Wendy Heimann-Nunes, Susan Bonds and Nancy Seruto
On the topic of Theas Three industry leaders talk about the TEA Thea Awards: Nancy Seruto, Susan Bonds, and Wendy Heimann-Nunes Interviews for InPark by Clara Rice
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he three women interviewed here in connection with the 26th annual TEA Thea Awards are all entrepreneurs and innovators. All have owned their own businesses and worked for major theme park operators, and all have worked to help foster a more diverse, dynamic, and successful industry.
Susan Bonds, CEO 42 Entertainment and Animal Repair Shop A systems engineer by training, Susan began her career in aerospace at Lockheed’s Advanced Development Projects, then joined Walt Disney Imagineering, where her projects included “Indiana Jones Adventure” at Disneyland and “Mission: SPACE” at Epcot. She went on to produce the MMORPG “Uru: Ages Beyond Myst” before co-founding 42 Entertainment in 2004. Susan Bonds chaired the 26th annual TEA Thea Awards Committee.
Susan Bonds: “True convergence” is the alignment of social, technology, gaming, and storytelling, giving audiences an authentic and validated role in the experience. At WDI we constantly talked about the envelope and how to fully immerse guests. Today, designers have tools to capitalize on immersion: to build shared experiences and engage characters to affect agency and outcome. CR: You advocated for TEA to create a Connected Immersion category for the Thea Awards. How do you see connected immersion evolving in the next few years, and where does that leave more traditional experiences? SB: Connected Immersion is a category meant to recognize experiences that blend the digital and real world. The challenge early on in our industry was to make something classic that lasts – 10, 25, 50 or even 100 years. The opportunity now is to make something that can be reprogrammed as the audience evolves.
Clara Rice: Your 42 Entertainment bio refers to the term “true convergence.” What is true convergence?
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