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Author Topic: 2004 UDITOA (Drive-In Owner's) Convention Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-07-2004 08:35 AM                        Hey everyone. My family and I just got back home from spending a week in sunny and warm Orlando, Florida at the United Drive-In Theatre Owner's Association Convention. Granted.... it's nowhere near the size of a Show East or Show West, but for the drive-in theatre industry, it serves us well. The confernce started off Monday night with a "Meet-n-Greet" mixer in the hotel ballroom. Mostly consisted of talking, shaking hands, etc. with multiple trips to the bar thrown in in-between. Tuesday morning opened with a short introduction period, then followed by two presentations from member owners. Owner - Jim Boyd from Ohio gave a presentation on the hardships and struggles he's faced dealing with the bankers, insurance companies, etc. following the aftermath of a tornado which destroyed BOTH his single screen drive-in as well as his 5 screen indoor theatre in VanWert, Ohio. The second presentation was given by ME and my lovely wife Dawn. I presented the "Dream/Design/Construction & Operation" of building a new Drive-In Theatre in 2003. Tuesday afternoon was the "Annual Business Meeting" of the organization. Tuesday night was "Drive-In Night" in the hotel ballroom, sponsored by John Evans from Gold Medal. We had a small video projector and video player set up in the ballroom, but due to a technical glitch, the movie never got played. I left before that happened... so I guess I didn't miss much. Wednesday morning was the start of our "Trade Show Day". Instead of everyone going vendor to vendor to see their products, the vendors set up tables in the ballroom, then each were given about 20-25 minutes to "pitch" their product or service to the entire group. We got to meet with reps from: "BIG SKY Industries" (Projection Equipment) " Superior Quartz" (Xenon Bulb mfg's) "RTS" - Ready Theatre Systems (Ticket & Concessions Sales software) "PMG" - Promotional Materials (i.e. Popcorn tubs, bags, cups, etc.) "National Ticket" (Ticket printing and supplies) "Promotion in Motion" (Concession Candy Suppliers) "Virginia Toy Co." (LED and Glow in the dark Novelties) and everybody's favorite... David Bevilacqua from Jack Roe USA, Inc. Dave did a great job presenting their products, especially the variety of splicing tapes available. Handing out free samples of splicing tape to cheap drive-in owners is a sure way to win the hearts of one and all!! There were a couple of other exhibitors, but I can't remeber who they were. Wednesday night a group of about 25-30 of us drove down to Lakeland, Florida for our annual trip to the Silvermoon Drive-In Theatre. Didn't really care for the movies they were showing, but they did serve a pretty good pizza and BEER at the concession stand! Thursday morning we were treated to a great presentation by Kodak's very own John Pytlak. I've been a member of Film-Tech since 1999, and it was certainly a priviledge to finally meet John. Thursday afternoon we were given a presentation by the folks from "Arbitron". Thursday night was the grand finale of the convention with the "Hawaiian Luau" night. Great food, great entertainment, very good looking Hula dancers. I have some great video and photos of both my wife and David Bevilacqua getting down and dirty with the Hula Dancers!! Jack Ondracek, John Pytlak, Randy Loy and I all got together for a couple of "Fellow Film-Tech'er" photographs. Friday Morning we all got together one last time, said our good-byes and well wishes and went our separate ways until February of next year. We left the Orlando area Friday morning about noon with the sun shining through the open sunroof and a balmy 85 degrees outside. We finaly made it back home last night in the middle Tennessee area about 12:45 a.m. with temps in the low 30's and woke up this morning with SNOW! Hopefully when Randy, Jack & John get back in town, they'll be able to post some of their photos as well. [ 02-07-2004, 10:18 PM: Message edited by: Barry Floyd ]  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 02-07-2004 10:34 AM                    Drive-In Theatre Owner's Association Both of you?  |  IP: Logged Phil Blake Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 558 From: esperance western australia Registered: Nov 2003 posted 02-07-2004 10:44 AM                        I am amazed the drive in's are still so alive in this day and age. They spelt the beginning of my projectionists career , I have many fond memories. Have a look at www.westnet.com.au/dakota probably very different to USA drive in's  |  IP: Logged Bob Maar (Maar stands for Maartini) Posts: 28608 From: New York City & Newport, RI Registered: Feb 2001 posted 02-07-2004 02:03 PM                        Nice article in Box Office this month by Randy Loy and his wife.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 02-07-2004 05:02 PM                        quote: but they did serve a pretty good pizza and BEER at the concession stand! Wow, we'd get sued into the stone age if we tried that here. Good to hear you had a good time!  |  IP: Logged Barry Floyd Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1079 From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 02-07-2004 06:51 PM                        Yeah... we've always been amazed at the concept of BEER at the concession stand. They serve it in cans, and you can not open the can inside the building.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 02-07-2004 06:57 PM                        I guess that goes in-line with being able to privately sell beer and other alcohol. Since they're only selling it to you... you're supposed to take it home and drink it. So maybe you could do it in Alberta and Quebec (and other provinces who's Liquor Control Board allows private sale of alcohol). The legal repercussions if someone were ever injured / killed would still be enormous regardless of private sale laws.  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 02-07-2004 09:24 PM                        quote: Drive-In Theatre Owner's Association Both of you? About 128, actually... Barry's right though... it was much fun this year. We're still in Orlando, though. Our flight to Seattle was cancelled when the co-pilot got sick & they didn't have ANYONE else to sit in the seat. The flight attendants all left the plane in street clothes, then they announced the flight was cancelled. It took almost 3 1/2 hours for the ticket staff... all 3 of them to arrange rooms for us... using the local phone book (they have no contingency plan for this, obviously). We got shuttled to a Holiday Inn at 10pm, in an area where there are NO restaurants. However, the friendly staff here told us they have provided PIZZA menues in our rooms, and we're presently perusing them. We have about 5 hours to use in restful slumber, following which we'll be shuttled off again to the airport... where we will await the 1 or 2 security guards that will scan the WHOLE planeload of passengers again. Ummmmmm.... this part was lots of fun. Remember this if you ever consider Alaska Airlines out of Orlando! quote: (from Barry) ...to cheap drive-in owners is a sure way to win the hearts of one and all!! There were a couple of other exhibitors, but I can't remeber who they were Ron Lutsock from Strong Intl, Bill Booth of "Drive-In Radio" (Pre-Show audio services) NCS cash, coin & ticket counting equipment (pretty interesting... counts by weight). On Thursday, Rob and Jessica Chabot presented the RTS ticketing and concession sales system. [ 02-07-2004, 11:30 PM: Message edited by: Jack Ondracek ]  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-09-2004 05:39 AM                        Sounds like fun. There was a nice article in the current issue of Boxoffice, too (a little late, though). Did anyone take pictures that could be posted as a sneak preview?  |  IP: Logged Randy Loy Expert Film Handler Posts: 156 Registered: Aug 1999 posted 02-09-2004 12:30 PM                     The convention was a great deal of fun and very informative. As always, it was sad to see it end and to have to leave the warm weather of Florida to return to Maryland. (Brrrrrr!) Also, the camaraderie one feels while spending a week with people very passionate about outdoor motion picture exhibition is hard to walk away from. Each year the UDITOA convention seems more and more like a big family reunion. It was great getting to hear John Pytlak speak. My wife, Debrean, and I also had the honor of having dinner with John and his wife during the luau. Thanks for speaking at the conference John! Bob, thanks for the compliment about the BOXOFFICE article. BOXOFFICE did a piece on UDITOA when it was formed in 1999 so we thought a five year update might be nice. The group certainly has grown since then! Off the top of my head I think Jack is right about the 128 attendees at the convention. UDITOA currently represents 155 drive-in theatres, for a total of 246 outdoor screens. There are believed to be 401 drive-in theatres in operation in the United States and more in Canada, Australia and a few other countries. Each year our membership grows as word gets around that there is an exhibitor organization specific to drive-in theatre operators. I'm sure there are some photos from the convention floating around. I know that photos were taken of Jack, Barry, John and myself since we are all Film-Techers in attendance at the convention. We'll have to see if we can get some posted.  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 02-09-2004 02:03 PM                        My wife Betsy and I had lots of fun too, and took quite a few photos (including Dave Bevilacqua doing the hula dance with a very attractive lady! ). Maybe best to send them to Brad for posting as a special event in the Film-Tech "Pictures" section.  |  IP: Logged

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