Marie Bell - Darien Lake

My career started as a cube monkey in love with coding ("programming" for the non-geeks out there). I loved if-then statements and nested loops. In 1996, I got a job at Darien Lake, a theme park in Western NY. A world where "the customer" becomes "the guest" and cube monkeys like me channel our inner hospitality persona. It's all about embracing chaos and staying cool under pressure. I loved every minute! After my first year, I received a note from the GM that said simply 'Please research hotel systems.' We had a large existing campground, but we were planning to build a hotel. That began my introduction to Springer Miller. In the last 18 years at Darien Lake, my career has been figuratively and literally a roller coast ride. I have had corporate titles and local titles depending on our current management and corporate setting. Thru Six Flags to Herschend, I have waited with anticipation up the lift chain, then screamed down the 80 degree drop at 80 miles an hour. Currently, I am the IT Director for Darien Lake. Our theme park has more than 45 rides including 6 roller coasters and a million-gallon waterpark. We also have a Hotel, Cabin & Cottage Rentals, RV rentals, Glamping sites and Camping sites that amount to over 1500 units in our PSMS|Host system. It's a strangely unique setup where you can charge your fried dough and cotton candy back to your hotel room, then watch the fireworks as you smell the aroma of roasting marshmallows at a nearby campfire and hear the screams from a concert over in the amphitheater. It's never a dull day around here. I would have never guessed that I would end up working in the Amusement-Hospitality field, but I'm keeping my legs and arms inside of the car at all times and enjoying the ride as long as I can!