воскресенье, 28 марта 2010 г.

Silver Dollar City boss goes 'Undercover'



Silver Dollar City has been producing live shows for decades, but on Sunday, it will be featured on the small screen.

The reality television show, "Undercover Boss" will feature the park and its sister attraction, the Showboat Branson Belle.

For the program, Herschend Family Entertainments President and CEO Joel Manby was filmed posing as a frontline employee at the two parks, as well as two other parks owned by the company, Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta and Adventure Aquarium in Camden, N.J.

Park employee Albert Sandford, who is featured prominently in a CBS promo for Sunday's episode said nobody has seen it yet.

"Other than the promo, we'll see it for the first time this Sunday with white knuckles," Sandford said.

Actually, he said he has seen several other episodes of the program and is confident it will be good.

"It's a feel-good show," he said. "I think people will watch it and they will get that feeling that this is a place where it's not just about the paycheck."

Brad Thomas, senior vice president of Silver Dollar City Attractions, said the company was cautious about agreeing to do a show that had not aired an episode at the time producers approached them.

"We did our due diligence," he said. "We are very protective of our employees and of our brand."

He said he thinks viewers will be able to see how the company's employees engage in what he called "servant leadership," or doing "everything to take care of the customer."

He also thinks viewers will find the stories of employees entertaining.

"When Joel worked side-by-side with the employees, he learned great personal stories," Thomas said. "I think viewers will be able to share in the fun and emotion."

He also said Manby "loved" the experience.

For the show, Manby posed as an unemployed person who was taking part in a documentary to see how he would perform at various entry-level jobs around the country. Filming in Branson took place in October.

Sandford, who is the person in charge of the front gate, said he was simply told to train the man how to work the gate.

"I spent about five hours with him," Sandford said.

Sandford, who is 21, said he has worked at the park for seven years now.

"I always wanted to work at Silver Dollar City," he said. "I love going to work. It's a place I go where I know I'll have a good day."

He hopes everyone else will see that on Sunday.

"We can't wait for people to see it."