Our Year-end Roundup

As 2019 winds down, we wanted to look back at an incredible, and very busy, 12 months for Vantage and its growing team.

The year began with the appointment of our president, Phil Edgell, in January. Along with a solid track record of building winning teams in the tech sector, Phil has also imbued Vantage with ‘stractical’ meetings and 90-second brainstorming sessions. Neither us, nor our vocabulary, will ever be the same.

Phil testing out Vantage before Island H2O Live’s opening.
David in Shenzhen, China rocking this season’s ‘sterile environment’ look.

The first half of 2019 saw us rack up some pretty impressive air miles by visiting every corner of the globe, from Europe to Asia and all points in between, as we met with new customers, suppliers, and partners. It’s been exciting to see the interest people have had in Vantage’s unique value proposition while earning us access to only the finest of airport lounges.

June saw a couple more milestones for Vantage, starting with the hiring of our first Customer Success Manager, Kyle Meredith. We understand the impact that data, or the lack thereof, can have on a park’s success. We also know that data can be overwhelming and when it is, isn’t used. Hence, the need for Kyle’s role, part of which includes the curation of the data that Vantage collects. A Vantage customer’s dedicated CSM looks for the trends, anomalies, and insights that will help to make a park more operationally efficient while increasing guest satisfaction.

Kyle fixing the Vantage kiosk that Phil just broke.

Kyle’s first assignment was our other big achievement in June—the opening of our first full park installation at Island H2O Live! Waterpark in Kissimmee, Florida. This 16.9-acre outdoor water park unites its 20 attractions, multiple F&B, staff, and guests through Vantage’s all-encompassing technology. Click the play button to listen to the park’s GM, Jim Kunau, discuss how Vantage has transformed their operations and guest experiences.

With our first install complete, we were back on the road (technically it was the air), starting with IAAPA Expo Asia in Shanghai in June, followed by visits to Hong Kong, London, Dubai, and Taipei in the ensuing months. In September, our toughest assignment yet, we headed to Paris for IAAPA Expo Europe. October brought us back to Orlando for the WWA Show, where Island H2O Live! and Vantage took home a Leading Edge Award.

Phil and company collecting their WWA Leading Edge Awards for Island H2O Live!
Phil isn’t very good at Pictionary as you can tell from everyone’s faces.

To round out the year, we were once again in Orlando for IAAPA Expo, where we gave behind-the-scenes tours of Vantage at Island H2O Live! and greeted even more people at our booth. With that our trade shows may have come to end, but we all had one more trip left as the team met at out our Longmont, Colorado office to plan for an even busier 2020 and use up all of the Post-it Notes in the state.

All in all, we visited 11 countries on four continents, talked to hundreds of people, won an award, visited dozens of parks, and got multiple sunburns. Thank you to everyone who helped make this a banner year for Vantage, we can’t wait to do it all again next year.

Happy Holidays and Safe Travels from Phil, Aaron, Kyle, David, and Dawn.

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