Wesley Della Volla Email & Phone Number

Founder & Executive Producer at Meridian Treehouse, an award-winning nonfiction storytelling and experiential innovation company that cultivates multidisciplinary collaboration and innovation. Meridian Treehouse specializes in developing multi-platform experiences, content, and partnerships that educate and entertain – all with the goal of fostering curiosity, free from outdated spatial and logistical constraints"An Introduction to Learning in the Metaverse" - Practitioners Guide to the Metaverse for Learning We partnered with a group of global researchers to create this evidence-based guide for educators to better understand the Metaverse, its components, potential for eduction, and the positives and negatives of learning with new technologies.Executive Producer & Virtual Experience Designer; United Nations World Oceans Week Virtual Dive Event: The multiple award-winning, first-of-its-kind live shared, synchronized immersive reality experience. The mixed reality experience made it possible for a global audience to use their own immersive or web-enabled devices to dive under the waters of Palau with people across the globe in real-time.Creative Consultant & Technical Advisor, Disney Parks, Experiences, & Products: Advise on the creative direction, talent selection, execution, and final delivery of four programmatic areas of live virtual events for National Geographic Live.Creative Lead, Virtual Experience Designer & Content Development Partner, LenovoEDU EdTech Digital Community, LenovoHost & Experience Advisor: “The Global Biodiversity Festival” 3-day live, virtual, global festival and fundraiser for numerous conservation NGO’s.Technical Director/Talent Manger: “Concert for Conservation. A live, virtual, global fundraiser for Rainforest Trust and Reserva Youth Land Trust.”A Day IN: DC" Virtual Festival and Fundraiser presented by Instagram and Exactly Agency. 2021 The Webby Awards Honoree

San Francisco, California, Us

The mission of the Hydrous is to create ‘open access oceans’ so that all people may explore, understand, and engage with marine environments, which are severely threatened by climate change and human impacts. My work is focused on advising a dynamic group of ocean advocates, storytellers, scientists, and technologists on how we can connect people to the ocean environments through strategic storytelling, innovative experiences, and driving ocean empathy.

Sharks Pacific was born in the Cook Islands in 2012 while our founder Jess Cramp was co-championing the Cook Islands Shark Sanctuary project alongside a team of impassioned local people.Their effort was part of the Rarotonga-based Pacific Islands Conservation Initiative (PICI) and resulted in the 772,000 square mile shark sanctuary, which is almost three times the size of Texas. The sanctuary legislation afforded protection from fishing and trade to all sharks and rays within Cook Islands waters.

Washington, Dc, Us

Climate Storytelling, Core Pathways, Ecology Department (ENST 145-01)Telling and sharing stories, from the scientific to the personal, is key to understanding climate change and advocating for action. With Sweden appointing the world’s first Chief Storyteller for Climate Change and researchers calling for a climate storyteller in every city, there is a global demand for trained communicators. This course will combine class discussions on climate discourse research with hands-on science communication practice. Through public speaking and visual storytelling exercises (including at locations around DC), students will learn how to craft and share surprising, dramatic, and inspiring climate stories.Climate Action, , Core Pathways, Ecology Department (ENST 146-01)Stories about the rising occurrences of extreme weather, looming resource scarcity, and unprecedented social upheaval spawned by climate change flood the media landscape. Often missing from these stories are the practical actions needed to change the trajectory of a climate crisis that threatens to upend the world as humans have come to know it. This course will examine a combination of mitigation and adaptation tactics that present both significant obstacles and opportunities for the innovation required to solve this pressing global issue. Through a combination of class discussions on these tactics, examples of implementation, and principles of how to encourage the will to take action, this course will use in-depth storytelling techniques for students to practice their role in creating effective strategies that lead to climate action. Students will learn how to craft and share stories that go beyond experiences of crisis and tangibly develop narrative strategies to convince governments, businesses, and communities to take action addressing climate change.

Allston, Ma, Us

Focus on helping both educational institutions and lifelong learning systems integrate, cutting-edge VR / Immersive experiences into educational settings.The i-lab offers a Venture Incubation Program (VIP) for Harvard student-led teams whose ventures have progressed to a more advanced stage. The Venture Program is open to teams that are led by at least one matriculated, full-time and degree-seeking undergraduate or graduate Harvard student and runs during the Spring, Summer, and Fall of each calendar year.

Louisville, Co, Us

Oversee Live Programming Strategy and Production for upcoming Live Programming made exclusively for an interactive OTT platform for the world’s leading wellness and spiritual multimedia company

Cambridge, Ma, Us

I am the "Project Partner / Guest Lecturer" for this course. As the Project Partner I represent the "catalyst, collaborator, and client" for graduate students to build their course around. They apply design thinking lessons and best practices to envisioning where we take the successful immersive "VR Exploration" experiences I developed and lead the strategy on next. Roughly every other week I virtually attend the class and work with the students to ideate and iterate their ideas, processes, and scenarios to help them refine potential solutions.The world is changing at an unprecedented pace and ambiguity is everywhere. Design thinking has never been more important. In this course, students learn how to leverage the foundational mindsets and abilities of design thinking to make change in their lives, organizations, and the world. This course draws on the craft, soul, and science that makes design work and helps students to master their own design process. Students hone their ability to learn from others, find unexpected insights, tell world changing stories, and generate innovative ideas through an immersive weekend design experience and ongoing collaborative course work.

Washington, Dc, Us

- Lead development, creation, construction, and programmatic strategy for the "World's Largest Permanent Virtual Reality Theater" - winner of "The Webby Award - Best VR Interaction Design 2019"- Lead the programmatic strategy for series of high profile events in conjunction with the April 2018 single issue of National Geographic magazine "The Race Issue." Partners for this event series included National Museum of African American History & Culture, IDEO, Crooked Media, and more- Lead programmatic strategy for sold out monthly event series "Nat Geo Nights" currently on its 4th year- Lead development of new event series including Trivia Nights, Environmental Justice Events, & Virtual Reality Explorations- Produce flagship public event at Explorers Festival annual event at National Geographic Headquarters in DC- Collaborate in developing and executing program for National Geographic "On Campus" multi-day event in partnership with University of Miami- Lead event production and program direction in collaboration with Fulbright Program and IIE for annual Nat Geo-Fulbright Storytelling Fellow public event

Washington, Dc, Us

Develop and produce high impact 360-degree experiences and events that amplify impact of The National Geographic Society initiatives, explorers, and strategic goals across the globe.• Work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders across NGS, NG Partners, and external organizations to develop and independently produce multiple seasons of (25-30 events per season) diversified public experiences ranging from lectures, to tours, to VR experiences, to multiple day festivals for a diverse range of audiences• Produce National Geographic’s series of live events and strategic digital & social video campaign at the UN Climate Conference in Paris that included 10 explorers and done in collaboration with international partners including the UN Foundation• Work collaboratively with diverse stakeholders across NGS, NGP, and external organizations, including the National Park Service and multiple government agencies, to develop and produce multi-experience events including the nine day FotoWeekDC photography festival and museum exhibition, inaugural Member Day Mini-Festival, the two-day Biodiversity Festival on the National Mall, and NG Museum After Hours event, which amplify organization goals and impact • Develop strategic partnerships with The Webby Awards, UN Foundation, Universal Music Group, The National Park Service, FleishmanHillard, and others; in close collaboration with development, editorial, and communications to elevate explorer talent profile • Develop strategy for new event series & experience tiers including a beer garden, science comedy programs, and lightning talk series to enable inclusion of more explorers and development opportunities for NGS talent

Boston, Ma, Us

• Develop new & strengthen existing relationships between NGL & all divisions of The National Geographic Society• Lead internal communication related to NG resources & promotion of new Explorers/Experts• Manage brand standards and product approval across all NGL products and programs• Develop & manage Explorer/Grantee events program for all NGL divisions globally• Develop & produce Explorer/Grantee related multimedia for educational products and programs• Develop & maintain relationships between NGL & National Geographic Explorers & Grantees• Develop & implement social media & PR strategy for Explorers/Grantees featured in NGL products & events • Identify external sources for brand-related content, development, & maintain the relationships • Point of contact for all NGL global editorial teams for access to National Geographic resources• Develop content management strategies for each editorial team & product range and mange three direct reports

• Maintain long standing relationships with record labels & publicity companies for all featured artists. Labels include, Sony, Columbia, Warner Brothers, RCA, Universal, Hollywood Records, Asterlwerks, INgrooves, Polydor, any many others.• Research and create daily web content for KickKickSnare.com, one of the 13 Official GRAMMY music blogs• Implement brand & content strategy to increase daily readership to approximately 3,500 viewers daily• Create & manage branding & content strategy for all official Kick Kick Snare social media: Twitter followers increased by 486%, Facebook fans by 304%, establish Spotify presence with 8 playlist & 230+ followers• Line Produce 27 part ‘In Session’ web video series for KickKickSnare & Aloft Hotels at South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin Texas• Line Produce 4 city, 13 band Road To Rogue tour for sponsors for Aloft Hotels & DIRECTV• Produce 4 episode tour video series for Aloft Hotels and for inclusion in 90-minute national satellite TV special “Road To Rogue” on DIRECTV’s Audience Network• Manage talent and their support staff on location at all Kick Kick Snare South By Southwest Music Festival events, including Ford Motor Company’s Emerging Artist Showcase• Establish multi-event partnership with LivingSocial for Emerging Artist Showcases & Kick Kick Snare’s “Pop Up” events – 10 events total by January 2014• Produce over 20 DJ & live music events at leading Washington, DC venues• Booking and scheduling all talent for Kick Kick Snare & other select unbranded events • Coordinate with local news outlets to promote and publicize talent and public performances• Facilitate communication between talent and record labels to enable creative collaborations between producers and vocal talent• Secure permissions for track inclusion in the release of monthly Kick Kick Snare mix-tapes• Secure MTV Buzzworthy premiere, 10+ media outlet features, & #3 on Hype Machine Popular Chart for current management artist, The Soundmen

• Collaborate with series Music Supervisor and a Grammy Award winning composer John Mayer to create work flow • Extensive collaboration with Department of Defense & Walter Reed National Military Medical Center stock footage departments & video production staff• Coordinate with broadcaster Standards & Practices to ensure all scripts are factually accurate and verified• Write series descriptions for web and other media to accompany each program• Create web-log and film video blog promotional materials for all episodes• Assist in editing of final program, string outs and aid with shot selection• Maintain media & assets systems for entire project, spread over multiple editing systems and locations. • Extensive knowledge in Rights & Clearances; stock footage research, negotiations & media law• Manage production finances, including cost reporting and expense reporting

Silver Spring, Md, Us

Execute the logistics for domestic filming for five TV programsManage production team in the field and on locationWrite series descriptions for web and other platformsCapture and edit promotion digital stills Research stock footage and news media sources for inclusion in final programWork closely with local police and judicial offices to secure research materials, documents and access.

Bethesda, Md, Us

Manage 20+ projects, for multiple clients, including Discovery Channels, ITV Studios, NBC Studios, National Geographic Television, Unilever, Smithsonian and NOVAProvide editorial guidance to artists and relay editorial ideas to artists and clientsProduce, edit and manage media for the creation of all new Demo Reels for PR purposesMaintain asset and media delivery, distribution, storage, filing and transferCreate work orders, and oversee time tracking of animators on my projects

Create string outs for 5-8 minute long educational videos for chemistry & biology curriculumsMaintain media & assets systems for 30 projects from multiple media sources Develop & implement servers, FTP & email systems for start-up TV production companyAssist in research of project topicsPlan logistics, and hire crew for field production

Washington, Dc, Us

Worked on Emmy Award Winning production team that consisted of three editors, two writers, two producers, several assistant editors & production coordinatorsResearch locations and conduct preliminary interviews with scientists and experts for projects.Coordinate with Standards & Practices to ensure all scripts are factually accurate and verified.Write series descriptions for web and other media to accompany each programCreate web-log and film video blog promotional materials for all episodesAssist in editing of string outs and shot selectionExtensive knowledge in Rights & Clearances; stock footage research, negotiations & media lawExecute the logistics for international & domestic filming Manage production team finances in the field and on locationCoordinate with the National Geographic Society expeditions to facilitate projects in remote locations

Washington, Dc, Us

Manage all aspects of 20+ hours of programming: including budgets, hiring, schedules and cost reportingMain contact for client & vendor relations for the entire Natural History UnitManage 15+ associate producers over 20+ projectsNegotiate contracts for outside production companies and for all crew hiredCoordinate with VP of Operations, Editorial Executives and senior staffCreate complete production budgets for TV series and one-off productionsManage the finances for projects with a combined budget of over $4 millionCost report for all projects overseen