IAAPA has announced the winners of its 2022 Service Awards.
The IAAPA Lifetime Service Award has been given to Franceen Gonzales, who has been an IAAPA member for nearly 40 years. The chief experience officer at WhiteWater served as an IAAPA board member from 2011-2013 and again from 2019-2022 and is a subject matter expert for Funworld Magazine.
Phil Wilson has been awarded the IAAPA Meritorious Service Award. Wilson is the chief development officer for Extreme Engineering and has served on 12 IAAPA committees. He also spent eight years on the Space Allocation Committee, supporting more than 1,100 exhibitors across the world in securing their IAAPA Expo booth.
An IAAPA Outstanding Service Award has gone to Ryan Stana, who has been a part of IAAPA’s Entertainment Committee for more than 10 years and speaks at the IAAPA Expo. Alongside his work as the chief executive officer of the RWS Entertainment Group, he also shares his industry expertise by participating in Funworld Magazine articles.
The IAAPA Young Professional of the Year has been awarded to Josh Liebman, who began his attractions career as a ride operator at Cedar Point when he was 18 years old. Since then he has worked for Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and Merlin Entertainments. He has also been a part of the leadership teams of the opening of multiple parks including Hard Rock Park and Legoland Florida.
