The 2023 Festival of Innovation is taking place 6-8th December online. Attendees will be able to view all of the entries to this year’s Innovation Awards in our Innovation Showcase as well as vote for their favourite entry to win the Public Vote Award.
We have three days of discussions from industry experts talking about why fear is good for us to what makes an immersive experience. The full agenda is below and you can register for the event here.
Wednesday 6th December
We will reveal the winners of the Guest Journey, Creative Technology, Experiential Technology, Spectacular, Thrills and Splash Innovation Awards 2023.
Charles Read, MD of blooloop, and Rachel Read, director of blooloop, welcome everyone to the 2023 Festival of Innovation.
Werner Dullmaier, vice president of business development EMEA at Convious, moderates a discussion about the latest trends in the Guest Journey with Tara Morandi, SVP sales & marketing at Connect & Go and Meg Parker, chief marketing officer at AREA15.
Looking at the guest journey from an operator and product/supplier side, they explore how technology can enhance a visitor’s experience, top trends such as allowing operators to be more efficient whilst delivering seamless guest experiences.
Plus, we reveal the winners of the Guest Journey Innovation Awards 2023, sponsored by Convious.
In this discussion, Matt Quinn, director at Squint/Opera, Mark Stutzman, chief technology officer at AREA15 and Chris Michaels, founder of Chris Michaels Digital Advisory explore technology within visitor attractions, from museums to LBE spaces.
In particular, they discuss AI and how it can impact the industry, from allowing for more personalised experiences to how creative teams and operators can use it day-to-day. They also explore other trends within technology that they find interesting.
Plus, the winners of the Creative Technology Innovation Awards 2023 will be revealed.
Etienne Sainton, product manager at Alterface speaks with Rich Hill, chief creative officer of Sally Dark Rides, Lauren Etta Riley from Oceaneering Entertainment Systems, and Amber Lepley, senior show and entertainment manager from EllisDon about experiential technology in attractions.
Exploring every aspect of an attraction and looking at it from different geographical aspects, they talk about how technology can enhance an experience and how to respect an operator’s vision and ensure it is smoothless to maintain and integrate. They then discuss how to design for a specific audience and then look at the future of experiential technology.
We then reveal the winners of the Experiential Technology Innovation Awards 2023, sponsored by Alterface.
Charles Read, MD of blooloop, interviews Thomas Kaferle, general manager of SeaWorld Yas Island, Abu Dhabi and Yas SeaWorld Research & Rescue.
They explore the new SeaWorld in more detail, looking at the way it uses technology, themed areas and attractions to augment the guest experience and provide a spectacular experience. Kaferle also explains more about the Yas SeaWorld Research & Rescue centre.
Plus, we reveal the winners of the 2023 Spectacular Innovation Awards.
Chris Grap, vice president of experiential entertainment at Mall of America, speaks with Mathias Clasen, PhD, associate professor and co-director of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University, Denmark and Karl Svedung, head of marketing at Liseberg. They will be discussing the Project Fear experiment and why scare entertainment is scientifically good for you!
We also reveal the winners of the Thrills Innovation Awards 2023.
Chip Cleary, senior consultant at Europa-Park, discusses Rulantica, Europa-Parks water park.
He goes through the process of planning the water park, and how they are constantly innovating and thinking about how to make the guest experience better, from the changing rooms to the water slides.
We also reveal the winners of the Splash Innovation Awards 2023.
Thursday 7th December
We will reveal the winners of the Inclusion, Sustainability, Exhibit, Themed Environment and Storytelling 2023 Innovation Awards.
Rachel Read, director of blooloop, speaks with Michael Collins, senior partner at LDP about inclusion in the visitor attractions industry.
We also reveal the winners of the Inclusion Innovation Awards 2023.
Rachel Read and Ruth Read will be talking about how to reduce your digital carbon footprint with a focus on emails.
We reveal the winners of the Sustainability Innovation Awards 2023.
Sam Bompas, director of Bompas & Parr, Jo Pike, director of Opera Amsterdam and Majed Almansoori, deputy executive director of the Museum of Future explore the future of museum exhibits.
They explore the challenges faced when creating an immersive, emotive museum exhibit, such as how to tell the story when your visitors are global and may not speak the same language. They also discuss how powerful museums can be and how they can become a hub for the community. The panel imagine what the future of museum exhibits will be and how they can keep serving their communities, both local and global.
Plus, we reveal the winners of the Exhibit Innovation Awards 2023.
Taylor Jeffs, president and chief creative officer at Legacy Entertainment, Diella Yasmine, public relations supervisor and Edith Esmeralda, public relations assistant manager from Agung Sedayu Group, discuss the themed environment and in particular Batavia PIK.
They discuss the process of creating Batavia, an overwater retail complex in Indonesia, and how it fits into the larger PIK development. They also speak about why it is so intricately themed and how that theming draws upon Indonesia’s history.
We also reveal the winners of the Themed Environment 2023 Innovation Awards.
Geoff Spooner, SVP & general manager of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London -The Making Of Harry Potter, James Dwyer, creative director at Lumsden and Michael Carpenter, creative director at Thinkwell (a TAIT company) explore the new Tokyo experience.
Spooner talks about how they expanded on what they knew worked at the Leavesden Studio and expanded upon it for this new location. Dwyer discusses the retail and food and beverage side of the tour, whilst Carpenter explores the new immersive, interactive experiences and technology that was added. They also discuss how to translate a well-known brand and experience for a new market.
Genell Hoeschstetter, senior creative director at Art Processors discusses storytelling within visitor attractions with Ty Granaroli, EVP, themed entertainment at Paramount and Mark Brymer, chief creative officer of WOW Entertainment!
They explore how to create the best storytelling for your experience, and the idea of storytelling in acts to breakdown the storytelling into beats and digestible bites for the audience. They also discuss who to ensure that an audience’s agency within the storytelling must be rewarded so that people are encouraged to take that agency.
Plus, the winners of the Storytelling Innovation Awards 2023, sponsored by Art Processors, are revealed.
Friday 8th December
We will reveal the winners of the Immersive Attraction, Game On, Brand Realisation, Immersive Experience, Blue Sky, Best in Show and Public Vote Innovation Awards 2023.
Erica McCay, creative director at Valtech, hosts discussions with Deana Taylor, general manager of Ferrari World Yas Island, Abu Dhabi and Dan Pelson, creative director of AREA15.
They look at what makes a good immersive attraction, from the staff members to the attraction itself. They all talk about how the story has to be the heart of the attraction, whether that’s a personalised story for the visitor or someone else’s story that the visitor follows.
We also reveal the winners of the Immersive Attraction Innovation Awards 2023, sponsored by Valtech.
Nick Dimatteo, founder of Fortyfivegames, Craig Buster, general manager of Wild Island’s Coconut Island and Dennie Renessis from FunLab are speaking on our Game On panel.
They will explore trends within competitive socialising and FECS as well as the future of how visitors engage with these shared gaming experiences.
We also reveal the winners of the Game On Innovation Awards 2023.
Megan Wastell, global creative director at Merlin Entertainments and Christine Wacker, director, business development experiences at Netflix discuss how to turn an IP into an experience.
They explore trends that they are seeing as well as how to translate an IP into different geographical markets. They also look at the future of branded experiences.
We also reveal the winners of the Brand Realisation Innovation Awards 2023.
Vince Kadlubek, founder & director of Meow Wolf, Neil Connolly, creative director at The Everywhere Group and Kirin Sinha, founder & CEO of Illumix talk about immersive experiences.
They discuss how the idea of an immersive experience is expanding into different areas of the industry as people try to tell a story in the most engaging way possible. They also looked at trends and the future of immersive experiences, as well as potential pitfalls.
Plus, we announce the winners of the Immersive Experience Innovation Awards 2023.
Kim Beneville, co-founder of Beneville Studios and head of experiences at AREA15, Justin East, senior creative director, research & development, Merlin Entertainments and Felix Heuberger, head of marketing at Eatrenalin discuss Blue Sky innovations.
They talk about why the business case is so important for any blue sky ideas in order for it to be a viable product and investment. They also look at the process of finding new innovations, part of which is the content refresh of an idea and also how important it is to believe in the idea. They then look at the future and what trends they are seeing.
And we reveal the winners of the Blue Sky Innovation Awards 2023, sponsored by Assetnest.
Winston Fisher, CEO of AREA15 joins Charles Read, MD of blooloop, to discuss trends from the 2023 Innovation Awards as well as announce the Best in Show winner and the Public Vote winner.
