PANELIST BIOS
CLOE AMARA, Regional Director of Operations, Treetop Quests
Cloe oversees all aspects of park operations—from the hiring, training, and coaching of park managers to the marketing and sales effort—at Treetop Obstacle Course in Buford, Ga., and a soon-to-open park in Dunwoody, Ga.
BAHMAN AZARM, President, Outdoor Venture Group
Outdoor Venture Group has built 19 of the largest ropes parks in North America, and through Ropes Park Equipment, provides building and operating equipment to many others. It will operate 10 aerial adventure parks in 2015, five of them among the largest in the U.S.
ERICK CYLVICK, President, ZipRescue LLC and Terra-Nova LLC
Eric graduated from Clarkson University with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1988. He worked on the Park City Mountain Resort ski patrol for 14 years and was the Lift Evacuation Coordinator/MARRS instructor. His extensive climbing, lift evacuation experience and engineering background enabled him to design and develop the most advanced lift evacuation and cable transport system available.
KEITH JACOBS, President, Experiential Systems
Keith is a national provider of ropes course, adventure park, and zip line installations, inspections, and trainings. A former ACCT board chair, he is current chair of the Inspector Certification committee and a member of ANSI and ASTM standards writing groups.
KEN JACQUOT, Owner, Challenge Towers
Ken founded Challenge Towers in 1993 to create unique outdoor experiences through innovative ropes course design. Ken has served on the ACCT board of directors and created and chaired the Government Relations committee.
DAVE JOHNSON, Founder, Adirondack Extreme Adventure Course and Outplay Adventures
Dave and family built Adirondack Extreme in Bolton Landing, N.Y., one of the first aerial adventure parks in the U.S., in 2006. In 2009, he helped form Outplay Adventures LLC, which builds and designs TreeGo branded aerial adventure parks.
GERHARD KOMENDA, President and CEO, Tree-Mendous Adventure Parks
Gerhard is an Austrian forester and social therapist; combining his knowledge of trees and his experience with people, he helped found Tree-Mendous to build the greenest and most innovative aerial attractions in the industry.
SHAWN LERNER, CEO/President of Zip-Flyer, LLC
After completing his MBA at New York University, Shawn combined his passion for adventure with his expertise in technology and business to found Zip-Flyer. Since its inception in 2006, Zip-Flyer has designed, manufactured, and installed zip line equipment worldwide. The company currently has 11 Zip-Flyer/Zip-Runner projects underway.
