IAAPA, the global association for the attractions industry, has announced its latest inductees into the IAAPA Hall of Fame, as well as winners of its annual IAAPA Service Awards.
This year will see four inspirational figures celebrated at IAAPA Expo, who will be added to The IAAPA Hall of Fame, celebrating and honouring extraordinary pioneers who have “seen their personal dreams through to completion not for their own success, but for the growth and betterment of the entire industry.”
Joan Ganz Cooney was a pioneer in the field of edutainment, which has had a significant and direct impact on theme parks.
Her influence can be observed in the interactive exhibits at museums and zoos, the education-based programming incorporated into attractions, and even in FECs, from Sesame Place through the Children’s Television Workshop to KidZania and Legoland.
The idea of KidZania, a role-playing edutainment concept, and its global adoption was the brainchild of fellow award-winner Xavier Lopez Ancona. He transformed the straightforward concept of young children playing pretend into a significant, highly inventive, and financially funded attraction that is found in shopping malls around the world.
By applying his knowledge of business and consulting, he went above and beyond to build relationships with businesses and sponsors that are the foundation of KidZania’s business model and its success.
Darrell Metzger has established a remarkable global track record in the creation, management, and revitalization of leisure/resort/residential communities and attractions over more than four decades in the business. He is one of the select few experts who have developed a high level of proficiency in positioning and repositioning popular tourist attractions, theme parks, and resorts on a global scale.
His achievements include work at Sentosa Island Resort in Singapore, Disneyland Resort in California, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Ocean Park Resort in Hong Kong, and Legoland Resort in Malaysia.
For more than 60 years, Dennis Speigel has had a deep affinity for the entertainment and recreation sector. He was just 13 when his passion for the field first emerged, working as a teenage ticket taker at Cincinnati’s Coney Island Amusement Park in 1959.
Since then, He has traversed the globe giving advice and consultation services to financiers, builders, suppliers, and customers. His career achievements include launching International Theme Park Services, Taft Broadcasting, and Kings Island in Ohio.
“We could not be more thrilled with this year’s Hall of Fame inductees,” says the chairman of the IAAPA Hall of Fame and Archives Committee and senior partner with Leisure Development Partners LLP, Michael Collins. “These four individuals truly represent more than one hundred years of influence and imagination that has resonated throughout our industry.”
IAAPA Service Awards
Franceen Gonzales, WhiteWater’s chief experience officer, who has contributed to the development of water parks since the sector’s inception 40 years ago, receives the IAAPA Lifetime Service Award. She previously served on the IAAPA Board from 2011 to 2013 and from 2019 to 2022. She has been a member of the IAAPA’s Global Manufacturers & Suppliers Committee since 2015.
Phil Wilson, chief development officer at Extreme Engineering and an active IAAPA member, was honoured with the IAAPA Meritorious Service Award. He has participated in a dozen IAAPA committees and served on the Space Allocation Committee for the better part of eight years, strategically assisting more than 1,100 exhibitors from across the world in securing their booth locations during the IAAPA Expo in Orlando.
The IAAPA Outstanding Service Award goes to Ryan Stana, the chief executive officer of the RWS Entertainment Group and an IAAPA member since 2006, who joined the organization’s entertainment committee in 2007. He served on it for over a decade and helped establish the IAAPA Brass Ring Spirit Award in 2006.
Finally, the IAAPA Young Professional of the Year award goes to Josh Liebman, who started working as a ride operator at Cedar Point at the age of 18. Since his start in the amusement park business, Josh has worked with major companies including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Merlin Entertainments. In 2021, Josh was appointed Guest Experience “Evangelist” by ROLLER.
