Great America Theme Park, Santa Clara, CA (February 2007 – September 2007)

Silicon Valley-based Amusement park offering thrill rides and a complete water park

Public Relations & Community Affairs Manager

• Managed media and community relations including television appearances, press releases, website management, electronic communication and collateral materials. In addition, I handled the budget and expenditures.
• Managed crisis communications following a tragic drowning incident in the water park, handling media inquiries in the aftermath, disclosing investigation results, and communicating waterpark safety precautions in place and compliance with guidelines in advance and following the accident. 
• Provided water safety guidelines to California State Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist, who used them almost verbatim to write the current state law. 
• Managed response that helped educate the public and restore confidence in Great America as a safe and family-oriented amusement and water park for the community.

Here’s the story:

After a tragic drowning accident in the park on July 12, 2007, I became the face of Great America.  For three months, I fed the relentless 24 hour news cycle. The media and the public wanted to know if such a horrible thing could have been prevented and what we were going to do to make sure it never happens again. A mentor once explained to me that crisis communication is simply storytelling in reverse. What is the nastiest news that will be discovered, and how we can get it out there with context to complete the news cycle, so reporters move on to something more interesting. That is exactly what I set out to do. 

I informed the media that we were well ahead of the curve regarding waterpark safety, and were already in full compliance with all legal requirements, but I didn’t feel that was enough. This was my opportunity to provide needed context to put public safety concerns to rest. To that end, I educated the media of the truth that not only had we fulfilled all state legal requirements, we had additional safety precautions that were not required as well as redundancies in many areas. 

In the end, Great America was not held responsible for the unfortunate death because the investigation revealed that even though every safety precaution had been taken, the child was still unattended and there is no substitute for parental supervision. Because the public was clambering for an official government response, and because we were so far ahead of state requirements, I inadvertently provided the language for a Bill that later became California State law on waterpark safety. 

At the request of then, California State Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist, I provided Great America’s water safety guidelines to her and she used them almost verbatim to write the current state law. It’s hard to find a bright side to any of this. However, in the end, I was able help improve California waterpark safety and I was able to do my job and educate the public and provide the needed context to restore confidence to our community that Great America is safe and open for business.