Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.
Bonnie Weber has spent her career scaling some of entertainment’s biggest operations — from Six Flags to Warner Bros. Consumer Products to the executive suite at Palace Entertainment.
Now, as the new president of Area15, she’s trading roller coasters for something altogether stranger: a Las Vegas venue where the art talks back, the grocery store isn’t real and the entire point is to lose yourself.
The Sun sat down with Weber to talk about her new role, her vision for Area15 and why immersive entertainment may be just getting started.
You have a longstanding career in this industry. What was compelling to you about Area15?
What really drew me here is I think Area15 is setting the bar in immersive entertainment landscape, and it’s creating its own unique platform. That’s why it’s so difficult to describe, because it’s forging new ground, it’s innovation at its peak, and in this location-based entertainment, that’s very hard to do. And people try to put you in boxes — like, are you a theme park? Are you a multiuse area? Are you a mall concept? And, really, we’re a combination of all this immersive entertainment, all on one campus, and growing, which is the exciting part. And that’s what really drew me to it. It’s my opportunity to add value from my experience and breadth of experience in the theme park industry, as well as learn everything that I could learn and assist with here on campus, whether it’s tenant relations, building the value proposition, helping grow the business — so that’s all the things that really made it an exciting opportunity for me.
What are your goals for Area15?
We have a tremendous amount of activity launching this summer. We’re opening the Eye Dropper, which is a 155-foot-drop ride, which is very exciting; which will be a highlight of the new Zone 2, which actually opened last year with the (Universal Horror Unleashed). Museum of Ice Creams opening up, Dolls Kill just opening up — it’s just a really exciting time to be part of it, and so the initial goal is to really ensure we get as much buzz in the market, so everybody understands what we have going here, and really encompasses or really heightens the experience for our guests that come on campus. And then it’s to really fine tune and help grow the business and the business model and operational excellence, and all the things that my experience will help lend to this amazing immersive environment.
Las Vegas obviously has no shortage of entertainment options.
What’s interesting about Area15 is ... (that) what appears to be a hurdle is actually I believe an opportunity to be off-Strip, and right off-Strip, especially to capture the local market. I mean, Area15, we are basically the place in Las Vegas for the family demographic ... which is an unbelievable position to have. So it’s helping reshape, honestly, the landscape of Vegas and the immersive experiences all in one campus. I mean, there’s such exciting things going on this summer. We have the (Boeing) 747 — beautiful. It’s going to be a new icon in the Vegas market, and really be able to position itself just as that to not only the Vegas community but a destination globally, which is very exciting.
What are you looking forward to about getting connected with the resources in Las Vegas and being in a leadership role in this unique visitation landscape?
What I’ve learned in my career: Every market is unique and different. Vegas, no exception. In fact, Vegas is probably the outlier. I used to say that coming from Southern California, in a very competitive theme park environment, with all the major players — Vegas, tenfold that. It’s the hospitality capital of the world, and there’s so much going on that it’s very exciting and daunting at the same time. I’m in very much a listening mode, really, to learn about the city; learn about everything that’s going on here at Area15; meet the people, meet the players. Because I think that’s what it takes to be successful in this market. It’s very exciting, and it has huge opportunity, and from a personal point, I mean, how do you beat a market like Vegas, right?
Is there anything you would like to add?
I think it’s important to note, for people that haven’t come out or really don’t understand what Area15 is, it is an unbelievable time to come out. There’s so much excitement in the market. A lot of people think Area15, when I say it, it’s Zone 1, and the building, which is tremendous, anchored by Meow Wolf and Omega Mart, but the Zone 2 is an outdoor space that is just spectacular, and with all the activations this summer, it’s going to be the place to be.
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