"TEA will bring its storytelling, experience design, and themed entertainment skills and expertise to bear on this session ," Hanna said. "The entire Board is enthusiastically behind this new effort, and we hope to give IAAPA and attendees a great show!"

"We asked the TEA to produce the What's New Theater session for us because they can leverage the creative talent of their membership and tell IAAPA?s story about all the latest developments in our industry," said IAAPA President and CEO Charlie Bray. "Working together on this key event will boost the opening day at IAAPA's Attractions Expo and will help ensure an active and productive trade show floor in Atlanta. It will be an event you just can't miss!"

Steve Ryan at ShoConcepts Inc. has been contracted to produce and provide creative direction and staffing for the convention session. "Steve at ShoConcepts was chosen to spearhead this production for TEA and IAAPA because of his excellent work in producing the Thea Awards Gala for the past three years," said Hanna. "He quickly understands the objective of events and leverages creative talent to best tell the story and entertain and engage the guests."

Parks, venues, manufacturers, designers and other industry stakeholders that have new and innovative attractions, products or services should contact Gene Jeffers at TEA, Gene@TEAConnect.org to be considered for inclusion in the What's New Theater presentation at IAAPA Attractions Expo.

The IAAPA Attractions Expo, with its theme See What's New. Find What's Hot. Learn What Works will draw tens of thousands from the amusement and leisure industries to the Georgia World Congress Center November 13-18, 2006. As the amusement and attractions industry's largest worldwide gathering, IAAPA Attractions Expo 2006 offers a solid week of business and fun set within 1 million gross square feet with more than 1,000 exhibitors, educations sessions, behind the scenes tours, marquee social events and networking opportunities. This is the marketplace where amusement and attraction industry leaders, decision makers and visionaries gather to view and explore What's New!

IAAPA is the largest international trade association for permanently situated amusement facilities worldwide. The organization represents over 4,500 facility, supplier, and individual members from more than 90 countries. IAAPA strives to help members improve their efficiency, marketing, safety, and profitability while maintaining the highest possible professional standards in the industry. www.iaapa.org

TEA, formerly the Themed Entertainment Association, is a world-wide nonprofit alliance representing the creators of compelling places and experiences. The association conducts a wide range of business development, marketing, educational and networking efforts and activities. For more information about the TEA, please visit The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) has signed a contract with TEA (formerly Themed Entertainment Association) to produce the What's New Theater session November 15 at the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2006 Annual Conference and Trade Show in Atlanta. "We are very excited about this opportunity to support IAAPA and raise awareness of TEA and its members," said TEA International Board President Craig Hanna, Thinkwell Design & Production. "It is a unique event that showcases all that is new in the industry and on the IAAPA show floor and will help propel attendees to the grand opening of the Expo with new ideas and expectations." Traditionally, the What's New Theater is the largest session at the industry trade show, and is seen as the kick-off for the conference and trade show opening.

"TEA will bring its storytelling, experience design, and themed entertainment skills and expertise to bear on this session ," Hanna said. "The entire Board is enthusiastically behind this new effort, and we hope to give IAAPA and attendees a great show!"

"We asked the TEA to produce the What's New Theater session for us because they can leverage the creative talent of their membership and tell IAAPA's story about all the latest developments in our industry, said IAAPA President and CEO Charlie Bray. "Working together on this key event will boost the opening day at IAAPA's Attractions Expo and will help ensure an active and productive trade show floor in Atlanta. It will be an event you just can't miss!"

New products included: Juice Hoop the new Childrens Basketball game, Pong Pong prize vending machine, Fancy Bowling and Power Strike bowling / midway game.

Pictured are Ray Hsieh the company's Managing Director, Emily Wang and Neal Barrington from YourGuide.

Harry Levy Amusements has already shipped out one container of the redemption game called Spongebob Jellyfishing, which is an additional piece to the original Spongebob Squarepants, which has been such a hit for the company.

The machine takes on the classic skill-stop format, as players aim to stop Spongebob's arm on the highest possible ticket payout on the playfield. As with the other Spongebob redemption piece from Harry Levy, the game is housed in an attractive cabinet, featuring the colourful characters from the popular cartoon and audio samples from the original soundtrack. "Spongebob seemed to capture kids' imaginations and was one of our best-selling redemption pieces of the past year," says Gary Newman, sales director at Harry Levy. "We are really pleased that the new machine is also doing exceptionally well."

"Hong Kong Customs is regarded as one of the best law enforcement agencies in the world, and Merit Entertainment appreciates their swift and positive action. I had the pleasure of working with Customs in the early and mid 90's. It was a pleasure to work with them again," said Bob Fay, Merit's Director of Government Relations. Fay also praised the work of Hong Kong based law firm Baker & McKenzie, which coordinated the investigations and raids on behalf of Merit.

The raids culminated a three-month investigation into the illegal distribution of Merit's 2005 and 2006 Force video games. Fay also stated that the Hong Kong company is one of the largest distributors of copy Merit products, and that their illegal activities violated Merit's intellectual property rights. The evidence seized will be the basis for criminal charges under Hong Kong's Trade Descriptions Ordinance.

"We will continue to protect our distributors and operators, who have invested their money in Merit products, from unscrupulous counterfeit dealers," said Dave Logan, Merit's CEO. "We are proud to help secure the industry that we worked hard with operators and distributors to build." "This police action will be the first of several that are likely to happen worldwide in the months ahead," Fay added. "Individuals who copy, distribute, or operate Merit copies should be aware that Merit is serious about protecting their intellectual property rights, and will take aggressive actions worldwide to eliminate Merit copies in the marketplace."

For more than 27 years, Merit has ensured long-term return on investment for operators by providing continually high-earning equipment along with updates and upgrades for its products. With an installed base of over 250,000 touch-screen games garnering nearly 4.6 billion plays per year, Merit Entertainment is the worldwide leader in touch-screen entertainment devices. Merit Entertainment products appear globally in a wide array of venues and appeal to an almost limitless demographic. Merit continues to expand its position in the industry with ever-increasing entertainment, content, and new games. The company maintains a Web site with all the latest information at www.meritind.com.

In order to have competitive advantage, there is a growing need for businesses across every sector to reduce costs. Whilst American and Asian companies are embracing new self-service kiosk technology to boost revenue, improve customer service and support new channels to market, their European counterparts appear reluctant to get on board.

In the US, the market for kiosk technology is set to grow 39% in 2006 compared to only 15% in Europe. In the UK, kiosks are starting to make an appearance; cinemas, for example, increasingly offer self-service ticket systems for those who have already paid online or via the telephone, using the machine to validate identity. Yet, many European businesses are still failing to adopt the self-service technologies, such as self-service food ordering devices, that are increasingly standard across the US and Asia Pacific.

This year's launch event for the UK and Europe, KioskCom Europe 2006 (www.kioskcomeurope.co.uk), is designed to demonstrate the value of point-of-service, point-of-information and point-of-sale self-service solutions. A combined Expo, strategic conference and kiosk 'test drive' area, will provide education on how to deploy, manage and maintain these new, fast growing channels and services.

Phil Hunter, Managing Director of KioskCom Europe 2006, explains, "The UK may be a nation of queuers; but in an increasingly demanding consumer society, perhaps no longer a nation of happy queuers. It is hard to measure the cost of lost sales and disgruntled customers who fail to return but every consumer-based organisation recognises the problem associated with poor customer throughput. Furthermore, given the switch to Chip & PIN technology, the sales assistant's role has, in many cases, been reduced to little more than supervising the consumer transaction."

"The reasons for self-service technology adoption are evident: self-service technology saves money, reduces costs and improves customer service," he adds. "The adoption may well be slow but, if tackled appropriately, will be sure. And, once in place, self-service offers organisations extraordinary opportunities to transform the process of direct consumer interaction."

Kioskcom Europe draws upon a 10 year history of successful events in the USA. The two-day event, 8-9 November at London's Olympia, will bring together industry professionals to discuss how European companies can take advantage of self-service kiosk technology to increase profitability, create long-term revenue generating opportunities, and increase customer loyalty.

Hunter concludes, "If the consumer - especially the queue loving British consumer - is to be encouraged to self-serve, organisations need to take a long term training stance towards encouraging adoption. It may go against the national grain but self-service is a global trend; failing to follow suit will fundamentally constrain competitive position."