Joe Rhode wins the 2019 Lowell Thomas award!

[IanDLBZF]

Joe Rhode will be receiving the Lowell Thomas award for 2019 from The Explorer's Society! He will be honored alongside four other awardees. This is a big victory for him IMHO.

 

[Surfin' Tuna]

Congratulations to the last Imagineer!

 

[BEARSHOUSE4]

Well deserved.

 

[jt04]

Congratulations to the last Imagineer!

There is another.

 

[larryz]

Joe Rohde, you've just won the Lowell Thomas Award! Now what are you going to do???

 

[IanDLBZF]

There is another.

And possibly more.

 

[tirian]

There is another.

Is she still leading a Rebellion and oblivious to her heritage?

 

[tirian]

And possibly more.

Today’s WDI outsources many things to industry leaders (e.g. rockwork, most AAs, coaster engineering, some lighting, etc.)—meaning the talent is definitely there, but it’s spread out among many companies. That even includes Uni Creative, where some Imagineers have swapped back and forth.

You and @jt04 are right: there are other talented creatives out there. But Rohde represents the last of his breed of old-school MAPO/WDI that led the industry by creating new, cutting-edge experiences guests didn’t know they wanted—and did it mostly in-house with a braintrust of top creatives in one place. There were no legitimate competitors when Rohde started with Disney.

Congrats to him for widespread recognition for his vision and achievements at DAK!

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

In 2020, I nominate Scott Trowbridge for his work on Rise Of The Resistance.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Congrats to him for widespread recognition for his vision and achievements at DAK!

But it’s just a nondescript park themed to India or whatever...

 

[Genie_naughty_whispers]

This award is meaningless to Joe. He covets “worlds best ear”

 

[Lilofan]

Congrats to Joe. Future assignment - long term visit to India again since the rumor mill is Mumbai Disneyland somewhere in the future..

 

[tirian]

This award is meaningless to Joe. He covets “worlds best ear”

Congrats to Joe. Future assignment - long term visit to India again since the rumor mill is Mumbai Disneyland somewhere in the future..

Once he visits a few Indian markets and buys some new ear gear, that lobe is finally going to fall off.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

Joe Rohde, you've just won the Lowell Thomas Award! Now what are you going to do???

I'm going back to work....erm...I mean...I'm going to Disney World!

 

[Lilofan]

Didn't Walt have some type of dress code for his Animators? If I saw Joe walking down the street dressed like Joe, wonder if he is related to Cheech and Chong?

 

[The Great Gonzo]

Congrats Joe, we love you. Now will you fix that Yeti already?