Joel Manby Out as HFEC CEO

[Hollwood]

I was not trying to come off rude so I give an open and scencire apology. You are correct, this forum is about sharing opinions and I will not start walking down the road of discounting them. If BAF's are important to you and your loved ones then you have the right to be worried about them. My mind travels down the overall management of the company and not the management of the individual properties. (BAF's are a marketing function and would not necessarily be axed by the CEO). This may not be the first Rodeo, but this will be the first time Jack and Pete do not step in as CEO while the BOARD searches for a new one. Hey have appointed Andrew Wexler, the Company's CFO, as interim CEO. Another differance is the Joel resigned, he was not let go. This brings a sudden jolt to the company instead of a thought out, methodical plan. Jack and Pete planned out everything years in advance when they stepped down, and the Mel Bilbo era was also phased out, this was a surprise and no one is ready to fill the spot, there will be no formal training from Joel. This is why I consider the company shaken to the core... Not to mention that every park is now in full swing... It's like not having an understudy and the lead actor does not show up for opening night.

[Hatfield McCoy]

I was not trying to come off rude so I give an open and scencire apology. You are correct, this forum is about sharing opinions and I will not start walking down the road of discounting them. If BAF's are important to you and your loved ones then you have the right to be worried about them. My mind travels down the overall management of the company and not the management of the individual properties. (BAF's are a marketing function and would not necessarily be axed by the CEO). This may not be the first Rodeo, but this will be the first time Jack and Pete do not step in as CEO while the BOARD searches for a new one. Hey have appointed Andrew Wexler, the Company's CFO, as interim CEO. Another differance is the Joel resigned, he was not let go. This brings a sudden jolt to the company instead of a thought out, methodical plan. Jack and Pete planned out everything years in advance when they stepped down, and the Mel Bilbo era was also phased out, this was a surprise and no one is ready to fill the spot, there will be no formal training from Joel. This is why I consider the company shaken to the core... Not to mention that every park is now in full swing... It's like not having an understudy and the lead actor does not show up for opening night.

Now that is a post I can dig.  Chock full of interesting information that a lot of us don't know, also explains where you are coming from. It also actually kind of also carries the tone of my first post.  "I don't like the sounds of that" when hearing of Manby's abrupt departure.  When things are good it is never a positive to lose your CEO.   

The other one did come off as rude and condescending. However, I appreciate the apology, and we are good.  Quite refreshing in the age of "the internets".

The BAF's were just an example of those little changes that can add up. They are nice personally and aren't a deal breaker, but without things like that I worry that the park will see a decline.  My point was look how many season pass holders were created from just my small family alone.  All from that little personal touch such as BAF vouchers.  Your perceived, whether real or not, annoyance with them as trivial, only reinforces my worry that restructuring might turn SDC into something different.   I personally would HATE it if it ever lost it's private ownership appeal. 

[shavethewhales]

We're always worried about whatever "little" thing will slip away next. I keep trying to focus on the "big picture". It might get tougher to do that though...

On that note though, I found this little quote encouraging:

Chris Herschend, vice chairman of Herschend’s board, added, “One of Joel’s greatest gifts to Herschend was his ability to articulate and extend our culture as the business grew.  He worked tirelessly to assure our family's principles and values were clearly communicated, measured, and most importantly modeled - all while growing and diversifying the company’s portfolio.

http://www.blooloop.com/news/herschend-andrew-wexler-interim-ceo-joel-manby/32930#.VRB2IPnF-Ck

They certainly understand what made Joel so successful and know what traits they need to find to fill the void.

I'm not sure who Andrew Wexler is though. Apparently he's a Harvard grad and worked on an internet payment company at one point. Doesn't immediately seem like someone who would end up as CEO (albeit interim) of an attractions company.

[marolinesdad]

Andrew Wexler was the current CFO.

[joshblakebran]

Just saw a Sea World advertisement on TV...looks like they are really advertising how the animals survive as long at Sea World as they do in their natural environment...really advertising the good living conditions and the great care the animals get...wasn't that one of the complaints against them? Maybe Joel is already implementing his strategic plan to bring the company back to it's full potential.

[shavethewhales]

They still have the Orcas. Even with all the money they're spending on new habitats for them, they can't build an ocean and therefore people will still be upset with them. If they cut their loses and got rid of the big animals they'd be much better of, IMO.

Anyone hear any whispers about the CEO search? I know these can sometimes take a long time, and HFEC has a very particular role to fill, so I'm happy to see them take their time. Just super curious where they are at.

[chittlins]

They still have the Orcas. Even with all the money they're spending on new habitats for them, they can't build an ocean and therefore people will still be upset with them. If they cut their loses and got rid of the big animals they'd be much better of, IMO.

Anyone hear any whispers about the CEO search? I know these can sometimes take a long time, and HFEC has a very particular role to fill, so I'm happy to see them take their time. Just super curious where they are at.

They will not get rid of them in my opinion, a tell tell will be if they do break ground on the new habitat for orcas in San Diego. That means going all in with dollars involved. If anything, they open a Middle East and Asian park and transfer them. I see a huge investment in San Antonio though. It would shock me to see an animal heavy Busch Gardens there in 20 years. Texas is such an untapped market with San Antonio weather being just slightly cooler than Orlando in the winter.

I'm interest in the announcement for Tampa, I've wanted a Mack spinner for SDC for a while. Want to see one with some value added theming.

A bought a good chunk of stock while it was taking a beating and I'm up over 5 bucks.

If one created a fund that consisted of theme park stock four years ago, they'd be happy