AMERICAN COASTER ENTHUSIASTS ELECTION ’16 overseeing the administrative side and planning and managing services, resources, personnel, budgets and contracts. Working Candidate for public agencies for 24 years, as well as on ACE’s Executive Committee for 10 years, I am very familiar with the organiza- Platforms tional structure that governs ACE. for What I Have Done as ACE President ACE Offices: Anyone can manage an organization, and even do it well, but only when someone truly understands what members want or value can he be most effective. While serving as ACE president, President I have continued several initiatives that started while I was vice president working on ACE’s strategic plan. Many of these Vice President JERRY WILLARD changes come from member suggestions and surveys, as I have Long Beach, California tried to keep the goal of continuous improvement always in the Secretary forefront. and Candidate Platform for President ACE is financially solid. After seven years of decline, member- I am pleased to accept the nomination for president. It has been Treasurer ship revenue has increased the past two years to its highest my privilege to serve ACE over the past 14 years, including four since 2009. The new associate membership has helped retain years as treasurer, four years as vice president and the past two members or get lapsed members to rejoin who otherwise would Presented in years as president. have left ACE. Several cost-saving measures over the past few alphabetical order, years have helped match expenses more closely to revenues. by office ACE Experience I have been a member of ACE since 1999. As the old ACE say- In addition I have performed ongoing presidential responsibili- ing goes, “You join ACE for the coasters; you stay for the ties, such as: All candidates friends.” It wasn’t until I attended my first Coaster Con and started to become more active that I understood this. Shortly submitted platforms • Assisted the events director with the planning and prepara- after that first convention in 2002, I wanted to give back to ACE, for this publication tion for Coaster Con and other ACE national events, starting with so I became a volunteer early in my 17-year membership. the 2014 Fall Conference; Initially I assisted with registration and the General Store at Coaster Con and helped maintain ACE’s website. • Provided extensive assistance for the ACE UK! 2015 tour, Proposed including contract approval and payment for parks and hotels, I served as treasurer from 2004 to 2008, working frequently arranging trip details, tracking payments and costs to ensure a with the management firm to ensure a good relationship and Constitution good financial outcome and serving as a coach captain for the address ACE’s day-to-day financial needs. I implemented a dues trip; Change increase for the first time in 14 years to ensure financial stabil- ity, introduced multiyear memberships to help mitigate the • Managed ACE’s participation in the annual International effect of the increase on members and helped develop an Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions Expo for the investment policy to preserve assets. As vice president from 2014 and 2015 shows, including securing exhibit space, select- 2010 to 2014, I led an effort to establish a strategic plan and ing delegates, coordinating volunteers and arranging accom- determine goals and priorities for ACE’s continued improvement modations; and growth. I served as the lead to develop and implement some key initiatives, including the new association manage- • Served as board member representing ACE with the National ment contract, the restructuring of ACE’s Executive Committee Roller Coaster Museum and Archives; and and the introduction of the associate membership option. • Completed various other tasks, including review of financial Professional Background reports and approval of payments, writing of occasional email In addition to my contributions to ACE over the past 14 years, blast communications, creation of trip surveys and future trip my professional experience has prepared me to serve as presi- planning surveys as well as some event surveys, and providing dent. I have experience leading and managing projects, person- guidance and support for the Arrow Development documentary. nel and teams. I have worked in the public sector for the past 24 years, first in public transit and more recently in higher edu- Why I Should Continue as President cation. I currently work for the California State University (CSU) In addition to the accomplishments listed, I have been a good in the system-wide budget office, where we oversee funding president because of three key characteristics I mentioned allocations to 23 CSU campuses, the largest university system when I first ran — enthusiast, leader and facilitator. in the country. Enthusiast Before joining the CSU, my work responsibilities included Growing up more than 300 miles from the nearest amusement directing the day-to-day business of a public transit rail service, CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE park, I had no idea I would get to have so much fun vis- ize the Disciplinary Committee’s policies and proce- iting amusement parks and riding coasters. I share dures and had a key role in bringing the ACE Code of many of the same passions as those I serve, and a lot Conduct into the 21st century while still helping with of my knowledge comes from actual experience. I have our social media operations, including being ACE’s ridden 790 different roller coasters at 181 parks in 33 Twitter coordinator. states and 17 countries and have ridden at least one coaster each month for almost four consecutive years. Qualifications I also have attended 12 of the past 14 Coaster Cons I have experience leading and managing projects, since my first in 2002 as well as ACE’s trips to Spain teams and resources, which are important qualifica- and the United Kingdom and numerous other confer- tions for vice president. I have ample experience in pro- ences and events. gram and operations analysis, which is also a useful qualification. My current work responsibilities span Leader DAVID LIPNICKY managing 16 different economic and educational I have tried to lead by example and champion projects Grand Prairie, Texas research grants totaling $11 million. This includes and changes that help ACE. While the Executive Candidate Platform for Vice President budgets, work plans, fiscal reports, analytic studies, Committee continues to accomplish several goals, there monitoring, policy development, legal compliance and is still more work needed revamping ACE’s websites resource leveraging; developing research and analyses I thank ACE’s membership for giving me the opportuni- and planning for ACE’s archives. I plan to continue that on national and state employment growth and labor ty to serve this great organization for almost 15 years effort to address some long-standing issues and help market conditions; and building productive partnerships as an assistant representative and regional rep, four ACE continue improvement. between public, private and nonprofit organizations. years as public relations director and the last two years as your vice president. While I hope to continue repre- Facilitator With 25 years of experience in the public sector, I have senting our membership, I urge everyone to get As president I must be able to work with, motivate and a better understanding of the environment and require- involved and help make ACE your own. encourage the best out of a variety of people. I respond ments of an organizational structure that is similar to a to and address a variety of issues and concerns that nonprofit entity like ACE. However, I also have a dozen Involvement arise almost daily, and a big part of my responsibility is years of experience in the private sector, ranging from After 23 years as an ACE member, what our wonderful to ensure that ideas are accomplished and member working up from a janitor to a department manager, volunteers accomplish still amazes me. While a small suggestions and comments are implemented when then later becoming an engineering economist for a percentage of members makes what I call the “ACE appropriate. Fortune 500 company. I have substantial training and Magic” happen, I am pleased we have a larger number experience in business, research and planning. I earned willing to step up and run for office this year. I believe Thank You for Your Support a degree in economics with a minor in business admin- this is a result of the great work done by our volunteers, I thank you for the opportunity to serve as a member of istration, graduating with honors from the University of regional rep teams and Executive Committee (EC) dur- the Executive Committee for all these years. While I plan Texas at Arlington. I have been a member of the ing this decade and a sign of more people wanting to to continue to be an active member of ACE and serve as National Association for Business Economics for 27 become involved in moving ACE forward. Whether it is immediate past president when the time comes, this years and a member of the Dallas/Fort Worth our spectacular events, publications, merchandise, web will be my last election as a candidate for ACE. In the Association of Business Economists for a half-dozen services, social media or benefits, it is our members six elections I have participated in as a candidate, I years. I have earned six Exceptional Achievement who donate their time and creativity who make the ACE believe I only had an opposing candidate once — my awards from the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Magic happen. It is amazing that all our volunteers first run to become treasurer in 2004.