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Park Hoppin
In association with Park Hoppin’with Susan Storey
photos, sifted through event credentials, looked at recent work and built a presentation that would not just regurgitate my resume. I backed up my spoken words with a deck that was simple yet bright, had key facts and figures and most importantly, highlighted my favourite part about the attractions industry: the people. They say when you write, write about what you know, and when you
speak, speak from the heart. Standing in the Kings Dominion Theatre was surreal. I told 400 students I was once like them, and that early in my career I had worked in that very park. At Carowinds, I shared that the park’s sales director, Marc Gran, and I were past colleagues. The day before my presentation, Superman: Ultimate Flight, a coaster we opened together at Six Flags Great America, celebrated its 20th anniversary. While I had to admit the anniversary would make me sound ‘old’ to the students, what was more important was to share how Marc and I had once worked together, and now 20 years later, reconnected to bring that event together for them. And finally, while in the Kings Island Theatre, I shared how that park also had an Italian Job coaster. Kings Island’s ride had opened a few weeks ahead of Kings Dominion’s and the creative ideas of Jeffrey Siebert and Maureen Richmond had helped our park bring their tradition of flawless, exceptional ride openings to Virginia. Each presentation allowed me to connect my park past with today’s students. Speaking to the students meant a great deal to me. It reminded me of
I
just returned from visiting three of the USA’s most popular theme parks: Carowinds, Kings Island and Kings Dominion. The visits were ‘full circle’ experiences for me. In 2005, I joined the Kings Dominion
team as public relations manager and while there, I took part in several unique events that remain favorite career memories, including opening the Premier Rides-built Italian Job Stunt Coaster complete with its theme tied to the Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron film; and the Guiding Light Fan Weekend, celebrating the longest-running daytime soap opera. As I’ve written before, park life is busy and chaotic, and the
relationships I built across all departments of the Virginia park, as well as across the company, helped me have success. Today, I remain connected to the small but mighty PR team and many of those colleagues, some who are still at the park, and others who - like me - have moved around. Through industry events like IAAPA Expo and social media, we have remained in touch, and sometimes even worked together again. This park road trip was special. I was invited to the three parks to
speak at their annual ‘Marketing Day’ events. Before heading into daily operation, education-focused events like Math and Science outings, Music in the Park festivals and Marketing Days help students learn a bit before heading out into the park for a day of fun. Where I had once helped to promote and execute Marketing Day, I now had the honour of being featured speaker. No pressure, right? The parks gave me carte blanche to share my thoughts and experiences
as a public relations and marketing practitioner in the attractions industry. My task was simple: to present something that was not a boring PowerPoint deck, would keep students awake and would provide information the teachers would feel was strong enough to justify bringing the field trip back next year. Again, no pressure. While preparing, I thought about what makes a career - my career - interesting and how to potentially inspire teens about it. I poured over
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a similar experience I had during my junior year of high school. I learned from an alum that college students could work at Walt Disney World. I went home that day not knowing what I would study, but with the definitive goal of being a part of the Walt Disney World College Program. Three years later, I began the first of three incredible internships in Florida. By seeking and embracing every possible opportunity, my experience led me to declare Communications as my major, and to pursue a career in the attractions industry. I credit my leader, Jon Land, for opening doors around Disney to show
me the many paths such a career could take. Marketing, community relations, operations, the list goes on, and Jon made sure I understood how my passion and strengths could be applied. I hope I honoured Jon’s memory and inspired at least one student
like I was. In a world filled with choice, and boundless opportunity, the ‘business of fun’ has colour, experience, connection, diversity, passion, amazing people, and incredible jobs. Thank you Carowinds, Kings Dominion and Kings Island for letting me share my ‘Storey’ with your student guests!
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