David Cobb, Sr. Creative Director from Thinkwell Group, led a discussion at IAAPA Expo 2010 about the burgeoning use of social media tools in themed-entertainment environments. Guest panelists included Susan Bonds (42 Entertainment), Greg Maletic (Wishing Stars app), Jeff Voris (Disney Parks & Resorts Online) & Gabe Zichermannn (Gamification Co.).

1. Designing Guest Experiences to
Take Advantage of Social Media
create collaborate
innovate
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 1
Social Media has re‐wri?en the way that brands connect with their audience, including themed entertainment

2. DAVID C. COBB
Dave Cobb & AusEn Hice
Sco? Trowbridge
CreaEve Director, Thinkwell
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 2
IntroducEon: I’m Dave Cobb from Thinkwell; we create immersive guest experiences in physical and digital environments: theme parks, a?racEons, museums, live events
& shows, web‐based social applicaEons, games & animaEon

3. SUSAN BONDS
President & CEO, 42 Entertainment
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 3
Leader in transmedia storytelling and immersive experiences, signature product is alternate reality games, which have created a new category of entertainment with
ARGs like I Love Bees, Year Zero & Dark Knight
FLYNN LIVES won a THEA award this year for how it blended a global, online collaboraEve game with real‐world viral elements and locaEon‐based a?racEons

4. GREG MALETIC
Designer, “Wishing Stars” ApplicaEon
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 4
First fan‐created, GPS‐enabled theme‐park scavenger hunt game at Disneyland
Engages fans in mulEple downloadable “quests” through the park: trivia, photo safari, etc.
Creator of documentary “TILT: The Ba?le to Save Pinball”

5. JEFF VORIS
Director of Advanced Projects, Disney Parks & Resorts Online
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 5
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online oversees online web acEviEes, ecommerce, online a?racEons and informaEon sites represenEng Walt Disney Theme Parks and
Resorts, they’re the park’s manifestaEon in the digital world.
Disney Parks Blog leverages fan discussions and user‐created content to evangelize the Disney brand
CreaEng cu_ng‐edge online interacEve games & ameniEes that bridge the gap between online and the parks (Kim Possible Adventrure, consumer phone apps, today’s
Gowalla partnership announcement).

6. GABE ZICHERMANN
Author, “Game Based MarkeEng”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 6
An expert and author on the subject of gamificaEon and engagement mechanics
Has advised numerous corporaEons on how to inspire customer loyalty through rewards, challenges & contests

7. Designing Guest Experiences to
Take Advantage of Social Media
create collaborate
innovate
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 7
Although the big players like Disney, Universal and Busch are certainly leading the way with innovaEons in social media, the scalability and accessibility of social media
tools are creaEng opportuniEes for regional parks, FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) and independent operators.
Let’s define some simple tenets of social media and how they might apply to the specifics of locaEon‐based entertainment:
1. Finding a niche audience that is passionate about engagement & co‐creaEon
2. Halo effect beyond niche; tastemakers & word‐of‐mouth
MisconcepEons or fears about social media; I propose six “fears” that are most definitely “possibiliEes”.

8. WTF?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 8
What are we talking about today? Here’s what we’re NOT talking about...

9. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 9
We’re not talking about Twitter.

10. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 10
We’re not talking about Facebook.

11. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11
Not talking about devices.

12. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 12
All of these things are tools to serve something bigger; a guest experience that is compelling.

13. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 13
(Video from 42 Entertainment)

14. Designing Guest Experiences to
Take Advantage of Social Media
create collaborate
innovate
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 14
Although the big players like Disney, Universal and Busch are certainly leading the way with innovaEons in social media, the scalability and accessibility of social media
tools are creaEng opportuniEes for regional parks, FECs (Family Entertainment Centers) and independent operators.
Let’s define some simple tenets of social media and how they might apply to the specifics of locaEon‐based entertainment:
1. Finding a niche audience that is passionate about engagement & co‐creaEon
2. Halo effect beyond niche; tastemakers & word‐of‐mouth
MisconcepEons or fears about social media; I propose six “fears” that are most definitely “possibiliEes”.

15. 1. “SOCIAL MEDIA IS A FAD”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 15
How many in audience have/use:
‐FACEBOOK
‐EMAIL
‐SMARTPHONE
‐WEB

16. 2. “SOCIAL MEDIA PUTS YOUR
NARRATIVE MESSAGE IN THE
HANDS OF YOUR GUESTS” –
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 16
The Fear: the ever‐present discussion board trolls!
The Challenge: maintaining transparency and authenEcity, now demanded by the audience more than ever, and easier than ever for them to disprove and exploit
The Opportunity: the built‐in authenEcity and evangelisEc qualiEes of real‐world guest experiences
‐ Regional parks in parEcular can leverage this “local authenEcity”
‐ LBE experiences are inherently shareable, immediate use of social media is the “vacaEon slide show” of our generaEon

17. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 17
The Fear: the ever‐present discussion board trolls!
The Challenge: maintaining transparency and authenEcity, now demanded by the audience more than ever, and easier than ever for them to disprove and exploit
The Opportunity: the built‐in authenEcity and evangelisEc qualiEes of real‐world guest experiences
‐ Regional parks in parEcular can leverage this “local authenEcity”
‐ LBE experiences are inherently shareable, immediate use of social media is the “vacaEon slide show” of our generaEon

18. 3. “SOCIAL MEDIA CAN CHANGE
FASTER THAN YOUR PARK”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 18
The Fear: LBE is an especially long‐lead business in terms of new product development
The Challenge: keeping your brand fresh
The Opportunity: social media can keep an audience engaged in‐between major developments and leverage smaller events & opportuniEes; Eme & place ma?er less in
social media, so they can extend your LBE’s Eme and place

19. 4. “SOCIAL MEDIA TAKES THE
FOCUS OFF THE THEMED
EXPERIENCE”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 19
The Fear: guests will spend their Eme with their noses in their phones
The Challenge: they already are. Need to balance all content, both online and real‐world, to support each other
The Opportunity: making social media feel like a natural part of the experience
‐ Leveraging that “always‐connected‐to‐friends” feeling can enhance guest comfort, a feeling of safety and security
‐ Guests are only becoming more a?ached to their devices as familiar points of contact to the world, introducing a bit of locaEon‐based magic makes them feel closer to
the experience
‐ Social media can add addiEonal content that would be impossible to include in the real‐world version (for “deep divers”)

20. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 20
The Fear: guests will spend their Eme with their noses in their phones
The Challenge: they already are. Need to balance all content, both online and real‐world, to support each other
The Opportunity: making social media feel like a natural part of the experience
‐ Leveraging that “always‐connected‐to‐friends” feeling can enhance guest comfort, a feeling of safety and security
‐ Guests are only becoming more a?ached to their devices as familiar points of contact to the world, introducing a bit of locaEon‐based magic makes them feel closer to
the experience
‐ Social media can add addiEonal content that would be impossible to include in the real‐world version (for “deep divers”)

21. 5. “THE VIRTUAL IS REPLACING
THE REAL”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 21
The Fear: that social media experiences, videogames and digital content is erasing the need to go out anymore
The Challenge: realizing that there will always be a need for social interacEon and catharsis
The Opportunity: the more your social media enables and enhances those chances for social interacEon, the more successful they will be

22. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 22
The Fear: that social media experiences, videogames and digital content is erasing the need to go out anymore
The Challenge: realizing that there will always be a need for social interacEon and catharsis
The Opportunity: the more your social media enables and enhances those chances for social interacEon, the more successful they will be

23. 6. “SOCIAL MEDIA IS A
POLARIZING DEMOGRAPHIC”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 23
The Fear: social media is just for kids, and unfamiliar to a large segment of LBE guests
The Challenge: …convincing your bosses that’s not true! Also, creaEng social‐media experiences that improve LBE but don’t detract if a guest doesn’t parEcipate in them
The Opportunity: creaEng experiences that may seem to a?ract a niche audience, but whose influence and halo effect spreads much further

24. Tuesday, November 23, 2010 24
The Fear: social media is just for kids, and unfamiliar to a large segment of LBE guests
The Challenge: …convincing your bosses that’s not true! Also, creaEng social‐media experiences that improve LBE but don’t detract if a guest doesn’t parEcipate in them
The Opportunity: creaEng experiences that may seem to a?ract a niche audience, but whose influence and halo effect spreads much further

25. 1. “SOCIAL MEDIA IS A FAD”
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 25
If you think that, you’re not paying a?enEon
It’s part and parcel of what the audience wants in ANY entertainment experience
a. Spectacle
i. LBE: wow moments!
ii. Social Media: sharing those wow moments, personalizing them in unique ways
b. Community
i. LBE: like si_ng around the campfire, sharing moments with friends family
ii. Social Media: sharing with friends and family regardless of locaEon, connecEng with like‐minded fans
c. Place
i. LBE: places that are unique and unlike anywhere else in the world
ii. Social Media: creaEng personalizaEon and a one‐on‐one connecEon with a place, extending that experience beyond place
d. Time
i. LBE: moments in Eme defined by the three above things
ii. Social Media: extending that experience beyond Eme at LBE, enEcing return visits
e. Quality
i. LBE: guests will pay for a premium experience
ii. Social Media: value‐added addiEons & opEons that enhance exisEng products, and/or enable markeEng for addiEonal up‐charge and premium products

26. • SPECTACLE
• COMMUNITY
• PLACE
• TIME
• QUALITY
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 26
If you think that, you’re not paying a?enEon
It’s part and parcel of what the audience wants in ANY entertainment experience
a. Spectacle
i. LBE: wow moments!
ii. Social Media: sharing those wow moments, personalizing them in unique ways
b. Community
i. LBE: like si_ng around the campfire, sharing moments with friends family
ii. Social Media: sharing with friends and family regardless of locaEon, connecEng with like‐minded fans
c. Place
i. LBE: places that are unique and unlike anywhere else in the world
ii. Social Media: creaEng personalizaEon and a one‐on‐one connecEon with a place, extending that experience beyond place
d. Time
i. LBE: moments in Eme defined by the three above things
ii. Social Media: extending that experience beyond Eme at LBE, enEcing return visits
e. Quality
i. LBE: guests will pay for a premium experience
ii. Social Media: value‐added addiEons & opEons that enhance exisEng products, and/or enable markeEng for addiEonal up‐charge and premium products

27. Designing Guest Experiences to
Take Advantage of Social Media
Q & A
create collaborate
innovate
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 27

28. Designing Guest Experiences to
Take Advantage of Social Media
• SUSAN BONDS
www.42entertainment.com
• GREG MALETIC create collaborate
gregmale0c.wordpress.com
• JEFF VORIS
disneyparks.disney.go.com
• GABE ZICHERMANN innovate
gamifica0on.co
www.thinkwellgroup.com
Tuesday, November 23, 2010 28
Thanks to our panelists!