The candidate list for the board of directors for the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) is now set. Voting runs from Jan. 9 through Jan. 24. There are three seats up for election, one each by Accredited Operation Members (a new category of representation for the board), Accredited Vendor Members (formerly Professional Vendor Members), and the general membership (including all ACCT members and sub-accounts).
Three candidates are running for the general membership seat: incumbent Jason Ong of Eneres; Ben Ream of Navitat Knoxville; and Michael Richardson of Momentum Engineering. All ACCT members and sub-accounts may vote in this category.
Three candidates are running for the Accredited Vendor seat: incumbent Erik Marter of Synergo; Austin Oates of Phoenix Experiential Design; and Romain Aubrun of Kanopeo. Only Accredited Vendor Members may vote for this seat.
The lone candidate and odds-on favorite for the Accredited Operator seat is JJ Stapleton of the Adventure Park at Sandy Springs. Only Accredited Operation Members may vote for this seat.
Here’s a brief look at the candidates. More complete bios and election description are available here.
General Membership candidates
Ben Ream, Navitat Knoxville
Ream joined Navitat Knoxville as sales director in 2019 and was promoted to general manager in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. His perspective on the industry is that of a guest, despite his several years on the business side of aerial adventure.
“I am an outsider,” he says. “I bring the perspective of someone who is passionate about sharing my love of aerial adventure with the world, but who hasn’t been steeped in the culture for decades. … ACCT needs those who are just getting started as much as those who laid the very foundations of the industry.”
Inclusion is a key value for Ream. “Having spent more than a decade on federal disability, I was not someone to whom aerial adventure was traditionally accessible,” he says. “My tenure as an operator has been informed by both my passion and my limitations.”
While Ream has not served in any capacity within ACCT, he has been active in a variety of local organizations, from forming a volunteer litter cleanup group to serving on the City of Knoxville Public Property Naming Commission and Better Building Board. “I strongly believe that community success is built on the service of those who are able and willing,” he says.
Jason Ong, eNeReS
Jason began his career in the outdoors with Outward Bound. As group director of operations for international team builder eNeReS and a longtime member of Outward Bound Malaysia, he has played a key role in the evolution of the outdoor industry across Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
On the current ACCT board, Ong serves as board liaison for the international committee, which has expanded ACCT’s reach and influence. This has, he says, “provided me with a broader perspective on the diverse ways challenge courses are used to inspire personal growth and community-building across cultures.”
Some key issues for Ong:
- Emerging safety concerns, such as risk mitigation for new technologies and the use of AI in safety monitoring.
- Adopting sustainable practices.
- Diversity in participation and leadership … “As the global market for challenge courses grows, operators must be more attuned to the cultural differences that may impact how courses are designed and how people engage with them.”
- Need for ongoing professional development to keep up with evolving standards, technology, and trends.
- Development of unified standards that ensure safety and quality across different regions, especially in countries where the challenge course industry is emerging.
“By addressing these pressing issues [along with many others Ong has outlined on the ACCT website], the challenge course industry can ensure its continued relevance, safety, and growth in the face of new challenges and opportunities,” Ong says.
Michael Richardson, Momentum Engineering
An engineer and consultant, Richardson has 35 years of experience building aerial adventure rides, including construction of a 600-foot vertical, 3,500-foot-long zipline in 2002 that has run accident-free from its inauguration. Since then, he has researched more than 200 aerial adventure incidents and he has, he says, “the empirical data that follows what the insurance companies are verifying.”
Richardson believes he can contribute to ACCT by “sharing my empirical data, experience, engineering, and technical writing to improve the standards and help the industry become safer.”
His candidate profile further explains, “I have investigated zipline and challenge course accidents that some PVMs or board members built. Some board members have testified about, and inspected these courses and found them satisfactory; yet my expert reports found the courses in violation of the standards.”
His volunteer and organizational experience includes serving as a board member of the Professional Ropes Course Association (PRCA) in 2016-2017.
Accredited Vendor Members:
Austin Oates, Phoenix Experiential Designs
Oates has more than 15 years of experience in the challenge course world. His focus has been on designing and constructing courses “that exceed the highest industry standards,” he says. “My experiences have provided me with a unique perspective, offering a glimpse into nearly every aspect of the challenge course industry.”
“Growing up” within the ACCT, he adds, means he understands ACCT’s “roots and core values” while also recognizing that the industry’s needs are evolving.
A key core value for Oates is safety, as that engenders trust in the industry’s customers. “Solidifying trust at every opportunity is essential to maintaining a lasting tradition of providing people with safe, transformative experiences,” he says. “By consistently prioritizing safety, transparency, and integrity, individuals and organizations feel confident in the experiences we create.”
Becoming a Board member would be Oates’ first active participation within the organization, but he has other recent volunteer experience. “As a first-time father, I volunteer at my daughter’s preschool,” he says. Further, in the wake of Hurricane Helene, he notes, “I contributed to the cleanup efforts, helping to rebuild and restore the community. These experiences have rekindled my commitment to service at home and within our industry.”
Erik Marter, Synergo
Marter, who has just wrapped up a three-year term on the Board as treasurer, has owned Synergo for 30 years, and been a PVM for 22 years. The company designs, installs, operates, and provides training for challenge courses, commercial zipline tours, and adventure parks. He started his career in 1980 working at a camp that serves youth and adults with disabilities, and remains involved with that camp today.
As Board treasurer, he says, “I am working with staff, committees, and other volunteers to take a look at the long-term direction of our association from financial perspective.” That’s a role he aims to continue. In addition, he hopes to help streamline the standards-writing process so that it “better aligns with the needs of the industry and the members of the association.”
As the industry continues to change, “ACCT as an association will be required to refocus our direction and energy to support vendors, operators, and constituents over the coming years,” Marter says. While the ACCT staff and volunteer committees manage the day-to-day operations well, the Board’s role is to focus on the longer-term, “2, 4, and 6 year plan.”
Previously, Marter served on the board from 2005-2011, serving as chair for four of those years. He has also served on several other ACCT committees.
Romain Aubrun, Kanopeo GmbH
Aubrun has worked in the worldwide ropes course industry for more than 15 years, particularly in the areas of safety equipment and PPE development. He’s been an exhibitor at ACCT conferences for 15 years. Perhaps as important, he takes part in more than a dozen trade shows around the world each year, experience that could prove useful for the planning of future ACCT events.
As a Board member, it would be his goal to “maintain and develop interest in the organization among the operators and future business owners of tomorrow,” he says. Two key aspects of that, he says, are to keep safety requirements “at the highest standards” and “to promote the industry to as many people as possible.”
Accredited Operation Members
JJ Stapleton, The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring
Stapleton, the only candidate for the Accredited Members slot, became involved in the industry a decade ago. He has worked his way up from part-time facilitator to director of operations for The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring (Md.), where he oversees training, facilitation, maintenance, and PPE. His experience includes creating systems and structures, writing LOPs and SOPs, development of training curricula, and project management.
Within ACCT, Stapleton was a member of the Accreditation and Certification Committee, and is a current member of the Program Work Group. He is the chair of the Accredited Operations Affinity Group, and is also an approved operations reviewer. He has presented workshops and pre-conference sessions at the annual ACCT conference, and helped run the Accredited Member Symposium.
Looking ahead, Stapleton is “excited to see the expansion of the Accredited Operations (and Accredited Vendors) programs, and find ways to create increased engagement and benefit for those groups, as well as for all members,” he says.
He also hopes to help ACCT “become financially stable, create more opportunities for virtual and in-person collaboration, and increase conference offerings as well as conference presence in international spaces.”
