Zach Riddley promoted to Global Creative Strategy Executive

Bocabear

Bocabear

Well-Known Member
SaucyBoy said:
Is anyone surprised? Just like most big companies, they always promote the most incompetent people.
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I am not sure he is incompetent... Our only exposure was the ill-advised behind the scenes blog posts... Well the blog posts were probably a good idea, the content was not such a great idea. As creative lead Imagineer for EPCOT, aside from restoring the front entrance (good) and one half of Communicore (good_) and everything else, kind of a mixed bag, rudderless mess. I feel quite sure these were not his fault, even though he did head up the creative team. I am sure that like all creative projects, there are levels of management that are above the creative team, that make all the final decisions.
I wish him well on his journey and hope he will be in a better situation where he can be creative and show us all new ways to dream.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
This reminds me of the long-standing IT joke - "People rise to the level of their incompetence". 🤣 (I'm NOT saying he's incompetent, before anyone jumps on that comment)
 
SaucyBoy

SaucyBoy

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Bocabear said:
I am not sure he is incompetent... Our only exposure was the ill-advised behind the scenes blog posts... Well the blog posts were probably a good idea, the content was not such a great idea. As creative lead Imagineer for EPCOT, aside from restoring the front entrance (good) and one half of Communicore (good_) and everything else, kind of a mixed bag, rudderless mess. I feel quite sure these were not his fault, even though he did head up the creative team. I am sure that like all creative projects, there are levels of management that are above the creative team, that make all the final decisions.
I wish him well on his journey and hope he will be in a better situation where he can be creative and show us all new ways to dream.
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He blocked me on Instagram when I called out one of his saccharine posts, so I've harbored a deep disdain for him since. He might be "talented" but he led the team that effectively destroyed Epcot so he will never have any respect from me. Every bit of criticism thrown his way was well warranted.
Stupido said:
I also think some dog pile on him because he’s part of the lgbtq community.
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Being gay doesn't absolve you of criticism, sweetie. I know that's a hard concept for some to grasp. Actually until this post, I had no idea he was part of the community.
 
Disgruntled Walt

Disgruntled Walt

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
Stupido said:
I also think some dog pile on him because he’s part of the lgbtq community.
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If anyone had done that here, they probably would have been blocked. Who even knew that about him? It has absolutely nothing to do with the projects he worked on.

I'm not convinced that he has done anything to warrant such a promotion. If he was more involved with the Epcot overhaul than just being the deliverer of bad news on social media, then we're probably justified in our concern.
 
S

Sandurz

Well-Known Member
I think his heart is in the right place. People make fun of his posts about tiles and the literal ground but all those details are a huge part of the history of Imagineering, and I'm glad to have someone with that mindset in a leadership role.

BUT, sometimes I do get the same vibe I get from him that I do from other Disney creatives that have been promoted in recent years such as Jennifer Lee with the animation studio. If you've seen the Frozen 2 doc you might know what I'm talking about lol. They're easy to work with, responsive to higher ups, a good creative energy, and perfectly competent in a lot of ways. But spread thin and seemingly losing sight of the core things that make a project, whether that's a movie/attraction/nighttime show, work for the entire audience. Projects that instead feel like a minimum list of checkboxes that are thrown together to hopefully make something worthwhile, and not something with a singular overall purpose.

As far as Epcot, it's very unlikely that the state of the project can be blamed on him. What was once planned, was very exciting. It just got completely hamstrung by budgets at too late in the process.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
imagineer97 said:
If anyone had done that here, they probably would have been blocked. Who even knew that about him? It has absolutely nothing to do with the projects he worked on.

I'm not convinced that he has done anything to warrant such a promotion. If he was more involved with the Epcot overhaul than just being the deliverer of bad news on social media, then we're probably justified in our concern.
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He was:

Riddley was promoted to oversee the EPCOT transformation in 2017, and he was the “single accountable WDI leader for the EPCOT project, including master planning, story and concept, detailed design, and delivery/construction elements”. Riddley led a team of more than 500 members and 1,000 combined partners to execute the transformation.
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Stupido said:
I think it’s because he was the public face of a vastly disliked project. I also think some dog pile on him because he’s part of the lgbtq community.
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I had no idea about that last part, nor do I care one iota if he is or is not. What does that have to do with anything around his promotion?
 

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