Purdue Today

Game Starters: Heather Hoesly, promotions

Heather Hoesly's office is full of posters, calendars and schedule cards for Purdue football, but they're not to decorate her office or to remind her to buy tickets.

Instead, the promotional material is part of Hoesly's charge as athletics promotions director: to fill Ross-Ade Stadium with plenty of energetic Boilermaker fans and to create a spirited atmosphere during the game.

What does your job entail?

As athletics promotions director, I oversee the marketing of all 18 sports. I work mainly with football and men's basketball, but I have some involvement in one way or another with all of the sports.

Our goal in promotions is not only to get fans to the games, but also to make it an enjoyable atmosphere for them once they're at the games.

We develop all of the advertising, including newspapers, radio, TV commercials and billboards, as well as develop and implement ticket sales strategies. We also work on the concept and designs for promotional materials such as posters and schedule cards.

Another aspect of promotions is the in-game entertainment, which could include an on-field recognition of distinguished alumni or one of our outstanding athletes or teams. During the Homecoming game, for example, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the 2001 Rose Bowl team. The football team wore throwback uniforms that looked like those worn for the Rose Bowl, and then those uniforms were auctioned off on the purduesports.com website.

We have three full-time staff members, and we rely heavily on Purdue student volunteers. We have about 30 students that volunteer for us throughout the year. On any given game day, we usually have between 20 and 25 working for us.

How far ahead do you start planning promotions for football?

Football involves year-round planning. We're always doing something with football, whether it's season ticket renewals, single-game sales or mini-sales. Beginning in November before the season's even over, we're already evaluating and trying to come up with new ideas about what we can do next year to sell out the stadium and provide even more excitement for the fans.

What type of preparation do you do for football games?

The week of the game, we have a schedule of what's supposed to happen, so we start to put everything in place as to what time of the game a recognition is going to take place, or making sure we have enough students to staff the StreetFest or the field duties.

I also work with the sponsorship element of Purdue athletics. Purdue Sports Properties sells sponsorships to companies that want to promote their business at events.  If they sell a company an opportunity to have a booth at StreetFest, I help that company on game days to make sure they have the space and items they need.

We have meetings to make sure everybody's on the same page. We print out event timelines, which are provided to fans as they enter the parking lot so they know what activities are taking place prior to kickoff. Also new this year is the Boilermaker Bridge Walk, which is Friday nights down by the Wabash River. We help execute that event as a way to kick off the weekend and get people excited about football.

On game day we set up the activities for StreetFest three hours before the game. Once we get in the stadium, we work closely with the video board operators, we do all the on-field presentations … work with the band and the cheerleaders. We communicate with each other so each group knows when to cheer, play or stop during sponsorship ads or recognitions. It's important to have everybody on the same page.

How is the football team involved with promotions?

We work with them a lot. We feature them in the TV and radio ads, and often do photo shoots for use on all our promotional materials. We try and make sure that they are represented well and we listen to them if they have ideas. They are involved on campus and in the community as much as possible through the Bridge Walk, pep rallies and other special events.

Has there been a good response to the Boiler Bridge Walk?

Yes, I think it's catching on and it seems to have grown the past few games. We've had a lot of great feedback from the individuals who are there. Even though they don't have a lot of time to sign autographs, the team tries to stop and take quick pictures or talk briefly with a young Boilermaker fan.

Do you have any other new promotions this year?

Back in August we did the Meet the Team picnic event. We had thousands of people come and grab hot dogs and get team autographs. We had a quick little pep rally in which Coach Hope and a couple of captains spoke. It turned out to be a successful event, and it's something we're looking to build on again next year.

Do you have time to enjoy the game?

I can honestly say I don't see a lot of the plays. Toward the end of the game most of our duties are complete so we often get to enjoy the end of the games, which is sometimes the best part. Everyone is always jealous because we have a great view down in the south end zone; however, we're working the whole time. Sometimes you have to be on the lookout when the action is on the south end of the field because a football might come flying your way.

What do you like most about your job?

It's a fun job and challenging job. One day I'll be at a football game, the next day at a basketball game, and then I'll stop by a swim meet or by volleyball or soccer. You just go down the list. It's exciting. When teams win championships, you feel like you're a part of it.

My greatest accomplishment is when a stadium or arena is sold out or we set a new attendance record. I look at that and know that I did my job well and helped to make an electric atmosphere for our student athletes to compete in.