Petrified
Haunt Maze Design & Operation
Overview
Petrified was a haunted maze produced by the Themed Entertainment Association in partnership with the UC San Diego University Events Office for the Fall 2019 event series. This project culminated in a walkthrough Halloween maze attended by 1800 guests in one night. As Volunteers Director for the event, I was in charge of leading recruitment, volunteer training, safety operations, volunteer layout, and guest throughput.
In addition, I was a member of the Layout, Animatronic, and Marketing & Graphics Committees, where I worked on the creative development, fabrication, and operation of the maze from Blue Sky through production. Petrified allowed me to get hands-on experience with bringing a concept to life. This meant not just stopping the work after the proposal was complete, but actually then following through to construct the layout, fabricate props, dress our sets, and operate the attraction.
The project taught me a lot about how to collaborate between disciplines, which gave me valuable insight into how to facilitate that work when I joined the leadership team for the following year’s maze, Wonderland.
Role
Volunteers Director
Tools & Skills
- Experience Design
- Staff Management
- Event Operations
Duration
9 months
February – October 2019
Team Members
Jared Walker
Miranda May
Sol Markarian
Ayushi Agrawal
Cynthia Gutierrez
Valerie Virrueta
Emma Miller
Matthias Baker
Nick Lee
Maddie Gramajo
Jane Coates
Nick Lee
Xochilt Khoury
Robby Ketchum
Sarah Litto
Allyson Llacuna
Volunteers Committee
Leading the Volunteers committee was a unique opportunity for me to learn about the logistics of running an event/attraction. In preparation for the night-of, I worked with my co-lead, Jane, to recruit and train volunteers. We created guides and training materials for each position and created shift schedules for a team of 50 volunteers. I placed volunteers for roles ranging from fire watch and scare actor safety to grouping and bag check in the layout, which spanned two stories in the Mandeville Auditorium. We also worked with the University Events Office to create plans for the operation of the maze and emergency action plans.
Managing this (as well as my schoolwork) alongside my responsibilities to building out the maze, working on props, and marketing the event was a great practice in multi-tasking.
Marketing and Graphics
Outside of my work leading the Volunteers committee, I was also focused on the Marketing and Graphics for the maze. I participated in the logo and poster design process and created a graphic for a series of countdown posts on social media (seen here). My work on Petrified was one of my first experiences with graphic design, and while my work was far from perfect, it gave me the opportunity to experiment with digital art and typography.
On the marketing side, I worked on creating an advertising plan, postering and flyering around campus, and utilizing Facebook, Instagram, and mailing lists to our advantage. Our work paid off on event night with a huge line of students excited for the maze stretched from Mandeville Auditorium across Sun God Lawn and into Muir.
Event Night
On the night-of, I spent most of my time running up and down the two levels of the maze managing volunteer shift changes, monitoring guest throughput, getting materials and people to the right places, and communicating with University Event staff.
While it was a hectic night, it was all worth it to see students exiting the maze with huge smiles on their faces (and also hiding behind their friends in fear).
