The Team

To read about your Melbourne Balloon Pilot click Peter Wright

Damian Crock - The director, founder and storyteller extraordinaire...

Damian Crock has enjoyed many years at the helm of his ever fascinating, ever challenging company: Picture This Ballooning. Taking the company from an idea inspired... with one giant Sherrin Football to an operation with 9 balloons and many more to come. From special shape balloons to balloon festivals and fiestas - now to our exciting passenger balloons - Damian enjoys all aspects of the industry and just loves seeing people enjoying his small, but impressive fleet of hot air balloons. Damian is an Aussie Rules tragic and a proud supporter of the Collingwood FC so it's no surprise his favourite balloon is "the Footy." The recent "flight of the Pot" over the MCG during the 2008 Grand Final, however, is now his most memorable moment - a spectacle he enjoyed from inside the stadium. A dedicated family man and lawyer (practising), Crocko also runs a production company, film studio and event management company... a man of many talents.

Paul Gibbs - The other director/pilot and balloon lover

With a love of photography, travel and a fascination with wind-powered pursuits, an interest in ballooning was only a matter of time. Paul has been involved with hot air balloons since 1984 and has had many adventures flying balloons all over Australia and the world. Paul enjoys the competition and skill of Sport ballooning and has won four National championships and also came third at the World Championships in Mildura in 2004. Involved with Picture This Ballooning for many years as a Pilot, Paul became part owner in 2005, and has been actively involved with the company ever since. Paul's favourite balloon is the giant Liberty House, which he helped fly over the Sydney Harbor in 2004, and he loves the shared experience that hot air ballooning can give everyone. Paul now lives in Sydney and runs a Photographic Lab/Shop, but this doesn't stop him making the odd trip to Melbourne to fly a giant Beer Glass over a crowd of 100,012 at the 2008 AFL grand final...

Denise Smythe - Project manager/master juggler and the real boss...

Originally from the beautiful Yarra Valley, which is still her favorite place, Denise has been working with Picture This Ballooning since 2001 and is essentially the backbone of the organisation. Denise is generally our customers' first contact with our company and handles bookings, people, questions, queries, and all things ballooning, while juggling numerous other tasks thrown her way. Denise enjoys the experiences hot air balloons give people and loves being a part of that process. Her best experiences with Picture This has been with the Nudie balloon and watching the kids reaction to it..."they love it!" Before ballooning, Denise completed her Bachelor of Applied Science in Human Movement (Physical Education) and worked in the fitness industry for a number of years.

Steve Buckley - Operations manager

Originating from Melbourne (but somehow managed to support the Swans) Steve is new to ballooning having seen his first hot air balloon up close in June 2006. He has a background in tourism, working in the industry for many years as a tour guide along the Great Ocean Road and running a hostel in Africa. Steve enjoys the positive experiences tourism can offer people. As Operations Manager, Steve helps organise the logistics of running a balloon company. His favorite PTB balloons are the Footy and the Pot and he loves the combination they represent, plus they are both easy to pack up.

Dean Pegg - National crew chief and travelling balloon guru

"Deano" has been a part of the Picture This Ballooning team since its beginning and has worked with every balloon the company has ever been involved with. His knowledge and experience in working with hot air balloons is only matched by his dedication to getting a job done. Ever reliable, Deano has travelled all over Australia with a balloon in tow, covering thousands of kilometers along the way and is generally the first on the scene to meet people, check out the lay of the land and start a plan. Deano lives in Camden, N.S.W, another popular ballooning location. Over the years he has worked in many jobs gaining a variety of skills and experience which he puts to good use everyday. There are many Deano stories to tell, but two of his favorite ballooning moments have been seeing Mount Fuji whilst at 8.5 thousand feet and being a major part in a successful Australian hot air balloon altitiude record in 2006.

Ryan Blair - Director of digital media and technical production

Ryan is a balloonaholic. He is thoroughly addicted to capturing the ultimate ballooning image, much like a surfer chasing the ultimate ride. When he's not dangling out of the side of a helicopter trying to capture the ultimate image, he can often be seen assisting the ground crew and liasing with the guests to ensure a quality ballooning experience for all. Either that he's tucked up in bed.

Matt Laing - Film and photographic producer

Matt Laing has been involved with Picture This Ballooning for over six years. Initially he worked as crew on the Mike Monster tour and with some of our other special shape balloons. This experience in ballooning and his current profession of shooting, editing and producing film makes Matt's skillset unique and important to the Picture This Ballooning team, especially in our corporate division.

Pete Henderson - Melbourne balloon crew and your driver to your champagne breakfast

Peter has been working with Hot Air Balloons for years and is a very experienced crew member. Peter is the man that will drive you to you launch site, help you inflate the balloon, then pick you up and take you to a delicious champagne breakfast at No35 at the Sofitel Melbourne.

Kat Hamer - Customer Relations

Kat is the newest addition to Picture This Ballooning. She knows nothing about ballooning, apart from that she loves it. If you call in the afternoons, you may find her on the other end of the phone, happy to chat to you about anything. If you require information, want to book, or just want to chat about your experience with us, Kat will be more than happy to listen. You may also find her in the morning, trying to creep quietly onto a flight, which she does given any opportunity.