Why I don't advertise on Facebook.

If you look at the image on the left side you will see an ad that would lead me to Etsy as it appears on my personal Facebook page.  The problem?  The link is to one the many items in my store.  This would be ok if it was only a random occurrence.  All the tags on the prints for sale match a majority of the pages I have liked on Facebook.  The only problem with that is that I receive at two to three of these ads a day and the only items being shown to me are my own.  (These ads are paid for by Etsy, not buy me.)

It doesn't stop there however.  Lately I have also been getting bombarded with suggested pages.  Ones that say hey, so and so likes this page and so should you.  The thing is the page they are promoting is a page that I already like.  Sometimes they go so far as suggesting a page that I visit a few times a day.

If they are showing me this stuff then I'm going to assume the thing will happen if I pay to promote a post.

Do you use Facebook's pay to promote feature?  If so does it work for you at all?

Update: All of the sponsored Facebook posts on my wall in the past couple of days have been to pages I have already liked.  Every. Single. One.

What kind of enthusiast are you?

The Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort

I've been a fan of roller coasters and amusement parks for as long as I could remember.  We lived 45 minutes from Hersheypark but only ever made it to their regular season once.  Maybe it was that denial that led me to want to learn more about them and eventually work at one.  My employment with Hersheypark allowed my love to grow and gave me eagerness to understand how everything worked on every ride.

Once the internet and Facebook entered the scene the obsession was complete.  I now have a season pass to the Six Flags franchise, the Cedar Fair franchise and to my home park, Hersheypark.  I've also joined two coaster clubs which brought me to the realization that there are so many types of fans.

The “No way, Jose” – These people won’t even venture near an amusement park, they will drive 2 miles out of the way if it means they can avoid seeing those roller coasters reaching into the sky.

The Casual Observer – These people like to people watch, whether it’s watching their kids or grand kids on a ride to watching people screaming on the latest crazy scream machines.  They may enjoy the monorail or giant wheel and meandering.

The “I’m Just Here for the ride crowd” – These people are just here to ride whatever strikes their fancy.  They don’t care much about statistics or even what the rides called, they just want to know where to get on.

The Screamer – these are the people that scream on almost everything, big rides, kiddie coasters, the Ferris Wheel and the carousel.  (That may have been an over exaggeration.)

The Safety Patrol – These people swear that every ride they are on is going to fall to pieces at any second.  They wish there was a seat belt on the carousel and monorail.  If anyone so much as blinks they are freaking out that someone is going to get hurt.

The Technical Geek – These people love statistics and they love to know how the ride works.  When you talk to one of these people in line you will probably have to repeat yourself because they are too busy figuring things out.  Chances are they have liked every manufacturer of theme park equipment on Facebook.

The Know-It-All – Sadly, these are the most annoying of the amusement park community.  They spend hours a day stating how the park should operate and what they should add.  Usually they are not pleasant with their opinions and if you try to disagree with them they will shut you down.  Sad little trolls of the internet, they just need a hug.  It should be noted that they act like they know everything but quite often don’t know anything of how a business is run.

This list is not a complete list and most people are probably a mixture of two or more.  I would say in my younger days I was a mix of “I’m just here for the ride” and technical geek.  Now a day I’m more of a casual observer mixed with technical geek.

What kind of amusement park person are you?




Check out some of my amusement park stuff for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/supkophoto and follow me on facebook at www.facebook.com/supkophoto.

Amusement park not so news

As I scrolled through the morning links on twitter I came across this article detailing the 14 most anticipated rides of 2014.  I am heavily involved in following what’s going on in the amusement industry considering that a majority of my photography work revolves around it.  My Facebook page and my Twitter account are full of amusement parks, manufacturers, vendors and enthusiast pages.  I also belong to two coaster clubs.  I’m left to wonder why such an article would come out before a majority of the amusement parks have made their announcements for 2014.

Amusement parks use to keep their projects top secret until the end of the summer.  This way kept people from postponing trips until the big attraction was installed.  It seems these days that theme parks take one of three approaches to announcing an attraction.

Fahrenheit was one of the parks first teaser
campaigns.

The first is that they start a teaser campaign by social media, by physical mail or both.  They hype up the attraction and keep people focused on them and their brand.  Hersheypark developed to very elaborate marketing campaigns for recent coasters.  In 2007 the park announced that a company called Nantimi would be handling a part of their marketing.  The park went so far as to create a fake PR site that held clues to what the new attraction would be.  The park then released the news that Fahrenheit would be built and the company Nantimi was actually an anagram for Intamin, the design company for the new coaster.  In 2011 the park once again started a viral marketing campaign.  A website for the Ride Institute of Technology was created and featured clues.  Several fake websites were linked to the original website in this elaborate guessing game.

The second trend that has popped up recently is parks waiting until the off season to announce a new project.  Last year Hersheypark shocked the amusement community with an announcement of the removal of Roller Soaker and the addition of more water slides and a spray ground after the park had closed for the season.  Stratosfear, a drop tower at Knoebels, wasn’t announced until after they closed for the season.

Stratosfear added to the ride line up
at Knoebels with very little advanced
notice.

Of course there are parks that announce new attractions before the end of the season.  Some of these parks do it if a ride construction is going to take more than a year to complete.  Other parks make announcement because they may have to remove a ride or two to make room for the new attraction, requiring them to remove a ride in the middle of peak season.  Busch Gardens Tampa recently announced the removal of a ride to make way for a drop tower.

This article doesn't even make mention of the construction of a new roller coaster at Kings Island.  A mystery ride and a new park entrance made the list however.  When all is said and done this article felt like filler.  There was no reason to write it until a majority of the announcements were made.  It seems these days that they try to write the news before it happens.

/End Rant

Skyrush was added to the park line up in 2012.  In 2011 they used a viral campaign with clues from the made up
Ride Institute of Technology.

Check out some of my amusement park stuff for sale at www.etsy.com/shop/supkophoto and follow me on facebook at www.facebook.com/supkophoto.

Something's Missing at Hersheypark

Demolition work on the originals Hershey's Chocolate Factory

I walked around Hersheypark on Tuesday, July 2^nd and I noticed one of the star attractions of the park was missing.  It was that delicious smell of Hershey’s chocolate that no longer filled the air.  The insane humidity that has been plaguing the mid-state the past couple of weeks would have brought that wonderful intoxicating smell to the park.  The odor of chocolate in the air continues to disappear along with the original chocolate factory.

I’ve overheard people in the past asking how the park piped that sweet aroma into the park.  Not too many people realized that the overwhelming smell was caused by high humidity and was often a sign that rain was on the way.

The original chocolate factory ceased production after operations were moved to the updated Hershey West plant.  It was determined that renovations to update the facility would have been more costly than demolition.  There are currently no plans for the grounds the factory sits on.  There will be a few pieces of the factory that will remain including the smokestacks and a newer portion of the factory.  Plans for the silos that use to house the coco beans have not been released at this time.

Update:  According to a reliable source the silos have been bought by an independent developer.  Plans for the silos still have not been released but it is rumored that them may be developed into a hotel or condos.

The Original Hershey's Chocolate factory before demolition began

See more photos at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151504854615843.1073741856.85142180842