Dan Keller to retire

http://www.pointbuzz.com/news.htm?id=528

Krenzel, Keller, Spehn... I hope they find some good people to replace all of them. (I know Spehn has already been replaced!). I hope this doesn't mean anything in the direction of the park.

Wow that is a surprise! I thought for sure he would be the one to replace Kinzel. I hope they find someone good. Causes Kinzel has big shoes to fill!

12-E is a pretty big show size. (rimshot) ;)

I will be very suprised if Falfas doesn't come back and replace Kinzel.

Fastball I think you thinking about The Ohio State University, you said Krenzel instead of Kinzel.

I always liked seeing Keller driving around in his car before the park opened in the morning. It is going to be said to see him go

I'm pretty neutral on this. Honestly, I think that the culture at the park took a change for the worse on his watch. That's not to say he was responsible, because certainly I couldn't possibly know that for sure, but he was a lot less visible than Miears was.

And with Falfas taking the new COO job, I have absolutely no idea who would be next in line. However, if he's moving back to Sandusky, and I assume he is, who do you suppose is next in line for CEO? Seems pretty obvious now that a new #2 position is a setup for promotion to #1.

I think a lot of people feel the same way as Jeff about Mr. Keller. But does anyone know the reason for this? Could he be ill or something or did he just decide to retire? It seems kind of sudden if it's just him wanting to pack it in. That and it seems very possible that he would have been next in line for the CEO job. The timing just seems odd. As much as maybe people didn't really like the guy, I wouldn't wish sickness or something on anyone.

I have no idea who might take over the GM duties at CP now. Would Bill Spehn come back? I can't see it being John Hildebrandt. Bender from WoF? It doesn't really seem that CP has anyone to take over from within, especially with all the shifting in their low-middle management over the past few years. People don't even settle into their jobs before they have a new one.

Well, maybe if Kinzel took over at GM we would get our damn character signs back! ;)

Well all I can say is that I hope the Manager of Ride Op. gets bumped up...From the times I've talked to him he's a real good guy. Not saying he should be CEO or anything...but I would like to See Mr. Ozoskey get another promotion when everybody moves on.

(I wrote a paper on Cedar Point for an English class, and I scored an interview with him, so that is how I know him).

I'm willing to bet that the new GM is already someone at CP :)

It won't be an "out of left field" choice if you've been watching what's been going on the last 2 years or so at the park.

AS for teh CEO spot.. I'm willing to bet that the person is already at CP also.

By adding the new position, I'm placing my bets on a split of duties once Mr. Kinzel leaves. A CEO knows how to run a company, a COO knows how to run parks, in this case.

I wish Mr. and Mrs. Keller the best of luck in their retirement. 30 years is a long time to be with a single company and in this industry, that's ALOT of your personal time sacrificed on top of it.

The more I think about it, the more I think that Monty Jasper would be a good candidate. As VP of maintenance and construction, he already has significant fiscal responsibility, and he obviously knows operations. He might not be as strong in marketing, foods and merchandise, but those areas are run by very capable people.

And I still think Falfas is being groomed to replace Kinzel.

There is no shortage of capable people within the company. In fact, there is no shortage of capable women within the company.

I suspect Falfas (and his family) had always considered California to be a temporary move.

There are some people who have left the company over the years who might make good candidates for a return to loftier titles.

I was never a Keller fan and I wish I had been a fly on the wall to hear if this was completely his decision or not. I suspect not, which wouldn't be the first time this happened to a GM.

One question...someone mentioned Spehn being replaced. Did he leave Geauga Lake?

Maybe this is the start of the upper management carousel getting warmed up for CF?

Ah, speculation!

I could see it being Monty. He's been around for a while and he fits the description of a guy who would probably relate well to the people below him. The only thing I'd worry about is that with his background in maintenance, they might be calling more shots around the park and we've seen at other parks that when maintenance is in charge, things don't go so well.

I can't really see it being anyone from the Park Operations division. Although this area has produced some strong people in the past (Falfas himself, Bill Spehn, etc), there has already been so much turnover there during the past few years. When people move on and those below them get promoted, it's great for them, but I think it has been happening too fast. I'm not sure if other divisions have been seeing this kind of turnover, but I think some stability would be good.

I also think that Falfas will be the next CEO. I'm not quite sure what will happen to this new COO position, but maybe it will just go away once Kinzel retures and Falfas becomes the CEO. Or maybe it will stay, but be something that pays a lot less. I don't see the company suddenly getting all top heavy. Maybe Rob is right and someone like Bruce Jackson would be the CEO and Falfas would stay the COO. I'm betting on Falfas moving up though.

I think a really good move for Cedar Point would be to bring in Bill Spehn as the GM and promote the current operations manager at CP to GM of Geauga Lake. But the company probably needs Spehn's considerable talents to jump start Geauga Lake.

I agree Jeff that Jasper would seem to be a good candidate as well, but I'm not that familiar with his background. Is his background engineering and construction outside of the amusement field, or does he have a lot of park experience as well? If his park experience isn't that strong, a better candidate may be found within the park that actually is responsible for daily operations of something.

All this talk of moving people around reminds me of baseball season. Is it spring yet? *** Edited 2/15/2005 3:51:41 PM UTC by Pete***

The other possibility is that they are setting up a COO to retain the Cedar Fair values/characteristics while going outside the company to find a CEO. I don't think it is highly likely but, if the company is ready to be taken to the next level then it might require someone from the outside to get it there.

An advantage to Monty moving up would be the impact that could have on maintenance at all of the parks. While Cedar Fair has always been the forerunner in capital expenditures I think they have done so at the expense of the infrastructure. Kinzel, in my opinion, didn't care too much about infrastructure and I think it shows in many ways at the Point. I suspect the same can be found at the other parks.

It will be interesting to watch.

Mayber Cedar Point seasonals can see what a pay raise is again..hehe I hope Mr. Keller enjoyed himself for the yrs he was with CF. He has made a big difference at Cedar Point. The person that moves up has some big shoes to fill and I believe that the job will be done just as good.

No one said anything about Spehn, though I think Fastball meant that CP already lost him to GL. I don't know that pulling him back to CP would be a good idea because I think GL needs consistent leadership and vision. I suspect he could do the job, sure, but any instability at GL would further delay its turn-around.

I don't know much about Jasper's background, but talking to him or hearing him speak, he seems to be a fanatic about guest experience, and agonizes over a fractional drop in ride uptime. That attitude certainly would certainly bleed into every other area I'm sure, and God knows it's needed in foods.

I think a lot of good could come out of these changes.

Wahoo: What aspects of the park/company's infrastructure do you think need to be improved?

I suspect he is thinking about how "low tech" CP still is in regards to how guests pay for things. Like implementing an infrastructure that could handle season passes and room keys as debit cards around the park.

I doubt that they would bring back Spehn after just one year over at Geauga Lake. Monty seems like an interesting choice. He definitely tries to stay on top of things during the day, and is usually in the vacinity of Dragster. Whenever I see him he's always, ALWAYS on his cell phone talking with people. If cell phones cause cancer, he will be the first to go. lol

I still think that Falfas would be the best choice as a replacement.