January 25^th, 2021 – ShowUp – the new social convention and trade show for family entertainment centers released their education conference schedule today. It’s shaping up to be a very different conference for the location-based entertainment industry. More than half the speakers have never presented at an amusement industry conference before. Organizer Bob Cooney promised new voices and he’s certainly delivering. The conference covers three days and features more than 40 sessions. At least 4 new product launches are also scheduled, including the highly anticipated JUMP from The VOID co-founder James Jensen.

“Saying this has been a difficult year for our industry is the understatement of the century,” commented Bob Cooney, show founder and Master of Ceremonies. “We’ve had plenty of discussion on how to survive the pandemic. Now it’s time to talk about what’s coming in the future. There’s so much to be excited about. Our conference schedule reflects that.

“The collision of rapidly changing consumer trends and accelerating adoption of emerging technology is creating massive disruption. It also creates opportunities for location-based entertainment. I want to educate the amusement operator community so they can be prepared for the near future. One only needs to look at the movie theater business to see a stark example of what happens when operators don’t stay ahead of consumer and tech trends.”

Conference Schedule: 80 Speakers Over Three Days

More than 80 speakers have agreed to share and collaborate with family entertainment center owners, operators and managers over three days of sessions. While the conference schedule is focused on the future of the FEC market, each day has a specific theme:

• Day 1 is focused on new revenue streams, business models, and go-to-market strategies. Innovators will be sharing their strategies for increasing revenue and profitability during and after the pandemic.
• Day 2 covers the impact of emerging technology on entertainment attractions. Covering augmented reality, 5G, live-streaming, and esports, and how they open opportunities for increasing frequency of visits and recurring revenue streams.
• Day 3 dives into changing consumer trends and features Joe Pine discussing the future of The Experience Economy and how the desire for transformational experiences creates opportunities for family entertainment centers and location-based technology venues.

Carousel of Learning

Each day will start with a broad array of panel discussions and keynote presentations arranged around that day’s theme.  Attendees then move into The Carousel of Learning; a multi-session immersive experience centered around a key topic. The ‘Carousel’ starts with an expert panel or keynote, followed by audience Q&A. Attendees are given a few topical questions to meet other participants in a Speed Reflection. Everyone then joins moderated roundtables for collaborative discussion, followed by a reflection on the stage where roundtable moderators share key insights from each table. Before things wrap for the day, attendees meet with their Tribe of Five, their small working groups to create an action and accountability plan. The Carousel of Learning is based on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle which suggests learners need to experience, reflect, conceptualize and test.

ShowUp takes place from February 1-3^rd 2021 online. A list of current speakers is available at https://showup.events/speakers/

The full conference schedule is listed here. https://showup.events/event-design/

About ShowUp

ShowUp is the new social convention and product launch platform for the location-based entertainment industry. Its inaugural trade show will run from February 1-3, 2021, featuring 80 speakers and more than 40 exhibitors showcasing solutions to the problems faced by today’s family entertainment center operators. ShowUp was founded by virtual keynote speaker Bob Cooney, human-centered design expert Kylie Savage, and trade show veteran Chris Albaugh.