The History and Future of Theme Parks 

Join master storyteller, entertainment analyst, and historian Dr. Todd J. Pierece, for a journey through the history, creativity, technology, and cultural forces that shaped the modern theme park and created the recent explosion in immersive entertainment.

Speaker Dr. Todd Pierce combines an insider’s understanding of the industry with the independent perspective of an academic.

He spends his days walking through theme parks — including areas not yet open to the public — consulting at the highest levels of the industry, and conducting research through rare and extensive access such as with the tightly controlled official Walt Disney Archives. 

Along the way, he writes books, teaches, appears on programs for National Geographic, the History Channel, and Disney+, and hosts a beloved narrative podcast that offers regular analysis of developments in themed entertainment (including some strong design critiques) alongside deep dives into history.

Host The event will be hosted by Dr. Troy H. Campbell, whose background includes innovation work at Walt Disney Imagineering and Netflix. Dr. Campbell will guide the conversation, draw out new connections, and take the audience deeper inside the knowledge the worlds and minds the knowledge comes from. 

Series Knowledge InCider is a half TED Talk, half casual conversation experience — designed to take you inside the most cutting-edge ideas and the minds behind them.

The series is hosted by the engaging Dr. Troy Hiduke Campbell, a behavioral PhD and former Disney Imagineer, who curates the speakers and hosts highly interactive audience Q&A.

Troy explains, “With Knowledge InCider, I wanted to make ideas feel less like a lecture and more like stepping inside a conversation” 

We’re doing our second installment of InCider Knowledge FREE! This will fill up, so please RSVP as soon as possible. Please let us know if you can’t make it!