With just under a month to go until the early bird pricing ends for the 2024 blooloop Innovation Awards, presented with AREA15, we spoke to the 2024 judges about what they’re looking for and why you should enter this year.
“Studying the Innovation Awards is like having your eyeballs spanked with a brilliant future,” says Sam Bompas, director of Bompas & Parr. Bompas judged the 2023 Awards and is back this year. He explained that they “pay careful attention to the Innovation Awards as it defines the industry of tomorrow.”
For Chris Grap, vice president of experiential entertainment at Mall of America, the Awards are about “creative collaboration” for the industry. “Look, blooloop is the best place to get information on themed entertainment and is uniquely suited to help shepherd in the next wave of brilliance for the industry” he explained.
Eddie Kemsley, CEO of Dreamland, sees the Awards as the perfect opportunity for “the industry to be able to learn from each other in such a highly progressive environment.” She loves judging to “witness the most imaginative ideas and their transformation from concept into tangible outcome…I can’t wait to be immersed in all the creativity!”
Judges look to the Awards for partners
Our judges look to the Awards to see who the next innovators are within the industry.
For Michael Casper, vice president of business development at AREA15, the Awards are a “great way for AREA15 to engage with the best and brightest in experiential entertainment and gives us a first look at new experiences to see who we can work with.”
Bompas agrees, saying, “The Awards are where our team looks to discover the leading attractions of tomorrow and who we’d want to collaborate with.” Entering the Awards is “a great way to get ideas in front of a wide swath of industry leaders (and me),” Grap explains.
What are the judges looking for?
Our judges all agree that they’re looking for the most innovative entries that push the industry forward. June Ko, executive director of InfoComm, is excited to see how technology can enhance the visitor experience. “Professional Audio Visual and technology brings innovations to life for humans to experience. I cannot wait to see the submissions explore innovations in immersive experiences, new technology and new solutions for customer experiences,” she said.
Steve Alcorn, CEO of Alcorn McBride Inc, is also “looking for innovations that use technology to connect with guests emotionally, and are best delivered in a themed entertainment setting.”
For Nick Laister, director of Fairytale Farm, the Awards are a chance to see “new concepts and attractions that will enhance the visitor experience and increase dwell time at attractions. For any person or company that is driving forward new ideas, these awards are the perfect way to raise the profile of the innovative product, ride or attraction.”
Winning “gave us tremendous exposure”
Michael Libby, founder & CEO of Worldbuildr won the 2021 Rise Award and second place in the Digital category in 2021. He says that entering the Awards was “one of the best things I’ve ever done for my company”, as winning gave the company “tremendous exposure” to the visitor attraction industry.
He saw increased traffic to the company’s website afterwards and says that winning “instantly levelled up the credibility and perceived legitimacy of our revolutionary software.” Since winning, the company has “been able to develop a closer relationship with the folks at AREA15, and we are now able to pursue projects of a larger size and scope.”
Winning an Award is also a chance to celebrate your team. For Eatrenalin, “winning the ‘Blue Sky’ category [in 2023] reflects the collaborative efforts of our talented team in creating Eatrenalin – a unique, multi-sensory fine dining experience.”
Enter the Awards now
Don’t miss out on your chance to get in front of our 2024 judges and show the industry how innovative you are. Take advantage of our early bird rates and pay for your entry before 2nd September 2024. You can then continue to edit it until the entry deadline of 30th September.
View the judge’s rubric and other FAQs here to help as you write your entry. Explore the categories and entry types here.
