November 21, 2025 • 18 mins
In this episode of How 2 Sport, Kandi Goltz talks about her career progression within the Green Bay Packers organization and what some of her favorite memories are working for the 13-time world champions.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, and welcome to How to Sport, the show that
highlights the unique experiences and journeys of professionals and sports biz.
I'm your host, Megan Robertson, and I have the privilege
to be here today with Green Bay Packers Assistant Director
of Game Presentation and Live Events, Candy Golds. Welcome, Candy, Hello,
Thank you for having me. Absolutely, we've got a lot
(00:27):
to cover today, so I want to go ahead and
get started. But you grew up in Wisconsin, I.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Did, Yes, I am a local. I am a yes,
very hometown.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Love it. So can you describe your childhood and were
you a Packers fan growing up?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So I grew up in s webbinon a mile down
the road from the stadium. I mean the whole yes,
all of Wisconsin is a Packers fan. I don't want
to say like I was a huge Packers fan. I
my brothers, you know, came and rode their bikes for
training camp. You know they had favorite player is that
they would show up and run down to training camp with.
(01:04):
I went to a couple of games when my parents
had season tickets. I remember in high school one of
my friends was on the cheer team. The Packer rats,
which was like so awesome, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Boy, have time has change?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Right? So yeah, just yeah, right down the street. Local
Green Bit packers are a big thing. I mean they're
a big thing in town. I remember players when I
was in high school, James Lofton lived in the same
neighborhood as some friends. Like, oh, they would babysit and
I mean it was just it would Yeah, he would
show up. You go to someone's house and he's like
right next door. So I mean it was really fun awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So grew up in Green Bay, very close to what's
now lambeau Field. You went to University of Wisconsin Green Bay.
So how was it going to school so close to home? It?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, I stayed at home so I saved some money. Yes, yes,
I had two older sisters that were also at uw
G with me, so it was sort of a thing.
That's what we do. That's Oh my sisters went there,
I will follow them and do that. So yeah, so
the three of us were at GB together. We carpooled.
I mean we had to coordinate our schedules. If someone
(02:14):
had to be there at eight o'clock for a class,
we were there at eight. If someone had the late
class until nine o'clock at night. It's like you were
there all day or you had to find a way home.
It was fun. We're in different majors, so we weren't
in the same classes, but towards the end I did
switch my major over to communications, and then my older
sister had done this, had done the same classes, so
it was kind of fun having the same teachers talking
(02:35):
about the same classes, and so it was really helpful. Fun.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Is there a certain teacher professor that you had at
UWGV that really kind of showed you down this path
that you're in, And we'll get to that in a second.
But is there someone that you would you've looked to
and you're like, oh, that person was so pivotal in
my success as a college student.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I do remember Phil Klampet. He was our communications US
and I loved him. I loved his classes just because
he made you think outside of the box. It was
just so amazing and it was just so interesting versus
I mean, I did not do well in corporate finance
or accounting. That's why I'm more into the marketing. Year.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Absolutely, I feel like that's how a lot of communications
majors are right there. That's why they chose that specific major.
So that makes compart.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Absolutely all right.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So grew up in Green Bay, went to UWGB. It's
only fitting that you ended up at the Green Bay Packers.
So you're about to enter your thirty sixth season with
the Packers, thirty fifth year. But let's start at the beginning.
I mentioned at the beginning, at the beginning that you
are the assistant director of Game Presentation and Live Events,
(03:48):
but I don't think that's where you started. So can
you walk us through from the beginning kind of the timeline,
and then we'll get more into the details after that.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Sure, my path to my job right now is a
little unconventional. It's not what happens right now. I think
in the real world. You have to think this is
thirty five years ago. It was really being in the
right place at the right time. It's such a weird story.
How I got the job. My sister is bartending Eddie
(04:18):
Bard down by St. Norbert College, where the team would
go for training camp and a lot of people from
the front office would hang out there. Sometimes. My sister
got to meet the GM at the time, okay, and
he was asking her he had someone that was retiring.
One of the ladies in the scouting department was retiring
who had been there for years and years, and he
was looking for someone to replace her. I don't think
(04:38):
the job was even posted. My sister was like, my
sister just graduated, and he's like, give me your number.
He called me like the next day. It was a Saturday.
He called me at home and I mean there were
no cell phones, I mean your regular phone. So I
sent my resume in, did some interviewing, Andie hired me.
And I know, my sister is younger than I am.
(05:00):
She's still in school, and I think at the time,
she's like, why is this not me? Like right, it
wasn't like two years older. That is so, But I
mean I still had the skills. I still had to
interview and be a dedicated employee that stayed for thirty
five years.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Holy cow. And to start in scouting and end up
having game presentation, that's quite the journey. So from scouting,
then where did you go?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Okay, in the scouting department, we talk about being a
Packers fan. I mean my brothers played football. I would
go to a game. But I started and the GM
at the time Tom Brotz had me. I had to
take care of the draft room. And there's magnetic paint
on the walls, and I had to do all the
little cards for all the college players. So the scouts
would go out and scout and they'd send me the report.
(05:47):
I'd have to compile all of that, get that ready
for the draft. There were not a lot of computers
at the time. They didn't have their own laptops. Everything
was like chicken scratch here, send it back to Candy.
She gets it ready. So I had the name plays
of all the players, so the college players coming out
and so by position. So that's already. But then on
another wall was all of the NFL teams and all
(06:10):
of their players by position. So my first project is
to update the wall. I didn't know a tight end
from a defensive back? What is the strugs? I didn't
know offense and defense. I like, I can watch the game,
but I that was a really quick learning curve there.
I'm okay, I myself, okay, I need to figure out
(06:32):
whose offense whose defense. I can't keep go in and
ask Tom brought tight end? Go Oh my gosh, So
I had I got the board. Home is up and
ready and yes, and I was there on draft day
and back then when we when they drafted the first
round player, they always would fly him in and by
that evening he was here at lambeau Field. So that
(06:54):
was always that's crazy. Yeah, So back to the path.
Football is always, I mean, there's a need to win.
You need to win. Lindy and Fonte was the coach.
The team was not. We weren't doing, you know, what
we were supposed to be doing. Lindy lost his job, Tom.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Lost his job.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
We brought in Ron Wolf. Ron had his own person
that he works with right like to do a lot
of the things that I was doing. And at the time,
we had just started our marketing department. We just hired
a marketing director. He was probably here about a year.
I moved over to marketing, okay, and it's really been
from that move over, it's been really great, really growing
(07:32):
the marketing department. I mean Jeff Seepley had only been
here maybe a year. He hired a salesperson. I was
doing partnership services. I was doing game entertainment, so we
really were creating the game. When Jeff came in, there
was there was no marketing department. I mean he started
the pro shop, he started, I mean, we got new
video boards, we started, you know, doing more of the entertainment.
I mean the Packer Band. I worked with the Packer
(07:53):
Band for a while and they were the music on
the field. Well, once we have the new video boards,
we put in new audio and we were really pumping
in more dock jams to make it more exciting. So
then we move the Packers Band outside in the parking lot,
which we still have today, the tailgaters out in the
parking lot entertaining fans before the game. So that really
is my route to what I'm doing now.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
That's crazy, and you don't see it a lot where
people start in the football side of the business and
then move over to administration. Typically you know, you stay
in football. So that is fascinating. So we've talked a
lot about game presentation and there's a want in the
NFL to be better every year. So you have enacted
a lot of change over your years in game presentation.
(08:37):
What are you most proud of in terms of what
you've done for that aspect of the game.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Well, I think it's just over the years, some of
the things that we've done. I always want to say like,
I'm not afraid to do new things. Yep. And as
things change in different bosses and things we wanted to
you know, everyone has an idea and the bosses would
change like oh let's try this, or what can we do?
And at one point we were like, how can we
(09:03):
engage the fans more? And I want to say we
were one of the first teams that did one of
those large card stunts. Yeah, that is a huge endeavor, Like,
I mean we had to have people come in. I
mean we're putting a card on every single seat in
that stadium, so over sixty nine thousand seats in there,
every seat had something they were taped on. And then
after the fact, you know, and just the process of
(09:25):
how it happens, how does this happen? How do we
educate the fans what they're doing when they are supposed
to flip the cards over? And some of that stuff
that comes out and you see the photos, You're like, wow,
how did that even happen like that because you're looking
at the back end of it to get that done.
But some of those things are really amazing. Just the
different things that we like to do and our game
(09:46):
presentation is what we created, right, So that's something that
you really take a lot of pride in. One thing
is standing on the field during the national anthem and
the flyover and the flag on the field and everything
happens and the fireworks at the end, and I've I'm
doing this a long time, but I still get goosebumps
and straight that and it all worked. Oh my gosh. Okay,
now play football right, all right? Not to the game,
(10:09):
that's the easy part.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So on game day you are on the field, explain
the feeling of when the Packers score a touchdown, how
do how does that affect you and your job on
the field.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So the game is scripted, so there are things that
we have to do every single break and I write
the game, the game script. But when we score a touchdown,
we have coordinate this as well. The fireworks on the roofs,
so you're making sure everybody is in the right place
at the right time. Fireworks people, they have to be
on they have to be watching. They know what exactly
is happening on the field. You score a touchdown, yeah
(10:44):
you want to celebrate, but you know what, there's gonna
be a TV break coming up next right That one
of my jobs is to be next to the guy
that is talking to the TV truck and I help Craig,
who is up in the control room, manage that commercial break.
So you're celebrating and we're all like bang on the
drum and that's all great, and I'm watching Orange Sleeves
(11:05):
is out on the field and I need to go
out and get next to him. I have to know
when the break starts. I'm relaying that to Craig, so
we go into the break at the same time. So
each break is like two minutes and twenty seconds, and
as they come out of that break, I'm letting Craig
know that we're on time, like we're coornated. We don't
want to be in the middle of a chovy feature
(11:25):
on the video board and the team is, you know,
snapping the ball on the field like that can happen.
So that's what I'm doing during the break, is coming
back with Craig, letting him know when the break is done,
talk to the TV guy like they'll be like, oh,
we're going to take an extra thirty seconds here, or
this is just a thirty second break, So I mean
that's important. We don't want to have two minutes of
commercials running and we only have thirty seconds, so.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
You really don't get to take a cyh relief until.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
After the game, is what I'm here after the game,
right after the game, like okay, what happened?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Oh gosh, we won you amazing?
Speaker 2 (11:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
So we've talked a lot about the game presentation. But
the other part of your title is live events, and
lambeau Field is becoming a very hot place to have events.
Lambeau Field has hosted a number of concerts over the years,
the first ever international soccer game last year. What are
you when you look back at your time at the Packers,
which event really sticks out in your mind? And why?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
You know what? I think the concerts are really they're
really good for the community and it's really great being
a part of that. But there's a lot of work
behind the scenes because we aren't a concert venue, so
there is a lot of stuff that happens. And that's
really what like my job is like managing a lot
of that stuff and getting everybody in the right people
(12:40):
in the right room right so that we all know
what's going on. And that's what I do for game
day as well, is we meet like we need security,
we need facilities, we need guest services, we need sales
and marketing. We need everybody in the room talking about
what's happening. So that's really what we do for the
big events as well. I think soccer last year was
so was so different in that we had so many
(13:03):
people from different countries and people that had never been
here to Lambo Field, and which is really amazing to
think about it. I mean that is just really fun.
I mean when we have concerts, we have people regionally,
I think they drive in, they might be coming from
you know, further away, but just have people from different
countries is really unique. We had LSU game here with
(13:27):
Wisconsin and that was an amazing experience as well. Because
we do football so football, you would think, okay, this
is has to be pretty easy, but it's not. I mean,
you've got football two football teams instead of just one
visiting team coming, we had two visiting teams. We don't
have two visiting team locker rooms. And this happens in
the season when our team is using their locker rooms,
so we needed to build another locker room, which we
(13:49):
ended up doing with soccer as well. But just all
those logistics and I guess that's what my job is.
People say, oh, here, we're going to have this, and
you're like, okay, that's great. What do I need to
do on the back end? What is that stuff that
needs to happen? All the logistics.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I don't think a lot of fans really understand everything
that goes into it.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So no, absolutely, And I think on game day as well,
people don't realize that we're starting like four or five
hours before kickoff, that we have a three hundred and
fifty person marching band that is practicing at the Don
Hudson Center and then they're eating over there, and then
they have to march up to the state and they
have to go through security, and then where do they
sit and what do we do with them? And how
do we coordinate? We only have one tunnel to the field,
how do you coordinate getting onto the field with the
(14:27):
football team? And we are a football team that comes first,
so we have to take care of the football team
and then we're like secondary and we figure that out
after the football team is taken care of.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So yeah, that's it is a lot.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I am.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
That is exactly what I'm hearing. So talked about large
scale events, the biggest event in the history of the
state is coming to wis concept and you are sitting
on our local organizing committee of eight people. We're getting
close on time, so I don't want to spend too
much time, but I want to hear your initial thoughts.
What did you think when you actually heard we were
(15:04):
awarded the draft?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Okay, you are on the committee as well. We've been
to numerous drafts. I've been working on this for oh
my goodness, before COVID, so we've been We've did many
bids and they have changed throughout the years, but we've
been working on it and you go and you see
it and you're like, yeah, we can do this, we
can do this. When I heard we got it, it
was like, oh my gosh, this is a blessing. Where
(15:29):
is it. We got what we wanted. We got what
we wanted, and I think it's going to be really great,
and we do we can put We bring eighty thousand
people plus to Lambeoufield on game day, so this is
just going to be game day three days in a row.
And a little bit more on steroids.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So a little bit more on steroids, but I think
we have a good number of people in place to
make this a success for not only Green Bay but
the entire state. I mean, what we've heard is this
is this ends up being a kind of a two
week show case. People came the week before, stay a
week after. So yeah, it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It is. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be great
for Wisconsin, it's gonna be great for everybody. It's gonna
be a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, which.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
We're starting already a year, two years in advance. But yeah,
it's just drawing the numbers of people. I mean, you
get people from all over and Lambelefield is really on
everybody's bucket list to get there. I don't care what
team you root for, coming to Lambelefield is really special.
So I think that will bring a lot more people in.
I agree, come and see.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It because unless you're in the NFC North, you may
play at lambeau Field every couple of years, and timing
is always.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And tickets are hard to get absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
And the draft is free, so it's even better. All right,
So this has been so fun. I feel like we
could sit here and talk here for another hour. But
I have one final question for you that I liked
in my podcast with So, if you were to provide
one word that describes the houlmination of your career up
(17:01):
until now, what would that word be?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
One word? I think I would say amazing. Okay, I
don't think I expected this, you know, thirty five years
ago what I was getting into, and it has been
nothing sort of amazing. I mean it's been it's been
a great ride.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Oh my gosh, I have chills thinking about it. I mean,
you have won a couple Super Bowls too.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yes, I happened to three Super Bowls. I have two rings.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yes, awesome.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Looking for more?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, right, this season, that would be great. It seems
to be hopefully like the way it happened in Kansas
City this year. Right, they won the Super Bowl and
then hosted the Draft, which that would be perfect.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Right, that would be perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yes, So hopefully that correlates in the next couple of
years for us. Well. Candy, thank you so much for
joining me today on the How To Sport podcast. If
you would like to connect with Candy, you can find
her on LinkedIn at Candy Golts and we look forward
to having you join us next time. Thank you.
Hi, and welcome to How to Sport, the show that
highlights the unique experiences and journeys of professionals and sports biz.
I'm your host, Megan Robertson, and I have the privilege
to be here today with Green Bay Packers Assistant Director
of Game Presentation and Live Events, Candy Golds. Welcome, Candy, Hello,
Thank you for having me. Absolutely, we've got a lot
(00:27):
to cover today, so I want to go ahead and
get started. But you grew up in Wisconsin, I.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Did, Yes, I am a local. I am a yes,
very hometown.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Love it. So can you describe your childhood and were
you a Packers fan growing up?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
So I grew up in s webbinon a mile down
the road from the stadium. I mean the whole yes,
all of Wisconsin is a Packers fan. I don't want
to say like I was a huge Packers fan. I
my brothers, you know, came and rode their bikes for
training camp. You know they had favorite player is that
they would show up and run down to training camp with.
(01:04):
I went to a couple of games when my parents
had season tickets. I remember in high school one of
my friends was on the cheer team. The Packer rats,
which was like so awesome, that's funny.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Boy, have time has change?
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Right? So yeah, just yeah, right down the street. Local
Green Bit packers are a big thing. I mean they're
a big thing in town. I remember players when I
was in high school, James Lofton lived in the same
neighborhood as some friends. Like, oh, they would babysit and
I mean it was just it would Yeah, he would
show up. You go to someone's house and he's like
right next door. So I mean it was really fun awesome.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
So grew up in Green Bay, very close to what's
now lambeau Field. You went to University of Wisconsin Green Bay.
So how was it going to school so close to home? It?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, I stayed at home so I saved some money. Yes, yes,
I had two older sisters that were also at uw
G with me, so it was sort of a thing.
That's what we do. That's Oh my sisters went there,
I will follow them and do that. So yeah, so
the three of us were at GB together. We carpooled.
I mean we had to coordinate our schedules. If someone
(02:14):
had to be there at eight o'clock for a class,
we were there at eight. If someone had the late
class until nine o'clock at night. It's like you were
there all day or you had to find a way home.
It was fun. We're in different majors, so we weren't
in the same classes, but towards the end I did
switch my major over to communications, and then my older
sister had done this, had done the same classes, so
it was kind of fun having the same teachers talking
(02:35):
about the same classes, and so it was really helpful. Fun.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Is there a certain teacher professor that you had at
UWGV that really kind of showed you down this path
that you're in, And we'll get to that in a second.
But is there someone that you would you've looked to
and you're like, oh, that person was so pivotal in
my success as a college student.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
I do remember Phil Klampet. He was our communications US
and I loved him. I loved his classes just because
he made you think outside of the box. It was
just so amazing and it was just so interesting versus
I mean, I did not do well in corporate finance
or accounting. That's why I'm more into the marketing. Year.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Absolutely, I feel like that's how a lot of communications
majors are right there. That's why they chose that specific major.
So that makes compart.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Absolutely all right.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
So grew up in Green Bay, went to UWGB. It's
only fitting that you ended up at the Green Bay Packers.
So you're about to enter your thirty sixth season with
the Packers, thirty fifth year. But let's start at the beginning.
I mentioned at the beginning, at the beginning that you
are the assistant director of Game Presentation and Live Events,
(03:48):
but I don't think that's where you started. So can
you walk us through from the beginning kind of the timeline,
and then we'll get more into the details after that.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Sure, my path to my job right now is a
little unconventional. It's not what happens right now. I think
in the real world. You have to think this is
thirty five years ago. It was really being in the
right place at the right time. It's such a weird story.
How I got the job. My sister is bartending Eddie
(04:18):
Bard down by St. Norbert College, where the team would
go for training camp and a lot of people from
the front office would hang out there. Sometimes. My sister
got to meet the GM at the time, okay, and
he was asking her he had someone that was retiring.
One of the ladies in the scouting department was retiring
who had been there for years and years, and he
was looking for someone to replace her. I don't think
(04:38):
the job was even posted. My sister was like, my
sister just graduated, and he's like, give me your number.
He called me like the next day. It was a Saturday.
He called me at home and I mean there were
no cell phones, I mean your regular phone. So I
sent my resume in, did some interviewing, Andie hired me.
And I know, my sister is younger than I am.
(05:00):
She's still in school, and I think at the time,
she's like, why is this not me? Like right, it
wasn't like two years older. That is so, But I
mean I still had the skills. I still had to
interview and be a dedicated employee that stayed for thirty
five years.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Holy cow. And to start in scouting and end up
having game presentation, that's quite the journey. So from scouting,
then where did you go?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
Okay, in the scouting department, we talk about being a
Packers fan. I mean my brothers played football. I would
go to a game. But I started and the GM
at the time Tom Brotz had me. I had to
take care of the draft room. And there's magnetic paint
on the walls, and I had to do all the
little cards for all the college players. So the scouts
would go out and scout and they'd send me the report.
(05:47):
I'd have to compile all of that, get that ready
for the draft. There were not a lot of computers
at the time. They didn't have their own laptops. Everything
was like chicken scratch here, send it back to Candy.
She gets it ready. So I had the name plays
of all the players, so the college players coming out
and so by position. So that's already. But then on
another wall was all of the NFL teams and all
(06:10):
of their players by position. So my first project is
to update the wall. I didn't know a tight end
from a defensive back? What is the strugs? I didn't
know offense and defense. I like, I can watch the game,
but I that was a really quick learning curve there.
I'm okay, I myself, okay, I need to figure out
(06:32):
whose offense whose defense. I can't keep go in and
ask Tom brought tight end? Go Oh my gosh, So
I had I got the board. Home is up and
ready and yes, and I was there on draft day
and back then when we when they drafted the first
round player, they always would fly him in and by
that evening he was here at lambeau Field. So that
(06:54):
was always that's crazy. Yeah, So back to the path.
Football is always, I mean, there's a need to win.
You need to win. Lindy and Fonte was the coach.
The team was not. We weren't doing, you know, what
we were supposed to be doing. Lindy lost his job, Tom.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Lost his job.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
We brought in Ron Wolf. Ron had his own person
that he works with right like to do a lot
of the things that I was doing. And at the time,
we had just started our marketing department. We just hired
a marketing director. He was probably here about a year.
I moved over to marketing, okay, and it's really been
from that move over, it's been really great, really growing
(07:32):
the marketing department. I mean Jeff Seepley had only been
here maybe a year. He hired a salesperson. I was
doing partnership services. I was doing game entertainment, so we
really were creating the game. When Jeff came in, there
was there was no marketing department. I mean he started
the pro shop, he started, I mean, we got new
video boards, we started, you know, doing more of the entertainment.
I mean the Packer Band. I worked with the Packer
(07:53):
Band for a while and they were the music on
the field. Well, once we have the new video boards,
we put in new audio and we were really pumping
in more dock jams to make it more exciting. So
then we move the Packers Band outside in the parking lot,
which we still have today, the tailgaters out in the
parking lot entertaining fans before the game. So that really
is my route to what I'm doing now.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
That's crazy, and you don't see it a lot where
people start in the football side of the business and
then move over to administration. Typically you know, you stay
in football. So that is fascinating. So we've talked a
lot about game presentation and there's a want in the
NFL to be better every year. So you have enacted
a lot of change over your years in game presentation.
(08:37):
What are you most proud of in terms of what
you've done for that aspect of the game.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Well, I think it's just over the years, some of
the things that we've done. I always want to say like,
I'm not afraid to do new things. Yep. And as
things change in different bosses and things we wanted to
you know, everyone has an idea and the bosses would
change like oh let's try this, or what can we do?
And at one point we were like, how can we
(09:03):
engage the fans more? And I want to say we
were one of the first teams that did one of
those large card stunts. Yeah, that is a huge endeavor, Like,
I mean we had to have people come in. I
mean we're putting a card on every single seat in
that stadium, so over sixty nine thousand seats in there,
every seat had something they were taped on. And then
after the fact, you know, and just the process of
(09:25):
how it happens, how does this happen? How do we
educate the fans what they're doing when they are supposed
to flip the cards over? And some of that stuff
that comes out and you see the photos, You're like, wow,
how did that even happen like that because you're looking
at the back end of it to get that done.
But some of those things are really amazing. Just the
different things that we like to do and our game
(09:46):
presentation is what we created, right, So that's something that
you really take a lot of pride in. One thing
is standing on the field during the national anthem and
the flyover and the flag on the field and everything
happens and the fireworks at the end, and I've I'm
doing this a long time, but I still get goosebumps
and straight that and it all worked. Oh my gosh. Okay,
now play football right, all right? Not to the game,
(10:09):
that's the easy part.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So on game day you are on the field, explain
the feeling of when the Packers score a touchdown, how
do how does that affect you and your job on
the field.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
So the game is scripted, so there are things that
we have to do every single break and I write
the game, the game script. But when we score a touchdown,
we have coordinate this as well. The fireworks on the roofs,
so you're making sure everybody is in the right place
at the right time. Fireworks people, they have to be
on they have to be watching. They know what exactly
is happening on the field. You score a touchdown, yeah
(10:44):
you want to celebrate, but you know what, there's gonna
be a TV break coming up next right That one
of my jobs is to be next to the guy
that is talking to the TV truck and I help Craig,
who is up in the control room, manage that commercial break.
So you're celebrating and we're all like bang on the
drum and that's all great, and I'm watching Orange Sleeves
(11:05):
is out on the field and I need to go
out and get next to him. I have to know
when the break starts. I'm relaying that to Craig, so
we go into the break at the same time. So
each break is like two minutes and twenty seconds, and
as they come out of that break, I'm letting Craig
know that we're on time, like we're coornated. We don't
want to be in the middle of a chovy feature
(11:25):
on the video board and the team is, you know,
snapping the ball on the field like that can happen.
So that's what I'm doing during the break, is coming
back with Craig, letting him know when the break is done,
talk to the TV guy like they'll be like, oh,
we're going to take an extra thirty seconds here, or
this is just a thirty second break, So I mean
that's important. We don't want to have two minutes of
commercials running and we only have thirty seconds, so.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
You really don't get to take a cyh relief until.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
After the game, is what I'm here after the game,
right after the game, like okay, what happened?
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Oh gosh, we won you amazing?
Speaker 2 (11:56):
All right.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
So we've talked a lot about the game presentation. But
the other part of your title is live events, and
lambeau Field is becoming a very hot place to have events.
Lambeau Field has hosted a number of concerts over the years,
the first ever international soccer game last year. What are
you when you look back at your time at the Packers,
which event really sticks out in your mind? And why?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
You know what? I think the concerts are really they're
really good for the community and it's really great being
a part of that. But there's a lot of work
behind the scenes because we aren't a concert venue, so
there is a lot of stuff that happens. And that's
really what like my job is like managing a lot
of that stuff and getting everybody in the right people
(12:40):
in the right room right so that we all know
what's going on. And that's what I do for game
day as well, is we meet like we need security,
we need facilities, we need guest services, we need sales
and marketing. We need everybody in the room talking about
what's happening. So that's really what we do for the
big events as well. I think soccer last year was
so was so different in that we had so many
(13:03):
people from different countries and people that had never been
here to Lambo Field, and which is really amazing to
think about it. I mean that is just really fun.
I mean when we have concerts, we have people regionally,
I think they drive in, they might be coming from
you know, further away, but just have people from different
countries is really unique. We had LSU game here with
(13:27):
Wisconsin and that was an amazing experience as well. Because
we do football so football, you would think, okay, this
is has to be pretty easy, but it's not. I mean,
you've got football two football teams instead of just one
visiting team coming, we had two visiting teams. We don't
have two visiting team locker rooms. And this happens in
the season when our team is using their locker rooms,
so we needed to build another locker room, which we
(13:49):
ended up doing with soccer as well. But just all
those logistics and I guess that's what my job is.
People say, oh, here, we're going to have this, and
you're like, okay, that's great. What do I need to
do on the back end? What is that stuff that
needs to happen? All the logistics.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
I don't think a lot of fans really understand everything
that goes into it.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
So no, absolutely, And I think on game day as well,
people don't realize that we're starting like four or five
hours before kickoff, that we have a three hundred and
fifty person marching band that is practicing at the Don
Hudson Center and then they're eating over there, and then
they have to march up to the state and they
have to go through security, and then where do they
sit and what do we do with them? And how
do we coordinate? We only have one tunnel to the field,
how do you coordinate getting onto the field with the
(14:27):
football team? And we are a football team that comes first,
so we have to take care of the football team
and then we're like secondary and we figure that out
after the football team is taken care of.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
So yeah, that's it is a lot.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I am.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
That is exactly what I'm hearing. So talked about large
scale events, the biggest event in the history of the
state is coming to wis concept and you are sitting
on our local organizing committee of eight people. We're getting
close on time, so I don't want to spend too
much time, but I want to hear your initial thoughts.
What did you think when you actually heard we were
(15:04):
awarded the draft?
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Okay, you are on the committee as well. We've been
to numerous drafts. I've been working on this for oh
my goodness, before COVID, so we've been We've did many
bids and they have changed throughout the years, but we've
been working on it and you go and you see
it and you're like, yeah, we can do this, we
can do this. When I heard we got it, it
was like, oh my gosh, this is a blessing. Where
(15:29):
is it. We got what we wanted. We got what
we wanted, and I think it's going to be really great,
and we do we can put We bring eighty thousand
people plus to Lambeoufield on game day, so this is
just going to be game day three days in a row.
And a little bit more on steroids.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
So a little bit more on steroids, but I think
we have a good number of people in place to
make this a success for not only Green Bay but
the entire state. I mean, what we've heard is this
is this ends up being a kind of a two
week show case. People came the week before, stay a
week after. So yeah, it's gonna be fun.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
It is. It's gonna be fun. It's gonna be great
for Wisconsin, it's gonna be great for everybody. It's gonna
be a lot of work.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, which.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
We're starting already a year, two years in advance. But yeah,
it's just drawing the numbers of people. I mean, you
get people from all over and Lambelefield is really on
everybody's bucket list to get there. I don't care what
team you root for, coming to Lambelefield is really special.
So I think that will bring a lot more people in.
I agree, come and see.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
It because unless you're in the NFC North, you may
play at lambeau Field every couple of years, and timing
is always.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
And tickets are hard to get absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
And the draft is free, so it's even better. All right,
So this has been so fun. I feel like we
could sit here and talk here for another hour. But
I have one final question for you that I liked
in my podcast with So, if you were to provide
one word that describes the houlmination of your career up
(17:01):
until now, what would that word be?
Speaker 2 (17:04):
One word? I think I would say amazing. Okay, I
don't think I expected this, you know, thirty five years
ago what I was getting into, and it has been
nothing sort of amazing. I mean it's been it's been
a great ride.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
Oh my gosh, I have chills thinking about it. I mean,
you have won a couple Super Bowls too.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yes, I happened to three Super Bowls. I have two rings.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yes, awesome.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Looking for more?
Speaker 1 (17:31):
Yeah, right, this season, that would be great. It seems
to be hopefully like the way it happened in Kansas
City this year. Right, they won the Super Bowl and
then hosted the Draft, which that would be perfect.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Right, that would be perfect.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yes, So hopefully that correlates in the next couple of
years for us. Well. Candy, thank you so much for
joining me today on the How To Sport podcast. If
you would like to connect with Candy, you can find
her on LinkedIn at Candy Golts and we look forward
to having you join us next time. Thank you.
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