Dreamworld CEO

[kennykoala]

hi all, I was at dreamworld today, and was told that CEO tony braxton smith has resigned.(22/03/) im not sure if its true or official but thats what i got told by some staff today.

[willsy]

I dont think you should be saying stuff like that untill you know for sure.

[kennykoala]

I know, thats why i said im not sure if it was true, i was just told today by some staff that he had, so i thought id post, as i like informing my fellow themepark pals the info on DW.

[Daniel]

Why not? He heard a rumour and posted it. He never said it was a fact! At least someone can attempt to get clarification on the issue for him. How many other rumours have been put up on this site? Countless... Good on you Kenny old son. Don't listen to Willsy. You knock your socks off digger.

[joz]

Its a rumour and was posted as such. Its supposedly common knowlodge around Dreamworld so I don't see the harm.

[willsy]

i was just saying that he shouldnt have said that until it was true it is. I said that because i read ages ago in a news article that some one posted something like that and they got in **** from it cause the guy got sacked.

[Daniel]

Willsy, you need to have a bex and a lie down old son.

[willsy]

Willsy, you need to have a bex and a lie down old son.

what ever!!!!!!!!!!

[Slick]

Willsy, settle old son! Does anyone know Tony personally at all? I have been trying to get into contact with him but he is away on sundays which is usually the day I go!

[Richard]

There's not much to say on this topic at this point in time. I know Tony, but I'm not sure what that has to do with anything.

[Slick]

Just wondering i guess Richo.

[Obstructure]

To clear up the "rumour" - he's gone, officially resigned. Bit out of the blue I thought, as do the rest of you by the sound of things. Became official on Friday.

[Obstructure]

Just thought I would add to the rumour to say that I heard the same from people there, they were talking about it. That was on Friday

[Richard]

http://www.roller-coaster.com.au/article.php?aid=6

[Ian]

Glad to hear they have a new CEO ready to take over and there is no mucking around in the hiring area like some places. I news about Tony was confirmed to me a couple of weeks back at work by by boss a few days after kenny post I just think sometimes it beeter to wait for a press release first like rich has done. well here to more sucess for DW

[GoGoBoy]

Congratulations to Kenny for getting this one right and letting us know early! This site should be made up of rumours (hopefully fairly accurate ones), not just official news all the time. It gets boring otherwise. It concerns me to read that the new CEO has had no background in theme parks. It is definitely a very specialised industry and it takes time to get a true understanding of it. I have seen cases where an executive manager has been hired with zero theme park experience and the results have been terrible. They think they know how it works but they just don't have that eye for detail. Here's hoping this is not the case with Stephen and that he will be a good thing for Dreamworld. Does anyone know more about the specifics of his background? I suppose if he has been heavily involved in tourism and leisure like the article says then he would definitely have some skills in the area

[Daniel]

Who could you quite possibly be referring to GoBoi? Oops...

[GoGoBoy]

Um, Daniel I'm not talking about Wonderland if that's what you mean. Although I'm sure you know of some good examples there. I'm talking about the marketing manager Sega World brought in about a year or 2 before the park closed. Totally clueless about theme parks... and most other things for that matter

[Richard]

Tony Braxton-Smith didn't come from a theme park background. His previous jobs were actually in South America for foodservice companies, yet he really was one of the best things to ever happen to Dreamworld. I first spoke with Tony Braxton-Smith in around January of 2002, around 18 months after he started with Dreamworld. Just through what he said about what went wrong with Giant Drop (which prompted my initial call) and then in regards to what they were looking into doing with Thunderbolt at that time, I realised I was talking to someone who was more clued in on the industry than most seasoned theme park careerists out there are. Where are we going to get "theme park" experts from here anyway? Anyone good enough internationally is getting a lot more than they'd ever get here (Six Flags and Cedar Fair's CEOs are both on around US$5mil+ a year) and there aren't too many other parks in this country to start off with to trade management with. Gregg's past 15 years include managing Tourism Queensland and General Manager for Northern Territory Tourist Commission before that. Obviously no one can judge something that hasn't happened yet, but there's not too much not going in his favour in regards to experience and ability etc.