Bears visit

Yesterday was the first of 6 Season Ticket Holder Advisory Group meetings at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. It's a trip up there for me, so with the meeting at 5:45, I left at 4:15. Unfortunately, the Cubs game started early and so was ending early too. Literally I got in the car, turned on the radio and there were two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Dang. Anyone leaving early would be in their car already and people would soon be swarming the streets. I had to get out of dodge in a hurry. So I took a circuitous route that took me south and west instead of north and west, for a little bit, but avoided the Wrigley Field traffic. Now for rush hour.

It was pretty hairy fighting through rush hour traffic up 94 to get as far as I had to go, but I did it and I was even early. Figured I'd use the time to hang out at Halas Hall and see if I could see anyone famous. Why not right? So I drove up Field Drive and came upon a security guard at a gate that raises and lowers. He checked my name on a list and told me where to park and then how to get inside from there....so I did.

Here's what I saw just outside the building:

Cool. I've never been to Halas Hall as they don't hold many events there and it is restricted access.

Inside the building there were a few of these groups on display, but I only took a picture of one. My bad. I'll get the others next time.

Also inside, greeting us, was the Chairman of the Board, George McCaskey (whom I had met once before). In fact, he and the President/CEO, Ted Phillips, sat with us for about a half an hour just answering whatever questions we wanted to ask.

We, in this context, was 10 veteran and 10 rookie season ticket holders. Veteran means they were there last year. They've decided that being in the group is a two year commitment with 10 people rotating out and 10 new people each year. I think it's a good system for getting feedback from a diverse, fresh group.

It was really fun to talk Bears with other die-hard fans. There was a good mix of people from various parts of the stadium, both men and women, with kids and without. Good job by the Bears for looking for their fans' feedback. We discussed the team's marketing slogan (has been "One city, one team") and a bunch of things related to tickets and the services the ticket folks provide. It was fun, but it went for about 3 hours, though they did include a sandwich dinner.

At the end, out in the main entry room, was George McCaskey. Still there waiting to say goodbye to each of us and thank us for participating. THAT'S a great statement to make. Nice job Bears.