It is Superbowl time in America when the championship gave of American football is played. Despite all the canceled sports events and ones played without live fans this year’s Superbowl will likely be the most watched game on TV this year. It reminds me of another Superbowl game played 35 years ago.
The autumn and winter of 1985 was a special time in Chicago, where I was then living and where I was responsible for a very important event at Rotary International, the worldwide service club organization with a million members.
In that year Chicago’s American football team “The Bears” had their best season since 1963 and earned the right to play in the Superbowl. It felt like every Chicagoan became a fan. It was clear that TV sets throughout Chicago would be tuned to the game on Sunday, January 26, 1986 in the evening when the Bears faced the New England Patriots in the Louisiana Superdome.
There was just one problem. That was also the set-up date for Rotary’s biggest training event, the International Assembly. More than 1,200 elected District Governors from around the world would assemble for a week of training and coaching to prepare them to each manage approximately 60 Rotary clubs in their region for the next year. 90 Rotary staff members from Chicago handled registration, information booths and conducted training. A smooth start required that all facilities had to be set up and ready that day at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee.
Normally staff members flew from Chicago to arrive at the hotel midafternoon and worked into the evening to prepare the areas for which they were responsible. That would clearly interfere with watching the game. And even those who could be ready to watch it on TV would be without their family and friends to cheer with them. Morale was very low as this situation sunk in.
I learned an important lesson from that experience. By thinking out of the box I was able t save the day. I urged all staff members to fly in the morning so they could get an early start on their setup responsibilities and I offered an incentive for working diligently.
The game was to begin at 6pm. So I announced that anyone whose setup was complete by 5 pm could have me come and give a final OK to their work and would then get a very special invitation to a Superbowl party where I had an open bar and buffet laid out in a room with a giant projection TV showing the game.
Every staff member qualified by having their setup completed on time and a great mood ensued the entire evening as 90 staff members ate, drank and cheered together as the Bears won the match.
Before you accept unfortunate conditions for your team, think about whether you can turn things around. My staff had to eat anyway. Sure, we spent a little extra on beverages. But the attitude of all staff members was perfect going into the first day of this big event. Creating a good atmosphere is worth the effort.
Herb