The Blue Man Group news has been rumored for months, and was all but confirmed by a BMG insider on the TPI discussion board last month.
I first saw Blue Man Group in its original show off-off-Broadway in New York. (Trivia time: I sat directly behind Ron Howard. My friends had been making jokes about this bald guy in front of us watching the Blue Man Group -- who are each, spectacularly, bald. Then, after the show, the bald guy stands up, turns around, and we see that he's none other but Mr. Opie Cunningham. I bust out laughing and he glared at us. Good times!) Back on topic... I can't wait to see this show again. BMG and Cirque provide the most original, engaging and entertaining shows I've ever seen. Having them both in Orlando will be a real treat for theme park visitors and Central Florida residents.
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Which brings me to Part Two of today's post. Living in Southern California, I just can't get to theme park media events like this in Orlando and elsewhere on the east coast and midwest. (Not to mention Europe and Japan!) Nevertheless, I would like to see them covered on Theme Park Insider. These events can be great opportunities to get pictures, concept art, fact sheets and, most important, interviews for the site. The events I've attended in here SoCal, such as at Legoland and Universal Studios Hollywood, have helped inform TPI readers about upcoming new attractions.
So, I'd like to get more coverage of these press events. And I am asking Theme Park Insider readers to help. So here's the new plan. Whenever I get an invitation to a press event I cannot attend myself, I will post a note here on the Blog Flume. The first eligible reader who volunteers will get the gig to go cover the event.
So who's eligible? There are three criteria: One, you must live within a short drive of the event's location, since we're not paying expenses to cover it. Two, you must be a registered Theme Park Insider member who is posting to the site under his/her full, real name. (That's my journalism background there. If you're going to represent the site at an industry function, you can't do so anonymously.) And, three, you must have posted to TPI about the park, such as updating a description on a park listing page or submitting a Blog Flume news entry or a thoughtful comment. (In other words, no lurkers or first-time posters.)
I reserve the right to exclude volunteers if I think that they are not up to the task. After all, this does require some work. You'll have to attend the event, on time, and file a Blog Flume report to TPI by the end of the day, including a description, a photo or two and, I hope, a short interview with one of the speakers. (And don't worry, I'll e-mail you plenty of guidance in advance.)
The benefit to you is insider's access backstage at your favorite theme park, the first official look at a new attraction and a chance to talk with the people who are making it happen.
Finally, a note to the theme park PR people who read the site: If you've stopped sending Theme Park Insider your press event invites because I haven't been able to attend in the past, please put us back on your list. As you've just read, I'll be sending site members I've vetted to cover these events, and we'd love to get the news from these events out to our other readers quickly. Our address for press releases, event invitations and media kits is:
Robert Niles, Editor
ThemeParkInsider.com
315 S Sierra Madre Blvd, Suite C
Pasadena, CA 91107
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