Joel Manby from Herschend.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/seaworld-entertainment-inc-names-joel-200000235.html
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/seaworld-entertainment-inc-names-joel-200000235.html
And the New CEO is....
- Thread starter coasterchitc
- Start date
I am not certain how excellent a choice it is. In many places Dollywood is in horrible disrepair. Further running a company with what 4 parks is hardly the same as running a company with as many brands.
Herschend is basically still a family owned company. SEAS is not.
Further we have no reason to believe he will not just be a rubber stamp for the BoD.
Still I hold out hope.
Herschend is basically still a family owned company. SEAS is not.
Further we have no reason to believe he will not just be a rubber stamp for the BoD.
Still I hold out hope.
I don't think people realize quite how extensive Herschend's collection of attractions is. People instantly assume Silver Dollar City and Dollywood. The fact is that Herschend owns 19 different attractions throughout the United States ranging from their collection of five theme and water parks to multiple aquariums to a handful of resorts and much more. Herschend has not been some tiny operation for a very, very long time.
Also, this isn't a place for a silly debate about Dollywood involving people who have never been there. The fact is that Dollywood and Silver Dollar City have both flourished under this man's leadership. Both have seen one massively successful expansion after another.
I wholeheartedly believe that this man is likely one of the best picks possible.
Also, this isn't a place for a silly debate about Dollywood involving people who have never been there. The fact is that Dollywood and Silver Dollar City have both flourished under this man's leadership. Both have seen one massively successful expansion after another.
I wholeheartedly believe that this man is likely one of the best picks possible.
I'm excited to see what changes Mr. Manby will make to the company! Maybe he'll appease BGWFans and fire Gasparich... Who knows though.
As long as he gets SWP&E out of hell's heat, I'll be happy.
As long as he gets SWP&E out of hell's heat, I'll be happy.
Zachary said:
Hey! This is BGWFans, we like complaining about stuff that we don't know about! Don't take that away from us!
On Topic: I'm excited to see what happens.
Well as someone who has been to Dollywood and Splash Country, I don't intend every to back to either, because I didn't particularly like them.
That’s is not to say that I am drawing any conclusions about how SEAS will fair under his management. I am just observing that I would not be happy if their parks ended up like Dollywood and Splash Country.
That’s is not to say that I am drawing any conclusions about how SEAS will fair under his management. I am just observing that I would not be happy if their parks ended up like Dollywood and Splash Country.
Nicole said:
I'm 100% in the same boat.
Anyway, my 19 properties statement was incorrect. Herschend Family Entertainment actually operates 26 properties across the US. Joel Manby has acted as HFE's CEO since 2003. Since then, Dollywood and Silver Dollar City in particular have rocketed into the spotlight.
Anyway, I'm reading all about Joel right now and listening to some of the talks he has done. I'm incredibly impressed thus far.
Hi All,
Long time no see! I am extremely excited about this announcement. I have to admit that I was concerned about the mold and disrepair of some of the older sections of Dollywood and I hope that is never allowed to happen at a SEAS park. What I really observed while visiting Dollywood wasa the way Herschend appears to allow each individual park appears to get most of say in how things are done.
This may be totally off the mark, but casual observance of how Manby ran the company was to give park managers a lot of control. You can see in the operation of Silver Dollar City in that the park takes great pains in preserving each and every tree in the park. Outlaw Run was designed in such a way to preserve as many trees as possible and they went out of their way to preserve trees that were blocking construction efforts. The same can not be said for Dollywood who in recent years has taken to clear cutting areas for new additions. I can only assume that this comes down to each individual parks management. This may or may not be a good thing depending on how you look at it.
Regardless, I am extremely excited to have Manby at the helm of SEAS. He is not afraid of capital investments in the properties he controls and has made parks that were after thoughts to most people who aren't locals into enthusiast magnets and tourist destinations speaks volumes. I really see SEAS turning around for the better under his management, but as always, time will only tell.
I am interested to see if he will make sweeping local management changes or if he will be the only real staffing change.
Good luck Joel Manby, I am rooting for you!
Long time no see! I am extremely excited about this announcement. I have to admit that I was concerned about the mold and disrepair of some of the older sections of Dollywood and I hope that is never allowed to happen at a SEAS park. What I really observed while visiting Dollywood wasa the way Herschend appears to allow each individual park appears to get most of say in how things are done.
This may be totally off the mark, but casual observance of how Manby ran the company was to give park managers a lot of control. You can see in the operation of Silver Dollar City in that the park takes great pains in preserving each and every tree in the park. Outlaw Run was designed in such a way to preserve as many trees as possible and they went out of their way to preserve trees that were blocking construction efforts. The same can not be said for Dollywood who in recent years has taken to clear cutting areas for new additions. I can only assume that this comes down to each individual parks management. This may or may not be a good thing depending on how you look at it.
Regardless, I am extremely excited to have Manby at the helm of SEAS. He is not afraid of capital investments in the properties he controls and has made parks that were after thoughts to most people who aren't locals into enthusiast magnets and tourist destinations speaks volumes. I really see SEAS turning around for the better under his management, but as always, time will only tell.
I am interested to see if he will make sweeping local management changes or if he will be the only real staffing change.
Good luck Joel Manby, I am rooting for you!
Local management and message are clearly 2 key items than need to be looked out.
It is not uncommon for a new leader to clear house, in fact I would not be surprised if Mr. Manby does just that. Does anyone know what he did with upper level staff when he took over at Herschend? Did he clean sweep, keep current staff, or a combination of the two?
Sometimes it is a good indication of how much power a new president has over or with his BoD. Not perfect but if he has the power to replace ineffective managers that is a good tell of the latitude the BoD has given him.
Local managers always have the ability to effect change. In the case of BGW I really hope ours are removed.
It is not uncommon for a new leader to clear house, in fact I would not be surprised if Mr. Manby does just that. Does anyone know what he did with upper level staff when he took over at Herschend? Did he clean sweep, keep current staff, or a combination of the two?
Sometimes it is a good indication of how much power a new president has over or with his BoD. Not perfect but if he has the power to replace ineffective managers that is a good tell of the latitude the BoD has given him.
Local managers always have the ability to effect change. In the case of BGW I really hope ours are removed.
I wouldn't mind a bit of house cleaning. But for goodness sake, please don't repeat what they did on the 12/13/14 layoffs. That made me more angry at/about the company than anything. Several of the employees in Tampa that were laid off attended a team member celebration either on 12/12 or 12/13.
It was bad enough to lay off people right as they were finishing up the Christmas season. However, throwing an appreciation ceremony directly followed by the bad news is unforgivable.
It was bad enough to lay off people right as they were finishing up the Christmas season. However, throwing an appreciation ceremony directly followed by the bad news is unforgivable.
The kind of house cleaning I am talking about rarely impacts the "rank and file" it is usually limited to upper management and could roll down to local high level management the old guard put in place. Rarely does it go much further than that.
It's mentioned in several of the press releases on Manby that he appeared in Season 1 of Undercover Boss. I coincidentally watched it on A whim several weeks ago.
Seems like A nice enough guy. I question how much of this show isn't "unscripted" sometimes.
Anyway, It was available on Netflix as of a few weeks ago.
Seems like A nice enough guy. I question how much of this show isn't "unscripted" sometimes.
Anyway, It was available on Netflix as of a few weeks ago.
I am hoping for a shuffle in the park management arena. Some of the parks presidents need to move on to new careers and others need to be relocated. I really want to see John Reilly return to Williamsburg from San Diego. He has done amazing things at SWSD.
I got to thinking, and I beleive it is safe to say that Blackfish was the major reason for all of the financial issues SEAS has experienced and I am not sure how much of that was Jim Atchison's fault. I am not saying that Blackfish was the sole reason for SEAS recently failure, I think a lot of that has to do with how Blackstone rigged SEAS as a timebomb but I think its hard to dispute that Blackfish hass't had a very large impact. I am seriously wondering if Joel Manby will be able to overcome Blackfish. I don't know how good of a CEO you need to be to combat all the negativity SEAS has faced in the past year. Can one of the best Theme Park CEO's overcome it? Is a company is SEAS position savable?
I got to thinking, and I beleive it is safe to say that Blackfish was the major reason for all of the financial issues SEAS has experienced and I am not sure how much of that was Jim Atchison's fault. I am not saying that Blackfish was the sole reason for SEAS recently failure, I think a lot of that has to do with how Blackstone rigged SEAS as a timebomb but I think its hard to dispute that Blackfish hass't had a very large impact. I am seriously wondering if Joel Manby will be able to overcome Blackfish. I don't know how good of a CEO you need to be to combat all the negativity SEAS has faced in the past year. Can one of the best Theme Park CEO's overcome it? Is a company is SEAS position savable?
If you accept that Blackfish was the major cause of their financial problems, you still have to acknowledge that SEAS completely mishandled the crisis. They have a good and valid story to combat the accusations, and they failed to get it out there.