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Site Announcements: TN to become BN

Posted at 9:25 AM EDT (1325 GMT)

Apr. 1st, 2008 -- After months of heated debate, ThrillNetwork.com has decided to become BenchNetwork.

BenchNetwork will be all about benches, since they're generally free to ride. They have also consistently proven to provide as much thrill as a roller coaster has.

"BenchNetwork will be for the steel, wood, or even the newer polymer bench fans", said Steven Heicher, webmaster of BenchNetwork. "We can draw in more members, since it's kind of hard to hate benches."

The site will be going through some changes in the next few days. Eventually, the site will switch to a new domain, which is yet to be determined. In the meantime, BenchNetwork staff asks its members to be patient while we make those changes.

One of those changes already in place is the conversion of the General Talk forum. "People flame others anyway, so we called it the Flame Wars" thread," Heicher said. "That way, members can flame our moderators, and vice versa."

Heicher went on to note that the tagline "Sit down. Log in. Hang on!" will remain. "It applies to benches, too, so we found no need to change it," Heicher so noted.

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Brian F Joined: Sep 2003 Posts: 2316 View Park/Ride Count	I can't WAIT for the flame wars thread!
4/1/2008 9:37 AM
CHILLERLC1 Joined: May 2001 Posts: 8039 View Park/Ride Count	Can I cut a hole in my bench cause I think I'll be there for a few hours?
4/1/2008 10:04 AM
Racer Joined: Feb 2006 Posts: 464 View Park/Ride Count	April Fools. Haha this one is better than last year's. I find it funny that the Ride & Park DB hasn't had these changes yet, but the Forums have.
4/1/2008 10:09 AM
CoastersRule Joined: May 2003 Posts: 51 View Park/Ride Count	Too Funny. My user name says Benchs rule. Thanks for the laugh!
4/1/2008 11:11 AM
Hank Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 866 View Park/Ride Count	Read this... http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...07/804010324 />
4/1/2008 11:52 AM
Katie Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 2145 View Park/Ride Count	I guess this is funny...but not really. Benches? I guess you guys have been really busy to think up a really awesome prank.
4/1/2008 11:59 AM
Steven Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 7585 View Park/Ride Count	That link didn't work, Hank. I wanted to go back to our roots from the days when Kraken was God of the forums, and declared Bench: The Ride to be the best ride ever. Plus, coaster discussion is banned. Try to talk about it on the forums. http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/...read.php?t=4861
4/1/2008 12:07 PM
Carowinds 73-03 Joined: Apr 2003 Posts: 12111 View Park/Ride Count	I just love it. I do sometime find a bench alot better than a coaster.
4/1/2008 12:31 PM
Hank Joined: Aug 2001 Posts: 866 View Park/Ride Count	Since the link didn't work, here's the story... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article published April 1, 2008 April Fools' Day workplace tricks don't always get laughs By GARY T. PAKULSKI BLADE BUSINESS WRITER If a pink slip lands on your desk today, take a deep breath before firing off that e-mail telling the boss exactly what you think of his core competencies. It's April Fools' Day, and the sender might not be the big cheese but the big doofus in the next cubicle. Practical jokes are alive and well in the workplace on April 1, according to a new survey. Thirty-two percent of U.S. workers surveyed by an Internet job site said they have either played a prank on a co-worker or been the victim of one. But before you carry out a practical joke in the office or on the shop floor, think about what you are about to do, experts advise. Pranks often backfire. And lots of companies take a dim view of the antics. "What's funny to one person is sometimes not funny to another person," said Jack Hollister, president of the 700-member Employers' Association of Toledo. The line between humor and perceived harassment is a fine one, Mr. Hollister said. He is not against fun in the workplace, however. Over the years through various jobs, he's been on the receiving end of April Fools' Day mischief. He's gotten calls from irate customers and key clients canceling important orders, only to hear co-workers tittering in the background. The most common April Fools' pranks include faking resignations and gluing tape dispensers and staplers to desks, said Internet site CareerBuilder.com. But the 6,900 workers surveyed for the firm Feb. 11 to March 13 told about company security personnel being called to investigate a possible death in the men's restroom after a jokester left a pair of pants and shoes inside the lone stall for hours. At another company, each female employee met individually with the president to confide she was pregnant and asking that he not disclose the news. By noon, the boss believed that all of the women in the office were expecting but he was unable to tell anyone because of the confidentiality promise. At other worksites, pranksters replaced pop with beer in vending machines, issued fictitious public-address announcements ordering a co-worker to report to the CEO's office, and shrink-wrapped all items in a colleague's office. But the practical jokes observed over the past 27 years by Toledo employment lawyer Kevin Greenfield are usually of a different variety. "They're often drawings or caricatures that make fun of other people, their behavior, or work style," he said. "You look at them in hindsight and think, 'Why did you do that?' These things are very hurtful." Mr. Greenfield typically enters the picture after the prankster has been disciplined or discharged or when the victim decides to sue the employer. He advises workers to strictly avoid jokes that touch on gender, religion, disabilities, and ethnic origin. No matter how funny they are perceived, such jokes and pranks can become the basis of discrimination complaints. Seven out of 10 corporate marketing executives questioned said April Fools' pranks are not appropriate in the workplace, according to a survey for the Creative Group, a staffing service in Menlo Park, Calif. Advertising executives polled were more tolerant. Still, a full 45 percent said the annual pranks should be avoided. Andrew Martin, a Toledo magician whose sense of fun prompted him to appear on the ABC realty TV series Wife Swap in January, is more tolerant. Over the years, he has participated in plenty of workplace practical jokes, though none was tied to April Fools' Day. A few years ago, he was hired by a group of railroad workers to crash a retirement party held on company time for a co-worker. The magician portrayed a supervisor angry to find the employees partying instead of working. Rather than becoming frightened, the soon-to-be retiree was angry. "The guy started going off at me," Mr. Martin recalled. "The guys that hired me calmed him down." Overall, Mr. Martin advises workers to avoid playing pranks on colleagues they don't know well. "And if it requires that you actually hurt somebody, that's wrong." Otherwise, he has no objections to workplace pranks - April Fools' Day or any day. "Humor makes life interesting," he said. "You do the same thing over and over again Then somebody pulls a prank and everybody gets a good laugh. It's a great stress reliever." Contact Gary Pakulski at: gpakulski@theblade.com or 419-724-6082.
4/1/2008 1:41 PM
Steven Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 7585 View Park/Ride Count	I had one at work today that I only wish was an April Fool's prank. An RV cut a fiber optic line to a building. Of course, that's what they get for hanging it off of poles. They finally got smart and buried the thing.
4/1/2008 2:05 PM
rckrazy06 Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 877 View Park/Ride Count	Aww, howcome my name hasn't been changed to bkrazy06? Anyways, great April Fools prank.
4/1/2008 3:24 PM
Timbersman Joined: Dec 2006 Posts: 580 View Park/Ride Count	Most of the time i dont go to the home page, but right to the forums. When i got their i saw BN, but i thought it was just an advertisment. I logged back in and saw it again and remembered last years Six Flags buying out the site and right away knew this was a prank.
4/1/2008 6:47 PM
SCIENCEWIZRD Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 167 View Park/Ride Count	I can't believe ANY word like c-o-a-s-t-e-r has been changed. You have to separate each letter to get it through. Kinda complex, but annoying.
4/1/2008 7:39 PM
raptorpoint93 Joined: Jun 2007 Posts: 119 View Park/Ride Count	Ha, maybe I can use it to display my story last year of how and spent 12 hours at cedar point, mind you im 15, 14 then. I got really tired as I walked around the park three times if I remember, and was also very hot, as it was about 99 degrees that day. I slept on a bench for two hours. Ha, I did, but This is a cool april fool' s joke.
4/1/2008 8:04 PM
Steven Joined: Jun 2001 Posts: 7585 View Park/Ride Count	Here's some past pranks... - Senor Pablo took over TN and was going to change it to bullfighting (he later died) - ThrillDate - Moderators go on strike - Six Flags bought TN There's at least one or two others I'm forgetting.
4/1/2008 8:33 PM

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