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 ADAM CARNES
“I design exhibits, events, and interactive experiences for all kinds of people in
all sorts of spaces. I’m a sucker for great stories and broken rules.”
Adam Carnes is a seasoned creative lead with a demonstrated history of producing experiential
exhibits, events, and interactive media installations. Over 10 years he has developed
a reputation as an excellent communicator with an eye for detail and a knack for big
ideas. Recently his professional focus has been on directing remote, multidisciplinary
teams in the creation of narrative-driven experiences that blend physical and digital
space.
Adam is currently a Sr. Customer Experience Designer for Derse and resides in Mexico
City. He has given talks on mixed reality at the ExhibitorLive conference for the
last 2 years and his work was featured in Exhibitor Magazine’s Best of CES 2018. He
is a co-founder of Vurv, an art collective creating interactive and immersive works
in Austin, TX. In 2017, Vurv was selected to represent the city of Austin at the UNESCO
Media Arts Festival in Gwangju, South Korea.
Adam teaches Concept, Ideation, & Audience as part of the EDPA + FIT Design Certification
Program. He holds an MA in Exhibition and Experience Design from FIT.
Connect with Adam on LinkedIn
See Adam’s work at adamisgood.com
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 ROB COHEN
Rob Cohen is a VP and Principal in Display Supply & Lighting, Inc. and its related
group of companies. Having grown up working in a family owned business, Rob studied
business as an undergraduate, spent a year completing a commercial loan officer training
program at a commercial bank, went to law school and then practiced law for 12 years
focusing on business and corporate law. While practicing law, he represented businesses
ranging from sole proprietors to publicly traded companies regarding a wide range
of business and transactional matters.
Missing the business world and with the backing of a group of angel investor, Rob
purchased a small lighting company making clamp on arm lights for the trade show industry
in 1996. Since then, he has been a part of merging companies together, creating new
entities, growing companies, developing and selling products and marketing these entities.
Rob is a Past President of the EDPA, serves on the Board of the EDPA Foundation, is
Chairperson of the Academic Advisory Board for FIT’s Master of Arts Program in Exhibition
and Experience Design and is involved with a number of non profit organizations.
Since 2008, Rob has been a guest lecturer in FIT’s Master of Arts Program in Exhibition
and Experience Design in the areas of Lighting Design and Owning Your Own Business
and Working in the Experiential Industry. In 2019 Rob also instructed a certificate
course on Professional Business Practices at FIT.
Rob resides in Framingham, MA with his Wife, Lisa of 27 years (and their dog Ella)
and has 2 grown daughters.
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 JOE KARADIN
Joe Karadin is the Executive Creative Director and Co-Founder of TESSELLATE. A highly
experienced architect and exhibit designer, Joe has more than 22 years of experience
in immersive environmental design.
Joe leads multidisciplinary design teams on projects as diverse as branded retail
environments, museum exhibit design, corporate environments and media architecture
installations. His passion is exploring new ways of creating, communicating, and producing
physical and digital design to shape experiences. His design practice focuses on the
complex interconnections between content, experiential narratives, and spatial arrangements
spanning across many different project types.
Prior to becoming a founding member of TESSELLATE, Joe was the Director of Physical
Design at ESI Design. He has tenured at Thinc Design, Interbrand, Lippincott and other
notable design firms. He has won several awards and distinctions for his work on the
AT&T GNOC, the Edward M. Kennedy institute, the Studio Xfinity retail store, and as
a finalist for his design of the World Trade Center Memorial.
Joe teaches as an Adjunct Instructor of in the Graduate Exhibition & Experience Design
Program at FIT in New York City and graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor
of Architecture.
Connect with Joe Karadin on LinkedIn
See Joe Karadin's work with TESSELLATE
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 TRENT OLIVER
I am the Principal, Managing Director of Blue Telescope. Well what on earth does that
mean and what does Blue Telescope really do?
At Blue Telescope we weave stories, art, and technology into meaningful experiences,
and delight in making complexity - compelling.
These location-based, interactive experiences might make hard math beautiful to an
audience of teens, or show how immuno-oncology is changing cancer treatment for visiting
hematologists or show how a technology company is creating real digital transformation
while listening to their visitors in real-time.
My career embodies the circuitous path so many of us former theater people take. After
starting in theatrical production, I migrating into film and digital creations and
then I co-founded my own company, Blue Telescope.
As Managing Director, I've seen Blue Telescope grow to be both respected and lauded,
as I guide an in-house team that's won (way) more than 100 awards for creativity for
our engaging, boundary-pushing interactives.
My job? Find the most creative, kind and trustworthy people as employees, consultants,
and especially clients. We all work together to make amazing creations!
Connect with Trent Oliver on LinkedIn
See Trent Oliver's work with Blue Telescope
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 KATINA ZIPAY
Katina Zipay is the Creative Director at Classic Exhibits Inc with 13 years of experience
as an Exhibit Designer, and she was among the first students to graduate with an MA
in Exhibition Design from FIT. Her career as a professional designer started 18 years
ago when she earned a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design, but studying exhibit design
at FIT from 2006-2007 was the pivot point that turned her creative passion into her
job. Katina loves art and its ability to impact the viewer, and considers her medium
to be large 3-dimensional experiences that utilize colors, shapes, lighting, and graphics
to encompass viewers at an event. Her projects at their best are large scale sculptures
in addition to thoroughly functional branded experiences that inform people about
products and services in a memorable way. Katina's design work consistently delivers
for her clients and has won multiple design awards.
Her passion for education and connecting people with the resources they need to grow
in their careers led Katina to a leadership role in the non-profit group "Women In
Exhibitions." Under her leadership for the last 5 years, Katina has turned simple
annual meetings into well-attend events at ExhibitorLIVE, created a mentorship program,
and led an advisory committee committed to further expanding support for women in
the exhibit industry. Katina also teaches Design Development: Domestic and International
as part of the EDPA+FIT Design Certificate Program.
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