OIS JE DE BER UL A O: P T PHO Above: A herd of Zebras in captivity, er, rather, launch directors at their on-field headquarters. Below: Launch directors brief a pilot prior to takeoff while demonstrating the herd’s fashion sense. hile no real zebras roam Balloon PHO T Fiesta Park, an assortment of O: P human facsimiles canter over A the field. Wearing horizontal, UL vertical, and angled stripes, DE BER they are visible from every W JE grid. But who are they? Neither costumed apparitions OIS nor imposing judges. They are volunteers of the most professional kind, a trained and dedicated group of officials: the expert team of Launch Directors. And the Balloon Fiesta couldn’t function without them. Headed [in 1994] by Chief Launch Director Jim Jordan and Assistant Director Neida Courtney Bueno [who later served as Balloonmeister in 2011-12], the group – in collaboration with the Balloonmeister and seven [now 13] safety officers – assumes full responsibility for the safe and coordinated launch of up to 650 balloons. Their individual and collective presence safeguards ascensions and controls confusion and chaos. ® 216 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta