Since its inception in 2018, the Park World Excellence Awards has garnered huge respect for its identification and celebration of best in class entertainment destinations, projects, products and people.
Commenting on the crucial role the Excellence Awards judges play in making this happen, event director, Paul Ryder says “a huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes to ensure first that the categories are a true reflection of the industry and second, that from the hundreds of entrants and nominees received the right choices are made. We are incredibly proud of, and thankful to our judging panel for this and I am delighted to announce that we have extended this already stellar line-up by a further three industry experts for 2021. Evelyne Villame, president, SPACE; Vincent Philippe, creator, observer, editor, Funfaircity and Julian Tschech, founder of TUBERIDES are very welcome additions to the team.”
Evelyne Villame
Evelyn led the marketing strategy, brand and product development for the Grévin Group, now Companie des Alpesfor over 20 years.
In 2009, she plunged into the “small is beautiful” business and started an FEC company La Boîte aux Enfants, with fellow partner Gaëtan Le Jariel. La Boite aux Enfants is now a chain of 13 family entertainment centres in France, six of them (brand Gulli Parc) developed in partnership with the leading French kids TV channel.
Since 2019, Evelyn has been president of SPACE, the French association for indoor leisure. Covering all types of activities – CEC, Escape Room, Trampoline, Bowling, Laser Game, VR/Simulation –it has 400 members (25% of total facilities in France).
A member of IAAPA for many years, Evelyn previously served IAAPA’s Education Committee and as a member of the Themed Entertainment Association’s European Board at one time.
Commenting on her appointment as a judge and what she will be looking for from this year’s entrants and nominees, Evelyn says: “I am always interested in new things, so if I have a bias, it’s ‘innovation’. The Park World Excellence Awards are dynamic and I provide a real stimulus for innovation within the industry. Innovation is not only technical; it might be a show, an alliance, something creative that adds to the experience. I am not necessarily interested in big budgets, but the application of innovation and creativity in all its forms.”
Vincent Philippe
Funfaircity is a consulting micro business specialised in urban leisure places. Based on observation and blogging work that started over three years ago, it provides city professionals with knowledge of what leisure venues can bring to urban projects and territories. It also shows leisure professionals what they can gain from developing in the city.
Vincent says: “Places of leisure and attractions have an increasingly important place in our lives. Whether they are located in our cities or not, for the past year we have missed them very much and we are all very impatient to visit them again. This award is an opportunity to salute the professionals in the sector and to celebrate their resilience. It is also a way of working collectively towards “doing better” by showcasing exceptional projects or places that can inspire operators. Finally, this is the opportunity to show all the diversity of places, experiences and attractions, designed for our happiness.”
Commenting on his appointment as a Park World Excellence Awards judge, Vincent says: “I am delighted to join the jury of the Park World Excellence Awards 2021 and bring a point of view that stems from my observation and study of urban places of leisure. My feeling is that in some ways, theme parks are becoming cities for leisure with a growing offering for long staying visitors while cities are becoming theme parks, with their ability to accommodate more and more leisure places of any kind. Let’s see how this could help the jury to make the right choices!”
Julian Tschech
Julian’s fascination for water attractions began as a small child. He and his brother created the YouTube channel TUBERIDES and a website about water slides (https://www.tuberides.de) back in 2009 and what started as a “fun project”, soon began to grow as TUBERIDES became a worldwide pioneer in filming water slides.
Since then, Julian and his brother have visited more than 600 water parks and aquatic facilities all around the globe and experienced almost 3,000 slides of all shapes and types. Their videos have been watched more than one billion times and more than one million people have subscribed to their channel. “Few have tried more slides than us,” says Julian, adding that no other YouTube channel offers videos of more slides in the United States or Australia.
Since 2014, Julian has also been working as a freelance editor for a leisure trade magazine and he and his brother regularly produce video content for water parks and swimming pools.
“Being asked to be a judge for the Park World Excellence Awards is a great honour for me,” says Julian. “The awards are well-recognised among the industry and I’m happy to take part in this event. Having visited hundreds of water parks and experienced thousands of water attractions all across the globe, I’m proud to use my knowledge and experiences to make sure that the rightful winners will get the recognition they deserve. The awards express appreciation for the continuous investments and creative ideas in the leisure industry and show that even in hard times likes this, parks continue to enhance the guests‘ experience by adding new attractions and creating new worlds.”
Evelyn, Vincent and Julian be joined on the panel by: Aleatha Ezra, director, park member develooment; World Waterpark Association; Nicole Rojo, representative of the European Coaster Club (EEC) for Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and blogger; François Mayné, freelance journalist and owner of OOPARC; Marcus Gaines, owner, Ride and Park Media; Marek Pisarski, owner, PAIT Consulting; Marek Pisarski Imagineering; Richard Pawley, director of operations and ride safety, VTP Global Holdings; Phil Taylor, managing director, Team Leisure and Emmanuel Mongon, Founder, Imaginvest.
Enter now!
Designed to recognise outstanding operators in the EMEA region together with the manufacturers, suppliers and entertainment specialists that worked with them to bring the year’s top experiences to life, the Park World Excellence Awards 2021 will close for entries and nomination on 18 July.
Entrants to the Manufacturer/Supplier categories can come from companies outside the EMEA region, but to be eligible the ride, attraction, project or product must be located in the EMEA region. It must also have opened or become available in the EMEA region between 1 September 2020 and 30 June 2021.
Entrants to the operator categories must be based in the EMEA region.
Did you know?
You can also nominate a colleague or another operator or manufacturer/supplier or an award using the same online form?
For more information and to enter and/or nominate visit www.parkworldexcellenceawards.com