Session Information
| Title | Keynote - Story Places |
| Presenter(s) |
Before MLS, Jan led Lunny International's planning, design, and content development for numerous high-profile projects, including master planning for the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede in Alberta, Canada, the 'Ancient Worlds' resort and theme park in Dubailand, Dubai, and the China Western Movie Resort and Theme Park in Xian, China. Jan was creative director for the BC Canada Place in Torino, Italy, for the 2006 Winter Olympics, and co-creative director for the Canada Pavilion at Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan. During 25 years in Los Angeles, Jan was a Senior VP, Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, leading major international Theme Park projects and heading up Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) design. Jan had Executive Producer and/or Creative Director roles on such major themed attractions as Disney Studios Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong. His LBE concepts included DisneyQuest, Club Disney, and Flagship Stores for Las Vegas and New York's 5th Avenue. Jan was on the Piano + Rogers architectural design team of the Centre Pompidou. As an early adopter of interactive media, Jan created pioneering and award-winning media projects for the J. Paul Getty Museum and NASA. He also worked with the Warner Brothers Record Group, developing pilot programs for the CD-I platform. Originally from the UK, Jan holds a Master's degree in Architecture and has taught design at UCLA and the Southern California Institute of Architecture. |
| Time | Friday, October 17, 4:00p-5:00p |
| Location | Ballroom |
| Format | Keynote |
| Description | "Story helps us make sense of our world. It is an organizing tool and a form of interpretation. It is equally important in imaginary worlds as in the real world."
- Jan Sircus Story creates order out of chaos. Story provides a means to share experiences, relate to one another, and create memories. It is a way to heighten awareness, create drama, and stimulate learning. Story has structure, theme, style, and purpose, which organizes and informs, imparting meaning through a sequential unfolding of context and content. Story is also an essential factor in creating an emotional engagement with our surroundings. Story Places result from storytelling and applying storytelling principles in the creation of the physical environment. Successful Story Places engage us viscerally and intellectually, impacting all our senses and drawing on our past experiences and knowledge. Story Places communicate legibly and consistently, and consciously support or challenge expectations. Regardless of scale, whether it's the smallest gallery or the largest mixed-use development, the fundamental principles of storytelling are effectively applied in Story Places. Paris, Rome, New York, Disneyland, and Las Vegas are places people love because in one way or another they are all Story Places. They have their own consistent stories that unfold through their planning, architecture, streetscapes, decorations, activities, sounds, and smells that meet our expectations. These places are all their own brands. Changing the story, or stories, changes the place and may change the brand. Successful Story Places need not be all things to all people. Like brands, they need to respond to specific audiences or markets that have specific expectations. Understanding the audience or market is critical to creating a successful story and a successful Story Place. "Meaningful sequential experience and drama in places (real or virtual) is no different than in a book or movie. The problem is today's places often lack both. They don't engage us emotionally." - JS "Abstraction and metaphor is fine if your communicating on a cerebral level, or where there is common understanding. If not, you'd better be prepared to interpret the meaning or accept different interpretations." - JS "Changing events and physical sensations are markers for memory. Without markers memory fails. Engaging story experiences provide markers and, hence, memory. " - JS  This keynote is sponsored by the Media Sandbox. |
Jan Sircus is Past-President of the Themed Attraction Association, Canada, and Principal of