They have lots of experience in the experience economy
They have lots of experience in the experience economy
IAAPA Legends Panel announced
This one is for ATP subscribers who work in the parks and attractions industry (of which there are many–thanks!). Chances are you will be heading to the IAAPA expo, which is the massive gathering for industry professionals that is held each November in Orlando. And chances are that you look forward each year to one of the Expo’s highlights, the Legends Panel. Hosted by Bob Rogers, CEO and chairman of BRC Imagination Arts and a legend in his own right, the 2024 presentation will being together an intriguing group.
In past years, the panel has focused on single topics, such as the New York World’s Fair on the occasion of its 50th anniversary in 2014 or The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, which featured the legends who created the groundbreaking attraction. This year, however, appears to be more of a hodgepodge of guests. All three panelists are authors who have new industry-related books to discuss. Two of them have highly distinguished careers as Imagineers as well.
Bob Weis (who participated in a Legends Panel about Epcot during its 40th anniversary in 2022) recently left Walt Disney Imagineering after a four-decade tour of duty which he capped by serving as the creative group’s president. I got to interview Weis a number of times, including a tete-a-tete in Shanghai during the opening of Shanghai Disneyland in which we talked about the the Tron attraction. He is a soft-spoken, but fascinating gentleman. Weis has been poring over the voluminous records and documents of the late WDI legend Marty Sklar (whom I also had the great fortune to interview) and is writing “Twelve Disney Parks: Treasures from the Marty Sklar Archives of Walt Disney Imagineering,” which he no doubt will talk about during the presentation. Sklar, by the way, was a perennial member of the Legends Panel.
Fellow Imagineer, Margaret Chandra Kerrison, whose projects include Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, will also join the 2024 panel. She also worked alongside Rogers at BRC Imagination Arts. Chandra Kerrison penned two books: “Immersive Storytelling for Real and Imagined Worlds: A Writer’s Guide” and “Reimagined Worlds: Narrative Placemaking for People, Play, and Purpose.” Her new book, “The Art of Immersive Storytelling: Strategies from the Gaming World,” will be published next year.
Rounding out the Legends Panel will be Joe Pine, co-author of the seminal business book, “The Experience Economy.” Parks and attractions, of course, are an essential part of the experience economy. Pine has a new book set to be published in 2025, “The Transformation Economy.”
The Legends Panel is scheduled to be presented on November 20 during there IAAPA Expo.
Will I see you at the 2024 Legends Panel? What would you want to ask the panelists?