Information Technology Specialist

Posted on: 2006-08-20

HEATHER SNOW 2104 Jeanette Court Sandusky, Ohio 44870 (419) 503-0810 [email protected] SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS Highly accomplished Management professional possessing exceptional decision making abilities. Demonstrated commitment to implementing processes and systems that greatly increase efficiency and company revenue. Solid record of taking over ailing departments and organizations and turning them completely around in a short period of time. Strong background in recruiting and training employees and achieving record staff retention rates. Proficient in various software applications with experience in the following broad-based areas: * Operations Management * Inventory Management * Document Control * Database Organization * Human Resources Management * Marketing/Sales * Recruiting/Training * Application Design PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE KAMAN\'S ART SHOPPES, INC. 1995 - Present IT Specialist - Chagrin Falls, OH 2003 - Present Advanced by largest provider of concession services to major amusement parks, including Sea World, Busch Gardens, Paramount Parks and Cedar Fair. Handle reporting to upper management and monitor sales reporting program. Provide IT support to 64 managers nationwide. Communicate operational needs to upper management. * Programmed very large database of Excel spreadsheets to work with existing IT products, producing reports for monitoring revenue, budgets and payroll, resulting in most accurate and detailed reports in 35 years. * Moved entire corporation from paper and fax sales reporting to spreadsheet and e-mail reporting in 2004. * Designed and implemented sales reporting system using Microsoft Small Business Server and Excel with Visual Basic to organize over $23 million in sales and 3000+ employees, resulting in ability to quickly catch errors in paybacks from parks and nearly eliminating lost revenue estimated at $2 million from previous years, saving thousands in 2006 alone at what is only the start of the season. Enabled everyone in the park to see up-to-minute sales figures and provided managers with much information, increasing profit margin drastically. Communicated need for this new beneficial system to upper management. * Created uniform dummy proof forms for all park managers, allowing transfer of pertinent information for reporting. Created flexible forms for park products due to major differences across various locations. * Position created in 2002 to utilize exceptional experience working in parks, including unique understanding of operational issues that higher management does not possess, allowing effective communication of park issues to upper management and reducing red tape for park employees. Brought field knowledge to corporate office, dramatically improving communication between all departments with field managers. * Initiated transition of sales reporting program to database for 2005. * Successfully got all parks up and running in less than three months. Assistant Park Manager, Cedar Point - Sandusky, OH 2005 - 2006 Brought on to manage operation within large park known as \"The Roller Coaster Capital of the World,\" including four hotels, employee dorms and water park. Supervised 150 employees and handled opening and closing manager duties, recruiting, training, sales reporting and inventory. Worked stands and handled cash as needed. * Assisted in managing 19 Kaman\'s artistic locations within park, including providers of caricatures, portraits, henna tattoos, airbrush t-shirts, jewelry, face painting and more. Successfully turned around portrait staff for first time in years by focusing on recruiting right people and working extra hours. * Recruited, hired and trained 135 employees for 2005 team. Held frequent training classes for sales staff, teaching better sales methods and increasing revenue. * Led by example, working right alongside employees at stands, dealing with customers and selling products. * Reallocated resources, adjusted staff and developed new products and promotions, increasing sales by 15%. Park Manager, Six Flags Great Adventure/Sesame Place - Jackson, NJ; Langhorne, PA 2002 - 2005 Selected to manage two busy theme parks with approximately three million and 800,000 annual guests respectively. Responsible for all daily park operations. Recruited, hired and trained 185 employees. * Retained 75% of employees from 2003 by treating them with respect, resulting in happier and more productive staff and achieving highest retention rate for seasonal operation. High rate of employee return from previous season resulted in increased sales due to higher experience. * Added several new products at Six Flags, ran excellent caricature crew and brought some of the highest sellers from Sesame Place to Six Flags, contributing to 35% increase in revenue over previous seasons. * Successfully managed park alone with little experience and with regional manager 500 miles away, exhibiting excellent decision making skills, learning quickly and asking questions to fill gaps in experience. * Hired new staff; and turned operation around, avoiding park replacing Kaman\'s with other company, gaining respect and resulting in much cleaner and more efficient operation. Supervisor, Sea World/King\'s Island - San Diego, CA; Cincinnati, Ohio 1995 - 2002 Chosen to supervise Portraits area, handling artist training, scheduling, hiring, inventory, sales reporting and payroll. * Trained 15 portrait artists per season with focus on sales, breaking budgets and earning year-end-bonus. * Acted as consultant to fix broken operations at multiple Kaman\'s locations, including Sea World and Busch Gardens in Florida and Kings Island in Ohio, removing sub-par employees and organizing park processes including employee movements, cash bag pick-up, sales procedures and daily record keeping. * Traveled to Six Flags, New Jersey; hired new staff; and turned operation around, avoiding park replacing Kaman\'s with other company, gaining respect and resulting in much cleaner and more efficient operation. TECHNICAL EXPERTISE Computer Skills: * Microsoft Office (Excel/Access) * Microsoft Visual Basic * Microsoft Small Business Server * SAP R/3 * HTML * Paint Shop Pro X * Illustrator * Typing: 75 WPM * Dreamwaver 8 * Lotus Notes EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY - State College, PA 2002 Bachelor of Science in Operation and Information Systems Management * (August 2006) CompTIA A+ * (June 2006) CISSP Course