InPark Magazine Issue #88 (September, 2021)

issue 88, September 2021 inparkmagazine.com

pushing the limits with DE-ZYN studios

issue 88, September 2021

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Getting to The Point Cedar Point GM Carrie Boldman helps the park adapt for the future • by Martin Palicki

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Orlando transitions Eric Cantrell (7thSense) and Greg Senner (Scenario) • by Jordan Zauha

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Meet DE-ZYN studios On the creative frontier with John Miceli and DE-ZYN studios • by Judith Rubin I am not an “ADA guest” Design conventions affect how people access entire categories of experiences

by Kathryn Woodcock, PhD, CCPE, ICAE, PEng Back to Barcelona

20 Jakob Wahl, vice president of IAAPA EMEA, on IAAPA Expo’s return to Europe

by Martin Palicki SATE on!

InPark Magazine (ISSN 15531767) is published by Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC. 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Shipping address: 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Phone: +1-262-412-7107.

Printing by Johnson Press of America.

Contents © 2021 InPark Magazine. All rights reserved.

Nothing in the magazine may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the magazine. InPark Magazine is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or illustrations.

Such material must be accompanied by a selfadressed and stamped envelope to be returned.

Postmaster: Send address changes to InPark Magazine 2349 E Ohio Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53207, USA. Subscriptions are available annually for $45 per year ($70 international).

Opinions expressed in editorial matter are not necessarily those of InPark Magazine or its publishers, Martin Chronicles Publishing, LLC.

22 TEA past president David Willrich on the upcoming SATE conference • by Martin Palicki

Take flight with a big-picture approach

24 A holistic mindset enhances problem solving and product development

by Scott Harkless The serpent rises

26 ProSlide and Europa-Park partner on highly themed water play structure

by Joe Kleiman

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Meet Lindsey Nelson TEA’s new Executive Director • by Martin Palicki Giving 3D experiences long-awaited new punch

30 New projection technology promises a brighter future for 3D attractions

by Joe Kleiman

A World’s Fair in Minnesota

34 Exclusive interview with Mark Ritchie from the Minnesota World’s Fair Bid Commitee

by Jim Ogul

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Coasters and carousels by the sea 125 years of Blackpool Pleasure Beach • by Blackpool Pleasure Beach

team & contributors

COVER:

DE-ZYN studios played an important role in the development of the Grand Lobby (pictured) and Union Station Express experiences at the St. Louis Aquarium.

Photo courtesy of St. Louis Aquarium

PUBLISHER Martin Palicki

DESIGN Martin Palicki

EDITOR Judith Rubin

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE Michael Oliver

SENIOR CORRESPONDENT Joe Kleiman

CONTRIBUTORS Blackpool Pleasure Beach Scott Harkless Jim Ogul Dr. Kathryn Woodcock Jordan Zauha

NEWS Jordan Zauha

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A profoundly impactful uncertainty

InPark Tracks: Coming soon to a podcast near you

Judith Rubin, InPark Magazine editor

Martin Palicki, InPark Magazine publisher

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he cycles of the pandemic have made it difficult to forecast what recovery will look like. Customer behavior shows that there is demand - in fact there is a craving, a need for the inperson, shared experience that the attractions industry provides.

We in the industry are likewise longing to travel and meet.

Nevertheless, things are going to skew regional - and often virtual - for a while longer. We are weary, grieving and afraid. The uncertainty feels existential. The fear is a hub with spokes.

Uncertainty brings with it a certain artistic freedom, but even creatives in a creative industry need structure. Here are some ideas for tempering that core of fear to prepare for a recovery that’s not yet clear in its shape or details.

• Recognize your strengths. Honor and reconnect with the core qualities that helped you and your business succeed in the past.

• Recognize and leverage opportunity. We’re living outside the comfort zone anyway. A downturn is a time to learn and develop new hard and soft skills, build market share, reinvent. Discard things that no longer work. You can emerge stronger than before.

• Cherish your network. Reach out to family, friends and colleagues. Appreciate them. Honor them. Keeping your relationships strong supports general well-being and positions you and your organization for business recovery.

• Don’t try to make sense of things too soon. Things are what they are. It is a recipe for frustration to try to force meaning and then try to force a solution. Most of what happens is beyond your control. Focusing on a particular outcome can leave you unprepared for what actually happens.

• Lead transparently and candidly. This is a team-culture industry, more horizontal than hierarchical. It’s a core precept that no one person has all the answers, that problems must be aired and discussed, and that solutions are interdependently achieved. Credibility and mutual trust are essential.

• Be self-aware. Tap into how your mind is working and reframe things in a positive direction as needed. Pay attention to what you say and do, and how it affects others.

• Be true to yourself. Tap into your core identity and values to inform your decisions. Value-based decision making is key in a creative industry that continually reinvents and innovates: Where there are not established standards or precedents, apply best practices, values and ethics.

Editor Judith Rubin helps drive content to serve the attractions industry, fostering professional connections, business development and the meaningful exchange of information.

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s I type out this editorial, our team is hard at work assembling the first season of IPM’s new podcast: InPark Tracks. Before we launch the new series, I wanted to explain a little bit about what you can expect, and how it ties in to this publication.

Our episodes are scheduled to air weekly and designed with the busy professional in mind. Many enjoy - or even prefer - an audio platform for consuming industry information. Most episodes are 10-20 minutes long, and will follow one of three formats. First, some episodes will function as audio-book versions of the articles you can find in the pages of InPark and on our website. In many instances, the article will be read by its author. Some early examples of this will include Alcorn McBride’s Scott Harkless reading from his series of columns published in all four of our 2021 magazines.

Other episodes will follow an interview-style format where listeners get to know key industry leaders in a different way. One of the first expanded interview episodes will feature my conversation with TEA’s new executive director, Lindsey Nelson. The text version of that interview appears on page 30 of this issue.

Finally, some episodes will take deep dives into projects and technology that we regularly feature here in the magazine. Some of these stories may span several episodes, in a serial-style format. We look forward to telling stories from The Twilight Saga: Midnight Ride and Ravinia’s Music Box Theater, among others, in upcoming episodes.

Ultimately each podcast connects back to the magazine, providing readers and listeners with more ways to engage with the industry.

If you have ideas for an episode, or are interested in sponsoring InPark Tracks reach out to me via the Contact Us page on our website (inparkmagazine.com).

Stay tuned for more information...

Publisher Martin Palicki founded InPark Magazine in 2004, combining his years of experience working in themed entertainment with his passion for writing and design.

Joe Kleiman, Senior Correspondent Raised in San Diego on theme parks, zoos, and IMAX films, Joe Kleiman would expand his childhood loves into two decades as a projectionist and theater director within the giant screen industry. In addition to his work in commercial and museum operations, Joe has volunteered his time to animal husbandry at leading facilities in California and Texas and has played a leading management role for a number of performing arts companies. Joe has been news editor at InPark Magazine since 2011, becoming the publication’s senior correspondent in 2021. His blog, ThemedReality. com takes an unconventional look at the attractions industry. Follow on twitter @themedreality.

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Getting to The Point Cedar Point GM Carrie Boldman helps the park adapt for the future interview by Martin Palicki

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-year-old Cedar Point is a beloved icon of amusement park history. It is the flagship property of the Cedar Fair parks chain and was honored with the Thea Classic Award in 2018. Now, Carrie Boldman has made history as the first female General Manager of Cedar Point. She was named Vice President and GM of the Sandusky, Ohio park in April 2021, having previously served as Cedar Point’s VP of Merchandise and Games.

Prior to joining the Cedar Fair team in 2013, Boldman spent 16 years as director of product development and design for Disney Parks and Resorts, followed by two years as director of marketing and sales for The Chef ’s Garden, a family-owned sustainable farm in Huron, Ohio. All in all, Boldman brings 25 years of experience in strategic development, brand management and merchandising expertise to her new role.

How will your strong and varied background in merchandise and retail impact your role as GM?

Carrie Boldman

Retail, at its core, is a very guest-focused business. We’re always designing and developing for literally every demographic, making sure we have something for everyone, and listening to our guests.

What are they buying and what do they want to see more of ?

Merchandise is a tangible memory of their Cedar Point visit, and we think a lot about quality – how will this product be used (or remembered) for many years? These ideas also apply to other areas of the park, including foods, rides and shows, as I work with our entire team to keep an eye out for what our guests want, need and expect.

Cedar Point has been a leader in incorporating technology into the experience (The Battle for Cedar Point, for example). How do you see that progressing?

Technology will continue to enhance the park experience, particularly in the area of removing friction from the system. We want to make it easier and faster to perform simple tasks. Some of those examples include mobile ordering, which we’ve started testing at a few locations, and enhancing the mobile app for an easier ticket purchase process. We’re also watching how cashless technology is received at our sister parks as fewer guests bring cash when they visit.

Cedar Point has a reputation as a roller coaster park, but the new Snake River Expedition seems to be a bit of a departure from that. How do narrative-based attractions fit into the park?

Snake River Expedition at Cedar Point Photo courtesy of Cedar Point

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Cedar Point has the best ride package in the world, and we know our guests love our coasters. An attraction like Snake River Expedition really immerses the guest in a story, and at the same time provides a ride that is unique to our park. When you add the ingredients together (the talent, theming and guest interaction) and combine those with the fact that everyone in the family, including a small infant, can take part in the experience, it really makes the ride special. Guest feedback has been incredibly positive. As we move forward, it’s all about balance in the portfolio, delivering thrills for those who love them and family experiences for others.

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As parks reopen, how do you think the guest experience will change in permanent ways?

Guest expectations are higher than ever, and it’s clear that people are so happy to be out of the house and enjoying life. They just want things to be back to normal as quickly as possible.

We continue to work on delivering an amazing and safe guest experience, and this will be a primary focus for years to come.

Certainly, the incorporation of touchless transactions and technology will also be a continued area of focus for us.

A park’s relationship with its seasonal staff is critical and Cedar Point has been in the news for some pretty noteworthy efforts to attract workers (adjusted schedules, boosted pay, signing bonuses…) Can you give us an update on how that approach is working and if you see these as long-term changes for your workforce?

Our approach worked very well this year, and the result is that we are staffed appropriately and entertaining guests every day.

As we move forward, we know a great associate experience is vital to attracting talent and having them return the next season.

We’ve made improvements to our associate housing, we offer complimentary tickets and discounts, flexible schedules and opportunities for future careers through our internship program.

We’re also adding more than 300 full-time jobs and we hope to fill many of these with seasonal associates who want to advance their career and stay in the business of fun.

How do you define your approach to managing the park?

Right now, I am very hands-on as I learn new things. I’m definitely taking it all in and asking many questions. The best time to learn this business is when we are open, so I spend as much time as I can with guests and associates. Going forward, my approach will be more on balancing the day-to-day operation with the vision and plan for the future – thinking more about midto-long-term projects and initiatives that support Cedar Point’s purpose: to Make People Happy.

What excites you the most about being in this new role?

It’s really important for me to spend my time doing something I love. I am always excited to talk to guests in the park and hear directly from them about their Cedar Point story. I meet people who have been here dozens of times and people who just had their first visit. To hear what Cedar Point means to them and the joy and fun it brings to their lives is really the best. Cedar Point is a very special place – the people who work here and the people who visit are always the best part of my day. We started as a simple bath house and beach in 1870 and still stand today after more than 150 years. We have exciting things planned for the future, and what excites me most is that someday my grandkids and their grandkids will visit Cedar Point and create their own memories. • • •

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Orlando transitions interviews by Jordan Zauha

Eric Cantrell, 7thSense

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ric Cantrell has worked for show control solutions company Medialon since 2008. Founded in 1992, Medialon was acquired by imaging technology company Barco in 2016, and subsequently sold to technology solutions provider 7thSense (see “Medialon and 7thSense close the deal” on the InPark website, August 2019). Eric was recently promoted from Director of Products to Director of Sales and Marketing. He supports clients with the entire 7thSense product suite, including its line of Medialon products.

Tell us a bit about the 7thSense-Medialon synergy.

Medialon is a show control solution brand. 7thSense is a creative company that uses technology to support the stories our clients want to tell. Together, our products play back media and process pixels so that every image gets displayed perfectly in the right place at the right time, as it was intended by the creator. Every media server product and pixel processor is customized to the specific needs of each client and project. For example, graphics cards can be reduced in spec for projects doing HD when they don’t need 4K. 7thSense and Medialon is a natural pairing. Even before the acquisition, both companies often worked alongside one another, servicing the same clientele.

Tell us about your new role at 7thSense as Director of Sales and Marketing.

With Medialon fully integrated into 7thSense, I continued overseeing product management for the Medialon product as we formalized a product management structure for 7thSense’s other products. I have now expanded my customer outreach responsibilities to cover the entire 7thSense product suite. During customer outreach and collaboration, I am responsible for translating the wants and needs of the clients to the engineers who can make it happen. During the process I essentially get to see the magic while it’s happening, which I find incredibly fun.

Ultimately, I present demos of the products, help our clients identify which products suit the needs of their projects, and listen to their unique and specific needs for features that don’t yet exist. It is from these client interactions that I bring this valuable feedback to our engineers, who use those client needs as inspiration to improve our products.

I believe product managers should always be part of the sales process because the communication from clients who use our products is the most essential part of developing those products.

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How has Medialon evolved?

In recent years we have integrated game engine technology. For example, in 2020 we released a Unity-based application called Marquee. It started off as a proof of concept to demonstrate how easy it is to control a Medialon show control system from the Unity game development platform. We had created a plugin and made it available, but we needed a way to test it and show it off. So we designed an application called Marquee for creating touchscreen interfaces. At its core it uses gaming technology, and it allows us to integrate animation and modern user interface elements, but the story Marquee lets us tell is even more interesting.

What is your outlook for the future of show control?

I believe motion capture technology, audience recognition, and interactivity-based show control will continue to influence the future of show control systems and technology. For example, skeleton tracking can craft a dynamic experience that changes for a child versus an adult. Technology like this will help to produce mass personalization, where each guest feels the experience is uniquely tailored to them or their group. The next time guests visit, it’s different because the group of people present is different, and just as interactive.

Mass customization can create “re-rideability” for spaces and environments. Historically, show control has been crafted for a linear experience. But it doesn’t have to be. It could control a fountain show reacting to the wind speed or temperature outside, or it could use applause levels to determine what color the lighting will be. These are simple cases of data in, data out.

The real question is how do you continue to push creativity with the outputs and produce systems that properly collect the inputs?

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I think that is a really fascinating part of using show control in themed entertainment because it allows people to interact with our environments in subtle ways. You can positively influence human behavior and emotion through entertainment and environment.

You’ve said, “Even though I’m not directly involved in the artistic decisions of my clients, I like to think I give people goosebumps by proxy.” Tell us more about this.

Orlando to support the business and projects associated with WDI, as well as the other large operators here in Orlando.

However, the themed entertainment universe is growing in general, and I don’t think that is a function of any one particular piece of news. The Orlando community will remain a major, growing hub, but the industry will continue to grow worldwide, especially in this time of increased development for themed and immersive entertainment.

I’ve had that mindset since I started in technical theater because I wasn’t going to be on stage getting the applause. But when you hit that light cue and everything goes out except for that one spotlight and people gasp, that is “giving goosebumps by proxy.”

It’s about providing someone a memory that they’re going to go back and talk about. Maybe I didn’t design it, but if I made it possible on some level, that’s the kind of stuff that I love.

What have you learned from the pandemic?

You have worked on both coasts and in the Midwest but are now based in Orlando. Do you see Orlando continuing to evolve into the themed entertainment business center?

I have also noticed an increased empathy between colleagues, especially within the industry. At recent industry events, it has been incredible to see that people are genuinely concerned about others as a person, not just as means to money. The first inperson TEA event since the start of the pandemic at Kennedy Space Center was electric. People really care about each other in this industry, and that was comforting to me. •

I believe Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) moving jobs to nearby Lake Nona is going to bring other ancillary companies here to

I have grown to deeply appreciate in-person conversation and collaboration. The pandemic taught me that I don’t actually need to be in the room with people, but I really enjoy it. Folks work really well together when they can collaborate and vibrate in the same air.

Greg Senner, Scenario

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n June 2021, Greg Senner joined Scenario as Director of Project Development. Scenario is a scenic design fabrication company, part of Cockram Construction whose parent company is Kajima Corporation. Greg brings over two decades in the entertainment industry to Scenario: In 2004, he founded SOLE Scenic, and later 5nm Scenic Specialties, which was acquired by Austin 2 Paris in 2008. In 2011, he joined Universal Creative as a Show Manager. In 2018, he formed Hoplite LBE; his next stop was Scenario. Greg is also co-host of the Rum & Nerdy podcast with Garrick Hansen and earlier this year partnered with JeanYves Martineau to form Proteus Digital Inc., a company seeking to expand the entertainment industry’s knowledge and application of NFTs. Greg is also serving as Vice President and PresidentElect of the Eastern Division Board for TEA. How would you describe the work of Scenario?

a unique ability to mobilize teams all over the world and take full advantage of having production facilities in the US and Asia.

Give us a little insight into your specific role at Scenario.

As a fully operating scenic design fabrication company, we take ideas that our clients develop in blue sky creative and manage the steps required to effectively build the project. We work handin-hand with designers and design firms, engineers, architects, master planners, owners’ reps and general contractors to ensure projects are completed successfully.

Being a part of Cockram Construction and, by further extension, Kajima Corp., provides Scenario with additional resources. They bring a financial strength and business structure that makes Scenario a robust, secure partner to have on any project. We have

I was hired to develop a specific project that aligns with what I’ve spent the last few years of my career doing: developing location-based entertainment (LBE) for intellectual property (IP).

Having worked closely with IP holders over the past three years, in addition to having more than two decades of building guest experiences, I understand how to make monetization intrinsic in an LBE facility’s design.

As Director of Project Development, my role typically starts by first understanding the needs of our clients and defining the

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project parameters. This process begins with budget, schedule and top-down team planning. Not ensuring proper upfront planning can cause a big financial drain on any project. Once the parameters are set, I work with our clients and our team to create balance between creative intent and our project execution during all phases, including technical design, vendor selection, permitting, fabrication, installation and full-service support through opening day.

My long-term goal is to expand Scenario’s foothold in all experience industries, implement new processes, improve existing processes and contribute to the company’s culture and reputation for exemplary service and experience.

What lessons were most valuable from your recent professional experiences?

During my work with Hoplite LBE I had the opportunity to meet many clients across the entertainment industry and around the globe. Companies with intellectual property, in general, are very eager to enter location-based entertainment. Often, these companies think this requires a large amount of capital and additional complementary IPs to create a massive LBE experience like a theme park. This is not the case, however. I have learned to focus the goals of the client in order to find the right LBE fit for their IP, and that could be themed retail, a touring museum experience, themed dining or something else.

Tell us about your other ventures.

I believe I inherited an entrepreneurial spirit from my father. He owned several different businesses in the construction industry and even owned a bar after he retired. I learned from him that I don’t need any one thing to succeed.

The Rum & Nerdy podcast was a creative outlet for me during the pandemic. Going into it, I had never listened to a podcast before! It began as a joke between friends about the banter between Garrick Hansen and me during social gatherings and TEA functions. People said the way we conversed felt like a buddy comedy, so we decided to go for it and have fun creating it!

As for Proteus Digital, it was created to expand the experience industry’s knowledge and perception of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and how they can be applied meaningfully in the LBE market. My business partner Jean-Yves Martineau has continued the work and is developing some really great things. Right now, though, Scenario is my number one priority. • • •

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Jordan Zauha is a freelance writer and narrative designer in the themed entertainment industry. He is a member of the inaugural cohort of the Theatre MFA - Themed Experience program at the University of Central Florida, a Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) NextGen member and student member of the Themed Experience & Attractions Academic Society (TEAAS).

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The Encounters gallery in Stories of Cinema at The Academy Museum. ©Academy Museum Foundation/Image by WHY Architecture

Meet DE-ZYN studios

On the creative frontier with John Miceli and DE-ZYN studios

by Judith Rubin

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mmersive, media-based attractions plunge guests into digital worlds of storytelling, adventure, art, music, exhibitions and branded experiences. They may be linear or non-linear in sequence. Using sophisticated technological platforms, they combine visual display with other components such as real-time tracking, lighting, special effects, interactivity, motion simulation and ride systems, synchronized live performance and more.

These attractions are quickly moving past the early adopter stage to enter the mainstream. They may be found in today’s world as standalone properties, in museums and science centers, art galleries and entertainment complexes, zoos and aquariums and other settings both permanent and temporary.

DE-ZYN studios is on this creative frontier where art, technology, and billions of pixels come together to attract and inspire and tell compelling stories. Company founder John Miceli is a well-known innovator of experience design with 32 years in the attractions industry. He says, “DE-ZYN combines the arts of digital media and innovative technologies with an experienced

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team and out-of-the-box thinking. We create multimedia worlds and infrastructures that are essential to transcendent, immersive guest experiences - evoking emotions and creating memories, even in the simplest of locations. Daring to dream the impossible, we feel there are truly no limits to what can be achieved.”

“DE-ZYN studios’ culture is one of teamwork, respect, fluid ideation, sense of family, life balance, never settling or giving up, with a constant desire to reach beyond the boundaries of the imagination,” says Joni McElwee, DE-ZYN studios’ Chief Financial Officer. The extended team consists of multimedia directors, architects, environment designers, graphic/motion designers, developers, composers, producers, illustrators, lighting designers, programmers and engineers.

As a leader and successful entrepreneur, storyteller, technologist, media producer, sound designer and creative director who loves a creative challenge, over the course of three decades Miceli has

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built a prestigious, global client and project list. Now, with DEZYN, he and his core team - Nathaniel Ruhlman, Cesar Jovine, Jay Pecotte, Joni McElwee and Jin Fan - are aiming even higher.

Meet DE-ZYN “John Miceli is in this industry because he loves it, and you understand that from the moment you meet him. He’s very passionate about the business, about what can be achieved inspiring someone, educating them, providing an escape - and that has gone a long way toward his success. It has been great to see John’s career grow and flourish, to see him push the limits of what’s possible with multimedia, technology and above all, imagination,” noted Eddie Newquist, longtime friend, attraction creator and Partner/Creative Executive at MinaLima.

Nathaniel Ruhlman, Director of Media Innovation, DE-ZYN, is a 20-year veteran in the field of immersive art. A graduate of Tufts University, he discovered multimedia installations in the underground art scene in New York City in 2000. Taken by the impact and beauty of art at scale and the power of combining visuals with music, he founded Dorian Orange, and quickly established himself as a pioneer in the emerging medium.

Ruhlman was soon working with some of the biggest names in the early electronic music scene: Moby, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox and Timo Maas, to name only a few. These initial collaborations led to more commercially based work with Ford and Intel as Dorian Orange began diversifying and expanding their capabilities, transitioning into the world of media and advertising: traditional broadcast spots, multi-planed LED installations, art-inspired projection mapping projects, choreographed live events, and large-scale music festival initiatives. He joined forces with John Miceli in 2019 and DE-ZYN studios was born. “We have created a brain trust of the best of the best. What this team

has achieved over the last three decades in media creation and innovative technology designs is unbelievable,” says Ruhlman.

DE-ZYN attractions group is the newest team in the studio, organized to create and license a line of turnkey, immersive attractions with an eye on entertainment and hospitality markets.

Jay Pecotte, Head of Design and Product Development, says, “Guests are seeking a more activated media immersion in their leisure pursuits. Operators understand that unique entertainment will differentiate their product and generate a higher ROI. We’re able to leverage our multimedia creation talents to serve those needs from start to finish, in both small and large footprints.”

Pecotte is an accomplished architect and innovative designer/ brand executive who has worked for such brands as Hard Rock International and Universal Studios and has been creating, developing and building authentic, imaginative and immersive guest environments for over 28 years in hotels and theme parks, sometimes blending the two. He says, “Guests no longer want to just sit by the pool all vacation long - they want to be entertained.

You need to come up with unique options and escapism for them, something new around the corner to draw them in.”

Cesar Jovine, longtime colleague of Miceli and Director of Operations for DE-ZYN noted, “unlike Soundelux and Technomedia, DE-ZYN studios is not an AV integrator per se: Instead, we handle all the design and creation work, oversee our projects and provide programming and delivery but will collaborate with AV systems integrators, physical fabricators and ride system specialists to deliver our turn-key projects. Since our projects are all over the world, it’s natural to work with capable vendors throughout the world.”

Photos: Guests to the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station are treated to dynamic multimedia experiences in the Grand Lobby and Union Station Express. Photos courtesy of the St. Louis Aquarium

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Meet DE-ZYN John Miceli Executive Creative Director

Nathanial Ruhmann Jin Fan Director of Media Creative Technologist, Innovation Director of International Business Development

Joni McElwee Cesar Jovine Jay Pecotte Chief Financial Director of Operations Head of Design and Officer Product Development

Jovine brings his 15 years of experience successfully directing high-profile, multimedia experience projects around the world.

Miceli says, “Cesar does everything with a calm expertise that builds confidence among project teams and clients. Managing the relationships of our partnerships and our resources, his love for working with people has been a strong quality from which all projects benefit. His current role is building teams and resources for the upcoming 21/22 project rollout underway. His white glove project management service model drives communication and collaboration on all levels.”

working with this team and with our global clients to bring ideas together to seek the most rewarding approach for our projects and the IP that arises as a result.” She specializes in cultivating meaningful relationships between business and people through carefully crafted moments. As an experience designer and creative strategist with a lifelong passion for art and technology, Jin’s expertise spans the intersection of storytelling, interactive design, LED technologies, and computer graphics. Born in China, she has over 15 years’ experience building projects across the globe in theme parks, retail, public art and more.

“The world is much smaller now, and we are developing projects all over the globe,” noted Jin Fan, Creative Technologist and Director of International Business Development. “I enjoy

Prior to founding DE-ZYN, Miceli was President of Technomedia, a company he founded in 2001 and helmed until his departure in 2019. He says, “We have set our sights on higher

Winning Big in St. Louis The new St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station officially opened to the public on December 25, 2019, and recently welcomed its one-millionth visitor. The aquarium forms the centerpiece of an entertainmentretail-hospitality redevelopment by Lodging Hospitality Management (LHM) that has preserved the structure of the historic train station while establishing a new, downtown leisure destination.

The 120,000-sq-ft., twostory aquarium houses some 13,000 aquatic animals in 1.3 million gallons of water and is operated by ZoOceanarium Group. Its unique Entrance Experience, being honored in 2021 with a Thea Award, is John Miceli’s second project for LHM’s Union Station remake, the first being the Grand Hall Experience (which also received a Thea Award, in 2015).

Under contract to LHM, Miceli and DE-ZYN led the team supplying creative development and project

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management, music and sound design, visual art and media production as well as engineering, programming and integration for the aquarium’s Entrance Experience.

The two components are the Grand Lobby and the Union Station Express, reflecting the thematic connection of Union Station history with river culture (the Mississippi, Missouri and Meramec rivers all flow through the region).

“Marrying the concepts of train travel and the world’s waterways was one of the most unique, thematic challenges we faced,” noted Emily Howard, Vice President of PGAV, design firm on the project.

The TEA Thea Awards Judging Committee wrote, “The Entrance Experience at St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station represents a new generation of Aquarium Design….The utilization of immersive LED imagery, original music [in the Grand Lobby] and a simulated train ride that transports guests from past to present [the Union Station Express] makes this incredible new

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goals of blowing past the limits of what immersive, interactive guest experiences can be, to meet the needs of evolving leisure, hospitality and retail industries. We continue to expand the company’s scope and range of capabilities with this in mind.”

A number of this team’s projects have earned industry honors over the years, including IAAPA Brass Ring Awards, TEA Thea Awards, Telly Awards, International Monitor Awards and others.

In the brief time since DE-ZYN launched, its work is already attracting accolades. The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) named a recent DE-ZYN project to receive a prestigious 2021 Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement: The Entrance Experience of the new St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station.

Bringing immersive experiences to everyone Supporting a wider range of options within an immersive experience is one of DE-ZYN’s unique value adds. Miceli explains: “At the most passive level, the visitor is primarily an observer, moving through at their own pace much as in a traditional museum, zoo or aquarium setting. At the most immersive level, guests are elevated to an avatar status, interacting in AI [artificial intelligence] mode. DE-ZYN makes it possible for the guest to actually embody their own character and create their own narrative and adventure story.”

aquarium entrance experience cross the threshold into entertainment design in new and unexpected ways.”

The Grand Lobby is a high-ceilinged atrium featuring a state-of-the-art, media surround that cycles through 10 vignettes, utilizing a custom LED product developed

by Miceli’s group. LHM President and COO Steve O’Loughlin discussed the project. “Our first exhibit in the Grand Lobby is the Grand Clock with freshwater habitat.

Guests would queue, then do photos and then proceed into the Grand Lobby, prior to taking their virtual train ride on the Train Experience. We needed an immersive environment around the Grand Clock, so we explored visual content on the ceiling with a robust musical track.

We opted for the LED screens for more impact, this being the first impression. John’s creative content helps make it pop. Guests are immediately immersed into this creative fantasy world and they take out their phones to video and take pictures.”

The Union Station Express simulated train ride uses two full-size, replica passenger rail cars to take guests on a symbolic journey and transition. O’Loughlin says, “We have John Goodman narrating the historical facts of Union Station, and John Miceli and his team helped curate a whimsical story of a train that can actually take off from its tracks to fly over St. Louis, then dive into

The unique, interactive aspects of such experiences - guest agency, responsive elements, things that can be “unlocked” are highly touted. But - as Ruhlman points out - well-designed, passive options are important as well. “Everyone who visits the attraction should have engagement options that suit their comfort level,” he says. “Levels of engagement and interaction, from passive to immersive, support a wider range of venues - including retail spaces - and a wider demographic. From a practical, operations standpoint in today’s pandemic environment, affording comfortable options for a wide demographic is particularly relevant as it allows families and visitor groups to remain together.”

Miceli adds, “Today, we have the creativity, technology, vision and demand to embrace all audience members in this way and keep an experience fresh for years to come.” As to venue and location, “The possibilities are endless.” He currently finds shopping centers a very promising market. “Immersive experiences can be a great choice for retail and mall spaces that need new content.

They are great design-wise, with plenty of square footage, welldesigned traffic flow and individual spaces already configured to receive guests - and plenty of parking. We’re hearing from a lot of interested developers in the US, China, Dubai and Saudi Arabia and are already in negotiation with several to create original, IPbased entertainment destinations.”

the Mississippi river and down the delta to the ocean.

We meet all kinds of river and sea creatures including a humpback whale before returning to the station to begin our journey into the aquarium. It’s a perfect blend of documenting historical facts while entertaining you at the same time in a virtual experience.”

The train’s 10 “windows” are synchronized 4K screens, each displaying media at 60 frames per second in 10-bit color, with 12-channel surround sound and bass shakers.

“It needed to feel, sound and look real,” says Miceli. “It’s not a motion base experience, but fully capturing guests’ senses heightens their experience and exhilaration.”

“We are currently working on some new ideas with John for some enhancements to make the technology even more robust and immersive,” says O’Loughlin.

“The fact that it was all done on a limited budget simply qualifies it as a crowning achievement,” noted the Thea Awards Judging Committee.

The Entrance Experience for the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station will be showcased in Episode 6 of the Thea Awards Digital Case Studies on October 7, 2021.

The presenters will be Steve O’Loughlin and John Miceli.

The full credits list for the project is published in the 27th Annual Thea Awards Program. •

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A natural progression and a big new vision “The DE-ZYN family of companies will create and evolve IP for clients as we continue to provide support for projects by supplying design, engineering, project management, programming and team building,” says Miceli. “We will partner with integrators, quality ride suppliers, and other specialists as needed from within our extensive network. It feels like a very natural progression.”

This natural progression can be traced through the course of Miceli and team’s career and achievements. “John Miceli backs into technology from the standpoint of emotion and guest experience,” says Eddie Newquist. “You never lead with technology, but rather with the goal for the guest, what is going to create that emotional connection with the guest and exceed their expectations.”

“Embracing all technologies is key to establishing the creative canvas, but great experience starts with the creative vision,” says Miceli. “The creative intent drives the technology.”

Miceli emphasizes that immersive experience projects can do a great deal within a modest budget as with a limited space not only because the technology has become more affordable and available, but that by their nature, such attractions lend themselves to design that is modular and scalable. “A seemingly endless experience can be designed to be delivered within a relatively small footprint. We can pack in a lot of adventure and

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entertainment value, create any kind of story, and deliver on that story.” And in this blossoming, new genre of attraction, Miceli emphasizes that he and his team have the background, experience and professional network to be both efficient and innovative.

“We know how to create and meet budgets, yet not allow the experience to be hampered or diminished by limitations. We have deep relationships with architects and the design community, and with owners and developers. We’ve been very successful working with them through the years to find ways to achieve the kinds of things they are dreaming of.”

Miceli was part of the creative team for numerous projects overseen by Chip Largman, Universal Creative executive team member from 1987-2017 (now retired). Largman recalled, “John was a leader in the sense of how he led his company and led trends and firsts within the industry. He was very attentive and would always probe until potential solutions were identified. A big part of his success, I think, was a degree of loyalty to people and process. He was never hesitant to jump in, take on another task, solve a problem, support the other creative people in complementing their work. Over the years, John has been part of virtually every single type of themed entertainment attraction you can imagine. He was fearless, willing to extend himself and take creative risks.” • • •

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Contact: info@de-zyn.com

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I am not an “ADA guest” Design conventions affect how people access entire categories of experiences.

by Kathryn Woodcock, PhD, CCPE, ICAE, PEng

I

am proud of the role my Deaf peers played in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, more than 30 years ago.

The Gallaudet University protests, successfully demanding the appointment of a Deaf university president, on the doorstep of the seat of the U.S. government, raised the visibility of disability issues and supportive public sentiment, and tipped the deliberations in favor of the ADA1 (and saw Dr. I. King Jordan become the first Deaf person to lead this Deaf institution in its 124 years.) The ADA includes general and specific obligations for public and private sector entities to redress access barriers to people with a wide range of disabilities. Responsible businesses, including theme parks and attractions, have established programs to ensure compliance with the ADA. Learning of my vested interest in accessibility and inclusion along with my expertise in human factors in my field of engineering, professional colleagues often ask me for guidance on ADA requirements in relation to specific types of themed experiences.

As a non-American, the letter of U.S. law is literally foreign to me, but I keep a principled distance from ADA compliance because ADA compliance is not accessibility, and it is definitely not inclusive design. Parts of the ADA are obsolete (such as its enthusiasm for TTY devices, technology ostensibly offered for MY benefit, but which I have not used since 1999) and all of it is the lowest common denominator.

Missed opportunities My position has long been, “Disability is not an objective condition that you have or don’t have. Every person will encounter things they cannot do for one reason or another.

Certain design conventions make that a more frequent experience for some people than it is for others.” Those design conventions often affect how people access whole categories of experiences.

As King Jordan famously said, “deaf people can do anything hearing people can do, except hear.” But if opportunities are wrapped in a structure that requires that people hear, their other skills will be squandered if they cannot hear.

In the U.S., the ADA responded to a groundswell of frustration over wasted capacity, essentially saying, “If you will not voluntarily evolve those design conventions, we will codify them for you.” As such, certain commonly excluded groups of people have explicit rights under the ADA. That is why “disability” is taken as a positive identity, and not an embarrassing condition in need of a euphemism: The identity unlocks essential rights… in the U.S. Other jurisdictions may have formally protected no groups explicitly, or different groups. Attractions may exclude other types of people through other design conventions. All of

Kathryn Woodcock, PhD, CCPE, ICAE, PEng Credit: Technical Standards and Safety Authority

those are equally problematic. If you ask me about access, I will talk with you about access, not ADA compliance.

ADA jargon Returning from that detour, then, the meaning behind my headline is that, over the years, I have noted “ADA” emerging into business jargon as a description of the guests themselves, or of facilities designated for them. While the actual Americans with Disabilities Act applies to a wide spectrum of disabilities, “ADA vehicles” are usually the wheelchair-accessible ones.

Designers scrutinize ride systems to determine how they will be used by “ADA guests” and team members are instructed how to be ready for “ADA guests.” Planning for “ADA guests” usually brings to mind wheelchair accessible parking spaces, step-free entryways, spacious washroom stalls with grab rails, and provisions for transfer from wheelchair to ride vehicle.

None of those commendable and necessary provisions obstruct people with other disabilities, but neither do they accommodate other disabilities who are equally entitled to access under ADA including, say, Deaf people.

But even that isn’t the reason I’m not an “ADA guest.” I would say the same if I was a wheelchair user. The terminology “ADA guest” and “ADA vehicle,” “ADA entrance,” “ADA experience,” etc. presumes that it is an alternative – or worse, a category restricted from an experience.

I am not an “ADA guest.” I am a guest. I have some abilities – and lack some others – just like every other guest.

Whether you think you need to restrict me or direct me to an alternate experience depends not on me, but on how you designed your experience.

Access and choice With enough variety offered, everyone has 100% of an experience.

[1] https://prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2015/08/03/deaf-president-now-and-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-ada/

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When I think about accessibility, I don’t think of it as a binary identity or characteristic (“ADA guests” vs. non-ADA or “normal” guests). I think about the infinite variety of individual differences. Visualizing all guests as different is more realistic and accurate than visualizing all guests the same except the disabled ones. Access laws such as the ADA have simply given legal rights to people with disabilities.

None of the following context can guarantee that no disabled guest will be excluded, nor assure you that excluded guests will be satisfied with exclusion, but a respectful process can avoid needless dissatisfaction.

Reckoning with inclusion at the gate level is the simplest starting point. A venue that offers an experience that works on many levels will more innately facilitate access. Nobody experiences everything. Nobody experiences anything the same way. With enough variety offered, everyone has 100% of an experience.

From theme parks to carnival midways, many attractions already quite capably balance their offerings to provide “something for everyone.” Guests customize their experience to optimize enjoyment and value within the spectrum of offerings. A group of guests will choose their destination based on suitability of experiences and adequate value for everyone in the group. This is especially important with costly all-inclusive ticketing. As long as everyone can enjoy 100% of a day’s value from their admission, each person may experience the day differently, yet still feel included and satisfied.

Just as there are “normal” guests who dislike and will avoid getting wet on a ride, or riding a simulator attraction, or being at a high elevation, there are disabled guests who may simply abstain from certain kinds of experiences that don’t work for them. They may opt out of attractions that present 3D media incompatible with their monocular vision or visual processing or style of prescription eyewear. They may skip rides and shows with expository narration that lacks transcription or has transcription that conflicts with enjoying the scenery. They may abstain from attractions that aggravate anxieties about going upside down or into scary, dark, enclosed spaces. They may not even consciously associate those as accessibility barriers – rather, simply perceiving it as a voluntary choice in the context of many other options available at the venue.

Choice vs. exclusion Voluntary choice is a critical element: Being informed about the nature of an experience, recognizing the unsuitability, and making a choice to abstain. This is different from unilateral exclusion by an operator-imposed restriction, which takes away not only access but also autonomy, contributing to dissatisfaction.

While voluntary choice eliminates the dissatisfaction of imposed restrictions, some guests may be unhappy with a limited selection of accessible attractions. People with disabilities and other conditions and sensitivities want to be able to share experiences with their companions, just as others do. This is particularly the case when an attraction is a blockbuster because it is linked

to culturally resonant IP, or the attraction itself has become a cultural touchstone.

A venue can’t tell guests which experiences to want. Only the guest can decide what they want. Guests are entitled to be disappointed when experiences they want are inaccessible or intolerable to them. It should be no surprise that people would think that an experience covered in national media or prominent Top-10 lists should be inclusive.

Accessibility is not simply a matter of having a large number of options, with a subset of options designated as “accessible.”

Accessibility is having an experience as satisfactory as anyone else’s experience. Attractions with effective inclusion build market interest and loyalty; they also get a lot of love in consumer forums focused on disability.

Communication Operational staff need to be prepared to respond when guests ask about access or request alternative options. It will often be most effective for the front line to automatically escalate these inquiries to a properly prepared supervisor who understands how to talk about disability and what is possible. Responses may cover the spectrum, from explaining the attraction experience in relation to the guest’s abilities, to arranging what the guest has requested, to counter-offering a planned, alternate accommodation.

It’s important that the supervisor be able to speak directly and without embarrassment. Some front-line staff will be uncomfortable discussing the guest’s need. The basic hiring pool – society at large – still misunderstands disability as something shameful, often falling into euphemisms. When we describe ourselves a certain way, we don’t want corrections. When I say “I am Deaf,” I don’t want someone responding to me with “what we do for hearing-impaired guests.” At a moment when a situation is on the precipice of escalation or de-escalation, respecting the guest as the expert on their identity is simple – and essential.

The greater the dissatisfaction, disappointment, or perception of disrespect, the greater the chance the guest will take recourse in an assertion of legal rights. The outcome of a legal challenge cannot be predicted. Cases with similar facts have been decided differently. Whether the guest or the operator will prevail depends on the specifics of the attraction, the guest, and the jurisdiction.

What is certain is that in the process, the dissatisfaction and unmet access expectations take the spotlight away from other inclusive initiatives, efforts, and intentions. • • • Kathryn Woodcock, PhD, CCPE, ICAE, PEng, focuses on amusement rides and attractions, applying her expertise in human factors engineering to the experience of guests, operators, and inspectors.

She is also extensively involved in professional training and consulting to designer/manufacturers and owner/operators. Dr. Woodcock also contributes to the industry community through TEA, ASTM Committee F24, IAAPA, and AIMS International and others. This article is the first of a three-part series by Dr. Woodcock.

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Back to Barcelona Jakob Wahl on IAAPA Expo’s return to Europe

by Martin Palicki

W

e are anticipating the first in-person IAAPA Expo since 2019. IAAPA Expo Europe is scheduled September 2730, 2021 in Barcelona, Spain. We asked Jakob Wahl, Executive Director and Vice President, IAAPA Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) for insight into this year’s event.

We also created a new “Cheers to our mistakes” session, where storied industry leaders such as Andreas Andersen and Jim Pattison Jr. will share their biggest professional “mistakes” and what they learned. It will be a candid conversation in a relaxed and open setting and I’m sure it will inspire everyone.

What new changes will people see at IAAPA Expo Europe this year?

We added more opportunities for Young Professionals to take part, learn and engage during the Expo. They are the future of our industry and we look forward to providing more for this important member segment than ever before.

There is so much in terms of innovation this year – we thought through every aspect of the Expo and how we could best support our members – exhibitors and attendees – to ensure success for everyone.

First, we decided to invite all IAAPA member facilities to attend the show for free. Depending on their membership category, facility members can receive 2-5 complimentary admission tickets to IAAPA Expo Europe. We understand the past year has been difficult for our members, and that many were closed for long periods of time, and we know attending the Expo is an important step toward recovery. We wanted to help the show be as accessible as possible.

In addition, we placed a strong focus on the educational content of this year’s Expo and will have some inspiring speakers and sessions. We have new opportunities including an entire day dedicated to the topic of sustainability, to be held at PortAventura World. We will feature some of the best examples of sustainable practices across Europe, and discuss the strides the industry continues to make in this area.

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Finally, I think attendees will enjoy the new IAAPA Member Lounge, where members can hang out, relax, and have fun with their peers while at the Fira Barcelona.

What sort of educational component will you be offering?

The IAAPA EMEA Education Subcommittee has put together a great conference program with presentations and discussions highlighting many of the most important subjects and issues facing our industry. Annual sessions including the IAAPA Safety Institute, the Water Park Day, the Indoor Entertainment Day, and an EDUTour to PortAventura World make up part of the conference. We developed new sessions highlighting service and the guest experience, food and beverage trends, branded attractions and intellectual property, ticketing and more.

We’ve also made some overall program changes this year.

The Opening Ceremony has been replaced with a keynote presentation that will help set the tone for the show and provide

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memorable insight for everyone. This free event will feature Doug Lansky, a renowned travel expert, as he discusses the future of our business.

We also look forward to the return of the annual Leadership Breakfast event and a Lunch and Learn focusing on “Strategy and Growth After a Downturn.”

Our work is not done yet, though. We are working on a special “The Host Country Special at IAAPA Expo Europe” which will focus on the current state of the industry in our host country, as well as discuss the future of the market.

What kinds of networking opportunities will be available?

Each of the above-mentioned events will have networking components and opportunities, and the highlight event will be the IAAPA Expo Europe Opening Reception at Tibidabo. We will spend a wonderful evening at this classic amusement park, located above the city of Barcelona, and together enjoy food, drinks, and the attractions. The park just opened the new Tibidabo Funicular which will make access to the event easier!

Jakob Wahl Photos courtesy IAAPA

Why is now the right time for the industry to come together in Europe?

The impact of COVID-19 brought the global attractions industry to a halt. Once countries began to reopen and operate with new safety protocols, our members began to consistently tell us they wanted to meet in person. We hosted our first in-person event last month. The IAAPA EMEA Spring Summit took place in Belgium and it was an outstanding time for members to come together again to reconnect.

It IS different to be able to see each other in person, and not in front of a screen. Nothing beats personal interaction, and being able to talk about the past, the present, and the future, and even share personal stories and updates. Manufacturers and suppliers have used the past months to really innovate and look at their products and services in new ways. To be able to debut them, share them at a trade show, and have intimate, candid conversations with potential clients is the cornerstone of success for IAAPA Expo Europe.

A lot has changed since we last came together in Paris and we are excited to bring global industry professionals together once again for our first Expo since 2019 in the dynamic city of Barcelona.

The event truly is the best way to help position us all for a better future.

What COVID precautions are going to be in place?

The health and safety of our exhibitors, attendees and team members remains our number-one priority. We have been working closely with the Fira Barcelona, where IAAPA Expo Europe will be held, the Catalonian authorities, and our entire IAAPA team to ensure we provide a safe environment that meets

current recommended procedures for meetings and events. This will include the use of facial coverings, physical distancing, a new “no physical contact” policy, managing the flow and density of crowds, increased cleaning and disinfecting procedures, and more.

For those traveling back home, we will also have a COVID-19 testing station onsite so attendees can easily get any additional required health certification before they leave Barcelona.

How are you handling the uncertainty of travel policies?

The pandemic is still part of our lives and its impact continues to change almost daily. We are monitoring the situation around the world, and especially in Europe. We are proactively communicating with members and working individually to answer any questions and concerns that are shared. The attractions sector is part of the hospitality industry, and we expect many of the participants, including IAAPA team members, will be fully vaccinated before the Expo, allowing for easy international travel to and from Barcelona.

What are you most looking forward to at this year’s Expo in Europe?

Nothing will beat being able to see everyone face-to-face again, even if our smiles must be concealed behind our masks! I’m also excited by the new offerings we developed this year to help keep IAAPA Expo Europe fresh and different from past events.

While it’s hard for me to attend sessions, I am very excited about Sustainability Day at PortAventura World and the “Cheers to our Mistakes” education session. Both will provide great insight and information in fun settings. • • •

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SATE on!

TEA Europe & Middle East Division to host professionals at PortAventura World, Spain

by Martin Palicki

T

he Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) is preparing to welcome the industry back to the first, in-person SATE conference since the start of the pandemic. Taking place near Barcelona Sept 30-Oct 2, 2021, SATE Europe is hosted at PortAventura World, immediately following the IAAPA Europe Expo (Sept 27-30, also in Barcelona). Sessions reflect the SATE thematic structure (Storytelling + Architecture + Technology = Experience). We asked TEA Past President and SATE Europe Team Chair David Willrich for background.

opportunity to network with different people.

Naturally, there is time to network during the day in breaks and at lunch. We deliberately have informal seating plans to let everyone mix as they wish.

David Willrich

What changes can people expect on the health and safety front?

How has SATE evolved during the pandemic?

We have learned that SATE can be effective in person and virtually. Recently, TEA staged a very successful online SATE consisting of four episodes, along with a bonus episode featuring legendary designer Joe Rohde being interviewed by TEA International Board member Evi Sari of Nickelodeon Experience Design. Though this was quite a different structure designed to run online, the philosophy remained true to our SATE brand.

How are you handling travel uncertainties?

This is outside of our control, however we can refund the conference fee if someone is unable to travel.

What takeaways do you hope attendees will have from the conference?

Is SATE Europe important for people outside of the region to attend?

Inspiration! We really hope that people will feel inspired by SATE, reconfirming their commitment and enjoyment of working in our industry. Hopefully in these stressful times they leave feeling confident that the industry is picking up and will thrive again providing opportunities for all those that seek them.

In keeping with all SATE conferences, SATE Europe is still very much a global conference taking a global view, albeit from a European perspective. It is very relevant to any member who is working globally in our industry. Prior to COVID our numbers were growing every year, including attendees from 27 countries for the 2019 SATE event in France. Interestingly, we had a good number of members attending from North America, plus a few from Asia.

Here are some of the sessions we are highlighting. Abbigail Ollive of Castle Howard will talk about how to reach potential Chinese visitors and breaking boundaries of cultural differences.

TEA EME Board members Chris Lange of Creative Studio Berlin and Suzy Griffiths of PWR Events Ltd. will present “Breaking boundaries without breaking your life,” focusing on the oft overlooked work-life balance. Alexander Bresinsky of MKT engineering GmbH & Co. KG will discuss the push and pull between digital and physical experiences. Finally, Irina Grabarnik of Unlimited Leisure Holding B.V. will examine how physical activities can impact storytelling.

How will networking be integrated into SATE this year?

SATE Europe has always been as much about networking as it has the sessions - our evening dinners are really popular. With thanks to our hosts and sponsors, every evening is different in terms of food, theme and venue, whilst still providing ample 22

This is a dynamic situation, so things may change from day to day. I can say with certainty that we will follow the rules of the host park (PortAventura World) and country (Spain).

What are you most looking forward to at the event?

I am really excited to see industry friends and colleagues IN PERSON again! I’m particularly excited to visit PortAventura World with everyone and explore everything the park has to offer, including the TEA Thea-honored Sesame Street: Street Mission attraction.

Is there anything else you want people to know about SATE Europe?

If you have never been to a SATE Europe, come and join us!

You will be very welcome. If you have attended before, we look forward to welcoming you back! • • •

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The first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft; Orville Wright at controls.

Take flight with a big-picture approach A holistic mindset enhances problem solving and product development

by Scott Harkless, Alcorn McBride

“T

he person who merely watches the flight of a bird gathers the impression that the bird has nothing to think of but the flapping of its wings. As a matter of fact, this is a very small part of its mental labor. Even to mention all the things the bird must constantly keep in mind in order to fly securely through the air would take a very considerable treatise.” -Wilbur Wright I‘ve always been interested in the history of technology and the people behind its development, and a recent vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina enabled me to visit Kitty Hawk, where Wilbur and Orville Wright carried out their flight experiments and where the Wright Brothers National Memorial now stands. It’s humbling just to be in a place with that kind of historical significance, and often these visits lead to some kind of new realization, which is what I enjoy most. On that front, Kitty Hawk offered much more than I expected.

We all grow up learning the story of the Wright Brothers and how they were the first to achieve powered flight in 1903 with their incredible new flying machine. Of course, the airplane was not invented all in one piece, and seeing and studying the 1903 Wright Flyer in person reveals a much deeper story. These

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famous brothers from Dayton, Ohio didn’t just invent one thing to conquer the skies, but rather many, bold new inventions that all had to work seamlessly together to soar above the sands of Kitty Hawk.

It all started with their earliest experiments in wing design where they would realize that the research they had been relying upon was riddled with inaccuracies. The only way around this was to develop new wind tunnel technologies to perform their own research, which led to the breakthroughs that would lift their machine off the ground. While some had been experimenting with gliders, nobody offered a solution for stable, 3-axis flight control in those days either. The brothers had to invest years studying and experimenting before they finally overcame this challenge, using a clever combination of wing-warping, a fixed rear rudder, and elevator control in their 1902 glider. Then when it came time to address the challenge of propulsion, they quickly discovered how their innovations in aerodynamics could be adapted to build a new kind of “rotating wing” that would use the same principles of lift to pull the aircraft forward. They even had to design their own lightweight combustion engine using atypical materials such as aluminum, to provide the power they needed without anchoring the plane to the ground.

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When considered individually, any one of these inventions could have easily been regarded as a major accomplishment. I suppose that one of the reasons I love this story so much is that the Wright Brothers didn’t think about it that way. They chose to focus on the larger vision of building a machine that would allow mankind to soar. As incredible as these inventions were, they were merely stepping stones on the way to achieve the bigger goal. I believe that the Wright Brothers’ big-picture approach to problem-solving was key to their success, and something that has a surprising amount of relevance to the role we play in designing themed attractions.

While it may be a very different contraption compared to the Wright Flyer, a modern visitor attraction is also a complex blend of form and function, with many individual components that must all work together. On the technology side alone, we have unique systems such as ride control, animated figures, audio, projection, LED walls, special effects, paging, intercom, cameras, and lighting.

Now, imagine how a project with so many types of systems would pan out if different people were hired to design each independently, without any concern for the other systems and how they would interact. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?

On the flip side, we also can’t expect any one person or company to handle all of these on their own. Each system requires highly specialized skills and technology to implement properly. Building a successful attraction requires the collective efforts of many vendors that each specialize in some of these systems, but also understand how their individual piece fits into the larger puzzle, the context of the overall project and vision. This is why a hallmark of the themed entertainment industry is its team culture.

As a manufacturer focused on building an ecosystem of tools for the industry, Alcorn McBride uses the big-picture mindset as a basis for developing new products. Whenever we consider adding a new gizmo to the family, we always take a step back and consider how it fits in to the overall attraction architecture.

Is it clear how this product integrates with other components?

Is it configured and monitored from a familiar development environment? Most importantly, will it improve the experience of bringing the attraction’s technology systems together? It’s important to ask questions like this to ensure that we’re not focusing too much on the product idea itself, but rather the value it will add to our entire ecosystem of tools.

One of the best examples of how this approach helped us improve our ecosystem was the challenge of synchronization between attraction systems. If an animated figure were to start moving its mouth two seconds before the on-board audio system played the vocal track, guests would feel like they’re watching a poorly dubbed film. Failing to achieve precise synchronization is one of the easiest ways to ruin the guest experience, yet it is also one of the most difficult technical problems to solve. Especially when you consider that we’re bringing together two different specializations with wildly different skillsets to build these systems.

If our goal is to provide a toolset that enables attraction designers to synchronize properly, we must look at this situation from a unique perspective and consider the players involved. Let’s say we have two smart specialists on the project: one is a whiz at electro-mechanical control, and another is an acoustical genius.

Despite those obvious differences, what common ground do they share? What concepts within their worlds overlap? It turns out the answer for these two parties, and pretty much everyone else involved, is the concept of timelines. The animation vendor looks at their control data as a motion profile plotted over time, while the on-board audio vendor sees their audio content as a set of waveforms played over time. Though the terminology and types of data are different, the overall concept is the same. Their systems operate based upon a timeline, so the most intuitive solution we can offer them is timeline-based control that allows their individual systems to be triggered precisely.

This perspective is what fueled the development of our Show Control and SyncCore engines, which are the heart of most of our products. These products may be individually applied to a wide range of attractions, but we’ve ensured that they can all function seamlessly together. This gives vendors a clear understanding of how their system will interact with others, allowing each of them to focus on the tasks where they add the most value.

Of course, this is just one of many examples, but our best developments tend to share a common trait; they are all just stepping stones toward achieving a larger goal. For us, that happens to be creating innovative tools that empower attraction designers to bring memorable experiences to life. The problems we choose to tackle, the methods which we use to solve them, and especially the people who choose to work alongside us are all inspired by achieving that goal.

If you haven’t already, I hope you take a moment to consider what the big picture looks like for you and your organization.

Especially if you’re in the business of solving problems, there’s no better way to inspire you and your team to follow the best path for achieving your goals. To paraphrase Wilbur Wright: What one person can do alone is but little. If, however, you can stir up 10 others to take up the task, you may accomplish much.

••• As Chief Innovation Officer at Alcorn McBride, Scott Harkless works closely with clients to determine their biggest areas of need and leads a talented team of problem solvers to create the products used in many of the world’s most popular attractions.

He draws upon his experience in product development, system commissioning, client training, marketing, and sales to ensure that the products stamped with the Alcorn McBride logo exceed client expectations and offer value to the entire industry.

Visit alcorn.com

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Svalgurok is a highly themed RideHOUSE play structure from ProSlide at the Rulantica waterpark in Rust, Germany.

Photos courtesy of ProSlide

The serpent rises

ProSlide and Europa-Park partner on highly themed water play structure

by Joe Kleiman

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o get from the main highway to the Europa-Park theme park, guests drive along a circular bypass that skirts the German town of Rust. Since early 2021, on this drive guests can spy Svalgur, a giant sea serpent looming high above Roland Mack Ring (named for Europa-Park’s founder). The serpent Svalgur is the icon of Svalgurok, a customized ProSlide RideHOUSE® 600 waterplay structure that is the newest attraction at Rulantica, the waterpark Europa-Park opened as a second gate in late 2019.

Consistent with Europa-Park, Rulantica is intricately themed, and the themes have back stories. It is connected to the Scandinavianinspired Hotel Krønasår. One of several hotels on the property, it is done up as a natural history museum, showcasing artifacts from the mythical land of Rulantica. The hotel connects via an enclosed walkway to the indoor/outdoor waterpark as if it were a giant exhibition hall of the museum, where the larger artifacts have been restored for guests to enjoy. PGAV Destinations master-planned the park. Mack Solutions provided the detailed thematic storyline and design elements for this blend of fantasy and reality, and ProSlide and Aquarena fabricated slides and other water-based attractions that seamlessly integrated into the park’s theming and architecture.

The elements of Svalgurok The story behind Svalgurok is one of a massive aquatic battle.

The towering sea serpent Svalgur is perched high above,

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overlooking the entire play structure, while locked in battle with a giant octopus (actually, a highly themed ProSlide Continuous BodyBOWL), whose massive tentacles encircle the structure.

Svalgur was selected to be the star of the new attraction because of his familiarity among park guests. He shows up in other attractions throughout Rulantica and his skeleton is displayed above the lobby of the Hotel Krønasår. “For us,” says Michael Kreft von Byern, General Manager of Rulantica, “it was important we carry the indoor theming outside. So Svalgur now lives outside as well.”

Precise animatronic engineering and programming enable Svalgur’s head to move and spray up to 200 gallons of water per minute from four nozzles inside its mouth.

More subtle details include hand-painted designs on the water slides and a large, fiberglass tipping bucket made to look as though constructed from fish bones. Likewise, a tunnel that bridges sections of the RideHOUSE appears to be built from whale bones, while its guard rails feature hand-carved Viking shields.

The use of water slide components as theming elements is innovative. In addition to the themed, often translucent water slide pieces designed to look like Svalgur’s body, additional

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lengths of slide tubing are woven in and out around the structure, adding to the serpent’s size and presence.

The park advertises that the structure offers “over 100 different playing opportunities,” and these include water cannons, small buckets that can be tipped, and other interactive features. Ten water slides can be found snaking in and around Svalgurok: • A ProRACER, where riders race each other down a pair of adjacent slides • Three TWISTERS, traditional open-flume body slides • Four KIDZ TWISTERS, smaller versions of the TWISTER for younger guests • A custom Continuous BodyBOWL, where people slide into a giant bowl, circling around the structure until they exit through the center.

RideHOUSE has often been customized to primarily target younger guests. But in the form of Svalgurok at Europa-Park, it invites participation by guests of all ages, with varying levels of thrill factors for the slides.

Bringing fiberglass to Germany Svalgurok marks a continuing partnership between ProSlide and Europa-Park. When Rulantica opened in 2019 the park featured a combined 17 waterslides from both ProSlide and German waterpark supplier Aquarena.

“When we were developing Rulantica, we traveled to about 30 different parks around the world to see the best design and operations,” says Kreft von Byern. “Our senior consultant, Chip Cleary, recommended we meet with ProSlide. We quickly established a relationship with them and Aquarena. All the waterslides in the park come from those two companies.”

Svalgurok, although an extension of the park, was already in the development stage during Rulantica’s construction. “We started talking about it in 2016 and the project was greenlit in Spring 2018,” says Jeff Janovich, ProSlide’s Senior Vice President of Global Strategic Partnerships.

and frequent delays. But the medium of fiberglass lends itself to theming and decorative options that metal simply does not. For Svalgurok, ProSlide fabricated the slides in-house in Canada, with the steel structure contracted to a Canadian partner. According to Kreft von Byern, it took two years to gain final government approval. Construction took another year.

Preparing the land While ProSlide was preparing the RideHOUSE in Canada and land preparation began in Rust, Rulantica was already expanding with new attractions. In 2020, the park opened an upscale relaxation and sauna facility and, in 2021, began offering VR experiences underwater. The outdoor section of the waterpark was vastly increased with added greenery, a children’s water play area themed to the park’s six-armed Octopus mascot Snorri, and a land-locked yacht that guests could rent as a private cabana, complete with concierge service.

For Rulantica, the theme is an integral part of the landscape and helps differentiate it from the competition. “Many of the waterparks in Germany are thermal baths,” says Kreft von Byern.

“We didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of other typical waterpark themes. For us, that means we have two rules: no pirates and no palm trees.”

The landscape design features mature pines, deciduous trees and large shrubs to naturally blend into the forestland behind the park, creating the feeling that the guest is completely surrounded by nature. The landscaping also provides a visual and sound barrier to Roland Mack Ring – the entrance road to Europa-Park.

Another major piece of infrastructure is hidden within Svalgurok itself. The structure sits on a massive block of faux ice, which conceals various maintenance support systems. “We made the important decision to put a big cellar under the structure to house the mechanics for the serpent’s head and the water systems for Svalgurok,” says Kreft von Byern. “Even though this was a more expensive alternative than a separate building, it saved land for future expansion of the park, or even a new hotel.”

Many waterslides in Germany are metal, because custom fiberglass pieces require detailed inspection, resulting in extensive government scrutiny inparkmagazine.com

ProSlide’s Janovich is proud of Svalgurok.

“We wanted to do something iconic and are so happy to have worked with the creative team at Mack to develop it. This RideHOUSE is a showcase of the best that ProSlide and our industry can offer and we can’t wait for guests from around the world to enjoy it for years to come.” • • •

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Meet Lindsey Nelson

Themed Entertainment Association’s new Executive Director

by Martin Palicki

T

he Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) welcomed Lindsey Nelson, CAE as the organization’s Executive Director in June of 2021. With a substantial background in association management and development, Nelson is wellpositioned to build on the existing strengths of TEA, which was founded in 1991 and serves the industry with events for networking, professional development and education such as the SATE conferences; publications such as the TEA/AECOM Theme Index; and recognition such as the Thea Awards and TEA Masters. We asked her about her experience and plans for the future.

Tell us what led you to this role at TEA. I am a career association executive with over 15 years of experience with associations. I started with an association management company in Glenview, Illinois, which was essentially a shared services model for small associations that want the benefit of having a full spectrum of management services.

From there, I went to work for a company also in the Chicago area that specialized in association fundraising. There, I raised over $5 million for the National Automatic Merchandising Association in 18 months. When that campaign concluded, the CEO of NAMA came to me and asked me to work directly for them. During the pandemic they decided to move their headquarters to Virginia, but my family and I wanted to stay in Chicago. Shortly thereafter I learned about the opportunity with TEA. Do you have some favorite attractions or museums?

My favorite theme park experience to date has been Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. I am a big Star Wars nerd and that was like a dream come true.

On the other end of the spectrum was the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. It was just incredible how they immerse you in the experience. You receive a badge of somebody who served in the war and follow their path through the museum and learn about the ways they were serving during the war. It’s a very personal connection to that experience.

Lindsey Nelson, CAE

One of the things that excited me about working for TEA was seeing that intergenerational approach is also being applied in our industry, through the NextGen programs and the interaction between the TEA Masters and students. I know how valuable that is and that it really works.

How have you been getting up to speed with TEA? It’s been a great start. I dove right in and have been getting out there to meet the members. I’ve done a lot of one-on-one calls and we also launched a global listening tour. The goal is really to get me and other TEA leadership from the executive committee out in the field (as much as COVID will allow) to meet and listen to members.

Are you finding that people are pretty optimistic right now?

Who inspires you professionally?

I have been so lucky to have had many mentors throughout my career. One that stands out is my grandmother. She was an executive director of a nonprofit in the small hometown where I grew up. So, from a young age I had a good female executive role model.

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I think the TEA membership is very optimistic on multiple fronts. I think they see a lot of potential for the future of the industry, both within the existing markets that we are in but also in new growth markets. I think there’s a broad agreement that there are a lot more companies and individuals that should be involved in TEA than there are today.

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Tell me about your philosophy of remote working and the importance of office location.

I’m still trying to figure out exactly what that means for TEA, but if COVID taught us anything, it’s that we can accomplish a lot remotely and that we are pretty resilient.

I’m based in Chicago. We have the professional staff headquarters in Burbank. I have been up to Burbank a few times already, and plan to continue to go out there on a regular basis to get that face time, work from the office there and make sure I maintain that connection with the team.

I think that maybe more concerning than productivity is making sure that you’re drawing those boundaries so you’re not at the computer all day long. I want to make sure we promote healthy work-life balance.

What excites you about working with TEA? When I first saw the job description I thought, “This sounds amazing, and what a cool mission.” As I dug in and learned more, I realized this association has so much potential.

The board is so aligned right now and passionate about the possibilities for the future. They are willing to accept that this is going to require change and we are all ready for it. The fact that they approach that with such openness and honesty was a good sign.

Can you tell me a little bit more about some of the short and long term challenges that you’re seeing for the association?

Short term, I think some of the things that TEA needs to focus on are processes and procedures as well as building a staff and technology infrastructure that will support future growth. There is no shortage of ideas in this industry and among the Board but you need good bones to support that vision.

These are things I’ve done before and that I’m really comfortable with, but it takes time and that process is not the thing that everyone gets really excited about. So that requires a lot of managing expectations and finding a way to acknowledge each great idea and give some context about what might need to be in place before we could pursue that opportunity.

On the longer term, I think it’s really the Board working to refine the unique value proposition for TEA. We’ve got to make sure that TEA is a profitable entity and we need to make sure that we’re monetizing our value. I think right now there’s a lot that TEA does and puts out for a very big audience and probably isn’t seeing the return on that investment. So how do we do that in a way that doesn’t exclude people, but really allows us to reinvest so we can continue to produce more content, more experience, grow the staff, and support more committees and programs?

What is your approach for developing the team at TEA? We are pretty lean and mean right now. There are three of us full-time staff. I think maintaining a strong daily connection with the team is really important, but I know that they are looking for clarity on their roles and responsibilities. By bringing in the outsource support, like we’ve been doing over the last 60 days, we’ve been able to peel back some of those extra roles and responsibilities that have been tacked on to the full-time staff.

I am not opposed to leaning in to our industry expertise, hiring where it makes sense and outsourcing for the things that we don’t need to be the experts on. With our size and annual budget, we can’t take on every position that I or the Board might want to staff full-time in Burbank.

The other thing that has always been a passion of mine is to make sure we invest in professional development. That doesn’t need to mean spending a ton of money sending people to seminars all over the globe, but it means making sure they find a professional association that gives them a network to tap into, because that really has been instrumental in my career.

How do you approach an organization like TEA with strong regional Divisions?

I approach TEA’s regional Divisions as affiliates of the association. And the key to success with any affiliate, whether it’s global or domestic, is making sure you have a strong affiliate agreement in place. What that does essentially is clarify the roles and responsibilities for each party. What does TEA international provide for us? What do we provide for them? And then once good processes and procedures are in place it’s really all about communication.

Where would you like to see the organization in five years or 10 years from now?

It’s a bit early, but I do have at least a preliminary vision. As I think about the staff and TEA as an organization, I see us as thriving, fiscally healthy, and growing. I would love for us to be back up at our budget and membership count that we were in 2019 within three years. I think we can totally do that as long as the mechanisms are ready.

By 10 years I could see us doubling in size if we’re following a strategy that focuses on expanding our umbrella and bringing new industry partners into the realm.

Will you be at any upcoming industry events?

Yes. Naturally, plans are subject to change due to COVID restrictions, but I will be in Burbank regularly and also at some of our upcoming divisional events. I am planning on attending IAAPA Expo Europe in Barcelona, followed by SATE Europe.

Naturally, I will be at IAAPA Expo in Orlando this November.

••• For more information on TEA, visit teaconnect.org.

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Giving 3D experiences long-awaited new punch New projection technology promises a brighter future for 3D attractions

by Joe Kleiman

All images courtesy of Christie

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hristie’s newest RGB laser projector is designed for brighter, better 3D attractions. The Mirage SST-6P began rolling out in March 2021 as part of Christie’s expanding line of RGB laser projectors. It is engineered to serve the 3D attractions market - allowing operators to benefit from new advances in laser projection and 3D technology, higher frame rate, resolution and color saturation - while leaving behind the issues and drawbacks of older systems.

This promises to be good news for operators, creatives, technical designers - and audiences. 3D projection has a long history in themed entertainment, though frequently plagued by issues such as dim visuals and viewer discomfort. The new Mirage SST-6P has the power to transform it into a considerably brighter, more colorful and engaging experience than before. Whether a system upgrade or a new installation, keeping an attraction’s technology up to date and engaging is an important aspect of attracting new and repeat visits, while helping to streamline issues of maintenance and operations.

The Mirage SST-6P projects a 4K 3D image at up to 120 frames per second, delivered through two RGB laser feeds. The lasers and special glasses create a vividly bright image on screen, with an expansive array of colors. This configuration also promises greater guest comfort. Single-head projector solutions are required to sequentially flash left and right images, and this can be a source of the eye fatigue and headaches that some guests encounter in 3D attractions. The Mirage SST-6P is designed to produce a more comfortable visual experience by delivering the left- and right-eye images to both eyes simultaneously.

There’s a case to be made for investing in better 3D: It’s popular, and it pops. 3D shows are proven crowd pleasers for entertainment and education alike. 3D experiences continue to engage and thrill audiences in the form of interactive dark rides and 4D shows in theme parks, cinematic exhibitions in giant screen theaters, planetarium shows, theaters in zoos and aquariums, immersive attractions and more. The 3D effect immerses guests in the storyline, inviting them to become part of the story. In a 3D dark ride, using screens instead of physical props and spaces can reduce an attraction’s footprint and overall cost. Many modern 3D dark rides also include interactive elements, such as target shooting.

Christie Mirage SST 6P projection system

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Saying goodbye to dim on-screen visuals

B1

B1 B1

G1

G1 G1

R1

R1 R1

B2

B2 B2

G2

G2 G2

The “RGB” in RGB laser stands for red, green and blue, the three primary-colored lasers used to generate light. This is a key differentiator from the more commonly known laser phosphor projection, as well as from lamp-based projection. Moving to RGB laser projection offers numerous benefits over other digital projection systems, including much longer lasting brightness, reduced maintenance, a lower cost of operation, and improved color and contrast.

R2

R2 R2

Color-filtering 3D glasses match the wavelengths of the two sets of primary colors coming from each of the RGB laser projection heads to ensure each eye sees the correct image.

Historically, 3D is a medium that fascinates and endures, despite its technical and operational shortcomings. And now, the Mirage SST-6P is poised to do away with those drawbacks and pave the way for a new generation of 3D crowd pleasers. Strong attendance and efficiency are especially important for owners and operators following the closures and restrictions imposed on parks and attractions during the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting financial impact.

Now may be the ideal time to check out what the Mirage SST-6P can do.

Upgrading an existing 3D attraction likely means replacing an aging, lampbased projection system.

According to Larry Paul, Executive Director, Technology and Custom Solutions for Christie, “The traditional color-interference filter (sometimes called ‘colorcomb’) lamp-based systems need replacing, so operators need new technology. The Mirage SST-6P RGB laser projection system is the lampless replacement that will breathe new life into 3D attractions, offering many performance improvements.”

Paul explained the brightness factor. The Mirage SST-6P includes two RGB laser light sources, projected from two separate 4K projector heads typically stacked one on top of the other. The red, green and blue primaries for the right- and left-eye images are projected at slightly different wavelengths - resulting in six laser RGB primaries, hence 6-Primary projection - and each lens of a pair of color-filtering passive 3D glasses matches these wavelengths, ensuring the proper image is seen by each eye.

Because there are no 3D filters on the projector itself, 100% of the light leaves each projector. Only about 10% of the light is absorbed by glasses for each eye. The result is an extremely bright image, with 90% of the light from each projector going to the correct eye. This is a vast improvement over the most common 3D technology used in the attractions industry today, color-interference filter dual lamp-based projection systems.

There, roughly 70% of the light is absorbed by the filters in the

Lamp-based color-interference filter projection systems are only approximately 20% efficient. Filters in each projector block all the unwanted light in order to create the left- and right-eye images, with the glasses absorbing additional light. The result? A total loss of around 80% on-screen brightness.

With no need for filters in the projectors, 6P 3D RGB laser projection systems output all their energy on screen and just 10% of the light is absorbed by the glasses. The result is 90% efficiency with all of this light reaching audience eyes.

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the projector where it should ideally go. It is illuminated by the remote RGB light source, via a fiber-optic cable. And the light source is cooled by a compact chiller that can be installed away from guests for easy heat and sound management. Because the projection system utilizes remote lasers, the loud noise of a heat exhaust fan from the projector head is no longer a factor, so guests are unaware of the projection system’s presence.

Higher frame rates = more realism The Christie Mirage SST-6P doesn’t just project in 3D, but it does so at a high frame rate (HFR). “When matched properly with high frame rate,” says Paul, “3D works great. Right now, the emphasis in the industry is on spatial resolution [pixels], but temporal resolution [frame rate] is the next big area of exploration. Because Hollywood is slow with introducing new technology, theme parks and video games will lead the market with high frame rate experiences.”

Larry Paul, Executive Director, Technology and Custom Solutions, Christie

projectors and a further 10% in the glasses so approximately only 20% of the light reaches the eye.

The 90% light retention results in a much brighter, clearer image with more vivid colors. Color is measured by a color gamut, the range of colors visible to the human eye that can be reproduced by a device. The color gamut of the Mirage SST-6P surpasses both the International Telecommunication Union’s Rec. 709 and Digital Cinema Initiative’s DCI-P3 color gamuts, standards for the maximum colors visible from a digital projector. A fuller color palette empowers creating more realistic and vibrant guest experiences.

Installation and integration friendly Specifications indicate that the technology is compatible with white or grey screens - silver is not needed - and therefore lends itself to the more complex screens and setup requirements of attractions. It is compatible with ultra-short-throw lenses for tight spaces. It works in multi-projector arrays to fill larger screens.

The projection system has Christie Twist built in for warping and blending and is compatible with Christie Mystique, the company’s automated camera-based alignment software. This software automates warping and blending to facilitate projection onto curved and unconventionally shaped screens.

The Mirage SST-6P system is a dual projection solution with each unit consisting of three main parts: a projector head, remote RGB laser light source and compact chiller. The small size and light weight of the projector head (just 113lbs /51kg) and its ability to be installed at absolutely any angle facilitate placing

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Movies, whether in cinema or attractions, are based on a series of individual images or frames stitched together. As they are shown one after another by the projector, they create the illusion of motion. The speed at which they progress, or frame rate, impacts the amount of realism the viewer sees, with higher frame rates eliminating artifacts such as motion blur. The result is a more realistic, immersive experience.

In the pre-digital era, it was standard for motion pictures to run at 24 frames per second (fps), the minimum speed needed to synch sound to film. The Mirage SST-6P can project images in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second per eye in 3D and, with the Mirage Pro upgrade, an astonishing 480 fps per eye in 2K resolution that scales to fill the 4K chip.

“4K 3D projection at 120 frames per second was something we jumped on and invested in early, with our partners helping us along the way,” says Paul. “We knew from the start that this would become part of a storyteller’s medium.” Of course, technical quality is not an end in itself. The projector is a tool and it’s important to have appropriate and quality content for your audience. As Paul puts it: “Good content will not fix a bad projector, and a good projector will not fix bad content.” But in this highly creative industry, storytellers always step up to explore the possibilities of a great new tool. The versatility of the Christie Mirage SST-6P supports better on-screen imagery, which should interest anyone with a vision to create media-based attractions.

The overarching goal is to combine technology with quality content in a way where the audience is not aware of the 3D illusion, but immersed within it. “When we speak with customers,” says Paul, “we like to find out what challenges they’re trying to overcome, what we can do to make life easier for them. We love that we have systems that can accomplish what the customers want them to. They turn it on and see projector performance like they’ve never encountered and an experience like they’ve never seen before. To the audience, the immersion itself is a secret.” • • •

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A World’s Fair in Minnesota Exclusive interview with Mark Ritchie, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota World’s Fair Bid Committee interview by Jim Ogul

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hanks to the efforts of Mark Ritchie and his organization’s 2027 Minnesota bid, the United States may be hosting a world’s fair for the first time since 1984. (Perhaps you remember the Louisiana World Exposition, in New Orleans. It’s been a long time.)

World’s fairs began in 1851 with London’s Crystal Palace Exhibition. Since the late 1980s to the present, countries in Europe, Asia, and soon the Middle East have embraced hosting them, while the U.S. has lagged in participation. But fortunately, that may be about to change.

It’s official: On June 29, the U.S. announced to the 168th General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE – the Paris-based organization that oversees world’s fairs) that the State of Minnesota will bid to host a specialized Expo in 2027. A specialized Expo is a three-month event, which under BIE rules can take place between the larger, six-month events (Expo 2020 Dubai is the next large one, opening October 21 after a one-year COVID delay) which take place every five years.

The theme of Expo 2027 Minnesota USA is “Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Wellness and Well-Being for All.” If the bid is successful (there may be other bidders – Malaga, Spain has shown an interest) it would be the first BIE-sanctioned Expo in the U.S. in 43 years (since New Orleans ’84) and the first in North America since Vancouver Expo 86.

Having served with U.S. pavilions at the past three North American world’s fairs – Expo 82 Knoxville as Exhibits Officer, Expo 84 New Orleans as Exhibits Director, and Expo 86 Vancouver as Pavilion Director – I can attest from personal experience to the enthusiasm of millions of visitors to these events. I can further attest to the revitalization these events bring to the communities that host them. On a more personal note, it is gratifying to see the U.S. Government supporting our candidacy to host a world expo after all these years of absence. It is also gratifying that the U.S. Government decided to rejoin the BIE after its unfortunate withdrawal in 2001. Without BIE member status, it would be impossible for the country to win a bid to host an official world’s fair; with it, the Minnesota bid has the required nod from the federal government. These are hopeful signs that bode well for an overall, stronger future U.S. role in world’s fairs – as a host as well as a participant.

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I interviewed Mark Ritchie, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota World’s Fair Bid Committee to find out more about the endeavor.

— J.O. What was the motivation for having a world’s fair in Minnesota?

A small group of individuals – all of whom had been impacted by visiting a world’s fair as youth – came together to see what could be done to make this experience available to future generations of young people in the United States.

You actively urged the U.S. to rejoin the Bureau of International Expositions, which was a prerequisite to a successful Expo bid. Can you tell us more about that?

Yes – that was the most difficult part of this process. Congress instructed the U.S. State Dept. to withdraw from the BIE – after having denied the use of appropriations to pay annual dues for three years in a row. When State complied with this instruction from Congress, they stated that there would be some negative consequences – including making it impossible for a city/region in the U.S. to host an Expo.

In 2009, Manuel Delgado from Houston was quoted in the Wall Street Journal pushing against this decision – calling on the U.S. to re-join so Houston could bid to host a world’s fair.

When our group started talking about hosting an Expo in Minnesota, we made it our initial focus that the U.S. must rejoin the BIE. I began meeting with everyone who would take a meeting with me at the State Department. I also met with BIE leadership in Paris to make sure they knew that Minnesota was very serious about both objectives – hosting an Expo and, therefore, getting the US back into the BIE. What we discovered in the process was that there was never actual legislative language that pulled the U.S. out of the BIE, but rather an unusual mechanism used by the Appropriations Committee called “report language.” New report language was needed to reverse the earlier decision. Eventually, a formal piece of legislation was introduced and passed unanimously to re-join the BIE. This legislation, called the “U.S. Wants to Compete for a World Expo Act,” was authored by Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer,

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with strong support by the entire Minnesota delegation. In the end, this became law with strong support from the White House, and unanimous consent of both the House and the Senate on May 8th, 2017. This was the green light that triggered the U.S. rejoining the BIE. Was your earlier attempt for a Minnesota hosted expo in 2023 helpful in preparing for this 2027 bid?

Very much so! Our first campaign was a huge success – seeing the United States government re-join the BIE was our #1 objective and this happened just in time to be able to join the final round of voting. In the course of that 2023 bid campaign, we learned about the rules, regulations, and expectations of the expo process, and the key concepts that now guide our every move. And although the U.S. had some catching up to do on its official BIE status, we were warmly embraced by the BIE community and helped at every turn. What’s more, we have continued to build ever closer working partnerships with other countries that will be crucial not only for winning our bid but also ensuring success for the 2027 Expo.

Can you describe the local, state, regional and nationwide support you envision for the Minnesota Bid? We are now in position to shift focus to moving into the national arena. With this designation by the President, we are hearing from people across the country – in big and small companies, state, and local agencies, and from NGOs of all sizes wanting to get involved.

Are you going to Expo 2020 Dubai?

Yes. During Expo Milan (2015) we took four delegations. We’re very excited about Dubai, and this time we will be attending an expo as the candidate of the U.S. government.

Tell us about your “day job.”

As President of Global Minnesota, our state’s 70-year-old World Affairs Council, my primary job is connecting Minnesotans to the world and the world to Minnesota. This is a perfect fit for advocating for our bid with leaders in science, industry, and other countries.

In my spare time I have the honor of serving as Minnesota’s Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the U.S. Army.

We had only a slim chance of winning on our first attempt, but we also knew that if we made a good impression the first time around, we might be successful in our subsequent efforts. That early commitment to the long-haul is really paying off for us.

How can people reach out to get involved with Minnesota 2027?

What can you tell us about the rationale for your theme?

On our website, check out the Media and Community sections and sign up to join the email list: www.minnesotausaexpo.com.

•••

We debated several possible themes and selected one that reflected our region’s reputation as a global center of excellence in healthcare and healthy living, and that supports sustainable development. “Healthy People, Healthy Planet: Wellness and Well-Being for All” is what we’ve been using as our theme since 2014.

What can you tell us about the Expo site?

Since retiring from the US State Department in 2011 after a 30+ year career in world expos, James Ogul has remained on the scene in an advisory and consulting role. He writes regularly for InPark Magazine about world’s fairs. His book, “Tales from the Expo” is free online at inparkmagazine.com.

Our site will be in the South Loop region of Bloomington, which is Minnesota’s fifth-largest city. It is within a few minutes’ drive or light-rail from our international airport, adjacent to the largest public transit hub in our state, and near the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. This region also is the home to the Mall of America, visited by 40 million people each year.

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Coasters and carousels by the sea

125 years of Blackpool Pleasure Beach - a unique family business

by Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool UK We invited Blackpool Pleasure Beach to tell their story on the occasion of their 125th anniversary and being honored in 2021 with the Thea Classic Award.

“W

ho would have envisaged my great-grandfather’s dream would last 125 years and beyond!” Keeping up a long and honorable family tradition, Blackpool Pleasure Beach Managing Director Amanda Thompson OBE followed in the footsteps of her father, grandfather and great-grandfather to build Blackpool Pleasure Beach into the amusement park it is today.

In 2021 the famous amusement park celebrates 125 years of fun.

Amanda says, “We have 42 acres of fabulous fun here - with everything from amazing rides, world-famous shows and two incredible hotels, the Big Blue and the Boulevard.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach is still to this day a family concern with Amanda’s brother and sister both very hands-on with the running of the park. Deputy Managing Director Nick Thompson is heavily involved in bringing new and exciting concepts to the park, including Nickelodeon Land and the UK’s first double launch coaster, ICON. Sister Fiona Gilje is an architect who designed the Big One station and the Avalanche, among many other ventures.

It’s not just rides that Blackpool Pleasure Beach is famous for, as from its very beginnings the park is home to numerous entertainment venues that host shows and events year-round.

The undisputed queen of these shows is Hot Ice, the ice show which has been wowing audiences for over 80 years with amazing choreography, stunning costumes and some of the world’s best skaters. Amanda Thompson produces and directs Hot Ice each year. It is presented in the Pleasure Beach Arena, a purpose-built ice theatre. It is the only remaining ice theatre in the world and has been recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records.

From 1896 to the present Looking back on the journey from the opening of Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1896 to the present, the story begins with William George Bean. Influenced by travels around the world, he founded Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1896 and purchased the 42acre site on which the Pleasure Beach now stands. Bean’s aim was to develop the site using the very latest innovations in ride and leisure technology and incorporating the cutting edge architecture and design of the times.

The mission of WG Bean is still as relevant today as it was back then: “We wanted to found an American style amusement park, the fundamental principle of which is to make adults feel like children again and to inspire gaiety of a primarily innocent character,” he stated.

The Bicycle Railway and River Caves attractions at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1905. All photos courtesy of Blackpool Pleasure Beach

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The park entrance to Blackpool Pleasure Beach

At Blackpool Pleasure Beach we consider our park to be the world’s most ride-intensive amusement park, but with so much to offer there’s something for everyone: shows, events, restaurants, bars and cafes and unique attractions plus two luxury hotels.

There are 10 unique roller coasters to choose from. Younger thrill-seekers can enjoy the Nickelodeon Land, loaded with 12 rides and attractions from the ups and downs of the Blue Flyer to the soaking good fun of SpongeBob’s Splash Bash.

1920-1930

Thrills and memories that will last a lifetime are assured and there is plenty to keep all ages amused. Blackpool Pleasure Beach is constantly changing, improving and developing to meet the tastes and demands from each new generation and it would be no surprise to see the park celebrate many more milestone anniversaries in years to come.

In the 1930s, Leonard Thompson succeeded his father-in-law to become Managing Director of the Company. This decade saw the introduction of many new rides including The Rollercoaster, the Pleasure Beach Express and the world-famous twin tracked coaster, the Grand National.

Here are some major milestones over the course of 125 years:

The Second World War put a temporary halt to the progress of Pleasure Beach; however, during the war the park remained open.

For thousands of evacuees and services personnel this provided a temporary respite from the reality of war.

1904 Sir Hiram Maxim Captive Flying Machine is the oldest continuous working amusement park ride in Europe and is Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s oldest ride. Opened in August 1904, it remains popular today.

1910-1920 The outbreak of the First World War caused many traveling fairs to close but seaside amusement parks, such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, remained open. This period did slow up development at Pleasure Beach but the end of the decade saw activity pick up once more.

The 1920s saw a period of great investment in the park. The first in 1922 were Noah’s Ark and Virginia Reel followed by the classic Big Dipper wooden rollercoaster which opened on 23 August.

The Big Dipper, which is still in operation and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2023, was fast and modern for its time, and offered the holidaymakers of the 1920s a unique experience.

1930-1940

1940-1950

1950-1960 The Derby Racer carousel opened in 1959. It has 56 horses, each carved at the Pleasure Beach.

1960-1970 This decade saw a collection of rides open including Alice in Wonderland, the Grand Prix, the overhead Monorail, Tea Cup ride and the Log Flume.

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1970-1980 Geoffrey Thompson became Managing Director in 1976 and exciting rides added included the Steeplechase, opened by the racehorse Red Rum in 1977. The “Mr. Funshine” logo was introduced and became an iconic symbol across the park.

Two years later, Europe’s first 360 degree looping coaster, the Revolution, opened.

1980-1990 In 1988, the year the British bobsleigh team were competing in the Winter Olympics, a dazzling new ride, the Avalanche, opened and carried over one million passengers during the first year.

1990-2000 1994 saw an investment of £12 million for the Pepsi Max Big One, which when it was constructed was known as the world’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster. At 235ft tall, The Big One changed the skyline of Blackpool’s seafront forever.

2000-present 2000 saw the biggest investment to date of £15 million when Valhalla opened. 2003 saw the 157-room Big Blue Hotel open its doors by offering luxury accommodation.

In 2004, Amanda Thompson OBE became Managing Director and invested £5m in the park with re-theming and refurbishment. £8m was invested in 2007 with the opening of Infusion, a uniquely designed rollercoaster suspended entirely over water.

In 2011, a six-acre area of Pleasure Beach was transformed into Nickelodeon Land consisting of 12 rides, Nick shop, game stalls and famous Nickelodeon characters.

Gromit’s Thrill-O-Matic was voted ‘Best Indoor Attraction’ in the 2020 UK Theme Park awards. It transports riders into the colorful world of Wallace & Gromit traveling though scenes from “A Grand Day Out,” and “The Wrong Trousers” to “Curse of the Were-Rabbit.”

Red Arrows Skyforce landed at Pleasure Beach in 2015 and allows riders to take a 360-degree spin in the sky. In 2018, the double launch roller coaster ICON opened - an investment of £16.25m with advanced technology providing two powerful thrusts of acceleration during its exhilarating two-and-a-halfminute ride.

The £12m Boulevard Hotel opened in 2019 and is situated on Ocean Boulevard next to the park’s existing Big Blue Hotel. It boasts 120 rooms with views of the seafront or the park, a 90seat restaurant and state-of-the-art conference facilities.

2021 saw Blackpool Pleasure Beach honored by the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) with the prestigious Thea Classic Award which recognizes the park’s excellence and longevity. The Thea Awards Judging Committee wrote in its official remarks that Blackpool Pleasure Beach “…stands as one of those venerable, classic destinations in the world of themed entertainment, connecting the industry’s past and future.

This seaside amusement park has survived two world wars and welcomed guests through more than a century of cultural, social and technological change…. Providing family fun and thrills for generations, Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an iconic destination that has stood the test of time.” More information about this award, including the official credits list with information on suppliers and partners, can be found in the 27th Annual Thea Awards Program. • • •

Continuing with family favorites, 2013 saw the opening of the world’s first Wallace & Gromit ride, Thrill-O-Matic. Wallace &

An aerial view of Blackpool Pleasure Beach from 1935

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WORLD’S FIRST-EVER FULLY TRANSPARENT COMPOSITE LOOPING ROCKET WATERSLIDE

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