originally posted on 1/8/2024
View full-sized image.
The close of 2023 brought with it the first full year of the ACE Digital Events Committee. The volunteers on this committee, which was organized in late 2022, generated 17 distinct events throughout the 2023 calendar year. There have been speakers such as engineers Hunter Lawrence and James Laley from The Gravity Group in January and a digital holiday lights tour of the Give Kids The World Village in December. During other events, park representatives, including Julie Freed from Lagoon (Farmington, Utah) and Brian and Dick Knoebel from Knoebels Amusement Resort (Elysburg Pennsylvania), answered questions about rides, told stories and shared how much they love their jobs.
World Roller Coaster Appreciation Month in June kicked off with a national ACE trivia contest in which every region of ACE was represented (and resulted in not one perfect score among contestants). The winner was awarded a prize pack from ACE, while the winner of 2023’s NoLimits2! Contest took home a prize donated by the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives. The World Roller Coaster Appreciation Month finale was full of intrigue, as Preston Perkes from S&S Worldwide took ACEers through the old archives, showing off blueprints older than some of the attendees.
The Digital Events team also offered something for families, with a retelling by author Aimee Carver of the children’s book R Is for Roller Coaster. There was also a family meetup before Coaster Con to discuss tips and tricks and how the boundaries change with the ages of the children in tow. Other pre-Con meetups included those geared toward teens and tweens, seniors, young adults and pride. These meetups had stories to tell, tips to share and even led to some in-person meetings once the convention actually got underway. The highest attended meetup for 2023 was the question-and-answer session for those who were first-time attendees to Coaster Con. They were able to ask questions, make requests and even got a few tidbits of information right before the event was brought to a close.
Also held was a Women in ACE history panel for Women’s History Month and a celebration of International Volunteer Day with an ACE volunteer digital mixer. Other events included a spectrum meetup and a game night for ACE members to enjoy. The team is looking forward to celebrating more milestones over the next year as well as including more suggestions from members and tours of places far and wide.
The ACE digital team is composed of Leigh Weber, Madi Partington and Luke Fillion. The team’s coordinator is Jes Niemiec. Members who have ideas or want to make an introduction to someone in the industry who might be a great speaker are encouraged to reach out to Niemiec via email at jesniemiec@aceonline.org. ACE members can sign up for all digital events via the events calendar by going to ridewithACE.com/events.
— Jes Niemiec, Member Communications Coordinator and Digital Events Coordinator
#ACENews