Just. One. Minute.
I am troubled: deeply troubled.
What troubles me is a perceived absence of thoughtful, preparatory, strategic concern for the future - frankly, the rather immediate future - of our industries in the context of the dark clouds gathering over our crumbling government.
I worry about the Experience Industries as a whole, as a community; I worry for the individual businesses and agencies that create the global community and collegiality we enjoy among ourselves; and I worry for the health, well-being and future of the thousands of artists, engineers, writers, directors, producers…creators of every sense and ilk who now find themselves members of targeted communities simply by birth.
In 1942, following Executive Order 9066, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent, including US citizens, were forcibly incarcerated in internment camps located in the western United States. Details below…
THE TRIGGER
What Inspires this potent concern I carry is what happened - or in fact what did not happen - at the annual “Inspire” conference of the Themed Entertainment Association in Hollywood, last week.
What is the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA)?
“The Themed Entertainment Association brings together the creators & makers of experiences worldwide – from the creative storytellers to the technical builders, from operators to investors, and from idea to operation and beyond – and provides them with the tools, education, advocacy, community, and connections they need to help grow their businesses and their careers.
“TEA members are innovators and problem solvers whose careers are spent confronting and overcoming unique challenges. They are specialists in realizing one-of-a-kind projects that have never been built before, and opening new frontiers of technical integration, creative storytelling, visitor engagement and brand extension.
“The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) encompasses a community of more than 1200 member companies in 40 countries with expertise in storytelling, design, economics, logistics, architecture, construction and manufacturing.”
In other words, most of the best of the best in Experience Design are of this organization and most gather at this keystone annual event. If you’ve ever been to a theme park, water park, museum, zoo, casino, airport, sports ceremony or live event; you’ve likely seen the amazing work of some of the members. The best.
Approaching the conference, I was anticipating some exploratory conversation on the realities of what is taking place in Washington that will directly affect our business at every level.
How might we prepare for and address the physical and practical effects of the river of executive orders and trade wars roaring out of Washington? How are we thinking of preparing ourselves, our employees and our businesses for that tipping point at which our country trembles.
But, no where in the three-day agenda could I find such a conversation; even the future of the industry was about story and technique, nothing about what we are facing.
I approached the leadership of the program, asking for 60 seconds at the start of an Executive Session on the first day. Seriously, ONE MINUTE: just to plant the seed for ad hoc sidebar, hallway, lunch, dinner and cocktail conversations in situ.
I was immediately and condescendingly shut down with the standard “we believe this isn’t the time or place…” My response to that side-step being what better time and place? where virtually every leader in our global industry is sitting in the room…and probably has a bit of this on their mind, but are one-step away, trepidatious about raising the issue. The follow up to that quesyion was, “…the agenda has been set for days; perhaps if you’d approached us three or four days ago…”
One. Minute.
One. Minute. to acknowledge that American Citizens are being disappeared without warning, without warrant, without due process and whisked off to detention centers in our own country or prisons in other countries (prisons with which we have business relationships, btw) without warning.
One. Minute. To mention that families are being separated illegally
One. Minute. To note that The White House is systematically and blatantly ignoring court orders enacting illegal deportations without repercussion.
One. Minute. To muse on what it might be, on some random near-future day when no gay people show up for work and no one knows where they are? Is that even possible?
Right now, it’s all about terrorists and immigrants. Just behind that issue are the community of trans-gender people.
One. Minute. To consider who might be next… HIV+ people; will that population be rounded up to protect America? All Gay men? All Queer people? The disappearance of everyone Gay just might put a bit of a dent in our products and parks, n’est-çe pas?
One. Minute. As Black and POC heroes are being erased from Honor Walls, Websites and Cemeteries. This, along with any and all references to LGBTQ+ and HIV being removed from government websites.
Are we seeking solutions, ideating ways in which we can protect our people? Or are we somehow “waiting” for them?
One. Minute. Just to observe that there is legislation afoot to require one’s birth name match that on one’s government ID or that person will not be allowed to vote? (Think: married name)
OBTW: One. Other Minute. How is all this going to affect our audiences?
Who’s going to be left to come to our parks and shows?
Who is going to design and build them?
Who’ll be able to afford to come in the face of the imminent and violent Wall Street downturn.
And Seriously, will anyone even want to come to America anymore? It’s not that there aren’t scores of wonderful Theme Parks and Destinations throughout Europe, Asia, China, Japan and the UK.
ARE we all aware that TSA can confiscate one’s phone at the border and look through it; then decide from what they find whether or not that person should be allowed to enter the country.
Example: Dr. Philippe Baptiste, on his way to a health conference in Houston was denied entry to the US this month after immigration officers who searched his phone and found messages in which he had expressed criticism of the Trump administration. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-musk-french-scientist-detained
Could this happen to an incoming US Citizen? Anyone, anywhere on social media?
Okay, perhaps it might have taken two minutes…or ten…though, is that the point? My dismay comes from this not being on the Agenda at all; that the conversation, given the dismissive response to the request, is being intentionally avoided.
IMHO; as the leading body of actual tellers of story and creators of experience on the planet; are we not doing our membership and customers a grievous disservice by sidestepping these issues?
They are going to affect us..in about a MINUTE.
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HISTORY - FORCED INCARCERATION OF US CITIZENS OF JAPANESE DESCENT
Executive Order 9066: Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in February 1942, this order authorized the removal and detention of people deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast.
Forced Removal: The order led to the mass removal of Japanese Americans, including those who were US citizens, from their homes and businesses in the West Coast states.
Internment Camps: These individuals were then transported to and confined in isolated, fenced, and guarded "relocation centers," also known as "internment camps".
Number of people incarcerated: Approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent were incarcerated in these camps.
Location of Camps: The camps were located in remote areas in six western states and Arkansas.
Examples of Camps: Some of the internment camps included Manzanar in California.
Aftermath: The Civil Liberties Act of 1988 provided surviving Japanese Americans with reparations and a formal apology for their incarceration.
