By Heather Cass
Publications Manager, Office of Strategic Communications, Penn State Behrend
On Friday, September 21, fourteen students from MGT471W Strategic Planning and Business Policy traveled to “the roller coaster capital of the world”— Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio. However, they were not there just to buckle themselves into the park’s seventeen roller coasters. This trip was all (er, mostly) business.
Amusement parks aren’t simply fun and games; they are for-profit businesses. This is something that Chris Harben, assistant teaching professor of management, is quite familiar with because he works as an emergency medical technician at Cedar Point each summer.
Harben arranged the trip so students could get a close-up look at how the business of fun is done.
Students were welcomed to the park by Missy Smith, director of finance for Cedar Point, and then experienced four hours of presentations, tours, and conversations with Cedar Point management, including Smith, Joanne Mueller, the vice president of human resources, Karen Michelson, vice president marketing, and Jason McClure, general manager, who spent the entire afternoon with the group.
“Students were surprised at the extent of the information the leadership team members shared with them,” Harben said. “Topics included staffing challenges for the park, their international hiring program, marketing strategies, financial forecasting and budgeting, park competitive positioning and strategy, growth plans, and much more.”
Students received a behind-the-scenes tour of the park, which included the corporate headquarters of Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point, and even saw “Screamsters” getting their make-up and costumes on in preparation for Cedar Point’s “Haunt at Halloweekends” event taking place that evening. They also enjoyed a meal at one of the park’s newest restaurant offerings, Melt.
After all the lessons were done, students were able to cut loose and enjoy the park for a few hours.
The students who attended were: Grace Baumiller, Kylie Cosgrove, Emily Demmick, Michael Funera, Rayna Hollarn, Kyler Luchkiw, Margo Mccullough, Chi Hou Ng, Jeffrey Smith, Madison Start, Nathan Steis, Ryan Terrabasso, and Sean Wither.
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