Recapping OSU's SITE 2023 Student-led Conference

THE Ohio State University’s Theme Park Engineering Group (TPEG) began hosting their own conference for students interested in the themed entertainment and attractions industry in 2019. Students in Themed Entertainment (SITE) has since grown, hosting a peak of 98 students and 18 professionals. New university groups have been starting across the nation over the past several years with 14 different universities being represented at this year’s conference.

I had the pleasure of attending SITE 2023 held on Saturday, April 1st on Ohio State’s campus. This was my 3rd time attending in-person (2021 was virtual and I missed 2022), including the first two SITEs (2019, 2020). It’s exciting to see how the event has grown and evolved over time.

What’s it like to attend the conference? Here’s a quick run down of events at SITE 2023.

After checking in and a quick welcome and introduction, we were treated to a keynote presentation by Scott O’Donnell, a Themed Entertainment Specialist for Electronic Theater Controls (ETC). He gave an enlightening presentation on the importance of networking and making connections. Oh, and be nice to people. When you put good out into the world it has a habit of coming back onto you, often when you least expect it to.

Next, the group was broken down into five smaller groups for a series of shorter break out sessions. The first I attended was David Naylor discussing his impressive career as a structural engineer where he worked on projects such as Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Jungala for Busch Gardens Tampa.

Next was a presentation by Zach Jordan, a Senior Design Engineer for LF Studios, about the importance of designing components with the manufacturing process in mind.

Students then had an opportunity to pick the brains of recent college graduates Alec Reynolds, Mechanical Design Engineer at Chance Rides Manufacturing, Dan Mueller, Engineer – Entertainment at McLaren Engineering Group, Robert Anderson, Ride Control Systems Engineer at Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, and Charlie Neate, Mechanical Engineer at LF Studios. Answers to questions like “what do you know now that you wish you had known while you were still in school?” are invaluable for those pursuing careers in the themed entertainment industry.

After a break for lunch, it was back to more breakout sessions. The most interactive session was held by David Welsh, Director of Projects and Services at Martin & Vlemickx Rides, and Dan Linden, Lead Engineer at CoasterDynamix Inc. Our group was broken down into two teams who were pitted against each other in a short but sweet design competition.

Rachel Escusa, Marketing Director, told us all about Roto, a global design firm headquartered in Dublin, Ohio who design interactive exhibits, immersive media, and master plans for top museums, aquariums, zoos, and more.

In the last breakout session, TJ Marzano, President of Valerity Automation, gave us a free lecture on “Magnetic Braking-101” including a hands on demonstration. This is the kind of information and hands on activity you’re not going to get in your regular college classroom.

The smaller groups came back together in the evening for another incredible presentation. Maggie McCartney told her personal story of how she worked her way up from running laser tag to becoming the Corporate Director of Marketing and Branding for Scene75. In parallel, she gave us the fascinating history of Scene75 and how the family owned family entertainment centers had to overcome many challenges, including the pandemic and a tornado blowing the roof off their flagship site in Dayton.

As if that wasn’t enough, to cap off the information packed day there was a final Q/A panel featuring several of the professionals already mentioned plus Austin Graham, Manager of Ride Operations at Cedar Point, Cal McNabb, Manager of Aquatics at Cedar Point, and Stewart Reber, Exhibit Production Manager at Otherworld. It was great to hear about their experiences and get some advice on how to break into the biz.

And as a final cherry on top five Coaster Cutouts were raffled away as prizes to a few lucky students.

Overall, it was another successful conference impressively pulled off without a hitch. If you’re an aspiring student hoping to find a career in the themed entertainment or amusement industry, I highly encourage you to attend any future SITE conferences. The information and contacts you make are invaluable and are not easily found elsewhere. But probably the main benefit for attending SITE is the ability to ask questions and have discussion with high profile industry professionals in a very casual, laid-back and friendly environment. It’s also great way to make friends and meet people who share a passion for the amusement industry. The panels are not only educational, but they’re fun too (this is the amusement industry after-all). Even though the event is put on by the engineering group, I do want to mention the conference (and group) are open to anyone with an interest in improving the amusement industry.

Thanks again to Andrew Yates, Xandra Taskey, and the entire team at OSU TPEG for inviting us to participate and for being wonderful hosts. Hope to see you all again soon.

For more follow @tpegosu on Instagram.

Tags: career engineering tea themed entertainment TPEG