Staggs promoted to COO

prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
Ranch Dressing said:
Hopefully this is just Iger being proactive with having something of a succession plan in place because Staggs being Iger's heir to the throne would be a complete joke.

The rumor is Iger does not want to retire after his contract is up and I seriously hope he stays in charge for the long term.
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Why, specifically, do you like Iger? No problems here with your choice; just wondering.

I have to say, though, I like your login ID -- but if you seriously like ranch dressing, you can't have the Kraft imposter on your avatar. It MUST be Hidden Valley! ;-) Especially made from the Hidden Valley Ranch dry packet mixed at home with milk and mayonnaise. Now that's REAL ranch dressing!
 
prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
NOTHING about Stagg's career indicates he would ever operate in a Roy O. capacity.
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Vegas Disney Fan said:
I'm not overly familiar with Staggs but am basing my assumption on his BS in Business, his MBA, and the fact he was the CFO of Disney, you would think someone with those qualifications would know a thing or 2 about finances.
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Cannot really speak for @lazyboy97o , but I would consider that he might also be thinking not only about Roy O.'s famed financial side but also the caring and creative side that helped him to understand his brother's needs and to actually finish the design for, build, and open Walt Disney World (the Magic Kingdom, the Contemporary, the Polynesian, Fort Wilderness, Discovery Island, and the Seven Seas Lagoon, all with the Reedy Creek Development's infrastructure/governmental work, fiber optic telephone company for WDW, pneumatic trash system, and other innovations/necessary things) within five years after his brother's death, all while continuing to have the studio run.

(This is the same amount of time it seems to take them to design and build one land or park expansion today...).
 
shannon12

shannon12

Active Member
note2001 said:
May I add that he went to a public highschool: Graduate of Minnetonka High School 1978, Minnesota (according to the wiki) :cool:
From what I can tell, Bob Iger also went to a public Hisghschool: Oceanside High School, Oceanside, NY.

I'm very impressed by both and it shows we don't need kids "groomed" by private schools to be leaders in multi-billion $ corporations as one of my stuck up bosses once told me (as he had a heck of a time choosing the "right" private school for his son) ... I'm off to ask my oldest how he's doing taking over his company :D
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Didn't realize Iger came from my area….interesting.
 
Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
Do I think an exec should experience the parks truly like a guest? Of course. But I'm not sure why it keeps being brought up he has a VIP guide. So? Celebrities do. He's probably told he has to have one. Look, I get he's not a great choice but as the lesser (sadly) of the evils, it just looks to me like something like having a VIP escort is being used to knock him. The strategic planning aspect is more a reason to knock him and be concerned than him having a VIP in the parks.
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Kman101 said:
Do I think an exec should experience the parks truly like a guest? Of course. But I'm not sure why it keeps being brought up he has a VIP guide. So? Celebrities do. He's probably told he has to have one. Look, I get he's not a great choice but as the lesser (sadly) of the evils, it just looks to me like something like having a VIP escort is being used to knock him. The strategic planning aspect is more a reason to knock him and be concerned than him having a VIP in the parks.
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Agreed. I have no problem really with him getting VIP tours of the parks. I would like to see him (or any Disney exec) also spend some time in the parks as an "ordinary" guest as part of his job -- to understand the needs of the parks -- but I don't think that getting a (very nice) perk in the parks by being an executive makes him evil.

I too am more concerned with his time at Strategic Planning than how he chooses to enjoy the parks.
 
fngoofy

fngoofy

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
He's also on a strict gluten-free, organic, vegetables kissed by unicorns diet. The dude has like 8% bodyfat, so at least it's working for him. He also doesn't visit the parks without a VIP Guide to whisk him and his kids up the exit of rides. So he ain't that normal.

Miceage also reported last year that Tom's extended family from the Midwest was visiting him at Christmas, and they also got the VIP Guide treatment at Disneyland during the busiest week of the year, even though Staggs wasn't with them and anonymous people from Minnesota posed no security or logistical threat without a VIP Guide.

Walt used to tell "his guys" to get out into Disneyland and mix with the guests, find out what they are saying and doing, wait in line and see how the park runs. As much fun as it would be to have a VIP Guide whisk you in the exit of any ride you wanted all day, and have hostesses serve you hot cocoa from a reserved terrace to watch the Christmas parade, then have a private dining room waiting for you at Napa Rose or Carthay Circle for a fabulous dinner served by the best hand-picked waiters... that type of behavior from Disney executives is just off-putting and disappointing to me.

And then guys like Tom Staggs will have the nerve to stand in front of audiences at stuff like D23 Expo and talk about "the guest experience" as if they even know what it's like to plan a day around FP times and wait in Standby and split up your family in Single Rider just to squeeze in an E Ticket. Puhleaze.
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IMHO

1) You and I don't know what kind of experiences he has had when it comes to waiting in line. I would think that over 25 yrs and being head of Parks and Resorts, he would have done a bit of "experiencing" over the years.

2) If he is visiting the parks without his family it is business. If he is riding a ride it may not be to assess the wait experience, so I don't expect him to waste time standing in line to work on something to do with the ride itself.

3) He is a VIP. What's the point of working somewhere 25yrs and earning perks if you don't use them. Disney gives out varying levels of perks from front line CMs on up.

It just seems like people are hating on a guy because he is successful and has achieved a high profile goal, which is why I am defending him. If I met him I might think he was great or not, point is I haven't met him so I am going to assume he is a decent guy, doing his job, because that is what I have seen from my vantage point.
 
GiveMeTheMusic

GiveMeTheMusic

Well-Known Member
fngoofy said:
IMHO

1) You and I don't know what kind of experiences he has had when it comes to waiting in line. I would think that over 25 yrs and being head of Parks and Resorts, he would have done a bit of "experiencing" over the years.

2) If he is visiting the parks without his family it is business. If he is riding a ride it may not be to assess the wait experience, so I don't expect him to waste time standing in line to work on something to do with the ride itself.

3) He is a VIP. What's the point of working somewhere 25yrs and earning perks if you don't use them. Disney gives out varying levels of perks from front line CMs on up.

It just seems like people are hating on a guy because he is successful and has achieved a high profile goal, which is why I am defending him. If I met him I might think he was great or not, point is I haven't met him so I am going to assume he is a decent guy, doing his job, because that is what I have seen from my vantage point.
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I have no problem with him using the perks that come with the job. We can all tell he doesn't spend any time as a regular guest because of the way the parks are run. If he spent time in the parks as a regular guest, there's no way he would make some of the decisions he does or support the toxic management that exists.
 
JediMasterMatt

JediMasterMatt

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
So anyone want to make up a short list of contenders to replace Staggs for the Parks and Resorts role?
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They don't need to fill the role as the MM+ servers have become self aware. It's like Santa and Staggs rolled into one.

I nominate ParentsOf4 - the only one with a good grasp at how the resort's resources are really being used and what is needed to right the ship.
 
epcotWSC

epcotWSC

Well-Known Member
At the end of the day we live in a time where executives are afraid of Wall Street. Where if they don't post positive revenue and profit growth every quarter the market will pile on them. At the same time, the market always requires growth. If a company is making money hand over fist, but is stagnant, that's bad too. This all causes companies to do stuff like waste tons of money buying back stock to increase EPS, cutting costs like crazy to get profits up, among other things. Need to make the investors happy.

The idea of an established company spending tons of money (increasing costs thus decreasing profit) in order to realize some future growth is not acceptable to the shortsightedness of the stock market.

Personally, unless someone absolutely amazing comes in, I doubt much changes.
 
prberk

prberk

Well-Known Member
fngoofy said:
IMHO

1) You and I don't know what kind of experiences he has had when it comes to waiting in line. I would think that over 25 yrs and being head of Parks and Resorts, he would have done a bit of "experiencing" over the years.

2) If he is visiting the parks without his family it is business. If he is riding a ride it may not be to assess the wait experience, so I don't expect him to waste time standing in line to work on something to do with the ride itself.

3) He is a VIP. What's the point of working somewhere 25yrs and earning perks if you don't use them. Disney gives out varying levels of perks from front line CMs on up.

It just seems like people are hating on a guy because he is successful and has achieved a high profile goal, which is why I am defending him. If I met him I might think he was great or not, point is I haven't met him so I am going to assume he is a decent guy, doing his job, because that is what I have seen from my vantage point.
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I don't think that they are "hating on" him. I think most understand that he will have the VIP experience most of the time, and often for work. I think most people just understand that extra value of actually experiencing the good AND the bad of the customer experience, not just the numbers. That is why the number crunching side of the whole FP+ thing is not the only part to consider. That is why some things that look good on paper can be seen to have a negative side that was unobserved (such as the whole debate that occurred around the frustration of the Be Our Guest lunch "come back at a certain time, with no option to wait in line when you are hungry" thing) in person.

I don't think anyone is saying that he has be a regular Joe all the time, just that he should do some of it, for perspective on the guest experience.

I would say to walk around the parks some, even as a "work" day. Blend in for a little while. Listen to people around you; check your expectations against the reality. Same would be true of the other parts of the company. Check any of it out sometime, as a REGULAR consumer.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Vegas Disney Fan said:
I'm not overly familiar with Staggs but am basing my assumption on his BS in Business, his MBA, and the fact he was the CFO of Disney, you would think someone with those qualifications would know a thing or 2 about finances.
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Roy O. thought it the role of the finance guys to fund the creative work. That is not what Strategic Planning was about. That is not the role Disney's leadership sees itself in.
 
BrerJon

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
prberk said:
I would say to walk around the parks some, even as a "work" day. Blend in for a little while. Listen to people around you; check your expectations against the reality. Same would be true of the other parts of the company. Check any of it out sometime, as a REGULAR consumer.
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Bob Iger likes to crow about how he came up with the idea of buying Pixar when he was watching a parade and realised all the characters were from Pixar movies. Think how many other great ideas the likes of Staggs could have if they just hung around Main Street, in the stores or in attraction lines, or even shadowing a shift or two behind the guest relations counter, just listening to guests' conversations, frustrations, and reactions.

Any executive who doesn't try to see things how the customer does is missing a trick.
 
drew81

drew81

Well-Known Member
wdwmagic said:
So anyone want to make up a short list of contenders to replace Staggs for the Parks and Resorts role?
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George Kalogridas (Olaf cost how much?)
Dan Cockerell (Villains Unleashed 2013 #dontforget)
Matt Ouimet....We can dream can't we but I doubt he would ever come back
Rilous Carter(Doubt he would leave Events)
Kyoichiro Uenishi orToshio Kagami (Could they consult with the company on what makes a quality attraction)
Al Weiss (Could he come out of retirement?)
 

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