About Magic Memories
A company aligned to deliver you results
Since we opened our doors in 1995, it has been our mission to turn the worldwide attraction photography business on its head. We think and behave like a tourism company so we understand that the guest experience is everything. We make guests smile when they arrive, again when they leave and then every time they share or look back at their memory of your attraction.
Some call it 'starting with the why' - the why for us - is to make people smile. From your guests to your board, from our teams to our families. That's what we all leap out of bed to do, every day.
Our people are the key ingredient in Magic Memories' 'secret sauce'
So it stands to reason that the real secret to our success is people over machines, screens or technology. You see, we invest in people with the right attitude and flair to truly represent your brand and ours. Our photographers are hosts – they meet, greet and interact throughout the experience to make your guests smile, take a memorable photo and encourage them to take it home.
Working in true Partnership
Partnership is a word too often used loosely in business. Our business model ensures we seamlessly integrate into your attraction and build genuine and long-term relationships that enhance the guest experience, build your brand and continually increase your yield per guest.
Testament to the strength of these is the consistently higher financial return we deliver your business compared to that of our competitors.
Innovation is a KPI across our entire company.
Innovation is in our DNA and pervades our entire approach. We love to innovate right across the guest journey – developing and integrating clever processes, products & technologies to extend each guest’s experience throughout their time at your attraction and long after they’ve gone home.
Innovation at Magic Memories is not the domain of just one team, it's embedded within the depth and breadth of our business - from a new photographer at London Zoo, a host at Legoland or a finance assistant in Queenstown.
The result is outperformance over our competitors by up to several hundred percent.
By continually evolving the ways we photograph, display and present our images, sales uptake and yield per guest are unmatched. Browse our case studies to find out how we do this at an attraction like yours, or contact us today to find out how we can dramatically increase your guest smiles & photography revenues.
THE TEAM BEHIND THE SMILES
Chris Warhurst
Global Chief Executive Officer
Chris, a well-respected executive in the global attractions industry, was named Global Chief Executive Officer in August 2016. He is focused on scaling the business and directing Magic Memories’ global expansion.
His career began in hospitality, then private equity management and most recently the tourism and attractions industry.
When at home, he loves spending time on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with his wife and three beautiful kids.
John Wikstrom
Founder & President
John co-founded Magic Memories in 1994 after seeing the opportunity to revolutionize the guest experience and create a new market for capturing and creating memories. In his current role John is focused on developing and servicing key markets to foster continued growth.
He is a proud New Zealander, born in the deep South, and gained a degree in Marketing from Otago University.
A graduate of the Icehouse programme for owners and managers and a member of the Institute of Directors, he is passionate about evolving the industry interpretation of the importance of guest memories, and how a well-designed experience can layer across an entire attraction improving the guest experience, extending attractions brands, and be a significant revenue earner.
He loves to relax with his family, particularly boating, skiing, mountain biking and traveling.
Ben Thomas
Regional CEO Europe & Middle East
Ben oversees all aspects of Magic Memories’ business in Europe and the Middle East.
He has a Bachelor’s degree from Brunel University in Biomechanics and Educational Philosophy.
His career has always been Sales based while holding General Management positions in the Telecoms, Home Security and Leisure industries. More recently holding the position of Head of Sales for a private equity owned leisure photography company based in the UK.
His wife and four children keep him busy with an eclectic range of interests from soccer and rugby through to reptiles and music.
Martin King
Global General Manager, People and Culture
Martin brings nearly 20 years of experience in people management to Magic Memories, having held a variety of leadership roles, including running his own consultancy for a number of years. As Global General Manager of People and Culture he oversees recruiting, human resources, operations, and training and development.
Previously, he was General Manager Human Resources with Coca-Cola Amatil NZ based in Auckland where he led the business to become recognized as one of New Zealand's best places to work and most attractive employers.
Martin is an avid snowboarder, mountain biker, hiker, and all round fitness junkie who lives in Queenstown with his partner and son.
George Reider
Regional CEO North America
George is responsible for the growth and direction of Magic Memories’ operations in the United States and Canada.
He is a highly experienced retail industry executive who has held senior leadership roles within fast-paced, digitally-driven environments. He has most recently worked with retail technology and online apparel startups at various stages of development. George previously served as White House Black Market’s SVP of Stores and Operations where he oversaw both the full-priced and outlet divisions, as well as held leadership roles at Ann Taylor Corporation, Polo Ralph Lauren and Gap, Inc.
George holds a bachelor’s in Marketing from Arizona State University.
Brent Canning
Group General Counsel
Brent Canning joined Magic Memories as Group General Counsel in September 2017. In this role, he oversees all global legal and regulatory matters.
Brent brings over 20 years of private practice and in-house counsel experience. He was formerly a litigation partner at a US-based law firm and most recently served as global general counsel for the international retail and beauty brand Crabtree & Evelyn.
He earned his J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law and his Bachelor’s from New York University.
Jeff Vier
VP of Group Engineering Operations
As VP of Group Engineering Operations, Jeff is responsible for the oversight of installed systems, from implementation to repairing and upgrading. He will work closely with Software Engineering and is also responsible for developing the Magic Memories roadmap.
Jeff brings over 20 years of experience in a variety of engineering, operations, and other IT roles. He’s worked at large organizations like Mozilla and Yahoo!, as well as a number of startups. He was most recently Director of Operations Engineering at FXCM.
Jason Kirby
Group Head of Product
Jason’s main responsibility is to align our strategy with the guest's (customer's) voice and perspective. Collaborating across departments developing and delivering the company's vision, roadmap, and execution plan covering:
- Guest product - physical, digital and purchased on site and online
- The built connected experience on site
- Core business systems
- Data -to create value from social, guest IQ, and segment IQ
Jason was previously product manager at Cradlepoint, where he shifted the product strategy focus to key market segments, increasing ASP, ARPU, and significantly decreasing churns, and successfully testing and analyzing new mobile and UI experiences for this market.
CJ Little
Group Head of Engineering
CJ’s focus is to accelerate technological development at Magic Memories, leveraging technology to provide our partners and customers with a world-class product. Well executed, this will increase our competitive advantage further as we evolve into a personalized omni channel business, that significantly grows the customer base offering more compelling products to an ever widening audience.
