KIPRWhistleblower754

All great questions, and I can answer a few: 1. I’d say about 60% of the department lives fairly close. Although some commute all the way from Dayton or Kentucky, which I couldn’t ever do. 2. This is a mixed bag. I contemplated whether I should even do this, and when I decided I should, I also questioned where I should get it out. What I did first was email the local news stations’ respective news desk with similar text to the post I made. One didn’t respond. The rest wanted me to do on a camera interview. Even though they offered to do it “anonymously”, I wasn’t willing to go that far. I thought of KIC because I am an active member and I know there are people here that could relate and provide more opinions on the matter. I also tried some Facebook groups, but those wouldn’t accept my post. (The existence of this post does not mean that KIC supports or endorses it). 3. The initial “panic” response to the first news stations who called was that. However, the person who took those calls got pushback, because of course the news stations had already heard the radio traffic. That’s when our official statement was amended. Funnily enough, that statement is the most current one available. A crude example is the Chernobyl disaster. We now know that thousands died. The official Soviet death toll, to this day, remains around 30. At a much smaller scale, that’s kind of a parallel to what’s happening here. Thanks for asking your questions in a constructive manner. If you’d like me to clarify further, let me know, I’d be more than happy to.

Okay man. I hope you have a good rest of your weekend!

Like I said man, I’m not going to argue with anyone about the validity of my claims. It is your right to not believe me, and if that’s what you choose to do, that’s fine. There’s no need to keep trying to discredit me. What’s done is done and those who choose to believe me will. There’s no point in continuing any sort of banter with you.

I was thinking that when I’m completely done I could do that, since I’d have nothing else to lose. On the other hand, I don’t feel the need to persuade people who don’t believe me, as I’ve gotten a great deal of satisfaction getting my story out there. We’ll see though.

I don’t know who Troy is, nor do I know why he’s trying to discredit me, but like I said in the original post, you don’t have to believe me, but I’ve given you the tools to make a decision on your own. Just as much as I could be some lunatic making stuff up for no reason, Troy could be Chad or a loyalist to him and/or park leadership in an attempt to downplay their poor PR performance. I’d also like to point out that no one else, especially in an official capacity, has come out and said my story is false. Everyone who has witnessed not only this incident in particular, but his attitude and behavior overall knows that it’s true. In addition, I don’t know who in their right mind would go to such lengths to fabricate a story, much less photos, to somehow slander someone. Troy himself was unable to replicate the signed in X account in its entirety. I initially was thinking of sharing a screenshot of my @visitkingsisland email logged in, but it just looks like a normal Outlook account and no matter how you crop it it’s full of identifying information. However, the sign in page does show the organization my account is a part of, so I’ve attached a screenshot of that. Do with that what you will. I refuse to blame or slander the rest of the PR department, because it is made up of some truly outstanding individuals who are extremely passionate about what they do. I fear that I will not be awarded the privilege of working with people of a similar caliber in the future. This inaction and mismanagement of a multitude of situations has to do with one person and one person only. One poor leader can make a lot more people look bad than you think. I have everything to lose and nothing to gain by coming out with this information, but this isn’t about me, it’s about the workers in the leadership building that don’t have a parking spot up front complete with their name painted on it. It is not my intent to hurt the park overall, as I do think it is a special place, and I’ve spent a lot of time there in my free time growing up. That’s why I posted this, because I want it to be better. As far as my absence, it’s been a bit stressful lately with everything going on and I’m trying to distance myself from the situation after all of the messages and replies I’ve gotten. I’m in the process of landing a new position so that has been my focus. To be clear, I unequivocally deny fabricating any of my story and evidence. Lastly, I appreciate all the messages of support I’ve been given over the past few weeks!

Thanks, I appreciate it. And thanks for the post link. I was trying to go back and find it because I knew they said something. The unfortunate thing is it would’ve been so easy for Chad to have us do that. But a different approach was chosen and here we are.

To preface, I am an associate working in Kings Island's Public Relations Department, reporting to Chad Showalter. After witnessing the reaction and response by my department to the tragic events that occurred that night, I am simply appalled and ashamed to have been a part of such a response. If Brad would like to ban me or delete this post, I understand. It doesn't shine the park and its leadership in a positive light and this site, after all, is a fan site. However, if you choose to let this stay, please read on for a window into how Kings Island's PR department operates. I will be remaining anonymous to protect my position, however it is likely I will be resigning soon. If you would like proof of my position in the department, I have attached screenshots of me logged into our X handle. If you still choose not to believe me, that is your right, but I still feel the need to get this out. Around 8:15 that night, I got a call from Chad Showalter himself (as others did) asking me to come to the park immediately to figure out how to deal with the media in light of a major incident. I wasn't told what it was but I threw some clothes on and rushed to the park. Luckily I only live ten minutes away but others with longer commutes arrived up to thirty minutes later. We all went into a meeting room in the leadership building (adjacent to the operations building) and were soon briefed on the situation. We were told a man was critically injured after being struck by Banshee, and that the media was already reaching out for questions. Chad put each of us on a different method of communication, such as emails, phone calls, and social media messages. This was when things started to get strange. Chad, who had just told us the severity of the incident, told us to play it down and tell the local media that he seemed to have "walked away" from the incident. One of my colleagues told him that the media would find out eventually, but he wouldn't have it. He told us to think about the present, or upper leadership would be on him. So, that's what we did. We gave the media the spiel he gave us, saying that the situation seemed to be under control and that the guest walked away. You will see and probably have seen that when the media initially picked up the story this is what they reported. Of course we were given pushback by some members of the press, as they had heard the fire/ems radio firsthand. We told them that was all we knew. As all of us juggled the chaotic situation, Chad sat in his office, door closed. We were left wondering what exactly he was doing to remedy the situation, as we were the ones doing everything. We stayed through the night, fielding calls, emails, and messages locally and from across the country. We left around 5 AM, just before the local media would begin their morning news programs. I returned to the office at 9 AM, as per my schedule. The day started as normal, with a heightened sense of tension in the air. For all we knew, Chad had never left his office. His door remained closed. At 1 PM, he walked into the office. I figured he was returning from lunch. This wasn't true. He had left around 2 AM the night before and came in late today to get more sleep. Meanwhile we were doing damage control and providing the same story we had provided the night before. I was astonished at this. He arrived with updated instructions on how to interact with the media. Our new command was to say "no comment" to every request. The next day, we got a taste of what it was like to be on Chad Showalter's bad side. He came in at his normal hour as scheduled, this time fiery and explosive. He called a meeting. We were then told there was a leaker, maybe two. Some employees who spoke to the media. He was obviously infuriated that his damage control had blown up into pieces. We were demeaned in ways I had never been before in my entire professional career. He retreated to his office, this time the door remained open, leaving his fiery conversations loud and clear for all to hear. He was talking to people named Dustin and Bonnie, I'm not sure who these individuals are, but I'm led to believe via context that they have something to do with operations, perhaps rides in particular. He barked commands at them. He told them to find the culprit at all costs, and bring them to him. When they seemed to pushback, his voice grew in anger, barking more commands and threats at the poor associates on the other line. The talk around the office now is a search is on for the leaker(s). I hear that supervisors at Banshee are talking to their associates individually, asking them if they were the ones who interviewed. So far, as far as I can tell, no one has been caught. But if someone is, I feel bad for what they're about to endure. To this day, we have not posted a statement on any form of social media. Not even an acknowledgment. After a similar incident at Cedar Point, they tweeted that an accident happened and that their hearts went out to anybody affected. Why couldn't we have done that? It all comes down from Chad, and his fragile ego. He bans people from the park at will, with no regard to who they may be. He is a person who has little morals and no respect for the park he was hired to represent. This disastrous response is not surprising to many within the department. His attitude has been this way for quite some time, now it's just out in the open.