July 2011
Looking Back... July 2011
31 July 2011 - 3:12pm
S.O.S.: Save Our Stomachs!
Here in the Public Relations department, we sign up for all kinds of e-newsletters from various social media gurus.
It's simply not possible to read every advice column, but one caught our eye a month or so ago.
Why?
Well ... it involved a competition (we're very competitive) and food (we're always hungry, too).
The concept was simple: round up your interns and have them come up with a clever begging-for-breakfast photo to submit to the Little Debbie's "Intern Heroes" contest.
The program's slogan is: "go from Intern to WINtern." Sounded a bit Charlie Sheen-esque, but we went for it.
Our marketing interns were delighted. (PR Intern Leah took the winning photo, by the way.)
And the goodies arrived this week.
Not only a bunch of Little Debbie's breakfast treats, but ... cool swag!
Little stress-ball trophies, tiny frisbees, notepads ... look how happy the interns are!
And then on to the real prize:
Congrats to our interns - and all the interns around the country who played, too.
23 July 2011 - 6:34pm
A tip of the fan to our Hosts & Hostesses
Talk about the dog days of summer.
Woof!
Just saw a post on our Facebook page, praising the helpfulness and friendliness of our staff, even in this tough weather.
I feel like a bum, sitting here in my air-conditioned office while hundreds of our Hosts and Hostesses are out in the park doing the real work. But at least I can use this place of comfort to praise the efforts of the good folks who are out in the heat taking care of our park guests.
Here's a little something Lori, our water-park director, does to help her staff:
Or actually, she's sharing with a Foods employee in the above photo.
Here's one of her crew members:
Something as simple as a frozen ice pop can make such a difference on a hot day.
Especially when you get a choice of flavors.
So who's watching the water while the lifeguards take a cool-it break?
Lori and her other managers step in to guard.
Here they are at Bahari Wave Pool:
Please remember if you visit during these "dog days":
- Eat breakfast
- Drink water and Gatorade (don't wait till you feel thirsty)
- Use sunscreen and rub it in -reapply often
- Pace yourself and be sure to take breaks in the shade and air-conditioning
19 July 2011 - 5:10pm
A hair-raising photo
When we launched our "Coaster Hair" photo contest last week, we made a point of stating that "creative simulations" were acceptable and even encouraged.
Lisa A. from Greenwood, Indiana, took us at our word. Take a gander at the head-o-coaster-hair her daughter Kenna produced!
Kenna's wild and wonderful Coaster Hair is full of souvenirs from her last visit to the park.
Let's see ...
...there's a park map...
...a little Holidog beanie...
...some sort of HoliBug...
...and a green smear of ick that we're better off not identifying.
Definitely.
For their colorful sense of whimsy, Lisa and Kenna win a pair of tickets to visit the park so they can see how crazy their hair gets when they ride our Raven, Legend and Voyage!
So, how does your coaster hair grow?
Sign up for our email newsletter to find out how to submit your own entry into next week's contest. You might just win yourself a pair of tickets to Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari!
16 July 2011 - 8:34pm
Introducing ... our very own HoliBug
Our HoliBlog is all about pulling back the curtain.
We like to show our readers some of the behind-the-scenes sights and activities here at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari.
Even when it's a bit creepy...
Now to be fair, one person's "creepy" is another person's "awesome."
...so we'll let you decide.
Our grounds manager, Tim, discovered this little fellow here in the park recently.
One of the reasons it caught his eye was the little colored nubby things (no, I'm not an entomologist) matched our logo colors: blue, yellow and red.
And so, our little HoliBug was asked to pose for photos while munching on a few blades of grass.
Truth be known, this is actually a Hyalophora cecropia.
But to us, he'll always be our slightly creepy, sort of cute, HoliBug.
15 July 2011 - 6:44pm
Got good "coaster hair"?
Years ago, we were hosting a Discovery Channel crew, here to shoot footage of coaster enthusiasts riding The Legend roller coaster.
The field producer had a very specific request: "Find me riders with good coaster hair for the front seat."
....uh ... excuse me?
That was the first time I'd heard the term.
But not the last.
Fast-forward six years and we decided to name extreme coaster hair "Voyage Hair."
Exhibit A:
That's Steve and Will (with GM Mike in the second seat) taking the first human test rides in Voyage back in the spring of 2006.
So ... have you ever experienced Coaster Hair? Or have you even imagined it? Then you could win a couple of park tickets...
We’re looking for the craziest and most creative photos of what your hair would (or does) look like after riding one of our coasters. Have fun with this!
We will pick our favorite photo each week and the winner will receive two one-day admission tickets. Entries are limited to one per person per week, please (in case we decide this is fun enough to continue into additional weeks). Deadline for submissions is Monday, July 18, 2011 at 1pm CDT.
To enter:
- You must be at least 18 years old to enter (photos of youngsters must be submitted by a parent or guardian) and not be an employee of Holiday World & Splashin' Safari (or the immediate family member of one).
- Winners from other contests conducted through our e-newsletter in 2011 are not eligible.
- On-board photos taken by the park are not eligible.
- Please send us a photo formatted as a JPEG (.jpg) showing your craziest or most creative coaster hair.
- Please keep the file size under 1 MB.
- By entering this contest you agree to give Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari ownership of your photo for other uses as we see fit.
- Judges' decision is final.
Here's the email address to use: contest@holidayworld.com. Be sure to include your name and mailing address (we won't share it with anyone).
We will announce our first winner in an upcoming HoliBlog post. Good luck!
