I have a confession to make: I’ve never been to a UVa football game. I’m not what you’d call a huge football fan and so, be forewarned, when I do, inevitably end up at a game some time
in the future, seat me near someone who doesn’t care if I chatter away the entire game. Except for halftime, of course. I revere marching bands.
So as oblivious as I seemingly am to college football in my college town, I’m not at all, really. The schedule for games is on my fridge; I’m aware of when everyone with whom I do business will be heading to a game. I know when orange and blue are appropriate to wear (and where). I know when to avoid the grocery store and stocking up tailgaters.
You can’t, in other words, live in a college town and completely ignore football. In St. Louis, there was a similar impact on business with the St. Louis Cardinals (I am, despite my football apathy, a major league baseball fan). Opening day in the spring in St. Louis is a regional holiday; no one works and everyone watches, listens to and celebrates baseball.
This is a great point. Every area has their sporting events, or other events, that shut things down, or even provide opportunities. I was talking to someone from Williamsport the other day, and they were talking about how the Little League World Series is like Christmas for them. It’s the time of year when traffic is bad, but also the time of year when most local businesses make the most money, particularly in the hospitality industry. A small little town that keeps building hotels because they need them during that one time of the year. We need to know when events will prevent us from doing business or when they will become opportunities for doing MORE business.
It took me 27 minutes to get past the 1st sentence. We need to correct that. Now, onto the rest of the post – 100% agreed! At the very least events such as UVA games, the LLWS, music festivals, etc… give you an instant ‘in’ to open up a conversation w/ someone you haven’t met before. ‘Are you in town for X?’ ‘Are you going to Y?’ – These events cause folks to let down their ‘personal space circle’ to a certain degree, much like major national events (who didn’t talk about the ’08 election, regardless of who you voted for?) and are a great opportunity to make new friends and business partners.
@DrewLawrence Drew, I thought it would be a bit too blatant to beg someone to take me to a UVa football game, but I’m totally in. Now, you might not want to sit next to me (I’ll talk the entire time) but I’m up for going, for sure.
Home UVA football game days are a great time to shop for cars, because nobody else is! Our dealership is DEAD on game day. If it is a noon game, come by around 1pm. If it is a 3:00 game, come by 10am-1pm. At those times, there is absolutely nobody on the road. It is tough for the sales guys to have to listen to the game on the radio, though.