KidZania Celebrates its First Global Executive Meeting!
Mexico City, Mexico. KidZania Journal. May 29, 2012. (English). The Central Government of KidZania hosted its first Global Executive Meeting this Monday and Tuesday as part of a series of events that will happen around the Foundation Week of KidZania Cuicuilco.
The event, which took place at the Camino Real Pedregal hotel in southern Mexico City, was attended by representatives of 18 KidZania States, 12 KidZania State Governors and over 50 Global Team members.
Meetings started yesterday morning with a welcome message by Mr. Andrés Fabre –Minister of State of KidZania–, thanking all visitors for traveling from all corners of the world to attend the conference. Shortly after his quick message, Mr. Fabre asked all attendees to introduce themselves, so that everyone knew who they were, the KidZania State they represent and their role.
He then introduced Mr. Xavier López –President of KidZania–, who presented the Address to the Nation, an executive report that showed attendees the latest highlights of key topics of the business, such as the KidZania Strategy, owned facilities, licensed facilities, KidZania USA, merchandising, marketing, PR, interactive and corporate initiatives.
After Mr. López’s presentation, Mr. Andrés Fabre continued with a short explanation of the Ministry of State, highlighting how after just 13 years, KidZania has evolved from a Mexican theme park operator, to a global leader in the edutainment industry.
Mr. Hernán Barbieri –Minister of State–, then presented the K.I.A. 2011 Annual Report, showing in detail the most relevant findings and explaining the attendees how to read and better understand the valuable information that the report contains.
Following a short lunch break, Mr. Sixto Uribe –Minister of Finance–, showed an overview of kidBOX 2.0, the new release of KidZania’s proprietary software. The modules of this new version of the software include: kidPORT, kidBANK, kidZTABLISHMENTS, kidZHOP and kidZTAFF.
Once meetings concluded for the day, all visitors were transported to KidZania Santa Fe, where they were able to discover first-hand the KidZania city where all started 13 years ago. During their tour, visitors walked through the streets, establishments and plazas of KidZania Santa Fe, and all of them stopped at the new Passport Office, where they were able to get their personalized passport.
Subsequently, guests were escorted through the new offices of the Central Government of KidZania, having the opportunity to see by themselves where all the planning, development, customization and production of all KidZania cities takes place.
The evening ended with a cocktail at the terrace of the Central Government of KidZania where our international guests were able to unwind, mingle and socialize with their peers from all around the world.
Today’s morning started with a big surprise for all: using the latest technology available, a virtual Urbano greeted and interacted with our guests live at the conference room. Urbano was cheerful and enjoyed having fun with those that approached the stage and started talking with him, asking questions and even dancing!
Cammie Dunaway –Minister of Communications and Governor of KidZania USA–, started presentations today explaining the rationale behind refreshing KidZania’s characters Urbano, Vita and Bache, along with the inclusion of Beebop and Chika, two new characters that will add more diversity and fun to the actual gang.
Then, Mr. López delighted everyone with the new KidZania Story, in which Beebop and Chika have been integrated and bestowed with new rights to keep: the Right to Create and the Right to Share, respectively. These new two rights and its rightkeepers have been incorporated into all elements of the KidZania story, such as the Declaration of Independence, monuments, and even kidZo bills!
Helped by Mr. Hernán Barbieri, Mr. López then gave to representatives of each KidZania State, an updated version of the Declaration of Independence, and invited everyone to place it on a visible space at their local offices.
Mr. Mark Snell –Minister of Culture–, continued the new characters’ presentation with the roll-out plan, which will include the production of high-tech augmented reality trading cards, their own Facebook pages and new mascots. The audience was surprised when Urbano, Vita, Bache, Beebop and Chika actually entered the conference room, wowing everyone with great photo opportunities.
Once the characters left the room, Mrs. Dunaway started a series of Marketing and PR presentations which included Social Media, Earth Day recap, Interactive, and the recently launched B•KidZanian Loyalty Program.
After lunch, Mark Snell showcased the new Variable Program, which is intended to allow all KidZania cities to modify their content on a seasonal basis, providing changes to the activity scripts, new plays, new activities and designs, giving visitors more opportunities to discover new things every time they visit their local KidZania city again.
In the afternoon, Mr. Cove Overley –Minister of Commerce–, explained in detail the new KidZania Merchandising division that opened almost a year ago in Hong Kong. Mr. Overley clarified the steps, process and requirements for ordering new merchandise, emphasizing the great deal of work that each product has been put through, from design, to testing, manufacturing and exporting.
Mr. López closed the day with a very comprehensive presentation of the KidZania Cuicuilco project, guiding guests through each of the five topics that this new KidZania city will focus on: Driving Safety, Health, Community, Civics and Environment. KidZania Cuicuilco will have its Foundation Ceremony this Wednesday, with the participation of Mr. Felipe Calderón –Constitutional President of Mexico–, Ministers of State from various countries, ambassadors, renowned international C-level executives, as well as the 80+ representatives from KidZania States all over the world.
The first KidZania Global Executive Meeting is set to be an annual event that will gather representatives from all KidZania States to exchange ideas, thoughts and best practices, and to strengthen relationships between all members of the KidZania family.
