The Festival of Innovation

Join us as we welcome you to the Festival of Innovation. Hear from Bea Mitchell, news editor at blooloop, as she talks about the top trends for 2025.

Join Mark Locker, founder & CEO of Attractions.io, Tim Morrow, president & CEO of San Antonio Zoo, Jim Deny, VP of eCommerce at Six Flags and Adele Keane, COO & creative director at Imvizar as they discuss trends in the guest experience.

Plus, we reveal the winner of the 2024 Guest Journey Innovation Awards.

Join Ton Tozer, vice president of global delivery at Holovis, Matt Usi, technical manager, experiences at Netflix, Pearl Verzosa, executive director of marketing and customer experience at AREA15 and Neil Lewin, owner of Semantic, as they discuss trends within creative technology like gamification, personalisation and data-driven decision making.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the Creative Technology 2024 Innovation Award category.

Join Anthony Chong, group managing director of Kingsmen Exhibits Pte Ltd and executive director of Kingsmen Creatives Ltd, Philipp Edelman, director of production for live experience at Netflix and Jenefer Brown, executive vice president and head of Lionsgate global products & experiences as they discuss the future of using IP within visitor experiences.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the Brand Realisation 2024 Innovation Awards.

Join Tom Lionetti-Maguire, founder of Little Lion Entertainment and creator of The Games Arena, Jeffrey Godsick, executive vice president, global partnerships and brand strategy and head of Location Based Entertainment at Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, Matt Palmer, chief marketing officer at Brite Management and Rob Hetherington, founder of Spider Entertainment as they discuss the future of competitive socialising, FECs and LBEs.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the Game On 2024 Innovation Awards.

Join Judith Zissman, executive creative director of Blue Telescope, Amanda Mayne, head of partnerships: international touring exhibitions at The British Museum and Malika Pryor, chief learning & engagement officer at the International African American Museum as they discuss how to create exhibits that resonate with visitors, and what the future of museum exhibits looks like.

Plus, we reveal the winner of the Exhibit 2024 Innovation Awards.

Join Lora Sauls, assistant director of creative development and show direction for art, design and entertainment at Universal Orlando and John Burton, senior creative lead at Merlin Entertainments as they discuss halloween events and the future of thrilling attractions.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the Thrills 2024 Innovation Awards.

Join Jim Shumway, VP project delivery at TAIT, Asa Kalama, VP, executive – creative & interactive experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering, Erica McCay, executive creative director at Valtech Themed Entertainment Studio and Rachel Nakamura as they discuss trends within experiential technology.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the Experiential Technology 2024 Innovation Awards.

Join AREA15 as they discuss immersive experiences.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the Immersive Experiences 2024 Innovation Awards.

Join Julie Swanston, executive creative director at Merlin Magic Making and Nick Moran, co-founder and creative director of Phantom Peak as they discuss the future of storytelling within the visitor attraction industry, how to maximise guest engagement and trends like the use of IP and tech and actor led experiences.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Awards Storytelling and Storytelling – Culture categories.

Join Ernest Backenie, senior director of entertainment at Christie, Kees Rijnen, strategist at Efteling and Ernest Yale, president, CEO and founder of Triotech, as they discuss the future of immersive attractions.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Award Immersive Attraction category.

Join Sheena Khan, Head of Environment and Culture Programmes, Education & Culture at Terra Pavilion, Expo City Dubai as she discusses the next phase of the Terra Pavilion, how to communicate sustainability to visitors and its sustainability programmes.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Award Sustainability category.

Join Kimberly Beneville, co-founder of Beneville Studios, Sam Bompas, director of Bompas & Parr and Ben Wilson, head of architecture & concept design at MSC Cruises as they discuss how to get a blue sky project off the ground, challenges with blue sky thinking and what the future of the industry will look like.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Award Blue Sky category.

Join Pauline Ravry, project manager at Futuroscope as she tells us about Aquascope and what it takes to build a waterpark.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Award Splash category.

Join Erik Burdock, senior director of experience design at COSI, Arik Lubkin, chief creative officer at CAMP and Jacquelyn Sorvillo, chief retail officer at The SSA Group as they discuss why themed retail spaces are important.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Award Themed Environment category.

Join Mike Aiello, senior director – entertainment creative development at Universal Destinations and Experiences and Jason McNanus, principal, executive creative at TAIT as they explore what it takes to create a nighttime spectacular show.

Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2024 Innovation Award Spectacular category.

Join Winston Fisher, CEO of AREA15 and Charles Read, MD of blooloop, as they discuss AREA15 and reveal the Best in Show Innovation Award winner. Plus, we reveal the winner of the Public Vote Innovation Award.