Are you ready for some football?
Authors: Chelsea Lashua & Lauren Johnson
With Super Bowl LIV coming up, I sat down with Gathering Producer, Lauren Johnson, to chat about her experience amidst the production of Super Bowl LI, being a fan of the game, and what she would do if she was leading the event today.
Super Bowl LIV, the 54th Super Bowl, is coming up in Miami. From an event pro perspective this is an exciting event to watch or be a part of, and even more exciting if you’re actually a football fan. We know you’re an event pro, but how about football?
Yes I’m definitely a fan.
Who is your favorite team?
The New England Patriots. Who am I routing for in the Super Bowl? The 49ers.
Some people only watch if their team is in the Super Bowl, but it sounds like you’re a true fan of the game if you’re routing for the 49ers. Any game-time superstitions or traditions?
YES. We have a superstition that if one of the teams is doing horribly we all have to move seats, and if they start doing well nobody can move until something goes wrong. For example, if I’m running into the kitchen to grab football food and Tom Brady throws a touchdown pass, I have to stay there. I can’t leave the kitchen unless they miss the point after, or something along those lines…
So considering your superstition and the fact that you’re a logistical planner, do you have floorpans and seating charts made up before every game?
Haha, no not exactly…but that’s not a bad idea!
You were actually in the heart of it all at a previous Super Bowl. Can you tell me a little bit about what that was like?
I was attending a sister-conference for an Annual Meeting I planned with my previous job and it was one week out from Super Bowl LI in Houston, Texas. Being there in the days leading up to this massive sports event was very cool. We were in downtown Houston at the convention center, attending multiple meetings throughout the week but we were also attempting to do a site visit at the new Marriott Marquis which just so happened to be the headquarters for the NFL executives.
Wow, so I can imagine there may have been some heightened security at the Marriott?
All of the meeting space that we wanted to look at was essentially in lockdown. We would come out of the elevator on a floor we wanted to look at space at, and were immediately stopped by multiple security officers asking as what we were doing there, what we were looking for…and it just so happens that one week out is when all of the executives have all of their meetings.
When it’s just days away from the big game and you’re in downtown, just 20 minutes outside of the stadium, is it chaos? Tell me a little about the atmosphere.
It was eerily calm… knowing that chaos was coming. The streets were closed, anyone who was there was pretty much either in executive meetings, radio teams in their own secluded areas, people putting up graphics on the side of the Hilton or setting up a stage outside the convention center. It was quiet, but the way it was set up you would’ve thought that there were hundreds of thousands of people. Before all of those people arrived we had left, but you knew they were coming soon because so much was already set up and that was really the hub for all of the events leading up to the game.
So you are one of a couple thousand attendees at this conference, entirely separate and unrelated to the Super Bowl, but did you face any obstacles because of the Super Bowl set up?
For the meeting we were attending I know that there were signage restrictions, the NFL had basically taken any spot that you could place signage, so to navigate our meeting was definitely more difficult. The meeting was booked almost 5 years in advance, so my guess is that the planners had to deal with a lot of logistical changes for signage, transportation, increased costs, etc. after the NFL decided on Houston.
As an attendee was there anything that you noticed that planners had to adjust in real-time?
Wayfinding. Going into it every attendee knew where they need to go, but now with streets shut down you just can’t get there. We would have to get dropped off a block or two away…but luckily there’s really only two towers in that area so it was easy to locate which one you need to go to.
Do you know if any other outside events were going on at that time? It seems kind of crazy to hold an event in the same area and timeframe as the Super Bowl.
I would say if you can control it, I would never compete with the Super Bowl.
I can imagine people who are attending, probably you included, are paying much less attention to what you’re actually there for, and paying attention to all the Super Bowl buzz around you.
Exactly! You’re sitting in executive meetings in a hotel looking out the window at another hotel that’s getting graphics installed 20 stories high. Those were the things we were watching while we’re sitting through important meetings.
What would be the craziest or most impressive thing you saw?
How far along they were in the process one week. So much was set up and branded, knowing they probably had so much more to do, but to an outsider it looked done and awesome. Also knowing that this started a week before we arrived, and all of this was for one weekend. It all comes down to preparedness…it makes sense for a televised event like this…it’s just wild to see.
Did you get to stay in Houston or attend the game when the conference was over?
Unfortunately no…but even though I was already back home, the craziest thing was the actual game. It was the Pats versus the Falcons - one of the craziest Super Bowls of all time - the one where the Pats were losing 28-3, and after half time they came back to beat the Falcons 34-28.
How do you think things have changed in the past 3 years for the planners?
If I had to guess I’d say that security is probably extremely heightened even from when I was there, there were areas that were locked down but anybody could walk into the convention center. No one was checking my badge to see if I was there for a conference or the Super Bowl, anyone could go in and I feel like now, I don’t know if they would even allow another group to be there. I just feel like nowadays security has to be top of mind.
Would there be any reason to go into the conference center if you weren’t attending your conference or a Super Bowl related meeting?
Not really - but I guess if you were trying to snoop around or run into a past player you might try to get in. Sometimes in the days leading up to the game past players will come in to Radio Row (which was set up in the conference center) to be interviewed. But it’s not until opening night that the real high security events really take place. This is the night when all the newscasters and radio personnel will interview the competing team players and coaches as they address the nation for the firs time, live.
If you had the chance to be a part of producing the Super Bowl, what would be your dream role?
I’d love to be a part of the opening night (also known as media day). Managing the logistics of the area where they host opening night, the audio visual, everything. It’s really the start of all of the excitement going into game day. All the teams come out and get introduced with their coaches on stage, go through interviews, and it’s all televised so it turns into a rally to get everyone at home excited for game day.
Do you know Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel?
No, who is he?
It’s really hysterical - in a sea of broadcasters he gets up there and he’s handing the players what looks like homemade gifts…like he gave Tom Brady a pillow with Tom’s face on it, and he tries to convince Edelman to let him touch his beard. If you haven’t seen the videos, it’s really great…and I’d love to be behind the scenes watching all that go down.
If you could dream up your perfect Super Bowl, who would the teams be, what venue, and half time show?
Pats versus the 49ers, because it would be Tom Brady against his old backup Jimmy G. - and I haven’t been to a lot of stadiums but it would be so cool to see it at the Dallas stadium. For the half time show…my dream half time show already happened in 2001 - NSYNC, Britney Spears, Aerosmith, Mary J Blige AND Nelly…I mean that’s a throwback dream right there. So I guess that’s my favorite, but now I’d have to go with Garth Brooks in Dallas…how awesome would that be!
OK just a couple more questions, I know you didn’t plan it yourself but as a planner what would be one thing you think people should know about planning the Super Bowl?
I think that nobody really thinks about the planning of the Super Bowl unless they’re a planner, so I think there’s a big appreciation for the time and detail that goes into preparing for an event this size.
Changing gears, if you were a piece of production equipment what would you be?
Hmm that’s a tough one….I think I’d be a projector. It’s behind the scenes and nobody sees it but it has a huge influence on how a show runs.
I love that! That’s perfect for you. Last question: You’re at the Super Bowl, the Pats are playing and Garth Brooks is playing the half time show. You get one autograph. Do you choose Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, or Garth Brooks?
Garth. It should’ve been harder right, but I’m a die hard Garth fan!