My Community: Calgary Flames Partnership
For this blog, it was very difficult to choose a community that I was involved in because there are so many. Like baseball, hockey, Hawkwood (where I live), people my age, any of my 3 jobs. Therefore I decided to choose a work community, the Calgary Flames.
I have worked for the Flames for two years now in their customer service/ticketing department. I have seen numerous changes to office staff and internal people. You may not consider the Flames to be a dependant community, but in my eyes they are.
Community within the Flames organization is considered to be very close within its internal staff. Many of the the members i talked to this evening are in close quarters with their collegues and interact with them all day. They also are dependant on each other to get tasks done, kind of like each staff member is their own leader. This type of community is different from a community of random people in a neighbourhood setting, because it shows that people, even when work gets in the way, can still be a place of fun and interacting with others.
Many of the Flames successes are dependant on the performance on the ice, however the staff have their own successes as well. I talked with Shane in Marketing and he was telling me how, when he puts together a promotional plan and proposes it to the Flames Board of Members, it is very rewarding to see his plan come to action. What the Flames have done really well so far is the selling of the brand, "The "c" of Red". They have brought together a whole city and its people to back their hockey team by wearing red and being a "red" city as well. This is a form of community development in its own right. The Flames are engaging others to participate in this activity of wearing red to games and the people who don't feel left out and may think that their quality of life is affected (see level 5 of the community framework we learned in class).
Many plans of the Flames community are to bring in new customers, design a new building for the hockey team, and allow for people to enjoy themselves in a mature and fun nature. These plans are key in building a new base for community. By getting new people/fans to come aboard onto the "bandwagon" so to speak, they will build a city image. Many people come to Calgary to see the tower, or enjoy stampede, but they also have the Flames hockey team in mind. This is how the Flames are building their community by promoting a brand image that sticks with you, an experience.
Opportunities for the Flames organization is within corporate funding. By getting the corporate community to come along to have their own experience is important because without any corporate sponsorships, the team and organization would fail. These corporate opportunities are what make the community, like the Flames still be one of the best in Canada.
Nice post man, working for the Flames one day is a goal of mine. Interesting to hear from an insiders perspective. I agree about the branding of the 'C of Red' too. I visited Calgary when the Flames made their Stanley Cup run, and the C of Red was in full effect. Really made Calgary feel like a close-knit community. A common goal can do that. Hockey teams also exemplify the term we learned in class, 'weirder the mix the better the fix' with the many different international personalities on the team. Not to mention the different personalities, mindset, and roles of grinders, playmakers, snipers, offensive defensemen, etc. Always good stuff.
ReplyDeleteRyan! I had no idea you worked for the Flames. That's great! I've heard great things about the employee community. It's great to hear that the employee successes are just as influential as the players. What we don't see much of, at least from one fan's perspective, is recognition of these successes as the players, coaches and management staff seem to get all the attention. Speaking of attention...I love that you mention the "C" of Red branding! I remember that 2004 cup run like yesterday and it was a great way to unite the community, from the die hard fans to the bandwagoners and beyond. The whole city became engaged and you could see it standing on the street as the buses drove by with "Go Flames Go". What I think would help out the Flames community would be to have this amount of fan engagement year round,as we cannot rely on cup runs since they are few and far between. Great post Ryan!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post - we never really hear much about those behind the scenes that make a difference. It is way more than just hockey, it is about a community coming together for a common goal in which not only the players and coaches can fulfill. It is people like yourself who make things happen. Reading Lindsey's post - I too remember the Flames run for the cup in 2004. It was great to see how much it had impacted the community, gave people reason to believe - it was much more than just the player's on the ice, it was everyone who had impacted the team that year on an off the ice that made it special. Righteous post!
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