A new book by a veteran attraction creator offers advice regarding creative processes, goals, structure, brain-storming and transformation storytelling.
Read more Arts, cultural events in Central Florida help mark 9-11 with ‘collective memory’
Bob Rogers’ “Deep Story: Complete Guide for Creating Transformational Visitor Attractions” is now available. He founded BRC Imagination Arts in 1981, and its projects and clients since then have included Walt Disney Co., NASA, Coca-Cola, Heineken, General Motors, the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame and more. He also was involved in films created for Disney’s Epcot, which opened in 1982.
“We have been very successful in that world of transformational attractions and I wanted to make sure that I captured the methodology,” Rogers said.
One of his intended audiences for the book are students with attraction-based aspirations. He advises that they look beyond the big-name possibilities of Walt Disney Imagineering and Universal Creative.
“If you add up all of the people creating museums and corporate visitor centers and World’s Fair pavilions and backstage tours of everything from breweries to stadia to etc., etc., that’s hundreds of thousands of jobs,” he said. “Part of this book kind of alerts people to where some of the real opportunities are in the future.”
The format of “Deep Story” loosely presents a guiding principle — practically a catchphrase — followed by Rogers expounding on that with examples. Among the key phrases are “No one cares. It isn’t about you” and “Consider addressing the question that should never be asked.”
The guidelines work in other industries, too, Rogers said.
“Anytime you’re trying to write a story that makes a difference in what people later do, buy, recommend, choose, advocate, repeat, support … If you’re trying to make a difference in that, the principles in ‘Deep Story’ will help you,” he said.
While the book’s roots were established by a Rogers speech in the early 1990s, previous experiences are incorporated — including the author’s stint in the Magic Shop at Disneyland. He picked up performance wisdom from a veteran magician that never got flustered by know-it-all audience members.
Read more Today in History: September 7, Panama Canal Treaty signed by President Carter
“People don’t come here to be impressed by how magical you are. They come here hoping that we will help them find some magic within themselves,” the magician advised Rogers. “That is the core of all hospitality. It’s the core of all entertainment.”
Madame Tussauds adding Great Wax Heist hunt to attraction
Over the decades, Rogers has collaborated with major creative types, and those experiences are peppered into “Deep Story.” Some of those people have appeared on the Legends Panel that Rogers moderates annually during the IAAPA Expo at the Orange County Convention Center.
“The Legends Panel every year has put me in touch with just an awful lot of the truly great people of our industry,” he said. “I was looking back to 24 years ago, the first Legends Panel.
“Our guests were [Disney Legends] Buzz Price, Marty Sklar and George Millay, the creator of SeaWorld and Wet ‘n Wild.” Last year the panel covered the development of Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe theme park.
Rogers points to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as a strong developer of transformational work. The bulk of theme park attractions are entertainment-driven, “and there’s nothing wrong with pure entertainment,” he said.
“But if you want to change what people later do, buy, recommend, study, etc., if you want to change that, that’s a completely different objective,” he said. “Yeah, that’s much harder to do and if you want to have an impact that lasts beyond the gift shop.”
Read more A pair of spacecraft draw closer to Mercury after nearly decade-long voyage