"Try to make an impact on a guest today, okay, let's make that a team goal and an individual goal"

 

Making this it's own section simply because it is a separate internship and learning experience!

 

 I was pulled aside by a professor of mine after a long day at school.  Just getting ready to pack up and leave after her class -- my third class of the day -- she asked me and a few others if we would want to apply to work at X Games Minneapolis for their 2017 summer games.  Understanding that my main goal was to eventually work at X Games, I said yes and I have not regretted that decision since!   I am going back to my third X Games this summer and taking a small break from the Highlands to work the second year in Minneapolis.  

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I would like to take you through the first two Games I have worked however.  The first one as mentioned was in Minneapolis, first year at the venue as well so it was a newer environment for everyone involved.  Val is a manager with this student program designed within ESPN, she had just tackled one of the hardest obstacles life has thrown her way and she told us to "Try to make an impact on a guest today, okay, lets make that a team goal and an individual goal" she wanted to hear about it afterwards and gave every team member a bracelet with this word engraved within it as a reminder.  

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I can be pretty shy until I become familiar with the situation at hand so I did not feel as though I made an impact on a guest that summer but that is okay.  Aspen was a short six months later and that not only gave me an opportunity to make an impact on a guest but for the guest to make an impact on me.

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Once that plane landed I felt like I was home.  I want to move out west and this kind of made the experience of visiting the west even more thrilling.  I met a gentleman about my age who had hit an obstacle, similar to the obstacle Val overcame.  But this had hit home and I will tell you why.

Sidetracking real quick about two years ago, three years ago this April, my cousin passed away after fighting a long battle with cancer and all I wanted to do was see him happy.  Before he passed this cancer spread throughout his whole body making him weak, took his leg and took the last of his energy.  This gentleman had the same drive as my cousin and I was ready to get to know him and make sure he had the time of his life.  

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Unlike Minneapolis; I was a student in the hospitality crew working next to students from a university in Colorado and the University of Minneapolis, Ferris students as well!  By chance I got to work in the LifeProof suite which was awesome for more than one reason.  The first, meeting the family and this young gentleman and the second reason would be networking with my marketing degree in mind.  So back to the first reason, he told me about how he use to snowboard every weekend when he was younger and now he is an artist into photography.  I built this relationship with not only him but the rest of his family and their guests that assisted with anything they needed.  With the events coming to a close the last day was upon us.  That morning my advisor came up to me and said, "anything that happens today... it was what you made possible" she then smiled and walked away.  As the team was breaking for dinner I had talked with some of the managers including Val.  They brought in a swag bag with everything from pieces from our uniform to apparel and items donated from all of our sponsors and then a bracelet with the word "IMPACT" engraved.  His mom and I were both crying and she hugged me and thanked me for making everything possible.  

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That is when I realized that I had made an impact on them just as they did on me.

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Adding on to this, I was able to experience the second year at US Bank Stadium this past july 2018.  It was different from last summer with set up and training, this year they seemed to emphasize the learning and training aspect!  It was super neat and we got to rotate.  This past summer most of my impact came from my fellow students, we seemed to keep an eye out for each other and yes that does include other schools too.  We got to work with Johnson Wales from three of their campuses across the States, and Minneapolis students.  With returners came new faces and we were able to add to our X Games Family.  I worked in the waiver tent on the south entrance, inside the stadium directing guests on the main concourse, and ingress/egress for the transit side of things.  Another great summer with the managers as well!  

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I love being able to continue to add to the meaning of X Games.  It is now May of 2019, I went back and attended X Games Aspen 2019 and more skills had been acquired and improved.  This past winter I went back as a student working on the guest services team and took more of a leadership role on.  As an alum, my managers were able to count on me to get some things on site done while teaching new students.  This past winter a big change was our sponsors.  This year we had Bumble sponsoring Aspen and Lifeproof was not there unfortunately.   Our team however just keeps getting stronger and stronger as well as the Games themselves.  I know we just expanded to Calgary for 13.5 billion from 2020-2022 which is going to be exciting! 

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Minneapolis 2019 came and went so fast!  I carpooled with some girls from the team which was exciting, I always enjoy going for road trips and it makes it even easier when it is with people you enjoy hanging out with!  So we got to Minneapolis about 12 pm on the 30th.  I may have spent too much money at the Mall of America but that's not what this experience was about.  This year I learned the importance of being honest while being part of a team.  I learned the importance of being aware while you are around 30,000 strangers on a daily basis, and I learned how to relate to guests on a different level.  With the shootings and whatnot happening in so many places and in our own backyard it gets scary as the training gets deeper.  This is part of being aware and keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.  "In a time like this it comes down to flee or fight and sometimes you have to fight" this was said in our training but it opened my eyes.  

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This summer I was working in guest services (shocker, right!?) it is where I feel like I can make the biggest impact on our guests at the stadium.  From starting on the main concourse to working on the floor it was nice to be back.  With the position I was in, I had a day and a half to relearn the entire stadium, the field level to the lounges on the third floor to the tickets and what the creds meant per guest.  This was a way I could improve my knowledge about the venue which is something good to learn.  Knowing the tricks to be able to tell which elevator to take before you get lost or which staircase leads to which section(s).

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This year was my last summer as a student in the program, I plan on coming back to work in the alumni program and move forward with X! 

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UPDATE: I went Back, if you want to read more, feel free to keep scrolling!

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Aspen 2020 was a rewarding year out of the previous events. I say this because this is the last large scale event before we went into lockdown and with this being a global event we weren't sure how it would play out in following years. This was also a year where I went out as a Disney manager. I'll explain that a little further, whereas other years I was on either the guest services team or the hospitality team, I took on a role as a student coordinator and assistant to our student program coordinator. This meant I was not in the sea of students from the six or seven other schools but I was leading a team and filled in for our managers when necessary. My favorite event is always going to be the snowmobile competitions, this was a year where one of our managers had to leave and asked me to take over his team of five. These students were working their first event and even though I was their age, I earned their respect and I got to get to know them. These relationships are exciting to make because we all come from different schools and experiences.

 

Aspen 2022 arrived and I went back as part of their content team. This is the most recent event we had worked, a global event post Covid as a team. How awesome is that?! The content team was not like previous years, opposite of what I had been use to while working those events. Instead of standing outside working directly with guests and telling them where to go, we had our own desk space and clipped footage. This was a side of event production I did not know about until recently, as it was just added to our student program I was able to learn a couple new platforms that may be helpful in the future such as Tellyo and Slack. Slack was the communication platform we used for any proofing, and to communicate with our television and broadcasting team as well as our sponsorship team and what needed to be posted for clients. Tellyo was used to clip dirty and clean footage. The dirty footage with graphics were clipped by Emma, a colleague of mine. I clipped the clean footage for each athlete and run. It was tricky considering all athletes who hid their bib number, had to be told apart by what they were wearing but you just have to get creative to track each athlete and run.

 

I Look forward to continuing these connections in the future, the best part ab out this industry is that it is constantly changing and no matter what event you go to and how many times you go, there is always something new to learn. A big thank you to everyone who has made an impact on my experiences and my career thus far.