Category Archives: sun and fun

FLORIDA RESTAURANT & LODGING ASSOCIATION IS PRESENTING SPONSOR OF 2022 SUN ‘N FUN AEROSPACE EXPO

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Lakeland, FL: The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the annual SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo, with events being held Tuesday, April 5th through Sunday, April 10th at the Lakeland Linder International Airport.

“The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is the proud title sponsor of the 2022 the SUN ‘n FUN AeroSpace Expo, ” said FRLA President & CEO Carol Dover. “This event brings over 200,000 visitors from across the nation to Central Florida’s Lakeland Linder International Airport, supporting local tourism and bringing new faces to the area’s restaurants and lodging establishments.”

FRLA’s mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s hospitality industry. As Florida’s largest convention and the second largest airshow in the country, the SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo generates an average of $249 million in local economic impact each year.

Throughout the week, afternoon airshows will showcase aerobatics and precision flying as ground displays and guest speakers highlight the history of aviation. The event is designed to preserve and enhance the future of flight through world-class events, inspiring and educating people of all ages.

The Aerospace Center of Excellence has a new Executive Director

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Lakeland, FL October 06, 2021 – The Aerospace Center of Excellence (ACE) announced today that Daryl Price has been appointed new Executive Director for the organization. An experienced business leader and aviation professional, Daryl will succeed Ed Young and assumed responsibilities on September 20th.

Relocating from Appleton, Wisconsin, Daryl will immediately begin having a direct impact on the ACE campus. After building and providing executive leadership to DJParagon, LLC for 22 years, his impact at ACE will be evident. DJ Paragon is a world class training and technology company specializing in strategic and tactical business integration and training of technical, operational and mission-critical business process systems. Leading the way, he developed and managed a world-class business training and technology company from inception to $18,000,000 annual revenue with 34 leading-edge emerging technology/data engineers and a customer presence throughout U.S. and 17 foreign countries.

President and CEO, John “Lites” Leenhouts states, “Daryl comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge, that partners exquisitely with a very engaging personality, all of which will be instrumental in leading our ACE Team as we bring the SkyLab Innovation Center to life.”

Daryl Price pursued Bachelor of Science Studies in Applied Mathematics and Physics from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and earned an Associate degree in Data Networking and Telecommunications from Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, Wisconsin. Over the years he has achieved various note-worthy accomplishments and certifications including: Aviation Crisis and Disaster Management-Critical Event Leadership; was a regular participant and speaker at the HAI International Expo and Safety Seminar, and achieved MCI-Critical Incident Management Certification. He is a commercial pilot in both fixed wing and rotorcraft and a seasoned CFI/CFII.

The Aerospace Center of Excellence’s (ACE) is a 14-building aerospace STEM facility located on the SUN ‘n FUN Expo Campus. ACE has vibrantly created a vision of building a brighter future through aerospace and aviation! This purposeful and innovative vision will soon come to life through the added leadership of Daryl Price.

Sun N Fun 21

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I attended #SNF21 and had a great time.  I gave 13 seminars while I was there and they were very well attended. Way better than I expected.

As far as the vendors, I was very pleased to see a lot of aircraft manufacturers supporting the show and the aviation industry.

I did walk through the building and while vendors numbers were lower than before, I was very surprise at the number of people and vendors.

Interestingly, a few vendors opted for what I would say was big “Billboard” instead of a “manned” booth. Personably, I didn’t stop and look at the billboard or the videos they were playing. I am guessing neither did many of the other attendees.  Probably should have had a real person in the booth, just saying.

Anyway, here are a few of the pictures I took.