Dennis Speigel Receives Golden Pony Award

On November 28, 2011, the GOLDEN PONY AWARDS were awarded in Rimini, Italy during the Park Show International annual event. The GOLDEN PONY AWARDS represent a yearly award by the Games & Parks Industry, and are dedicated to amusement and theme parks, fairgrounds, family entertainment centers, manufacturers, and consultants or professionals of excellence in the leisure industry. Every year since 2002, Games & Parks Industry has recognized the excellence of about 20 recipients from all over the world. To date, over 200 GOLDEN PONY AWARDS have been given. Recipients have included Sunway Lagoon in Malaysia; Efteling in the Netherlands; Europa Park in Germany; Tivoli in Denmark; and, ride manufacturers such as Mack Rides, Intamin, and Zamperla.

This year’s event honored the following winners:

TRAVELING SHOWS
Zbigniew Sliwinski (Poland)
Oscar Pivetta (Italy)
Jose Pedro M. Almeida (Portugal)
Marc Baillet (France)
Alberto Dominguez (Spain)
Rene Bufkens (Belgium)
Axel’s Nojesfalt –Tony Andreasson (Sweden)
Park Hilaria – City Dynamiek (The Netherlands) – Eric Boselie & Marieke Berkvens

AMUSEMENT PARKS – WATERPARKS
Acquapark Odissea 2000 (Italy) – Milena e Sergio Marini
Adventure World – Aswad Group (Saudi Arabia ) – Tareq Alaswad
Ondaland Acquapark (Italy) – Mario Sala

SPECIAL AWARDS
Dennis Speigel, International Theme Park Services, Inc. (USA)

RIDE MANUFACTURERS
Eos-Darsie srl (Italy) – Michela Favero
Pircher Alfred sas (Italy) – Paolo de Poli
Somersault srl (Italy) – Gabriele Cervellini

SPORTS-ORIENTED LEISURE FACILITIES
Cerwood (Italy) – Pietro Barigazzi & Ivano Coli
Bowling Brunswick Roma (Italy) – Katia Pittigliani

Dennis Speigel, President of ITPS, attended the Park Show International again this year and was the proud recipient of a GOLDEN PONY AWARD. His special “Award for Excellence” was presented for “the passion he has put into serving the parks industry, his experience, analytical ability, and business capability.” Dennis was proud to have been chosen for this prestigious honor.

While at the Park Show International in Italy, Dennis was also a keynote speaker. He gave a presentation on the “Waterpark in the New Millennium: Trends and Perspectives”. This presentation addressed not only waterpark operations globally, but also provided perspectives on global trends that are impacting the overall theme park and leisure industry. Additionally, Dennis participated in a panel that addressed the concept of dynamic pricing and yield management.

Everyone that attended the show thoroughly enjoyed the exhibits, seminars, panels, and the gala dinner.