PARK BRIEFS Expos Go Virtual
Adventure Park Insider team is certainly going to miss seeing everyone this year.
The prevalence of COVID-19 in the United States coupled with international travel restrictions and local limits on group sizes were the deciding factors in canceling the in-person versions of the outdoor industry’s largest annual conferences and expos. Many events are still happening, though—online.
As of press time, here is where three of the biggest events for aerial adventure operators stand:
Switching from a robust, multi-day, in-person event with hundreds—or thousands—of attendees to an online-only event in a matter of a few months is unchartered territory. There are fewer logistics for organizers to tackle, but that doesn’t mean hosting a virtual conference is easy. The costs for going virtual are far less, of course, but so are the revenue opportunities. And the value of face-to-face interactions with experts, customers, and industry friends cannot be overstated. The
And Then There Were Wildfires
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This year has been difficult for a variety of reasons—including wildfires. The 2020 wildfire season has been one for the books, with more than 4 million acres burned in California alone. Natural disasters of this scale can leave operators questioning what their insurance policies cover. “Insurance policy wording is intricate, convoluted, and can sound like a foreign language,” says Cameron Annas of Granite Insurance. That said, most policies cover at least some fire and fire-related damage. Each policy is different, though, and you should verify any coverages with your insurance agent. Fire and smoke damage. In the event that a business property has sustained fire or smoke damage, it’s probably covered. Fire and smoke are a basic cause of loss covered on most property
The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Expo in Orlando, Fla., traditionally includes several days of educational workshops in addition to the tradeshow extravaganza. This year, the event is sans trade show, of course, but the planned educational sessions will be offered online as part of the IAAPA Expo: Virtual Education Conference, Nov. 16-18, 2020. The educational sessions will be available live or on-demand. The schedule also includes several keynotes by industry leaders and networking opportunities.
The America Outdoors (AO) Virtual Conference and Outfitter Expo will be Dec. 1-4, 2020. After announcing the event was going virtual back in mid-August, AO was quick to assemble a full online schedule complete with virtual happy hours, networking, keynotes, and daily learning sessions. Every presenter this year is from the outdoor industry because, as AO says on its website, “They know us; they are our people.” The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) International Conference and Expo is scheduled to be held virtually Jan. 19-29, 2021. The theme is “Moving Forward Together… Virtually.” ACCT announced Sept. 8 that the in-person event in Spokane, Wash., was canceled. The association is reassessing the workshop proposals it received before the call for presenters deadline in May. Registration and schedule information are still being developed.
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policies. Most policies also cover water damage from any efforts to extinguish the fire, as well as the expense of cleaning up debris after the fact. Business income coverage. “You should also have this property coverage supplemented with business income coverage,” says Annas. “[Business income coverage] covers less tangible losses, like the ability to run your business and generate revenue.” Restricted access coverage. Businesses that have not sustained damage but have had access restricted by authorities due to wildfire may also have their coverage triggered under the “civil authority” clause on a property policy. This does not come without caveats, though. “Business income coverage is fairly standard, but for it to kick in there might be parameters required, such as being within a certain distance of a damaged property,” says Annas. Many policies also require a waiting period—for exam-
ple, 72 hours after the restriction was set in place—before coverage kicks in. Extra expense coverage. To deal with incidents such as these, Annas recommends looking into “extra expense” coverage. This provides added protection for costs such as rent, payroll, relocation costs, or other reasonable expenses incurred as a result of the disaster. What about those operations that may not be damaged or restricted, but choose to close for other reasons—such as air quality concerns? These operators are most likely not covered, Annas advises. Every carrier is different, and every policy is unique. To be certain about what a policy covers, Annas encourages operators to reach out to their agent well in advance of needing to take advantage of it. “The last thing you want to do [during or following a disaster] is try and dig through policy language to make sense of it all,” he says.
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