THEY ARE SHOWBIZZY.There is no business like show business - 'science' show business that is. Science North Enterprises sets their sights internationally. Rick MacKenzie's multimedia design group must be making an emotional connection with clients when it reduces a big, burly bur·ly adj. bur·li·er, bur·li·est Heavy, strong, and muscular; husky. See Synonyms at muscular. [Middle English burlich, from Old English *borlic, excellent; see Texan to tears. The sales and business development manager for Science North Enterprises recalls a conversation last year with a client from the Aztec Theatre in San Antonio, Texas “San Antonio” redirects here. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation). San Antonio is the second most populous city in Texas, the third most populous metropolitan area in Texas, and is the seventh most populous city in the United States. As of the 2006 U.S. , a $2.2 million (Cdn) restoration job heralded as the centrepiece of San Antonio's downtown revitalization re·vi·tal·ize tr.v. re·vi·tal·ized, re·vi·tal·iz·ing, re·vi·tal·iz·es To impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. plans. At that time, it was the biggest project for the 12-employee Sudbury design and production company spun off from Science North five years ago. The client, the president of a high profile property management firm, was highly passionate about showcasing Aztec culture but insistent that the production be a Las Vegas-style, special effects special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. extravaganza ex·trav·a·gan·za n. 1. An elaborate, spectacular entertainment or display: "Washington is an extravaganza of great buildings, greenery, and monuments" Larry Griffin. . Actual educational content wasn't important, just so long as it "blew people away," the president of the property management firm had said at the time. "Anybody can do that," was MacKenizie's response to the president. "But it's about creating a good story and making it a meaningful experience." So the Science North designers went to work, story-boarded a ten-minute multimedia presentation featuring animatronic robots, lasers with multiple screens combining some immersive theatre effects, then delivered the script. "(The client) phones me back and he's this big, full-fledged Texan and says 'Rick, it brought tears to my eyes. Honestly, I was crying when I read that script.' MacKenzie recalls. Understanding what visitors want has been the philosophy behind the 'wow' factor of Science North's world-renowned interactive exhibits, he adds. When provincial subsidies for exhibit development dried up in the mid 1990s, Science North sought to replace those revenues by marketing their expertise in exhibit fabrication fabrication (fab´rikā´sh  n),n the construction or making of a restoration. , multimedia shows, video production and computer animation to a worldwide market. Armed with a catalogue ranging from simple off-the-shelf products such as a basic bed of nails A bed of nails is typically an oblong piece of wood, the size of a bed, with nails pointing upwards out of it. It appears to the spectator that anyone lying on this "bed" would be injured by the nails, but this is not so, assuming the nails are numerous enough, since the weight is to their more popular object theatres, Science North Enterprises has steadily built up a client list of science centres, museums, zoos and aquariums from across North and South America South America, fourth largest continent (1991 est. pop. 299,150,000), c.6,880,000 sq mi (17,819,000 sq km), the southern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. and Europe. The glowing testimonials from these projects, and word of mouth, hasve spring-boarded them in the last couple of years into the field of corporate visitors centres, he says. The talking animatronic crash test dummy
Crash test dummies are full-scale replicas of human beings, weighted and articulated to simulate the behavior of a human body, and instrumented to at Ford Motors Company's 'Spirit of Ford' design studio in Dearborn, Mich. is a Science North creation, as are an entire floor of exhibits and multimedia programs at mining giant Cominco's interpretative in·ter·pre·ta·tive adj. Variant of interpretive. in·ter  pre·ta centre in Trail, B.C. The company just recently signed a
$125,000 deal to complete a third phase of that project.
MacKenzie says having a wealth of creative talent and in-house scientific knowledge at their disposal is a definite asset, but what sets them apart from other multimedia firms is running their own attraction and being able to gain from the enthusiasm of close to a half million visitors every year. Now the company has set out to establish a greater global footprint by forming alliances with other complimentary design, fabricating and architectural firms An architectural firm is a company which employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture. History Architects (master builders) have existed since early in recorded history. The earliest recorded architects include Imhotep (c. to pursue larger multi-million dollar projects. To help elevate Science North Enterprises to the next level, Guy Labine, former general manager of the Sudbury Regional Development Corporation, was added to the roster as the centre's director of business development to develop the company into a full-fledged big business. "This is cutting edge, it's innovative, it's creative and there's a ton of potential for the business, which has a direct impact on the centre itself," says Labine. Based on their burgeoning international opportunities, Labine believes the company's potential is unlimited and envisions doubling or even tripling the number of staff over the next five years. Science North Enterprises is expected to gross between $3 and $4 million this year before expenses. The net profit will be invested back into the centre's programs and exhibits. "Our goal within the next three or four years is to be at $10 million a year in sales, and we think it's very achievable," adds MacKenzie. Besides the San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. development, among their slate of projects on tap for this year are: a $340,000 (Cdn) deal to design, develop and fabricate 50 exhibits for Scotland's Glasgow Science Centre Glasgow Science Centre is a major visitor attraction located on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a purpose built science centre comprising of three principal buildings: a science mall with general science learning exhibits, the Glasgow Tower and an , slated to open this spring, and a $310,000 (Cdn) contract to supply an entire gallery of exhibits for the Kalamazoo (Mich.) Valley Museum. They are also waiting to hear from proponents on a potential $6 million science centre design project in the Middle East state of Qatar. Science North Enterprises teamed up with museum planners Lord Cultural Resources Planning and Management, based in Toronto, and Design Plus Communications in Montreal, in submitting their proposal as part of a larger $20 million development. |
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