Caught in a championship

A few of my co-workers and I were fortunate enough to be in Chicago this past week when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. We were in the Windy City for a conference where arena marketing people from around the country and Canada get together to discuss the upcoming year in shows and events. The Hawks won the cup on the opening night of the conference. We were at Navy Pier and everyone anxiously followed the game. We knew Chicago would go crazy if they won and sure enough, it happened. Michigan Avenue quickly filled with cheering people, cars started to parade around blowing horns. A party atmosphere indeed!

The next night on our way to dinner we noticed a huge commotion on Rush Street with crowds and many police vehicles. Before we knew it, the Blackhawks team bus pulls up to the intersection we were standing at and out comes the Stanley Cup! The team was making quick stops at popular Chicago restaurants or drinking spots. Needless to say, the atmosphere was unbelievable.

As far as the conference was concerned, we talked with many representatives from shows like Walking With Dinosaurs, Sesame Street, Star Wars: In Concert. We also discussed at length the continual explosion of social media and how to better reach the masses with Twitter, facebook and the like.