Deadlines
Experience Industry Management Conference
Speakers & Presenters
Key Note Speaker
John Connors is the National Director of Events for The Color Run. The Color Run is the originator and the innovator of the 5k paint race genre. Since 2011, The Color Run has hosted events for more than 2 million participants. John has been with the company from it’s quite beginning in a Sandy office.
As a Race Director, John has directed events in some of the biggest cities and best running venues in the world. He specializes in large scale, mass participation events. It’s a funny specialty for a generally claustrophobic guy. He directed 25,000 runners through Philadelphia’s Eakins Oval. 20,000 at LA’s Dodger Stadium. And 15,000 at Chicago historic Grant Park. Just to mention a few.
John played a critical role in creating the event organizational system that allowed The Color Run to expand exponentially domestically in 2012. In the fall of 2012, John traveled to Australia to help train the first international licensees of The Color Run. The Color Run in Melbourne Australia was the first event to ever allow runners to use the world famous Flemington Raceway Horse Track as part of a 5k course. Since 2012, The Color Run has produced over 50 international events in 30 countries.
As the National Director of Events John oversees all domestic permitting and production of the largest 5k series in the country. His team produced 120 events in 2013 alone, bringing the Happiest 5k on the Planet to over 900,000 runners in the USA.
John graduated from BYU in 2004 with a BA in Philosophy. He lives in Farmington with his with Ashley (BYU, 2002) and their 3- soon to be 4- children.
Michael Lee’s career in “Experience Planning & Design” has spanned over 38 years. He has built a reputation as a creative director, planner, film maker, designer and architect on high-pressure, world-class projects. He has extensive experience in all phases of development for museums, theme parks, cultural entertainment centers, water parks, resorts, theaters, RD&E and other types of experience-based leisure, recreation and education projects.
In the early 1970’s he was a professor of Art & Design at California State University, Fullerton, where he co-founder of the Environmental Studies Department, one of the first successful interdisciplinary environment-oriented programs of its kind in the U.S. As a licensed architect he has been a principal in several architectural and engineering firms, including Walker-Lee which produced award-winning projects for golf, resort and leisure projects of over $500 million. He has won awards from the Hong Kong Downtown Merchants Association for his innovative production of the yearly Christmas Celebrations at Pacific Place and City Walk (’94-’99), two of the largest and most prestigious shopping venues in south-east Asia. He has also been honored for “Innovation in the Use of New Materials” by General Electric Company and was the recipient of the Utah Governor’s Award for Excellence.
As Director of Design for LucasArts Attractions, a division of Industrial Light and Magic (a George Lucas Company), he lead a team of world-class producers, planners and designers who produced attractions for Universal Studios and other major entertainment companies. In 1989 Michael launched Michael Lee Design / MLD Worldwide for consulting, planning, designing, managing, and building projects for a wide variety of clients worldwide including Warner Bros., Children’s Television Workshop (now Sesame Workshop), Harrison Price, Paramount, Atlantis Resorts, Sun International (now Kerzner International Resorts), Smithsonian Institution, Swire Properties, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Polynesian Cultural Center and many others. At MLD, Mr. Lee directs a team of seasoned artists, film makers, designers, planners, project managers, architects and engineers, and in association with other professionals such as economists, scientists, constructors and technical experts, specialize in creating unique, compelling, high-quality, sustainable entertainment and learning experiences for the enjoyment and edification of young and old alike.
Michael Lee has been a featured speaker at meetings of the American Museum Association, International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, American Institute of Architects, several radio and TV programs and other industry conferences. He has taught design at two universities. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Brigham Young University and a Master of Fine Arts in Design from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Workshop Presenter
Michael J. Merchant is the President of ANASAZI Foundation, a non-profit and nationally accredited behavioral healthcare provider for youth, young adults and their families (anasazi.org). He has chaired numerous councils and committees on best practices for the treatment of the adolescents in the care of behavioral healthcare providers.
Mike is a senior consultant for The Arbinger Institute (arbinger.com). Since 1993, He has facilitated seminars and keynote addresses for nonprofit and for profit organizations internationally on the topics of leadership, team building, performance improvement, collaborative planning, and interpersonal relationships.
In 2004, Mike developed the communication component at the heart of the Emmy-nominated “Take the Time to Talk” substance-abuse awareness and prevention campaign. He is the founder of the Outdoor Behavioral Healthcare Industry Council (obhic.org) and currently serves as president of the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (natsap.org).
Mike is a graduate of Brigham Young University’s School of Management and a past president of the Arizona chapter of the BYU Management Society. He served a mission in the Louisiana, Baton Rouge Mission from 1981-1983. While at BYU, Mike toured 17 countries with the BYU Folk Ensemble. He was recently released as Bishop of the Seville Ward of the Queen Creek, Arizona Chandler Heights Stake.
Mike is married to Gaylene Roberts of Mesa, Arizona. Mike and Gaylene are the parents of seven musical (and redheaded!) children--of which three perform as the Country group Firefly (iheartfirefly.com).