Cassandra Ichniowski Email & Phone Number

Formerly Freeman Agency

San Francisco Bay Area

Creative strategy, story development, and program management for the concept development and design phases of HERSHEY Chocolate World's 50th anniversary debut attraction, HERSHEY'S GREAT CANDY EXPEDITION, an interactive, immersive film launching families on an on- and off-the-rails train adventure through candy-themed lands, learning about the impact of ingredients, innovation, and the details of the production process of our favorite brands.Program management and creative strategy for an extensive strategy project for Salesforce Innovation Center's global program. Led creative & experience strategy as well as strategy communication design.Development of Visa Innovation Center's immersive showcase tour at their San Francisco HQ and, after 2020, their virtual showcase. Both experiences feature an interactive presentation with a live host, a persona-driven content-rich story, and interactive product demos with second-screen connectivity on their personal devices.Development of IBM's virtual activation program in response to Covid, starting March 2020 for their May 2020 Think event. Defined a digital-first content strategy, pitched online activations to activate key brand stories, and oversaw development in time to launch for the 2020 virtual event. Development and integration of holistic metrics tracking plan to gauge successful promotion tactics. Ongoing management, update, and new activation development for subsequent virtual events and communication.Strategic account growth leadership, creative strategy, concept & story development, and activation program management & production of experiential marketing event program for Salesforce, IBM, Visa, and Cisco.

Los Angeles

Executive production leadership for featured experiential activations at Salesforce's annual Dreamforce event, serving over 170,000 Salesforce customers annually at a 4 day event from 2017-2020. Lead direction from creative strategy through concept development, content development, production, and deployment on site.Developed an immersive film for IBM Systems, showcasing the impact of their technology through powerful case studies. This film could be deployed on large spherical screens, standard displays, VR headsets, and online 360 video players, allowing the film to appear at Think 2019 as well as smaller events globally.Program managed Visa Innovation Center's reinvented showcase tour from strategy through installation. This content-rich tour was enabled with connected devices allowing guests to follow along with demonstrated products as virtual immersive scenes completed each story. The CMS-driven system allowed for frequent content updates, so Visa could continue to tell stories about the future of payments within a fixed environment.Oversaw development and deployment of an Elton John AR Piano experience deployed in Kings Cross Station for one day in advance of his tour announcement. Provided agency production oversight of the London press event, where the VR retrospective and live performance were live-streamed and synchronized in London, LA, and NYC.Managed the inaugural season of Mazda as a new client for the auto show season, including $1M+ in interactive and media-based engagements across 9 show kits and 50+ auto show events.

Shepherding creative development for interactive, experiential projects from initial idea or RFP through to execution. This included:- SOW authoring, project chartering, team development- Concept development, including facilitating and running brainstorms - Technical development, using both agile and waterfall methods- Schedule development and risk management- Interfacing with clients, vendors, and contractors as primary point of contact- Process development and accountability- Installation management, quality assurance, and operational supportProjects included:- Story Room, an immersive interactive platform for small teams to play their way through a branching story in themed physical environment..- Mobile S.T.A.R. Labs marketing activation for the premiere of CW's The Flash series, an expandable truck with interactive exhibits testing to see if YOU can beat the Flash- Magic Mirror, an interactive fantasy installation where players help fairytale creatures in their jobs by controlling their facial expressions - with the user's own face!

Projects include:- Test Track presented by Chevrolet, Epcot (Creative refresh of existing attraction | Associate Show Producer: Production, Install and Opening)- Tokyo Disney Resort portfolio (Various attractions | Associate Producer: Blue Sky, Concept, and Master Planning)- Goofy's Paint'N'Play, Tokyo Disneyland (New interactive attraction in existing facility | Interactive/Software producer: Design (RFP authoring), Implementation, Install, and Opening)- Mickey's Magic Words, Magic Kingdom (New meet'n'greet as part of Living Character initiative | Interactive/Software producer: Implementation, Install, and Opening)

Developing software and integrating hardware to assist design and implementation of immersive experiences and immersive design. Assisting experience design and development through guest experience playtests.Coordinating & supporting Blue Sky projects integrating technology and interactivity

University Of Minnesota

Developed software to examine the effects of a fully tracked real-time avatar representation using a Vicon Motion System on presence in immersive virtual environments displayed via head mounted display. Devised methods of statistical testing using biofeedback equipment for future human subject testing.

Developed the Virtual Shopping Cart, a treadmill-based navigation of immersive virtual environments.Created software for projection to a hemispherical screen of 10’ diameter.

Masters Of Entertainment Technology, Entertainment Technology

Project-based interdisciplinary program focusing on developing new interactive experiences in small teams. My focus in the program was.

Bse, Computer Graphics (Cs+Fine Art Interdisciplinary Major), Theatre Arts (Minor)

Activities and Societies: iNtuitons Experimental Theatre, Pennsylvania Players, Quadramics Theatre Company, Front Row Theatre Company, Eta.