That traditional tension that exists between creative and technical is key to the success of Walt Disney Imagineering, said Theron Skees, Director, Creative Development for Walt Disney Imagineering in his opening keynote at Ragan's 6th Annual Social Media for PR and Corporate Communications Conference at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Imagineering, which is a combination of imagination and engineering, is the process of dreaming up the idea, designing it, building it, and then inheriting it, said Skees.
"Everybody is on the front line telling the story," said Skees. It doesn't matter if the word "creative" is in your title or not. Everyone is involved in the story.
"Walt was a disruptive thinker," said Skees of his company's founder creating things that people told him he could never create.
Walt's formula for theme park creation was to reassign his two-dimensional filmmakers, who knew about storytelling, to the job of building a story-led amusement park in three dimensions, said Skees.
"Disneyland will never be completed, as long as there is imagination left in the world," said Skees, quoting his fearless leader, Walt Disney, who also said, "I can never stand still. I must explore and experiment."
These disruptors have become the incumbents, said Skees, who also referenced Disney's philosophy of constantly moving forward and never resting on your laurels.
Watch the above video of Skees discussing the techniques Disney Imagineering uses for brainstorming.
