Back in February, Minneapolis, Minnesota was the host of Super Bowl 52. We previously discussed preparing for a major event like a Super Bowl in an earlier episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast.

In this episode of the Managing Uncertainty Podcast, Bryghtpath Principal & CEO Bryan Strawser and Senior Consultant Jennifer Otremba take a look back at Super Bowl 52 and discuss what worked – and what didn’t. Topics discussed include major event planning, private sector information sharing, remote work strategies, physical security, and related topics.

Episode Transcript

Bryan Strawser:            I really did not like Super Bowl 52. I did not like Super Bowl 52.

Jen Otremba:               No, he did not, and he’s wearing his shirt right now.

Bryan Strawser:            Yeah. It’s ironic that we’re recording this today, because when I was getting dressed this morning, I did not have any in-person client meetings, so I am in jeans and a New England Patriots polo shirt. But I did not like Super Bowl 52.

Jen Otremba:               Yeah. Who won the Super Bowl, Bryan?

Bryan Strawser:            Not the New England Patriots.

Jen Otremba:               Yeah, sad to say.

Bryan Strawser:            Our podcast is not about the football game, but we are gonna talk about what we learned during Super Bowl 52, and I don’t mean during the game. What we learned in terms of being involved, for two years, in the preparedness efforts around Super Bowl 52, and what I think we all took away from that experience that would be valuable to you as you think about planning major events.

Jen Otremba:               Yup, and what some of our peers learned as well, so all of us collectively, together.

Bryan Strawser:            We’ll start off with the fact that you can’t argue, which is that Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time.

Jen Otremba:               Okay, Bryan.

Bryan Strawser:            No. So, Super Bowl 52. Let me paint the picture for you if you’re not familiar with the Twin Cities. But Super Bowl 52 was held at U.S. Bank Stadium, which is the home of the Minnesota Vikings. Unlike a lot of NFL stadiums, U.S. Bank Stadium is built right in the central business district of Minneapolis. It is literally a few blocks from about 15 Fortune 500 headquarters.

Jen Otremba:               Right. It was built on the same footprint as the Metrodome.

Bryan Strawser:            As the Metrodome. So right downtown you have some really big Fortune 500 firms, like U.S. Bank, General Mills has a large facility there, Ameriprise Financial, Target, Wells Fargo, Valspar, and the list just kind of goes on.

Jen Otremba:               On and on. Yeah, that’s right.

Bryan Strawser:            On and on from there. So, it’s not like the last Super Bowl, down in … I think the last one was in Houston, or Dallas, where the stadium is out in the middle of a huge parking lot, off the side of the highway with nothing around it. This is right smack in the middle of the city, so it posed a very different risk situation for companies, because everything was right there.

The game itself, of course, was at the stadium. The stadium doesn’t have parking. It has a very limited amount of parking, so there is really no standoff distance. So, you had to block … To kind of illustrate this … You had to block city streets for quite some distance around, in order to get the kind of security perimeter to protect from blasts, and do adequate security screening and that kind of thing.

Jen Otremba:               Right. In addition to that, there was events held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, which is also right downtown,