Forbes has posted in interesting interview about the Siemens - Disney realationship. Inside Disney's Tech Partnerships Since I worked for Siemens, I know what a great company it is.
They got one thing wrong: for many years, Coke only got half of DL, and Pepsi got the other half. Be that as it may, Siemens does seem to make nice trolley cars.
It's interesting how the Disney/Siemens partnership is one of those things that just always felt right. For two companies that both have a very wide spectrum of offerings, it's neat to see how well it works on a variety of levels Were you working for Siemens during your last trip to WDW? Did you get to visit the Siemens lounge at the exit of Spaceship Earth?
No I worked for Siemens in 2013 and 2014, but the company doesn't exist anymore. Siemens entered into a joint venture with Mitsubishi. Siemens VAI - Wikipedia And I didn't know about that lounge. Just out of interest, does Siemens have a huge presence in the USA? I guess GE is the big player there. On a related note, recently an Austrian steel company opened the biggest Austrian investment in the USA in Corpus Christi in Texas.
The Siemens brand isn't especially well known in the US, but some of its subsidiaries like Sylvania are very well known. A lot of things like train cars, electrical generators, and medical equipment are made by them, but it's not the sort of thing that most people ever think about; I don't think they're the top name in any of those examples, but they're within the top 3-5
WDW News Today is reporting that Siemens has decided not to renew their sponsorships at Epcot BREAKING: Siemens Ending Disney Parks Sponsorship, Leaves Spaceship Earth & IllumiNations Future in Doubt - WDW News Today If true (the site has a questionable record), this would be a huge blow for the park. They seemed like they really understood what Epcot was supposed to be, even more than current management. I was already a little skeptical of the upcoming changes to the park, but this also puts two of the last old Epcot holdouts (SSE & Illuminations) into the mix, which worries me
I don't think it has anything to do with upcoming changes to EPCOT. It's more about Disney in general. Siemens is currently overthinking their sponsorships over here too. They are shifting towards more cultural institutions especially in the high arts. And with all due respect Disney is all but that.
By which you of course mean, a more educational imitation of Magic Kingdom, so that grade school admins and teachers would be more likely to allow kids time off to go. ;-)
I've always thought of Epcot as more of a science museum for grownups than an educational MK, but I guess it's the same general idea, just approached from the other side. Regardless, it doesn't seem like Disney has much interest in that approach any more, leaving us with an awkward shell of what it once was, combined with MK South
