PARK BRIEFS
NEWS FROM AROUND THE AERIAL ADVENTURE INDUSTRY
CALLS FOR COLLABORATION IN OKLAHOMA CITY
In this edition of “Park Briefs,” we’re talking about all things ACCT (Association for Challenge Course Technology), including a look at trends from the 2024 International Conference and Expo, a break- down of the latest thoughts on braking standards, and an overview of proposed revisions to ACCT’s standards development process.
Transparency, cooperation, and collaboration were buzzwords at the 34th annual ACCT International Conference and Expo., held Feb. 22-25 in Oklahoma City. It was Melissa Webb’s first conference as ACCT executive director after running the event for several years as ACCT’s events director. She was named ED in August 2023. Various workshops with ACCT leadership showed the association is interested in hearing more from its membership, especially after the most recent draft standard was scrapped after it received an unprece- dented number of comments. The standards-writing process is being revisited as a result, with several changes in the offing ( learn more on page 10 ). This was addressed during a workshop led by the ACCT Accredited Procedures Task Force.
Operators, especially, called for more collaboration among themselves and were also critical of how vendors have historically been guarded in sharing best practices. In a workshop about collaboration, for example, an executive from a multi-park company compared the aerial adventure industry to the climb- ing wall industry, saying the latter is “infinitely more collaborative.” In the spirit of sharing to promote learning, ERi’s Mandy Stewart and Todd Domeck presented a session titled “Fatality: A True Story.” They detailed a 2011 incident on an ERi zip line installation in Hawaii that resulted in the death of contractor Ted Callaway. Stew- art and Domeck discussed the standards that were
followed during construction, the issues with how those standards were developed, the ensuing criticism of ERi and its leaders from within the ACCT ranks, and the resulting changes to the standard, among other revealing details of the incident’s aftermath. They thanked Webb for green-lighting the presenta- tion, and the packed room gave both Webb and the presenters standing ovations. More applause was heard during the awards dinner on the final night, when Leigh Carruth was recognized with ACCT’s highest honor, the Critical Link Award, for her decades of dedication to coordinating the “yellow hats” crew of volunteers that help during the conference. •
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Faces at the ACCT International Conference and Expo
A crew from Adventure Park Insider joined 665 registered attendees and 51 exhibitors for educational workshops, training sessions, networking events, and a trade show at the 34th annual Association for Challenge Course Technology International Conference and Expo., held Feb. 22-25 in Oklahoma City.
Above: Granite Insurance CEO Cameron Annas plays pick- leball at a networking event. Clockwise from top left: Joel Hunt and Mapsy Powers of Ap- plied Adventure Consultants, with Jacob McAnulty of Quarry Park Adventures, Calif.; High 5’s Phil Brown hosts a game of trivia; (L to R) API ’s Sharon Walsh, Rick Kahl, Jack Fagone, Olivia Rowan, Jordyn Bremer, and Dave Meeker strike a pose; American Adventure Park Systems’ Aditya Patel mans the trade show booth.
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