originally posted on 7/13/2020
Coaster Con at Home is now in the history books — hopefully, the first and last. This event was a great example of what an all-volunteer enthusiast group as a team can do to help bring enjoyment to one another. It was an animated, entertaining online celebration of parks and roller coasters that is the definition of an ACE Coaster Con. For the first time you could stay home and avoid standing in a queue. Pants were optional.
Thanks go to each and every individual volunteer who stepped up with an idea and ran with it. Thank you to the ACE members who were content providers. We had a fantastic selection of outstanding photos, enjoyable videos and a series of contests that had the brain cells working overtime. And thank you to everyone who participated from home. You are all ACE heroes in my book. I’m glad everyone could be safe and still be plugged into the club’s activities. While it wasn’t in person, it felt great during the week seeing all those smiling fACEs on my screens.
None of this would have been possible without the volunteers who make our organization run. A huge thank you goes to many people for making Coaster Con at Home a rousing success:
- Nicholas Laschkewitsch for composing all our videos for distribution;
- Jerry Willard and Bill Linkenheimer for helping the entire Coaster Con at Home package with updates and the distribution of information through our website and Facebook;
- Jes Niemiec for her dedication to our trivia rounds and the at-home printables;
- David Rager for designing all the virtual scavenger hunts;
- Tom Zeliff for designing and coordinating our NoLimits 2 re-creation contest;
- Kim Steffen for coordinating our virtual photo contest;
- Jordan May for his extensive work to transfer our video contest to online;
- Scott Short for investigating how to broadcast our business meeting and candidate platform;
- Kris Rowberry, Clint Novak and Derek Perry as our moderators for the week;
- Harry Michelson, B. Derek Shaw and Bill Galvin for sharing their passion for the parks through their historical recounts;
- Nicole Morales for designing our Coaster Con at Home logo;
- Allen Kao, Maegan McCown, Aaron Lesko and Melanie Turner for their behind the scenes work with our photos and Facebook; and,
- Knoebels, Dutch Wonderland and Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc. for helping us highlight where we would have been enjoying coasters if this pandemic did not leave us at home.
As I said at the end of the online business meeting, one of the first programs we binge watched in quarantine was Netflix’s “Cheer.” During the series, the cheerleaders try out and the coach puts those who excel “on the mat.” With ACE’s biannual election ending, if you are interested in assisting within the club, now’s the time to put yourself on the mat. One of the challenges of running ACE is the timing of volunteering to matching skills with things to be done. In September, the newly elected terms begin, and it’s a great time for the club’s managers to find out the interests of members who want to help. A number of tasks are specific, and others are more general in nature. But ACE is always spelled with “you.” Especially if you’ve ever thought about running for one of the elected positions, I encourage you to find a spot now and participate in running the club in some capacity. The insider knowledge you gain will go a long way, and you’ll quickly find out things about the club, allowing you and ACE to grow together.
Today, sit back and relax. I’m hopeful some of the creative innovations used to bring us together during the week at home will spill into future Coaster Cons. If you missed any of the Coaster Con at Home fun, you can relive the activities on our website, aceonline.org/athome.
Parks are starting to open up. While social distancing and other rules make planning and hosting events challenging, enjoy your local parks and attractions if you can. Be safe, stay healthy. Enjoy yourself. Have fun! This is only an intermission in ACE events with RollerCoaster! magazine still being published and ACE News and updates continuing to be posted online. Hopefully we’ll look back and laugh about 2020 while standing in a queue for the newest ride.
Thank you for being a member.
Robert Ulrich, President
rulrich@aceonline.org
@#$%&!
#ACENews