After a sojourn last September to Europe, the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) brings its SATE conference back to North America with a two-day event this October in Savannah, Georgia.
The event takes place on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 October at the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), sponsored by Christie. Park World has seen the programme, and is happy to share some of the highlights.Keynote addresses will include an insight into the world of Pixar courtesy of the company’s Roger Gould and Liz Gazzano, who among other things will discuss its relationship with Walt Disney Imagineering, plus a presentation from Don Marinelli, ex-Carnegie Mellon University/Entertainment Technology Center, delivering a challenge to the industry to engage in “whole brain thinking”.
Adam Bezark will curate Thursday’s session on Storytelling, addressing such topics as Tools You Can Use, Storytelling Technology and Where Do We Go From Here? Among Al Cross’s invited speakers on Architecture will be Jonathan F Douglas (VOA), with a session entitled Creating A Great Attraction Is Like Making A Great Movie.
Mk Haley of Disney Research will oversee the segment about Technology on Friday morning, with speakers including Paul Kent and Bryan Hinckley from Electrosonic, and then rounding off the conference will be the session on Experience, chaired by Phil Hettema. Joining Phil will be Thinkwell’s Dave Cobb, focusing on fan culture, and Jake Barton from Local Projects, talking about creating genuine meaning in collaborative public spaces.
Details of the opening night reception and other TEA mixers had yet to be announced at the time of writing, but expect them to play a major part in he proceedings, networking being one of the association’s strong points. Stay tuned to the SATE blog for more details.
SATE is the TEA’s annual design conference, stimulating dialogue among members since 2007 and reaching across a broad range of creative disciplines and market sectors within the attractions industry. The 2012 event was staged at Disneyland Paris, attracting both European and international delegates. The full SATE ’13 speaker programme, registration details, hotel information and more can be found at sate2013.blogspot.com
Pictured below: The Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) – host venue for SATE ’13
