New Cedar Point manager worked at defunct Geauga Lake

Hanging n' Banging:

...they just make the roles of ride operators and lifeguards way too complicated.

Ride operators sure, but too complicated for lifeguards? Having done zero research on it, are there any examples of the IROC program saving lives? Is there a lot of families pushing through air-gates and climbing into an already dispatched train?

I don’t know about people jumping over the gates into an already moving train. I do seem to remember Millennium Force being the first major coaster at Cedar Point to get gates in the station. If the rides operated safely for decades without gates, I think it’s very unlikely people are going to be jumping the gates.

It’s busy work that makes people check boxes rather than operate safely.

If you want to see the epitome of nonsense ride Kennywood’s Racer. Wait until everyone has sat down which takes awhile. Check seatbelts one by one. Get the clear to drop the lap bar. Drop the lap bars. Check the lap bars. Walk ALL the way back to the entrance. Give a thumbs up. Do a “safety check” which is pointing at various areas of the station. Dispatch. It’s absurd.

BrettV:

But this piece reads as if AI was asked to write an article based on Colleen's LinkedIn profile.

As a prof who has unfortunately had to learn how to recognize AI's writing versus a human, your assessment is spot on.

The "full-circle moment" comment makes absolutely zero sense. She hasn't had any full-circle moments...she has climbed the ladder. There was also no need to mention "significant anger" generated by the closure of GL, and that was oddly placed. Susan is either dead and being replaced by Grammarly or she phoned this one in. If anything, very disjointed.

That said, as someone who frequented Wildwater Kingdom with my kids, hats-off to anyone who was running that place. It could not have been an easy gig (what with all the "anger" and what-not), but each of our visits...and there were a LOT...were always equally great experiences. Now that I think about it, I suppose that is the hallmark of a well-oiled machine. The weird part of going there was that you knew the end was coming eventually, but season after season it stayed open. Meticulously clean and manicured with just the right amount of charm (they kept that entry-landscaping looking fantastic). Solid hire.

Tried to keep the #'s even by commenting on the article and the hire.

OhioStater:

The "full-circle moment" comment makes absolutely zero sense.

Interestingly, this is why I would say this wasn't entirely written by AI.

AI wouldn't put that together like that - even erroneously. It doesn't think like that - at least not for me.

It sounds like someone stretching to make the info relevant. In fact, all this article seem to do is mention the hire and then frame the entire article around Geauga Lake.

This is completely irrelevant to the promotion:

The closure generated significant anger and distrust toward Cedar Fair among fans of the historic park, which dated back to 1887.

So is all of this:

...Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in the early 2000s, which was the name of Geauga Lake for several years before Cedar Fair purchased the park. In 2004, Cedar Fair returned the park to its previous and historic name of Geauga Lake.

And those are things AI wouldn't do if you ask it to write this article...unless you specifically told it to. It wouldn't be that abstract. It wouldn't try to give context to the hire by referencing past bad blood with a previous park in the area.

So let's have some fun here (since we're here already) and break it down in a way that Gonch hasn't really played on CoasterBuzz in a while.

The opening:

The former manager of Northeast Ohio’s long-closed Geauga Lake amusement park is now the top boss at Cedar Point.

Right here. We're establishing that we're framing it as "old GL manager is new CP manager"

Colleen Murphy-Brady last week was named park manager and vice president of operations for Cedar Point, replacing Carrie Boldman, who retired last year.

This is the actual story and what happened that warrants an article in the first place. This is the "news."

Taking these out of order to make the point:

Murphy-Brady arrived at Cedar Point in 2012 and most recently worked as assistant general manager.

Before Cedar Point, Murphy-Brady spent many years at Geauga Lake in Aurora, the amusement park that Cedar Point’s parent company, Cedar Fair, purchased in 2004 and closed in 2007. Murphy-Brady started at Geauga Lake in 1995, and held several positions there, including general manager. She also worked as general manager at Wildwater Kingdom, the water park on the grounds of the former Sea World Ohio. Wildwater Kingdom closed in 2016.

Murphy-Brady was operations manager for Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in the early 2000s...An Aurora native, Murphy-Brady attended Hiram College, according to her LinkedIn page.

That's just LinkedIn info regurgitation...and says as much

It ends with some company context:

A year ago, Cedar Fair merged with rival Six Flags. The company, which is now known as Six Flags, owns 27 amusement parks and 15 water parks, including Cedar Point and Kings Island in Ohio.

More info vomit. As relevant as her career, but copy and paste at best.

So what do we have? A sentence to establish the framing. A sentence to say what happened. Copy and paste from the Murphy-Brady LinkedIn profile and CF corporate page. Then the useless additions of...

The closure generated significant anger and distrust toward Cedar Fair among fans of the historic park, which dated back to 1887.

In a full-circle moment...which was the name of Geauga Lake for several years before Cedar Fair purchased the park. In 2004, Cedar Fair returned the park to its previous and historic name of Geauga Lake.

Which, ironically, are the only three sentences in the article that required "work" as far as I can tell. And the entire thing is 12 sentences long - including all the resume pasting.

My vote?

Phoning it in. Hard.

Here's what Chat GPT gave me on the first go using only Colleen's LinkedIn page as source material:

------
Colleen Murphy-Brady Named Park Manager at Cedar Point
SANDUSKY, OH — Cedar Point has named Colleen Murphy-Brady as its new Park Manager and Vice President of Operations, continuing her impressive rise within the organization and the amusement park industry at large.

Murphy-Brady brings over 12 years of experience at Cedar Point alone, most recently serving as Assistant General Manager. Prior to that, she held leadership roles including Vice President of Park Operations, Director of Park Operations, and Director of Park Attractions — overseeing critical areas such as rides, waterparks, guest services, and admissions.

A seasoned amusement park executive, Murphy-Brady is known for her strength in customer service, event management, public speaking, and operational leadership. Her promotion reflects a proven track record of excellence in park operations and a deep understanding of guest experience.

Originally from Aurora, Ohio, Murphy-Brady is a graduate of Hiram College and maintains strong ties to the region. She now steps into one of the most high-profile roles at Cedar Point, helping to guide the park into its next chapter as one of America’s leading entertainment destinations.
-----

Let me paste some of her resume in and...

I feel like IROC is the industry version of antifa.