Pico Play celebrates Employee Exchange Program

Versions of this article appears at Blooloop.

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Pico Play, a global leader in the planning, design, development and construction of world-class themed attractions and entertainment, is highlighting the Pico Play Employee Exchange Program (PPEEP), designed to give non-management staff members the chance to gain international industry experience.

By participating in this programme, employees will have the opportunity to gain international experience and immerse themselves in different work environments and cultures, broadening their perspectives and skillsets. It also helps to strengthen internal relationships. Through interaction with colleagues from different regions, employees can build stronger internal networks, fostering collaboration and a sense of unity across the organisation.

Through this exposure to different practices and environments, participants can improve their skills and become more adaptable, therefore enhancing their future career opportunities. The PPEEP is open to Pico Play non-management staff members and lasts for approximately two weeks for a short yet impactful experience. The firm covers flights, visas, a daily allowance for food and transport, accommodation (with the possibility of being hosted by a Pico Play staff member), and entry to local attractions.

Two recent successful exchanges

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Pico Play offers two intakes for the programme each year. This year, Cristina, a Pico Play team member working in Ho Chih Minh City, Vietnam spent time at the firm’s Gold Coast site in August, and Gavin from the Gold Coast office headed to Pico Play’s Malaysian office (and surrounds) in April.

Cristina has been with Pico Play for almost four years and says it was a dream come true to visit and work with colleagues and spend time in Australia. During this time, she visited Pico Play clients’ attractions, such as Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, as well as checking out Village Roadshow’s Sea World.

In order to strengthen and solidify relationships between the two regions, she ran a ‘cultural day’ where staff joined in to experience a taste of Vietnam – with delicious Vietnamese food and coffee, language and cultural learnings. Cristina even did a two-night family stay/homestay to really experience the Australian lifestyle.

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Pico Play’s new office and fabrication factory in Vietnam acts as a gateway, facilitating Pico Play’s access to the Asian market. Located near Hanoi, it will help to expand the scale of operations to support large-scale projects in the country.

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A passion for the industry

Speaking about his experience, Gavin says:

“I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Pico Play Employee Exchange Program. Kuala Lumpur is such a dynamic city so it was the obvious choice for me, and I also had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong at the same time and conduct a site visit for a forthcoming attraction project.”

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“Of course, I had downtime in the weekends and evenings so I had the chance to visit a few local attractions as well. Genting Skyworlds is a brand-new park, so it was great to see it in its opening season. Pico Play also completed the theming fabrication and construction at Splashmania Water Park at Gamuda Cove, and this park only opened in February. Other parks included the established Berjaya Times Square and Sunway Lagoon.

“Over in Hong Kong, I visited Ocean Park, and Hong Kong Disneyland, where Big Grizzly Mountain Runway Mine Cars was my 700^th unique coaster (And what a ride!)”

He continues:

“Theme parks have been a long-term interest of mine, so I’ve been fortunate to be working on the design side of things for the past decade. Whenever I head overseas I’ll try to visit several parks. But there are still several years worth of places to visit on my bucket list (particularly around Vietnam, “relatively” close to Australia, but undergoing a real theme park boom!)  

“Last year I was responsible for completing the schematic design and design development of two new coasters at Gumbuya World in Melbourne. The park initially had contracted us to design the theming for their Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster, but this became two with a later purchase of Maurer Skyloop.”

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“It was a lot of fun being involved right from the start, from positioning the rides on-site to developing the themes and stories and detailing them both out, and a good challenge taking everyone’s ideas and moulding them into something which suits the Australiana themed of Gumbuya World. And it’s quite exciting to see how these coasters have transformed the park. Nowhere else in Victoria has rides of this scale and theming.”

Greg Holt, head of design at Pico Play, says:

“Gavin is the most passionate and knowledgeable theme park enthusiast I have met. His claim to fame – he has ridden over 700 individual roller coasters across the globe. As an architect and creative attraction designer he really knows his stuff when it comes to the details that matter. I know I’m not the only one who considers myself lucky to have him in our Pico Play design team.”

Pico Play recently completed a project for Mandai Bird Paradise in Singapore, Asia’s largest bird park. It created two artificial waterfalls in the entrance section of the park with a 100-metre-long stream to feed the waterfall and produced the rockwork façade of the penguin exhibit, as well as the underwater sculptures and beach of the penguin aquarium. These eight-metre-high structures were completed inside an acrylic tank with challenging access to a tight schedule.  

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