Webinar: Attractions Creativity in 2025: State of the Nation

Matt Heller has spent 35 years in the attractions industry. Starting as a ride operator at Canobie Lake Park just out of high school, Matt has enjoyed a robust career around the industry with leadership positions at Canobie, Knott’s Camp Snoopy, Valleyfair and Smiles Entertainment Center.

Pulling from his previous leadership experience, in 2003 Matt joined Universal Orlando Resort as the Senior Trainer of Leadership Development. Matt has also served on various IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) planning committees and was awarded the prestigious IAAPA Meritorious Service Award in 2017 for his unyielding dedication to helping the industry grow. In 2011, Matt reduced his role at Universal to pursue additional independent training and consulting opportunities. He created Performance Optimist Consulting, and now helps leaders across the world make sure they are getting the most out of themselves and their teams. He does this through individual and group coaching, interactive keynotes and customized training sessions. Matt has also written two books for leaders in the attractions industry: “The Myth of Employee Burnout” and “ALL CLEAR! A Practical Guide for First Time Leaders and The People who Support Them”. Both have become go-to resources that help organizations improve employee engagement and leadership development. In 2017, Matt joined forces with Josh Liebman to create the AttractionPros Podcast. Weekly episodes feature engaging conversations with dynamic leaders on a wide range of topics. Matt and Josh also use this platform to help listeners improve leadership competencies and create amazing guest experiences. Matt, his wife Linda, and their dog Otis reside in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Marc Zachary is president of California-based Experiential Advisors, a firm that advises industry-leading theme parks and attraction owners/developers around the world on strategy, guest experience, expansion, market opportunities, licensing, partner management, business development, production, live shows, operations, merchandise, food & beverage, events, and more.

From 2020 to 2023, he served as vice president of location-based experiences at the Walt Disney Company. He has over two decades of experience and expertise in theme parks, live shows, film, television, home video, music, mobile, and online. Zachary’s expertise is in identifying and maximising business opportunities, including assessing and developing strategies to capitalise on new technologies.

In his previous role at Disney, his responsibilities included leading worldwide attractions licensing and development, focusing on extensions of the 20th Century and National Geographic brands and franchises at parks, museums, and other venues across the globe. He was also tasked with sourcing businesses to work with and negotiating contracts with them to develop live, interactive entertainment experiences, such as rides, shows, exhibitions, restaurants, shops, family entertainment centres, and AR/VR.

He also worked for Disney Consumer Products and Interactive as VP of business development and operations from 2011 to 2017, before a three-year stint at 20th Century Fox as senior VP of FoxNext Destinations.

Ben Thompson has spent the last 25 years in marketing, strategy and business development roles in major global organisations. A graduate of the accelerated management training program at Mars Incorporated, Ben spent 11 years at the company including the last 3 years as Director of Category Leadership for the UK market.

In 2011 Ben moved to the Walt Disney company where in 5 years he rose to become Marketing Director for EMEA in what today is Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, leading the region’s retail strategy on Star Wars VII, Marvel, Frozen, and several Pixar titles. In 2015 Ben moved to Merlin Entertainments as Global Marketing Director, New Openings where he had responsibility for the launches of 4 LEGOLAND® parks and 40 Midway (indoor) attractions.

Ben joined Storyland Studios as Chief Strategy Officer and Head of International in August 2020. In this role Ben leads Storyland Studios’ Strategic Development business, heading up the strategy practice, and managing the relationships with international IP partners, operators, and real estate developers. Ben is a regular speaker at industry events and advisor to developers across the world with a particular focus on New Arabia, the fast-growing markets of KSA, UAE, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

A graduate from the highly esteemed Queen’s University, with a degree in Civil Engineering, Emily joined WhiteWater in 2012 as a Water Slide Designer. Having completed over 250 water slide designs worldwide, Emily has taken that proven experience and now works with WhiteWater’s strategic partners to help them find success in creating industry-leading attractions. She is active in Women in Engineering and works with recent Engineering graduates to help them find passion in their careers. Emily enjoys a good challenge, building customer relationships, and experiencing the world’s most exciting water parks.

Una joined the WhiteWater family in 2015, already an international business to business marketing expert having enjoyed a broad 20-year career ranging across several market sectors from professional services to energy management SaaS.  Una started her career running B2B advertising campaigns and then consulted on direct marketing best practice for large financial services providers in the UK.

Since 2005 Una’s roles have involved building marketing teams to help organizations put customer understanding at their center and build meaningful brands which connect with employees and customers alike. As a literature graduate and MBA Una believes that Marketing merges storytelling, psychology, data analysis and common commercial sense to simplify ‘why?’ for customers.

A member of WhiteWater’s executive leadership team, Una leads the marketing for WhiteWater and all its brands; making sure each international market and business area has a voice which leads the industry. She also heads WhiteWater’s Sustainability initiatives.