Live with Sondra

Live with Sondra

by Sondra Shannon

Business Technology

Season 2026

Park Gamification: Immersive FEC Missions for Guest Engagement ft. Ben Griffith

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Ben Griffith, CEO of PlayMAXX. We’re diving into how attraction gamification and RFID technology transform on-premise guest experiences and boost engagement. He'll cover: ▶ Integrating RFID trigger points into new and existing attractions. ▶ Bridging physical park visits with cloud-based guest profiles. ▶ Leveraging pre- and post-park targeted vouchers for higher retention. ▶ Overcoming capex hurdles with smart industry financing solutions. Chapters: 0:03 Introduction to Modern Guest Engagement 3:03 Meet Ben Griffith and PlayMAXX 7:13 Defining Gamification in Attractions 13:28 Bridging Physical and Digital Experiences 15:20 Content Refreshes and Scalability 17:17 Operational Roadblocks and Infrastructure 21:47 Personalization and Data Analytics 24:50 Business Case and Financing 27:10 Marketing and Pre/Post-Visit Engagement 35:46 The Future of Immersive Technology 📅 Save your spot to learn how to turn interactive play into high-margin guest loyalty! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #Attractions #GuestExperience

Laser Tag: Winning the Membership Game ft. Mitchell Robertson

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Mitchell Robertson, Global Business Development Manager at Delta Strike International Ltd. We’re diving into how to move beyond the "one-time activity" trap and turn laser tag into a revenue-generating powerhouse. He'll cover: ▶ Strategies for converting one-time players into loyal members. ▶ Boosting revenue per square foot while maintaining lean staffing. ▶ The evolution of laser tag as part of a larger entertainment ecosystem. 📅 Save your spot to learn how to future-proof your attraction! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #LaserTag #GuestExperience

BD vs. Sales: Why Mixing Them Kills Your Revenue Growth ft. Molly Piveral

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Molly Piveral, Chief Connector at Simply Molly. We’re diving into why treating Business Development and Sales as the same thing is costing you long-term sustainability. She'll cover: ▶ Why BD is the long game and Sales is a transaction. ▶ How to break the "next gig" cycle to build lasting revenue. ▶ The hidden revenue leaks caused by merging your sales and BD teams. ▶ Solving operational problems through intentional, human-centric connections. Chapters: 0:00 – Smarter, Not Faster: Setting Up the Conversation 1:30 – What Business Development Really Is (vs. Sales) 4:30 – Chief Connector: Why Relationships Trump Transactions 8:00 – Sales = Closing; BD = Creating Opportunities 12:00 – Long Game Story: An 8-Year Relationship, One Pandemic Deal 16:00 – Trust Through Consistency: How BD Prevents Revenue Leakage 22:00 – Every Employee as Business Development (House of Bricks Analogy) 28:00 – “Talks Too Much” Kids and Natural BD Talent 34:00 – Balancing Quotas with Long-Term Pipelines and Capacity 42:00 – Sacred Dinners, Small Gestures, and Compounding Industry Trust 📅 Save your spot to learn how to move beyond transactional sales! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #BusinessDevelopment #RevenueStrategy

Haunt Design: Scoring 15M+ Views with Emotional Storytelling ft. Norman Gidney

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Norman Gidney, Owner and Creator of HorrorBuzz.com. We’re diving into how immersive storytelling drives attraction traffic and how to scale your brand’s digital footprint. He'll cover: ▶ The exact mechanics behind what makes a seasonal haunt effective and profitable. ▶ Scaling a niche brand to 15.5M+ page views using raw emotional connection. ▶ Bridging the gap between a high-level creative layout and technical project execution. ▶ Balancing intense brand positioning with mass-market attraction appeal. Chapters: 0:00 Hook & Intro: The Emotion of Fear 2:20 Sponsor Spotlight & The Future of Experience Economy 3:42 Introducing Norman Gidney & The Horror Buzz Journey 7:03 First Scares: Finding Fun in the Fright 10:30 The Anatomy of an Effective Haunt: Audience, Distraction, & Throughput 20:14 Balancing Throughput and Creative Effectiveness 21:52 Case Study: The Genius of Johnny Plague's "Paranormal Inc." 23:21 The Secret Artistry of Haunt Actors & Character Building 25:32 The Strategy Behind Scaling Horror Buzz to 15 Million Views 29:19 Norman's Most Terrifying Haunt Experience: Blackout LA 36:45 Year-Round Horror Trends & Universal's Las Vegas Unleashed 39:13 Roller Coasters vs. Haunts: Epic Universe & Epcot Debates 44:50 Connecting with Horror Buzz & Wrap-Up 🔔 Subscribe to stay tuned for future episodes! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? 👉🏼 Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #ThemedEntertainment #HauntDesign

Attractions Culture: Creating Teams Where Service Stays Alive ft. Ryan Minton

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Ryan Minton, Author and Founder of Thanks for Coming in Today. We’re diving into the "Privilege of Leadership" and how to build a frontline culture that makes guests never want to leave. He'll cover: ▶ Creating a workplace culture where frontline employees truly thrive. ▶ The "Power of Positive Leadership" and its impact on the guest experience. ▶ How to keep customer service "alive" during high-volume surges. ▶ Turning leadership into a privilege that drives employee retention. Chapters: 0:00 Opening + Audience Question (What can’t you work without?) 1:16 Peak Chaos & Culture Under Pressure 2:44 Show Intro + Sponsor Message (Gatemaster) 4:04 Meet Ryan Minton (Guest Introduction) 6:16 The “Thanks for Coming in Today” Story 9:03 Tragedy, Reflection & Leadership Shift 10:30 Employee Experience = Guest Experience 13:12 The Privilege of Leadership 14:41 Good vs Bad Bosses (Stephanie vs James) 17:00 Why People Stay or Leave Jobs 19:25 Loving Work & Creating Energy 21:24 Thriving vs Surviving Culture 23:02 “No Bad Day” Leadership Mindset 25:28 Fixing Robotic Customer Service 27:28 The 15–5 Rule (Service Game Changer) 29:17 Personalization & Using Guest Names 30:05 Supporting Teams Under Stress 32:43 Leading Before the Chaos Hits 34:18 Culture, Revenue & Guest Spending 36:13 Why People Pay for Better Experiences 39:10 Technology vs Human Connection 41:45 Rapid Fire Leadership Questions 44:14 How to Connect with Ryan 44:57 Final Takeaways: Culture is Infrastructure Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #CompanyCulture #GuestExperience

Beverage Revenue: How to Automate Your Park's Margins ft. Greg Luther

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Gregg Luther, Sr. Director of Beverage Programs at Botrista. We’re diving into how automated beverage programs are transforming the F&B landscape and turning simple sips into major revenue engines. He'll cover: ▶ Automating the Pour: How to launch premium Boba and cocktails without expert staffing. ▶ Peak Season Resilience: Managing high-volume demand and uptime during summer surges. ▶ Data-Driven Menus: Using remote monitoring to optimize inventory and ingredient usage. ▶ Scaling Sips: Lessons from managing beverage strategy for 700+ Fortune 500 units. 📅 RSVP to learn how to turn your beverage program into a high-margin asset! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us, or be a guest? Visit: https://linktr.ee/livewithsondra #LivewithSondra #BeverageStrategy #AttractionsIndustry

Strategy Beyond the Berm: Driving Cross-Sector Growth ft. Liz Sanchez Rasking

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” featuring Liz Sánchez Rasking, Founder and Principal of Looking Glass Strategies. We’re diving into how to take elite themed entertainment design principles "beyond the berm" to drive strategic clarity and cross-sector business growth. She'll cover: ▶ The Strategy Gap: How to objectively bridge the disconnect between an organization's corporate assumptions and actual consumer realities. ▶ Systems Over Content: Why businesses constantly default to buying more marketing when what they actually lack is foundational structural clarity. ▶ Reverse-Engineering Bottlenecks: Using a chemical engineer’s rigor and a detective's eye to dismantle complex organizational friction. ▶ Building Regional Hubs: How the Mid-Atlantic ecosystem is positioning itself as the next great entertainment cluster—and how adjacent sectors can collaborate. 📅 Save your spot to learn how to turn high-level strategic intention into powerful, measurable business development! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv Chapters: 0:00 – Opening & Giveaway Sondra kicks off with a live giveaway and sets up the topic of growth friction. 3:15 – Meet Liz Sánchez Rasking Introduction to Liz, her background, and her focus on reverse‑engineering systems. 4:19 – Strategy Beyond the Berm Liz explains the concept of thinking beyond sightlines and silos in themed entertainment. 7:10 – Universal Truths Across Industries Technology is neutral, misalignment compounds, and story is foundational. 10:42 – Diagnosing the Gap How to uncover disconnects between organizational belief and audience experience. 13:55 – Defining Brand & Story Your brand is what people say when you’re not in the room. 17:26 – Why Marketing Alone Isn’t Enough The need for foundational strategy, feedback loops, and rigorous analysis. 22:25 – From Engineering to Social Systems Liz’s chemical engineering lens applied to leadership, equilibrium, and team alignment. 27:26 – Authentic Story & Long‑Term Success Consistency, patience, and intentional branding as investments that compound over time. #LivewithSondra #ThemedEntertainment #BusinessStrategy #BeyondTheBerm

Attraction Networking: Building the Global Deals Behind the Rides ft. Emily Popovich

Are you building connections or just contacts? 🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Emily Popovich, Director of Global Business Development at KMI International. We’re diving into how elite industry networks, strategic partnerships, and human connections shape the future of global entertainment attractions. She'll cover: ▶ Leveraging global relationship networks to unlock high-value attraction developments. ▶ Bridging communication gaps between creative visionaries and technical operators. ▶ How staying visible and present at global events transforms your business baseline. ▶ Balancing human-centered experience design with backend scalability. Chapters: 0:00 The Power of Showing Up 5:06 Meeting Emily Popovich 8:33 Curiosity Before Capability 14:25 The Art of the Long-Term Sale 20:26 Managing Dreams and Big Ideas 28:51 Navigating Partnerships 35:16 The Reputation Economy 39:54 Defining Corporate Values in Practice 44:01 Human-Centric Innovation 50:01 Closing Thoughts and Community 📅 Save your spot to learn how to turn your industry relationships into your most profitable operational asset! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #AttractionsIndustry #StrategicPartnerships #GuestExperience

Guest Media: Scaling Revenue Through Automation ft. Francois Tremblay

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Francois Tremblay, CEO of Kool Replay Inc. We’re diving into how to turn your attraction’s guest media into a high-margin, automated revenue stream. He'll cover: ▶️ Unlocking the "hidden gold mine" in your current photo/video operations. ▶️ Replacing manual, resource-heavy tasks with staff-free AI automation. ▶️ How guest-shared media acts as your most powerful organic marketing tool. ▶️ Strategies to scale digital asset monetization without sacrificing the guest experience. 📅 Save your spot to learn how to turn memorable moments into revenue! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://lnkd.in/eW548Mjv #LivewithSondra #AttractionsManagement #GuestExperience #KoolReplay

Stop Payment Disruptions: Secure Your Software & ROI ft. Chris Wheeler

🎙️ Join us for “Live with Sondra” with Chris Wheeler, President of Paystri Inc. We’re diving into how payment M&A affects your tech and how to fix your guest's checkout friction. He'll cover: ▶ Protecting your platform from payment industry M&A disruptions. ▶ Implementing Dual Pricing to reclaim your margins. ▶ Creating the "Frictionless" payment moment for guest loyalty. ▶ Why 10x thinking transforms your payment strategy. 📅 RSVP to ensure your payment stack is an asset, not a liability! Want to catch up on past shows, connect with us or be a guest? Visit: https://linktr.ee/livewithsondra Chapters: 0:00 – Audience Pulse Check & Intro Sondra opens with questions about checkout complaints and payment fees. 2:13 – Meet Chris Wheeler Introduction to Chris, President of Paystri, and his expertise in payments. 6:05 – How M&A Disrupts Payments Why mergers and acquisitions cause instability, fragmentation, and rising costs. 10:10 – Red Flags in Payment Partnerships Warning signs when payments shift from asset to liability. 14:21 – Evolution of Integrated Payments From dial‑up days to modern fraud prevention and seamless systems. 16:08 – Common Integration Mistakes Why treating payments as a technical add‑on instead of strategy undermines growth. 21:07 – Frictionless Payments & Disney’s MagicBand How seamless transactions build loyalty and confidence in guest experiences. #LivewithSondra #Payments #GuestExperience

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