Speakers
Many of our meetings consist of amazing speakers from the themed entertainment industry. Below are the upcoming and previous speakers we will and have hosted. We hope you can join us for the upcoming industry professionals who will give their stories in themed entertainment and their advice for students pursuing a career in this industry.
Upcoming Speakers
Check back later to see who our next guest speaker will be!
Previous Speakers
May 2nd, 2023
"Trader Joe's
Theming and Experience"
Matt Sloan
Vice President of Marketing
at Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's is a chain of neighborhood grocery stores committed to providing an excellent customer experience. They go against grocery store norms and have created an experience through theming and unique products that attract customers. Matt Sloan was able to show our club this unconventional themed entertainment avenue that provided our members with a unique insight.
April 11th, 2023
"Louie Garcia from RIM Architects"
Louie Garcia
Senior Project Manager
at RIM Architects
RIM Architect is a trusted design partner that provides inspired solutions, enriching communities across continents. Through his presentation, Louie Garcia shared about his 20 years of experience participating in all aspects of project development. Through his diverse portfolio his technical expertise made him a valuable component of each team.
November 22nd, 2022
"What's New in 3D Printing"
Colton Mehlhoff
Applications Engineer at Stratasys
Stratasys is an Industrial 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing Company. Through video feed, Mehlhoff was able to show our club a variety of different 3D printing machines. Their capabilities are making impacts in many diverse fields including the automotive, aerospace, dental, medical, and transportation industries. The future is bright for 3D Printing and how it may be brought into the world of themed entrainment.
November 2nd, 2022
"Guest Speaker Walter Brennan"
Walter Brennan
Principal at EXP
EXP is a large MEP engineering firm that specializes in designing theme parks and attractions for large operators like Disney, Universal, Seaworld, and Legoland around the world. EXP's engineers design plumbing, electrical, fire protection, and more for attractions in theme parks. This "invisible" role they play is so vital to the function of these attractions.
October 18th, 2022
"From Submarines
to Super Heroes"
Brian Crosby
Director of Marvel Themed Entertainment Development
Currently working as the Director of Themed Entertainment Development for Marvel, Brian Crosby started his career path with illustration. He found his way into Disney Imagineering through an internship and then worked as an Imagineer for over 10 years. Eventually he made the switch and now leads the Themed Entertainment Team at Marvel.
September 27th, 2022
"From Enthusiast to Professional "
Nicholas Laschkewitsch
Associate Ride & Show Engineer at Universal Creative | Documentary Filmmaker & Theme Park Historian
An American Coaster Enthusiasts member for over 11 years. Nicholas Laschkewitsch has found his way into the themed entertainment industry through both Engineering and Documentary making. He's currently working at Universal Creative as an Associate Ride & Show Engineer.
April 5th, 2022
"Art Direction with Justin Martin"
Justin Martin
Senior Art Director at ocV!BE and Former Project Art Director at Meow Wolf
Named by Blooloop as one of 2021's Top 50 Theme Park Influencers, Justin Martin has worked on a variety projects in the industry, including Meow Wolf's Convergence Station in Denver. He's currently working as Senior Art Director for ocV!BE, a new and exciting entertainment venue to be located around the Honda Center in Anaheim.
March 1st, 2022
"Guest Speaker Thomas Mutch"
Thomas Mutch
Mechanical Designer at Artistic Entertainment Services and Youtuber at Mutch Games
Thomas Mutch is a Cal Poly alumni who went from working with the CPP Rose Float team to working on animated props in the themed entertainment industry. He's always working on ambitious personal projects as well, including his very own collection of homemade three-dimensional Mario Kart courses.
November 9th, 2021
"Hersheypark with Designer Chris Brown"
Chris Brown
Manager, Planning and Design at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company
Pennsylvania's Hersheypark is one of the leading amusement parks in the Northeast. Chris Brown, our 2nd guest speaker of Fall 2021, oversaw the design and construction of Chocolatetown, the largest expansion in Hersheypark's century-long history. In his presentation, Brown shared the creative process behind this ambitious project as well as the challenges that came with it.
September 21st, 2021
"Storytelling with Larry Tuch"
Larry Tuch
Writer and Creative Consultant at Narrative Concepts
How does story lead a design? What are the steps to crafting an engaging storyline for an attraction, area, or experience? What even is story, at least in the context of themed entertainment? Questions like these were the focus of this meeting, hosted by master storyteller Larry Tuch.
April 20th, 2021
"Concept Art in Themed Entertainment"
Morgane Keesling
Art Director and Interactive Product Design at Disney Parks Experiences and Products
As a senior concept designer, Morgane Keesling has produced illustrations for theme parks and experiences around the world. Through her presentation to TEA @ CPP, Keesling demonstrated how concept art can translate to physical spaces and crucial storytelling elements.
March 2nd, 2021
"A Conversation with Paul Bailey""
Paul Bailey
Managing Director US West and Innovation and Technology Principal at AOA
For this meeting, we talked to Paul Bailey of AOA, who recently finished working on Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge for the Disney theme parks. Bailey discussed the obstacles his design team faced during the innovative project's development and how they managed to overcome them.
February 16th, 2021
"Show Set Design"
Jeff DuVilla
Lead Creative Designer at Adirondack Studios
Jeff DuVilla is one of the designers behind several high-profile projects from recent years, including Transformers: The Ride at the Universal parks and Pandora - The World of Avatar at Disney's Animal Kingdom. During this presentation, DuVilla showed us the process of creating the intricate set pieces that make these attractions so impressive.
November 17th, 2020
"Enjoying the Scenery"
Emmanuel Guerrero
Show Set Designer at American Scenic Design, Inc.
Emmanuel Guerrero, a past CPP alumni and a current set designer at American Scenic, joined us to talk all about set design. He showed behind the scene drawings and 2D and 3D animations of how engineers figure out how where to place props. This was definitely an exciting meeting!
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November 3rd, 2020
"Ask an Engineer"
John C. Rose
Boeing Engineer and
Former Disney Engineer
At this meeting, John C. Rose talked about his amazing experiences as a Disney Engineer and how he got hands-on work with rides like Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain. It was a great opportunity to ask many questions about being an engineer in the themed entertainment industry.
October 20th, 2020
"Making of a Haunt"
The Bloodshed Brothers
(Zach and Jeromy Ball)
Creators of Haunted Attractions
This was a fun and spooky meeting where the Bloodshed Brothers showed us behind the scenes pictures of their haunted houses. They went through everything from building the structure of the house to where they find the scary decorations. In addition, they gave some great tips of how to create a good haunted house.
October 1st, 2020
"Be Our Guest"
Michele Gendreau
Director of Food and Beverage at the Disneyland Resort
This was a great collaborative meeting with the Food and Beverage Professionals in the Hospitality College. Michele brought her knowledge of creating menu items for different places in the park and spoke a lot about how Galaxy's Edge and Cars Land food was created.
September 15th, 2020
"Themed Entertainment 101"
Theron Skees
Creative Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering and Owner of the Designer's Creative Studio
On September 15th, our club got the special opportunity to speak with an Imagineer over Zoom. He introduced the themed entertainment industry to our members and showed some great examples that we had not considered to be in the industry. Afterwards, he answered many questions and gave great insight into breaking into the industry.
September 8th, 2020
"The Life Cycle of a Theme Park Project"
Jennifer Bruce
Ride and Show Engineer at Universal Creative
This was a great meeting featuring Jennifer Bruce as our guest speaker from Universal Creative. As the first Zoom speaker, her presentation was very informational about the process of theme park projects. She also answered so many of our questions about Universal and her experience there.
March 3, 2020
"The Galaxy of Theme Park Careers"
Kaz Takeda
Manager and Industrial Engineer at the Disneyland Resort
As an engineering manager for Disneyland Resort, Takeda brought three additional cast members to help discuss their jobs as industrial engineers for the park. Specifically focusing on the new Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, they brought insight and advice on how to be an engineer in the theme park industry.
December 3, 2019
"Creating Experiences"
Matthew Solari
Creative Director at BRC Imagination Arts
Solari introduced the club to the companies in the themed entertainment industry outside of theme parks. As a creative director for BRC Imagination Arts, he described the different themed experiences that can be found in restaurants, museums, and many more locations students usually do not consider part of the industry.
October 22, 2019
"Imagineering the Future"
Dave Durham
Chief Creative Lead at Walt Disney Imagineering
Durham is a Disney Imagineer who was able to join us virtually, through video call. He talked about being an Imagineer and gave some advice that might help students achieve a career with Disney. It was very insightful and a great inspiration for students who want to go into this industry.
October 8, 2019
"Dobbsland"
Steve Dobbs
Cal Poly Pomona Professor and Creator of Dobbsland
This was our first official speaker for TEA @ CPP and he did not disappoint. Dobbs is a professor for Cal Poly Pomona with a fun side project at his house: an entire Disney inspired amusement park in his backyard! During the meeting, he explained the creation process and showed a video of the final design. He was a great first speaker to kick off the semester.