Executive Shuffle

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Party Rocker

Dec 23, 2011
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So lately the executive positions have been shuffled up, VP's have been moved to new departments, etc.

So here we go, Franz Kitenko (VP of Merchandise) will be returning to his former position as VP of Culinary. So he went from Culinary to Merchandise back to Culinary.

Jeff Thomas (VP of Culinary) will be moved to VP of Water Country USA.

David Cromwell VP of Water Country USA will be moved to VP of the new Aquatica park in San Diego.

Hal McEvoy VP of Finance will be moved to Corporate VP of Internal Audit and Compliance.

VP of Merchandise and VP of Finance positions will be posted up very soon. Got a thing for selling or money, check out the postings! The postings aren't up yet but expect them to be up sometime in January at the latest that way they can get new VP's by the 2013 season start.
 
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Wow. That's quite the leadership swap. Is there a press release or something to back this up? If there's evidence, this deserves a post to the main site.
 
There is no public press release for evidence but from what I've seen and heard this is legit.

Alpen, I was totally thinking of that as I wrote it :p
 
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Ben said:
*looks for Scott's name* Sigh....
Click to expand...
Why this response? Haven't you guys mostly said he has had hits and misses? Seems like he may be perceived as doing a pretty good job (even if I do strongly dislike ENTWINED).
 
And yes, I think I will claim "Executive Shuffle" and start the next Internet meme. :cool:

^
Oops... sorry. I forget myself.
 
I think there is an overall bad reaction to Entwined and a meh reaction to Illuminights on this board. Coupled with the decrease in the shows during the last few years, people were rather disappointed with Scott's department. But his Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town shows as well as Celtic Fyre are well received. In my opinion before HOS I was not impressed with Scott as there was only one real hit, but after HOS I think he's on the money. However, he really has to figure something out with entwined and those silly Illuminights shows (Wunderbarn and maybe Legend of Killarney).
 
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This was posted in the employee newsletter, so it is legit. As to the entertainment, I have not seen any normal season shows but I am VERY impressed with the Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town shows. Mostly they are at the same (or slightly higher) quality as Cedar Fair or Six Flags shows.
 
morte615 said:
This was posted in the employee newsletter, so it is legit. As to the entertainment, I have not seen any normal season shows but I am VERY impressed with the Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town shows. Mostly they are at the same (or slightly higher) quality as Cedar Fair or Six Flags shows.
Click to expand...

Reaching CF/SF level for shows is not something to be proud of... they are some of the worst in the industry. BGW's HOS and CT shows were WAY beyond anything CF/SF has ever done. Even BG's bad shows are far superior.
 
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The VP of Merchandise position is posted now; however rumors are going around that one of the two directors for the department may get promoted into that position. It may be important to note that previously during last off season Phil was promoted from Games Manager to Director of Games & Photo, and Brad the Director of Merchandise was re-titled Director of Retail. They are the two directors for the Merchandise department and VP is the next step up for them.

Seems like everyone is taking one step up in the Merchandise department.
 
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https://www2.apply2jobs.com/SeaWorld/ProfExt/index.cfm?fuseaction=mExternal.showJob&RID=41943&CurrentPage=1

In case anyone is interested in taking over? You have till the 28th.
 
Looks like the new VP of Merchandise is Kevin Lembke. His previous position was SEA Senior Director of Corporate Merchandise. Sounds like he got demoted in a sort of way. I would think going from park to corporate was a step up. Perhaps there was no one else to take the position?

A short bio to give you a feel for him:

Kevin brings a wealth of accomplishment and experience to his new role.
Kevin began his career at SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment in 2000. Before joining
SEA, Kevin worked for the Buffalo Bills and Limited Brands after completing his BA from
the University of Buffalo. Since he joined the company as a Merchandise Manager at
SeaWorld Orlando, Kevin has led several key initiatives including conversion of our
revenue partner photo operations to an in-house business and serving on the Dubai
development team.

In his most recent role, as SEA Senior Director Corporate Merchandise, Kevin has
significantly contributed to our company’s efforts to strengthen our Merchandise
business by centralizing procurement and development, introducing new branded
assortments across all product divisions, and supporting new growth strategies.

ALSO, looks like the park is trying to make a better PR plan. They recently acquired Koy Grant for a PR position. And now a short bio on the new PR person:

Koy comes to us from the JASE Group in Norfolk where she has worked as their Content
Marketing Associate since 2012. She also has ties to the Fort Hood, Texas MWR office
working as an event and public relations coordinator. She has a list of excellence awards
from her time at Fort Hood, including Secretary of the Army’s Quality of Life for
Communications and Achievement Medal for Civilian Services.

She has a strong passion for media relations. Her experience in media relations ranges
from story pitching, press event and conference development, and article and release
crafting. She mentioned in her interviews that in her past role, she was “the words for
their department.”

EDIT: Yes this information is fully confirmed and accurate unless the park has gone through an extreme plot to throw off their entire staff and such. I am sure others will join me in confirming this information as well. I have fully verified it myself with people within and can agree that these staffing changes are fully truth and accurate. If you wish to claim that this information is false please PM me personally and I am sure I can explain to you in detail more of the accuracy of this information.
 
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I hope these changes in the merchandising department will go well. I know most of the time on this website we tend to "pick on" the entertainment department, and forget about departments such as merchandising. My hope is that they will bring back the more unique items such as handcarved cuckoo clocks, instead of your average run-of-the-mill stuff. The only problem with that is the fact that it's very expensive, but there's nothing wrong with having decorations in the gift jobs. With the lack of authentic German items, the shop in Rhinefeld looks pretty boring now. Think about items like the Waterford Crystal Anheuser-Busch Eagle. Probably no one could've afforded that, but it added to the atmosphere of the gift shop, making people want to buy more.
 
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More executive news! DIrector of Retail was recently let go. He apparently had many disagreements with the new VP of Merchandise.

Also, VP of Finance is posted online! Anyone good with numbers?
 
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