Attraction Networking: Building the Global Deals Behind the Rides

Emily Popovich, Director of Global Business Development at KMI International and former IAAPA executive leader, shares why relationships are the true infrastructure behind the attractions industry. Her core message: reputations create opportunities long before projects reach the budget or build phase.

The Executive Brief

Problem: Operators focus on short-term transactions over long-term relationships, missing future growth, project, and partnership opportunities.

The Transformation: Build a reputation-driven network of trust and credibility to accelerate decisions and reduce development risk.

The Strategy: Invest in relationships early, maintain strong credibility, and leverage trusted networks to launch successful projects.

The Strategic Framework: The Relationship Capital Sprint

Phase 1: Lead with Curiosity
Focus on understanding people before evaluating opportunities. Strong partnerships begin with genuine interest, not transactions.

Phase 2: Capture Potential
Treat every conversation as a future opportunity. The industry’s biggest projects often begin as ideas that seem impossible.

Phase 3: Build Through Trust
Use reputation and proven relationships to identify the right partners, suppliers, and collaborators.

Phase 4: Protect Your Reputation
Own mistakes, communicate transparently, and consistently do the right thing. Reputation compounds over time.

Operational Excellence

Leadership principles from the discussion that attraction leaders can immediately apply to drive enterprise growth:

Curiosity creates stronger partnerships.

Long sales cycles require patience and consistency.

Great ideas deserve thoughtful consideration.

Trusted introductions accelerate growth.

Accountability builds lasting credibility.

Relationships outperform transactions.

When revenue growth relies solely on short-term sales tactics, pipelines inevitably stall. Investing in long-term relationship infrastructure is what creates predictable, scalable expansion.

Strategic Growth Story

Meow Wolf: From Unconventional Idea to Industry Success

Emily highlighted Meow Wolf as a reminder that transformative attractions often begin with ideas that seem unconventional. By embracing creativity, collaboration, and long-term vision, the concept evolved into one of the industry’s most recognized immersive entertainment brands.

The Power Quote

“The most valuable thing within our industry is the reputation that you’ve developed for yourself.”
– Emily Popovich

Scale with Intentionality

The strongest attractions are built on trust, relationships, and operational excellence. When combined with the right systems for ticketing, admissions, POS, and guest experience management, those relationships become scalable growth engines. That’s where technology partners like Gatemaster come in—powering billions of dollars in transactions across 800+ attractions to help operators transform trusted connections into measurable results.

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