Internships

I have always had a passion for sports and particularly hockey.  My dream career in college was to work for the Colorado Avalanche and rub elbows with my favorite players.  I am not good enough at hockey to ever dream of getting to the ‘Show’, but I still have aspirations of earning a championship ring behind the scenes.  My Senior year of College I became eligible to apply for internships.  At the top of my list was the Risk and Event Management role with Kroenke Sprots & Entertainment(KSE).  KSE owns the Ball Arena (Pepsi Center at the time), Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids, Colorado Mammoth, Altitude Sports, and other various entertainment venues and events.

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After a rigorous application and interview process, I was awarded the Risk and Event Management internship.  Alo Staley, the Director of Risk and Event Management at the time, later informed me that I was chosen out of more than 2000 applicants for my exceptional attention to detail and ability to think quickly on my feet.  The department at the time was a small, tight-knit group of four professionals that split the events to have two of them on duty at each event.  We would research potential risks for each event during the day and manage the events in the evenings.

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From the moment I first set foot on Pepsi Center property as a part of the team, this internship was the most intense, rewarding, and educational experience of my life.  On my first day I was told that I had to wear a suit because I would be helping with preparations for the Democratic National Convention hosted at the Pepsi Center the week after I started.  I met Alo at the east entrance.  He was not wearing a suit. Immediately, we bypassed the office floor, and he led me to the top level.  We hiked all the way to the very top row and went through a hidden door.  We then climbed two more sets of stairs and proceeded through a set of double doors marked “Roof Access”.  I was on the roof of the Pepsi Center, in the middle of August, in a suit…

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Once we got to the roof, there was a group of eleven very serious looking people all in Hawaiian shirts conspicuously trying to look inconspicuous.  I can honestly attest that Secret Service agents are exactly how they are portrayed in the movies.  My first task was to assist the Secret Service with the construction of National Security equipment on the roof of the Pepsi Center.  To illustrate how intense the pressure of the situation was, I took my jacket off at one point because the hundred-degree temperatures were causing me to get overheated.  As I was rolling up my sleeves to lift a sixty-pound crate, Alo stopped me because he noticed the eyes of the agents were on me.  I will never forget what he told me.  “Matt, very slowly, unroll your sleeves and put your suit back on and don’t make eye contact while doing it.”.  When we went to lunch that day, I also learned another valuable lesson.  Never try to make small talk with a Secret Service agent.  They aren’t going to tell you where they are from or what they do for fun.  I am extremely grateful to Alo for throwing me into the fire with the DNC.  The experience I gained gave me the confidence I have today to dive into any experience that a job throws at me no matter how unprepared I am.  If you ever work with me, the first thing you will notice is that I will always jump in a lend a hand and not wait to be told to do something.  This was a lesson I learned from Alo. 

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I don’t smoke, but Alo would always take me with him on his smoke brakes.  He would have me observe our environment.  He would then test me on what I observed and ask me how I would react to threats that may occur.  One time in particular stuck with me the most.  We were near the east entrance of the Pepsi Center and across the street there was a person walking down the sidewalk.  He asked me what I observed.  I described the man and what he was wearing, the cars driving by, the sounds of construction, etc.  He told me what I failed to see was that he was wearing baggy pants that could be sagging due to the weight of a weapon.  He also informed me that he was walking with a bit of a limp and that if I was forced to defend myself against him, to go for the right leg just behind his kneecap.  I later found out from one of the people in the department that Alo was an ex-Army Ranger.  I also owe a lot of my advanced perception skills to the training I received from Alo.

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The part of the Internship I loved most was Event Management.  I had the opportunity to manage events for the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Rapids.  I would arrive approximately 4 hours before the event to manage preparations for the staff and facilities.  This would include introducing myself to the emergency response staff I would be communicating with via radio.  Facility preparations would include walking the isles clearing debris and searching for threats, taping down any lose wires that could cause potential harm, and testing the strength of all railings for safety.

During the events my focus was crowd control and safety. 

 

I would stay mobile and monitor the crowds for dangers or altercations that may arise.  Security and EMT staff would utilize the radio channels to report incidents.  It was my job to respond to each incident and monitor the situation, in person, to ensure that the patron’ s and event staff’s rights and safety were attended to and monitored.  I would respond to 5-10 incidents per event.  I learned the importance of composure and professionalism in times of high stress and confrontation from this part of my internship that carried into future employment and contributed to success in my career.

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There were two particularly unique experiences that occurred in this internship during events that I feel tested this composure.  The first was during the season opening game for the Colorado Avalanche.  As a promotion, a Colorado Avalanche sponsor provided every attendee a miniature flag with the team’s logo.  About midway through the game, I received a call from the police officers on duty that they were responding to a threat in the lower level.  I rushed to the scene as well to oversee the situation and ensure that no other response teams were needed, such as medical.  When I got to the entrance of the section, the officers had a patron detained with what appeared to be the charred remains of his flag.  The patron was very intoxicated and very belligerent.  I had the officers move the patron to the stadiums holding cell in their office so he could calm down and remove the threat of possibly causing harm to himself or others.  As I am not a member of the Denver Police Department, I was not allowed to enter their office. My job was to stand just outside and make sure they were not bothered.  The patron kept screaming at the top of his lungs “I didn’t know I couldn’t do that!”.  The DPD was almost ready to transfer the man to their station when I realized that the game had gone into intermission by the familiar scent of a hard-fought period of hockey.  This is when I realized that we had drawn an audience.  I looked to my left and my right, on either side of me were legendary Colorado Avalanche Defensemen, Adam Foote and John-Michael Liles.  I was literally rubbing elbows with two of my favorite players as I got to share a genuine and honestly, hilarious moment with them.  Thank you to the intoxicated patron.  I will forever be in your debt.  While it was not your best moment, it sure was one of mine.

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The other experience is one that was much more serious in nature.  I was part of the event management team for a Colorado Rapids game at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.  The event itself was running smoothly with only a few minor incidents.  About midway through the second half, I was monitoring the south end of the stadium when I noticed a flickering green light moving from the stands to the field.  I quickly recognized it as a high-powered laser pointer.  I immediately radioed my counterpart on the opposite side of the stadium and the Commerce City Police officers on duty.  The threat was that the pointer was attached to a rifle.  As we were responding, we came to the consensus not to pause the event as that would alert the perpetrator and might cause panic in the crowd.  I was able to deduce the approximate location down to the specific section it was coming from based on the angle of the light.  The perpetrator was apprehended and arrested.  The next day we were informed that this individual was wanted by the FBI and confessed to trespassing on Denver International Airport’s airfield and attempting to blind pilots with the same laser pointer.

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My internship ended in February of 2009 about four months before I graduated college.  I impressed the team so much that I was offered a permanent position to become their fifth member.  It was a time of great joy and satisfaction for me knowing that my hard work and dedication in school and work was paying off and I would have a way to pay off my student loan debt.  I was not allowed to start until I graduated as a bachelor’s degree was a requirement.  Unfortunately, life throws you curveballs and the recession hit before I could graduate.  KSE was forced into downsizing and rescinded all job offers.  I would have loved to explore where this opportunity could have taken my career but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards for me.  The experience and recognition I received from this internship, in large part, shaped the professional I am today and that is something that no recession can take away from me.