Hain, Chris Gray, Jeff Pike, and Pete (I don't remember Pete's last name). After talking to them for a good long while, I decided to start my trec of the floor.

The first booth that I decided to look at was Maurer Sohne. They had four really cool models at their booth. As I was looking at the models, on of the Civil Engineers came over and started talking to me. We talked for about a half hour about the diferent rides and things their company does. He was a really nice guy. Anyway, before I left his booth, I was given a DVD and a bunch of brochures.

After Maurer Shone, I walked down to Premier and B&M. Premeir really didnt have anything exciting, but B&M had a car from Goliath at SFoG and a flying coaster seat. They cars for Goliath are AMAZING, lilerally a peice of art. Perfect in every way.

I then walked over to a foam manufacturer that does molds for restraint systems and PTC. I went to these companies because Chris told me that both companies have done work for GCI and it would be good to know the guys who work there.

The rest of the day consisted of me walking around and collect about 10 lbs of brochures from all different companies. Oh yeah, I walked over to the Gravity Group and talked to Chad MIller and Mike Graham, the funny thing was, I had a name tag that said I was with GCI. They really didn't care though, we actually joked around about it for a while.

The second day, the other GCI co-op, Evan arrived and I got to do a lot more ride exploring. There were several rides at the show. Zamperla had three new rides, a "Kang-a-bounce" prototype ride, a frog jump ride, and a bike ride that height was controlled by the rider. S&S had a portable Screamin' Swing and Moser had a ride that was going to Wild West World. I rode the Kang-a-bounce and Screamin Swing several times this day.

Basically, I got to check out the second convention floor on the second day too. The second floor consisted of air filled bouces and theming primarily. This day seemed to go by a lot faster, probably because I had someone to talk to the whole time.

After the show ended, I headed out to eat with the whole GCI group, Clair, Chris, Jeff, Joe, Pete, and Tony. We ate at a really high end Brazilian Steakhouse. Let me just say that the guys at GCI are HILARIOUS, I think I laughed the whole time we were out eating.

By the third day, I had pretty much explored the whole floor and was extremely tired. I walked around with Pete and Chris from GCI for the majority of my time there on day 3.

All in all, I am very glad that I went. I would HIGHLY recommend this convention to anyone who loves the amusement industry or really wants to work in the amusement industry. It is a GREAT place to network dispite what everyone says. As long as you are patient and understand that the companies do business before talking to anyone, then it is great for networking.