| Author | Message | ||
     Lemonchili_x1 |
http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/blog/2010/05/ henderson_out_at_harley-davidson.html PR executive leaves Harley-Davidson. Monday, May 24, 2010, 4:50pm CDT Susan Henderson has left her job as Harley-Davidson Inc.’s vice president of communications. Henderson resigned for “personal reasons,” according to a notice sent to employees by Keith Wandell, CEO of the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer. “We appreciate Susan’s contributions since joining the company and wish her well in her future endeavors,” Wandell wrote. Wandell stated that Harley-Davidson management met with the communications staff to inform them of Henderson’s resignation and to let them know that the company has immediately begun to take steps to name a replacement for “this highly critical role.” Harley-Davidson hired Henderson in November 2008. Her prior positions include vice president of public relations at Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Department Stores and director of marketing communications at Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Co., now MillerCoors LLC. Immediately prior to being hired by Harley-Davidson, Henderson served as vice president of communications at Chicago confections company Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. Henderson couldn’t be reached for comment. I see Flick has also resigned. I wonder if there will be more in the mear future? | ||
| Endoman33 |
The smart one's are jumping ship | ||
| Davegess |
The smart one's are jumping ship That may not be the case in this one. There may be more going on than what this appears at first. | ||
| Lemonchili_x1 |
Something just doesn't sound right about the press release, but maybe I'm just skeptical about anything H-D  . I wonder how many executives/key managers have left H-D in the last 6 months? | ||
| Greg_e |
Probably only the ones that do not tow the company line, which with the new never before ridden a cycle CEO could be anything. I see golfcarts (with loud ass pipes) coming back into their future, you know how popular golf is? Maybe even a line of clubs and balls... HD bags with fringe... Assless leather golf short chaps... Golfing gloves with no fingers... The list is almost endless! They could make a huge fortune! On a serious note, I was flipping through a Sears tool catalog, there is a bunch of Harley branded s#!t in there, mostly furniture but still there. (why does Firefox think assless is spelled wrong?) | ||
| Buell2001b |
its funny how her resume had Kohls and milwakee brewering. nothing abotu motorcycles no wonder the guys ta HD do not know what the heck they are doing. | ||
| Bikertrash05 |
I wonder if this was another "resign or be fired"? | ||
| Froggy |
While obviously it would be a bonus, there aren't that many large motorcycle companies out there. Maybe she possibly at least owns and rides unlike a certain golfing CEO. | ||
| Elvis |
It would be funny if it wasn't so sad. Wandell destroys any engineering credibility Harley had by shutting down Buell, but he doesn't stop there. He not only sends Harley back to the stone age but, by refusing to sell to BRP, he creates a small but angry and very vocal group that begins to trash Harley at every opportunity with viral graphics, videos and internet postings. Other sport-bike fans (who never owned Buells but have no love for Harley) jump on the Harley bashing bandwagon and the fragile Harley image - that has only survived over the years because no strong winds ever happened along to blow on their house of cards - is in worse shape than it has been in recent memory. So here we are with Harley's public image in serious jeopardy because of the actions of Wandell and his board, but rather than recognizing the failure of his actions and doing something constructive - like selling the Buell rights to diffuse the anger and calm the growing anti-Harley sentiment . . . he fires the PR person. Brilliant.  (Message edited by elvis on May 29, 2010) | ||
| Court |
>>>he creates a small but angry and very vocal group that begins to trash Harley at every opportunity with viral graphics, videos and internet postings. Interesting to me is that folks who aren't really into "motorcycles" have embraced the "screw Harley-Davidson for what they did to Buell" bandwagon. I was interested, several months ago, to see folks who rode Suzukis, Yamahas and Ducatis becoming so "anti-Harley-Davidson" and just attributed it to the sportbike community. But I've had several conversations with New York City professionals in the media industry and a couple floor traders on Wall Street and they, folks who had never before heard of Buell, are suddenly part of the choir singing to anyone who will listen about the incompetence of Harley-Davidson to not only manage their core business unit but to have any plan or vision for the future. They are seen as having pretty much actively undertaken the systematic removal of all forms of competent systems and individuals and to be swinging at noises trying to get back to a place where folks, who by the way were not there or even knew what was going on, THINK Harley -Davidson was 20 years ago. Wandell and his crew of a couple ill directed henchmen are trying to recreate something that they really can't even describe and they've tossed virtually everyone overboard who had the expertise to point them in the right direction. It gets to the point where I confess I feel a little sorry for them . . . they are becoming seen as corporate fools led by "one of the top 10 worst boards in America". . . not a great prospect. Folks, who a years ago had zero interest in the motorcycle industry, are kind of viewing Wandell and crew as the high school football star who got drunk and beat the crap out of a 4 year kid. We'll see. I'm confident that there are a couple people, perhaps 6, who could have led Harley-Davidson back to and beyond the stature they enjoyed 15 or 20 years ago. | ||
| Black |
Guess who PELLIS and I ran into this morning? Ken Wandell. He and several other company officials were at Ft Washington HD in Maryland, right outside of Washington DC, as tomorrow is Rolling Thunder. Actually nearly bumped into him in a crowd of several hundred Harley riders, before I figured out who he was. He said hello and seemed to be pleasant enough. I had on a bright blue Buell jacket and a Buell ball cap. Figured we would show the Buell colors and remind them we are still customers. Hey, for what it's worth, which is probably not too much, it made me feel a little better. (Message edited by black on May 29, 2010) | ||
| 2tracksam |
Interesting insight Court, I've had the same experience with some International folks where owning a Harley is the equivalent to lifestyles of the rich and famous. Most of them will never be able to come close to dreaming of owning a Harley (favorite model is the V-Rod) yet several ask about Buell and why HD isn't developing more bikes along the lines of the VRod. I was aware that the V Rod was more popular across the pond, but hadn't considered how others are noticing the lack of development. | ||
| Endoman33 |
Can anyone say AMF era repeat! | ||
| Steveford |
I think I saw Wandell's ride outside a Waffel House this morning. Needs some evil skulls and tape job flames, I'd say.  | ||
| Steveola |
Hey everybody, this is my first post on this site., First of all I have to say there are some great perspectives here regarding HD's current blunder. It's really sad that Harley got rid of the only company that was forward thinking and proving to the rest of the motorcycle industry that the US CAN build great bikes. It's also pretty scary that HD is being run by people that have no passion for motorcycling and seem to view it as just another business. I don't think the company can survive another AMF period. That said I am not really a fan of HD motorcycles even though I have had a few. | ||
| Mmmi_grad |
Thanks for the update Court! Proves I was right, and everyone else. hd lost so much street cred that it cant even be calculated..... other than the destruction of the company itself. Great job you dum bastards! Why dont you send me a severance pay check? | ||
| Buell2001b |
Froggy there are plenty of executives with motorcycle experience. Honda, Polaris, BRP, Victory, Suzuki, Ducati, Aprilia just to name a few. the auto companies brings bright executives from their competition all the time. $$$ or challenge is what most of them are looking for. | ||
| Greg_e |
I'll do it. How bad could I be compared to what has gone before? Same for the CEO, how much worse could I muck it up than it is right now? At least I've had a cycle license longer than he has and know which end of a wrench to hang onto. I'd even do it for less money, I think 1 million would be plenty for me, maybe toss some stock in on top of that  | ||
| Cravacor |
 Just sayin'.... | ||
| Mnrider |
Two families in my hood have those HD golf carts and the're noisy and slow.Hmmmm what else do we know that's noisy and slow? |
