THAT’S A WRAP

The Host Committee returns from South Florida, knowing North Texas is now on the clock

By Steve Pate

February 8, 2010

Tara Green was just returning from 10 days at the South Florida Super Bowl on Monday. She headed out of DFW Airport and started out on Highway 183 when, along the road ahead, she spotted a countdown clock sponsored by Coors Light.

The digital billboard already included the new Super Bowl XLV logo and shouted the news, “363 Days To Go!”

This magical ride that Green has been on the past three and one-half years — from overseeing authorship of the winning bid that is bringing North Texas its first ever Super Bowl, to a 2010 calendar year that promises to be one big rollercoaster — is ready to kick into another gear.

Green, the Host Committee’s VP & COO, and Kit Sawers, VP of Special Events, had just spent 10 days in South Florida. A large contingent of staff and sponsors had joined them by Wednesday night. And while a world was enthralled with the Saints’ march to Super Bowl victory and its uplifting impact on New Orleans and the entire “Who Dat?” nation, the North Texas forces were gearing up for next year’s game.

Which is now This Year’s Game.

“For me, the highlight of the trip was having the staff down there and having all of them fully engaged in the areas for which they are responsible,” Green said. “For three years now, it was kind of Bill Lively, myself, and a couple of other volunteers trying to see and do everything ourselves. And now, we’ve got a great staff that has shown me that we are ready.

“Amanda Whitelaw, for example, is very good with her area of volunteers, and she was out there on her own, reporting back each day on the things she was seeing and doing. Angie Bulaich was doing the same thing with community relations. We have a lot of good people doing what they need to do; it’s not just a closed entity anymore — it’s a group of people doing what we need to get done.”

There will be moments this year, particularly as the Super Bowl draws closer, when many North Texans will be able to look back in pride. Other Super Bowls will hopefully come to North Texas. But this will be remembered as the grand-daddy of them all.

One such moment occurred in South Florida when Green spent time with Phillip Jones, President & CEO of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was Jones who allowed Green, one of his Dallas CVB Vice Presidents, to take a six month leave of absence and prepare the Super Bowl bid. And Jones, who generously allowed Green to stay on with the Host Committee. And Jones again, who made the Dallas CVB one of the Founding Sponsors for the North Texas Super Bowl.

“It was very fulfilling to host Phillip on this trip as one of our Founding Sponsors,” Green said. “It was very rewarding to say to him, ‘Remember when you took that leap of faith and let me focus on bringing this event to the region?’ To have Phillip be a part of the Super Bowl experience in South Florida allowed him to be a part of the fruits of his labor.”

It also allowed Jones, a Louisiana native, to see with his own eyes what previously had been considered unfathomable — a Super Bowl victory by the Saints.

Another nice sentimental touch came when Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time rusher and Cowboys great, was announced as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame class for 2010. With Gina Puente-Brancato, Smith Co-Chairs the Host Committee’s Emerging Business Program and has been an active participant in Host Committee events for a year now.

“It was special for us to get to share that with Emmitt,” Green said. “He is so worthy of that honor, and for our Host Committee to just get a little glimpse of that. He has been so willing to give of himself to the Host Committee. That day was for Emmitt and his family and his accomplishments, and for us to get a little peek of that was really, really special.”

Green and the entire Host Committee staff spread out all over South Florida and took in meetings and attended functions. They particularly enjoyed the Taste of the NFL, always one of the great Super Bowl events. Green also saw first-hand the value of the Emerging Business Program for minority and women-owned businesses.

“I think Tailgate is a great example of how important the Emerging Business Program is,” Green said. “The NFL party at the stadium before the game involves emerging businesses everywhere — food suppliers, chefs, labor, construction workers, even a nail salon was set up in two different areas. And they are a great resource.

“I also came away very impressed with Game Day Management. That’s the group that hires 600 people to work with transportation. They were phenomenal. They use people to work the parking lots, bus loaders, route managers, supervisors, a long list of volunteers for airports, hotels, special events. They did a seamless job of operating transportation.”

And now: All aboard for North Texas.

“I feel like we are focused on our bid commitments to the NFL,” Green said. “We’ve done a really great job of engaging the North Texas region. We’ve laid out some legacy plans that were not a part of our original bid commitment but are so important to our first Super Bowl.

“Things like SLANT 45 for our youth and the Century In The Making Top 100 Football Moments are tools for us to engage North Texans in Super Bowl XLV. The game tickets are allocated by the NFL, but there are volunteer opportunities that lead to other ways to have a Super Bowl experience.”

In wrapping up the South Florida trip, Green wanted to say a special “Thank You” to all members of the South Florida Host Committee.

“To a person,” she said, “their staff was exceedingly generous of their time and information. They responded to us so quickly on anything we needed. They really are just a wonderful organization. Their President Mike Zimmer, their Director of Operations Nan Markowitz, Event Manager Nikki Fiedler, David Silverstein in Communications.

“Any kind of tickets we needed, any kind of access, they really bent over backwards to do whatever they could. And we appreciate it.”

At the start of the 2009 NFL season, how many might have imagined a Super Bowl between New Orleans and Indianapolis? There’s just no telling which two of the 32 franchises will emerge each season.

But whoever they are, they’re coming to North Texas next February to play in the largest Super Bowl ever. If the North Texas Host Committee has its way, it’ll also be the best.