By Barb Lockard
When Good Morning America arrived at Cedar Point Amusement Park for a feature on Steel Vengeance, Crystal Amberlyn found the “talent” needed to fill the giant coaster’s seats.
The Ohio Northern University senior runs interference for media, heads up the in-house Snapchat account and does what’s needed for Cedar Point to put its best foot forward.
“I remember my first day on the job,” recalled Crystal. “I was thrown into a video shoot for the new Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island. I learned to do what’s needed in order to make things run smoothly. Many times it’s behind the scenes.”
Amberlyn, a graduate of Upper Scioto Valley High School, is completing a summer internship at Cedar Point. She is one of three college interns in her department and is primarily responsible for social media content.
The graphic design major explained that there is a lot of design involved in social media, which fits her skills and interests. One of her professors, Dr. Alisa Agozzino, recommended her for the position.
With thousands of seasonal employees, Cedar Point puts an emphasis on internal communication. Amberlyn works frequently with the Cedar Point Team Facebook page and Twitter account. She also helps prepare posts and photos for the Team Instagram account and credits ONU’s social media classes with expanding her knowledge of the different platforms.
Working toward a BFA (bachelor of fine arts), Amberlyn has already taken most of her fine arts classes, including book arts, screen printing and painting. In high school she developed an interest in scratchboards. Still, she feels that fine arts may be more of an avocation than a vocation, and hopes to build a career in graphic design.
During the academic year, you’ll find Crystal working part time in ONU’s Communication and Marketing Department. She’s been involved in several graphic design-oriented organizations on campus including past president of the campus chapter of AIGA, a professional organization for graphic designers; a member of Kappa Pi, an art honor society, and the ONU chapter of he Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
As for working at one of the world’s most famous amusement parks, it hasn’t lost its lustre, but Amberlyn admits that she is no longer in complete awe when the Cedar Point skyline come into view on her way to work.
“I’m getting used to it,” she laughed.
