Best Selling Series
Jim Pattison Jr. - President
Jim Pattison Jr., became president of Ripley Entertainment Inc. on Jan. 1, 2008 after working for the company for 17 years in several high level positions. Most recently, he was executive vice president for all Ripley attractions operations worldwide, including the company's two world-class aquariums. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of operations for all Ripley's attractions in North America, Europe and Australia. Jim has a broad range of management experience in the amusement, attraction, aquarium, entertainment and finance fields. He has lived in Canada, Switzerland, and the United States and has traveled extensively throughout the world. Jim is a Canadian citizen.
Darren Loblaw - Chief Financial Officer
Darren joined Ripley's in 2001 as the Chief Financial Officer. In addition to participating in business development activities, Darren oversees all of the accounting, budgeting and financial analysis of the company. Darren grew up in northern Canada, and earned a Master's degree in economics at Queen's University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business. Darren worked for the Department of Finance in Ottawa before moving to Calgary, Alberta where he was the Director of Corporate Finance for Canadian Airlines International. With over ten years of experience, Darren has been responsible for a wide variety of finance functions including treasury, strategic planning and debt financing.
Bob Masterson - Chairman of the Board
Bob Masterson assumed the position of Board Chairman of Ripley Entertainment Inc. on Jan. 1, 2008 after 30 years with the company, 19 as its president. During his tenure, he successfully guided Ripley's through a period of unprecedented growth and diversification to become a worldwide leisure industry leader in trademark licensing, franchising, aquariums and attraction operations.
Bob has extensive experience in leisure concept design, development and construction. has years of hands-on experience overseeing the operation of Ripley's 65-plus properties in 12 countries. Bob, a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, has lived in Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia and the United States.
Bob became Chairman of the International Assn. of Amusement Parks & Attractions (IAAPA) in November 2007 and will serve in that position during 2008. IAAPA is the largest and most prestigious association for the amusement and attractions industry and serves more than 3,000 park and supplier members in 83 countries.
Joeseph M. Choromanski - Vice President, Husbandry
Joseph Choromanski, with over 25 years of marine science experience, holds a master's degree in Fisheries Biology and a Batchelors degree in Marine Biology. Together with his team of thirty-six marine biologists and aquarists he has overall responsibility for the company's animal collection. Prior to joining the Ripley Aquarium team, Joe was the Curator of Husbandry Operations at California's world-famous Monterey Bay Aquarium. Joe also served as the Assistant Director of Husbandry and Senior Curator of Water Quality and Animal Health at the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, Louisiana and as the Aquarium Curator at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary. Joe is a recognized expert in animal husbandry with numerous published articles and has testified before the U.S. Congress on the conservation of the sea turtle.
Dave Ugan - Vice President, Information Technology
Dave joined Ripley's in 2008 and is responsible for all of the technology initiatives within the company. Throughout his career, he has specialized in aligning the technical resources to meet the strategic and operational goals of the company. On the technical side he has built the infrastructure at four high-tech organizations, commercialized five products (hardware and software), and has implemented over a dozen major systems. On the business side Mr. Ugan's experience includes turn-around work, strategic planning and participating in two IPOs. Mr. Ugan has worked in Fortune 500 companies as well as successful start-ups. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Marquette University, a Masters in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Operations from the University of Southern California, a Green Belt in Six Sigma, and is a Project Management Professional.
Norm Deska - Executive Vice President, Intellectual Property
A chartered accountant with an MBA from York University in Toronto, Canada, Norm Deska has been with the Ripley organization since 1982. During that period, he has been involved with all aspects of this rapidly expanding company. Presently he is the Executive Vice President of Intellectual Property and Franchising. Norm is responsible for licensing of the "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" trademark property, including the very successful television series seen around the world, the publishing and syndication of the daily "Believe It or Not!" cartoon feature, and the worldwide expansion of each attraction concept.
Scott Line - Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Franchise Services
Scott Line has served as Ripley's Vice President Legal & Business Development since April 2000. He has been involved with all legal aspects of the company's unprecedented growth and diversification. Scott also focuses on mergers and acquisitions, licensing, franchising, real estate and contract law. From September 1999 to April 2000, Scott was an attorney for Vistana, Inc., a division of Starwood Hotels. From October 1997 to September 1999, Scott served as Director of Legal Services of Ripley Entertainment. Prior to October 1997, Scott was an attorney at Maguire, Voorhis & Wells in Orlando, Florida. Scott received his law degree cum laude from Stetson University and his undergraduate degree from Furman University.
Edward Meyer - Vice President, Exhibits & Archives
Edward Meyer joined Ripley Entertainment in 1978, as an English/History Major fresh out of the University of Toronto's Library Science program. Hired to catalogue the extensive Ripley archival collection, Edward became curator of the Ripley museum exhibit collection in 1984. In addition to serving as curator, Edward is the company historian and editor. He has edited and/or published over 30 Ripley books, made over 50 public television appearances on behalf of the company, directed and produced over 80 Ripley museum films, and is credited for researching over 160 episodes of the popular Ripley's Believe It or Not! television shows currently on Sci-Fi, and previously on TBS and ABC.
Steve Glum - Vice President, Marketing & Branding
Steve Glum, Ripley Entertainment's VP of Marketing, has more than 20 years of international marketing experience in branding, marketing strategy and live productions in the entertainment, attractions, music, and restaurant industries. In the past, Steve worked for the Walt Disney Company, House of Blues Entertainment Inc., and most recently, Hard Rock Café International, as Senior Director of Worldwide Marketing, overseeing the company's brand management, marketing, public relations, promotions, and creative services. With Ripley, Steve launched the brand introduction of the Ripley-owned Great Wolf Lodge; created Ripley's first-ever Brand Guide; launched Ripley's "Proudly Freaking Out Families" first-ever international, multi-lingual marketing campaign; launched Ripleys.com, Ripley Radio and Ripley ODDcasts.
Tim O'Brien - Vice President, Publishing & Communications
Tim O'Brien, VP Publishing & Communications for Ripley Entertainment Inc., is responsible for coordinating the publicity and promotion of the company's 65-plus attractions throughout the world. As global spokesperson for Ripley Entertainment, he has been interviewed nearly 500 times about the wild, weird and wonderful world of Ripley. Since becoming an amusement industry specialist, the award winning photojournalist has had more than 5,000 articles and 3,000 photos printed and has had 13 books published, five of which have been released by Ripley Publishing. Prior to joining Ripley, Tim served 18 years as senior editor of Amusement Business, the world's leading business magazine for the amusement park and attraction industries.