The lineup of speakers and panelists for Surf Park Summit 2020, March 31 / April 1 at the Scripps Seaside Forum in La Jolla, California is unprecedented. The summit audience is approaching capacity and showing a strong mix of current and future surf park developers, operators, investors, surf industry execs/legends, architects, engineers and suppliers across a wide range of man-made surf destination elements from design, development, financing and construction to sustainability, water treatment, creating authentic surf experiences, specialty insurance, risk management and everything in between. (The full Surf Park Summit 2020 event program will be released in the coming weeks)

The lineup of speakers and panels just keeps getting better. Building on an already exceptional lineup that includes: every major wave technology in the surf park and surf venue space ( Surf Loch, Wavegarden, American Wave Machines, KS Wave Co, Surf Lakes, Webber Wave Pools); each of the major new commercial surf park developments across three continents (URBNSURF, The Wave, DSRT Surf / Beach Street Development, Palm Springs Surf Club, Atlantic Park, and more…); major real estate investment groups; sustainability leaders, surf therapy experts, surf park design experts, surf park operations specialists, risk management experts, surfing legends and the designers of modern professional surfing.

Surf Park Summit 2020 is pleased to announce Chris Cote as the MC for the event. Chris has a surf and skate media pedigree that includes magazine editorships and most recently the host and producer of the popular WSL Surf Breaks video series at the World Surf League. He will guide Surf Park Summit through a program that has been updated to include the following new speakers and topics.

• Fernando Aguerre, longtime President of the International Surfing Association, was the force behind the decade long push for surfing’s inclusion in the Olympics. Fernando will be joining Surf Park Summit 2020 to preview surfing’s Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games and outline his thoughts on the future of surf parks in competition, the olympics, and beyond.

• California State Majority Leader Ian Calderon is leading the drafting of new legislation that will regulate safety and operational standards specifically for the surf park industry in California which will likely inform similar regulations throughout the US and globally. Assemblyman Calderon will outline the process for the Surf Park Summit Audience before participating in a panel on Surf Venue water and safety regulation. John Luff, Chair of the Council for the Model Health Aquatic Code’s ‘Surf Venue Ad Hoc Committee’, will moderate the panel that will also feature representatives from ASTM, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and the Council for the Model Health Aquatic Code (CMAHC). Additional panels will discuss water quality and filtration issues for surf parks featuring industry leaders Evoqua and Cloward H20, and risk management featuring Allied Specialty Insurance and Amped Insurance.

• Dave Likins of Beach Street Development & DSRT Surf, who was recently profiled in a series of articles for Surf Park Central, the former Chief Operating Officer at Kelly Slater Wave Company and former President of Mammoth Resorts, will moderate a surf park finance panel with Andrew Limbocker of EPR Properties and Sebastian Smith from STORE Capital.

• Public private partnerships, which have been key to most surf park developments to date, will be discussed by a panel including Doug Sheres of Beach Street Development and DSRT Surf, Wayne Olson from the City of Palm Desert, Mike Culpepper of Venture Reality Group and Ron Williams from the City of Virginia Beach who are developing Atlantic Park with public support, and the support of musical superstar Pharrell Williams.

• Ru Hill founded Surf Simply in 2007, a unique, high-end surf coaching resort in Nosara, Costa Rica that bodes well for man-made surf destination developers. Surf Simply has a thousand dollar per person per day price tag AND is booked out two years in advance!

• Additional new opportunities for surf parks to unlock greater participation of women in the sport will be discussed in a panel moderated by well known outdoors and travel industry podcast host and surfer Shelby Stanger and Founder / CEO of the highly successful women’s focused surf school and surf shop, Surf Diva, Izzy Tihanyi.

• Dev Pathik co-founder & CEO of Sport Facilities Advisory and co-founder of Sport Facilities Advisory & Management which has been involved with $10bn worth of projects in 2000 communities that are visited more than 2 million times each year, and Anthony Brown, founder and chairman of Ocean Sports Development, US licensee for Webber Wave Pools, will join Greg Webber of Webber Wave Pools.

• The surface of surf park potential for professional surfing is only just being scratched. The future of pro surfing in the evolving surf park space will be explored across panels of pro surfing ‘founders’ and surf media experts that include 1968 world champion and founder of the original world professional surfing tour, Fred Hemmings, his right hand woman in founding pro surfing Patti Paniccia, 1976 world champion Peter ‘PT’ Townend, 1977 world champion Shaun Tomson, Ian ‘Kanga’ Cairns surfing champion and Association of Surfing Professionals’ first Director, 1982 world champion Debbie Beacham, along with Dave Prodan, SVP of Global Brand Identity at the World Surf League.

• The issue of presenting authentic representations of surf history and culture, and indeed cultivating authentic surfing cultures distant from the traditional surfing coastlines will be addressed by a panel including surf culture icon and Pipeline Master, Rob Machado, President of the California Surf Museum, Jim Kempton, and President of the Surf History and Culture Center, Glenn Brummage.

Check this link for more information on attending Surf Park Summit here

The Surf Park Summit 2020 list of speakers and panelists currently confirmed include the following list:

Fernando Aguerre, International Surfing Association, President Debbie Beacham, 1982 World Surfing Champion Anthony Brown, Ocean Sports Development, Founder and Chairman Glenn Brummage, Surfing Heritage and Culture Center, President Ian Cairns, Surf Legend, first Director of the Association of Surfing Professionals Ian Calderon, California State Assembly District 57, Majority Leader Allen Clawson, Cloward H2O, Principal Chris Cote, Host & Producer, WSL Surf Breaks Greg Cruse, USA Surfing, CEO Mike Culpepper, Venture Realty Group & Atlantic Park, Managing Member Tony Finn, BSR Surf Resort, UNIT Surf Pools US Distributor & Co-Founder of Liquid Force Nick Franklin, KS Wave Co, President Fred Hemmings, 1968 World Surfing Champion, Founder of Professional Surfing Ru Hill, Surf Simply, Founder & Owner Nick Hounsfield, The Wave, Bristol, Founder Jim Kempton, California Surf Museum, President Carl Kish, STOKE, Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Limbocker, EPR Properties, VP Recreation Investment Group Tom Lochtefeld, Surf Loch, Founder & CEO Dave Likins, Beach Street Development & DSRT Surf, Partner Mike Lopez, American Wave Machines, VP John Luff, Surf Park Summit Co-Founder, Surf Park Central Founder, Beach Street Development & DSRT Surf, Partner Rob Machado, Pipeline Masters Champion, Environmental Activist, Surfboard Designer, Rob Machado Foundation Cheyne Magnusson, Palm Springs Surf Club, Partner & Former GM at BSR Surf Resort Ross McCarthy, AirWave, Founder Shaw Mead (Managing Director) & Ed Atkin (Director), eCoast Tasha Mentasti, Surf Therapist, Co-Founder SurfX Chad Nelson, CEO Surfrider Foundation Fernando Odriozola, Wavegarden, Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer Wayne Olson, City of Palm Desert, Senior Development Analyst Reece Pacheco, WSL, VP Ocean Responsibility, ED WSL PURE Patti Paniccia, Surfing Legend, Former Pro Surfer, Founder of Professional Surfing Tour (IPS) Dev Pathik, Sports Facilities Advisory, Founder & CEO Jess Ponting, Center for Surf Research, Director; Surf Park Summit & STOKE, Co-Founder Kris Primacio, International Surf Therapy Organization, ED Dave Prodan, World Surf League, SVP Global Brand Identity Andrew Ross, URBNSURF Australia, Founder & Executive Director Doug Sheres, DSRT Surf & Beach Street Development, Partner Sebastian Smith, STORE Capital, Managing Director Shelby Stanger, Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast Creator and Host Sean Swentek, A Walk on Water Surf Therapy, Executive Director Mark ‘Skip’ Taylor, Surf Park Management, Co-Founder Cate Thero, Surf Park Management, Co-founder Izzy Tihanyi, Surf Diva Inc, CEO / Founder Shaun Tomson, 1977 World Surfing Champion, Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker Peter ‘PT’ Townend, 1976 World Surfing Champion, Surfing Legend Aaron Trevis, Surf Lakes, Founder & CEO Greg Webber, Webber Wave Pools, Founder Ron Williams, City of Virginia Beach, Deputy City manager Sean Young, Wavegarden, Head of Development Projects

Check this link for more information on attending Surf Park Summit here

Surf Park Summit 2020 is adding several more equally qualified speakers and panelists over the coming weeks and will also have a few special guests / presenters that prefer to remain undisclosed.

Previous Surf Park Summit invitees and attendees do not need to request an invitation. You can proceed directly to Standard Registration or VIP Registration.

For those that have already registered or plan to register, please keep in mind that the summit hotel room block will likely reach capacity within the next few days and you should book now to take advantage of discounted rates, ocean views, and additional perks.