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Founder of BRC Imagination Arts Honored for a Lifetime of Innovation, Creativity and Leadership in Experience Design
Bob Rogers, founder and chief creative officer of attraction design firm BRC Imagination Arts, has been inducted into the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Hall of Fame.
IAAPA is the premier trade association for the $24 billion global attractions industry that includes museums, heritage attractions, corporate visitor centers and amusement parks. Every year, the IAAPA Hall of Fame inducts between one and four individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to the industry. Rogers, the only living recipient to be inducted this year, was honored earlier today at a celebration at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2010 in Orlando, Florida. Additionally there were three posthumous inductees: Will Koch, owner of Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari; Don Clayton, the founder of Putt-Putt Golf and Games; and Daniel H. Burnham, for creating the Midway Plaisance at the Chicago World’s Fair.
A master storyteller, filmmaker, inventor and writer, Rogers has spent more than four decades uniquely combining meaningful content with technical dazzle and entertainment. Rogers, 60, is known for his remarkable ability to blend scholarship with showmanship to create experiences that engage audiences of all ages. Through BRC, which he founded 29 years ago, Rogers has conceived, designed and produced industry-defining attractions for a who’s who of international organizations, from Ford and Heineken to NASA and Disney, from the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum to 11 national and corporate presentations at six major World’s Fairs to date.
In addition to being inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame, Rogers is a recipient of The NASA Public Service Medal plus the Order of Lincoln Medal and has also received the THEA Award for Lifetime Achievement.
"Bob is a storyteller par excellence and his influence on the attractions industry is huge, " said Tim O’Brien, chairman of the IAAPA Hall of Fame and Archives committee. "From his early work producing films for Epcot to the cultural work for which he is renowned, Bob continues to raise the bar and set new standards for the industry. We welcome him to the Hall of Fame, and look forward to seeing what he comes up with next!"
Rogers joins previous inductees including Walt and Roy Disney; Angus Wynne Jr. (creator of Six Flags); Walter Knott (Knott’s Berry Farm); Milton Hershey (Hersheypark); Jay Stein (Universal Studios); Harrison "Buzz" Price, the economic Feasibility science inventor of the themed entertainment industry and Marty Sklar of Walt Disney Imagineering, among many others.
"This was completely unexpected, " said Rogers. "This incredible honor is a direct reflection not of any individual, but of the fabulous team of people, vendors and clients that we have been privileged to work with here at BRC Imagination Arts. With this award, IAAPA honors their 29 years of achievement."
In addition to his extraordinary creative work, Rogers has lectured and written extensively about all areas of the attractions industry. Newsweek called him the "industry’s resident futurist." He is a former member of the IAAPA Board of Directors, and is the originator of IAAPA Museum Day and the IAAPA Museum Committee. He is one of three founders of the THEA Awards, the industry’s most prestigious award for excellence. Rogers is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars), as well as a member of the Ryman Arts Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing scholarships for young artists.
Since Rogers founded BRC in 1981, BRC has become an international leader in the design, creation, and production of innovative and immersive theme parks, branded attractions, visitor centers, world-class museums, and world expo pavilions. BRC clients also include The Walt Disney Co, China Mobile, China Telecom, Ford, the Empire State Building, Hainan Space Park, Knott’s Berry Farm, the Adler Planetarium, Louisiana’s Old State Capitol, and Universal Studios, among many others. The company has offices in California, The Netherlands, China, and the United Kingdom, and its projects have been honored with more than 275 international awards for creative excellence, including two Oscar nominations and 17 Thea Awards.
