Lindsay Erstad

We hear plenty about cool places to work.  Take Silicon Valley with the game-like atmospheres in the Googles of the world, or perhaps sliding into an investment firm on Wall Street and racking up commissions in the millions in your twenties.  For whatever reason, many of us might overlook what is perhaps the most-dominant corporate entity in America today:  the National Football League.  And a student from western Wisconsin got the opportunity this summer to witness the workings the white-hot organization.

Lindsay Erstad is starting her Senior year at Stout, majoring in Hotel, Restaurant, and Tourism Management with a certificate in Event and Meeting Management.  The Lakeville, MN, native did what college students essentially have to do nowadays:  find an internship to help her career to progress, and upon looking for event-oriented internships outside the Midwest, she found one offered by the NFL.  36 were hired – she was one.

Let us disabuse you of the notion that the NFL is a vortex of Deflategate/concussion-related Goodellian chaos -- the league did not get to the zenith of American sports without having top-notch business and planning perspective.  Erstad went to work on the bidding process for Super Bowls to be awarded in May for 2019 and '20.  What did she do?  "I read the 97-page specifications document that the NFL sends to bidding cities and based off that helped create a timeline that kept the events department on track for planning a Super Bowl 5 years out."  Speaking of this season’s Super Bowl, Erstad handled the varied logistics of organizing 22,000 hotel rooms for league-related folks in Santa Clara, CA, as well as helping create the "50th Mile" event at Super Bowl 50, "a mile long journey that celebrates the past 49 Super Bowls."  As for that Super Bowl coming to the new Vikings stadium in early 2018?  It was Erstad who put together the planning for August’s visit to NFL offices by the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee.

You also saw her work if you were watching the Packers' Ron Wolf get inducted into the Pro Football Hall Of Fame August 8th:  she operated the Chyron equipment for in-stadium graphics at the ceremony, as well as at the Vikings-featured Hall of Fame Game the following night.  So, yeah, she made her imprint on the NFL.

Still, interning at the top pro sports league does bring a share of "Oh, wow!" moments.  For her, two moments stood out:  "Walking into the NFL league offices on Park Avenue my first day," and a recent event those of us in the Chippewa Valley only saw on TV or the Internet:  "When Tom Brady came to the league office for his hearing and the media frenzy that surrounded the building."

When you intern with a company, you naturally interact with and meet the important people in said organization; the NFL simply has many more high-profile and well-known individuals.  Erstad noted that she and the other interns had a lunch and Q&A with Commissioner Roger Goodell; additionally, "I had the opportunity to meet a few owners during various events/meetings."  Yet her take at the conclusion of the summer is that the NFL is, well, a lot more like other businesses:  "I now view the NFL like any other corporate company with several departments including sponsorship, IT, PR, finance, media sales, etc."

One of the ultimate objectives of an internship is furthering an individual's education, and in looking at a future in Event Management, she has learned more about the process:  "As far as events, I now realize how much long term planning goes into creating a successful outcome."  The other prime goal is to help one decide if their chosen major and career path is correct, and a summer at the NFL sure seems to have helped in that aspect:  "This internship definitely reinforced my desire to have a career in event planning, although I would still consider other fields besides the sports industry."

When I used to manage interns at the radio station where I work, I particularly appreciated those who made a tangible, enduring mark on the station after their tenure concluded.  Erstad can say she did just that at the NFL, pointing out her work traveling to Canton for the Hall of Fame weekend and helping with the in-stadium production.  Additionally, as she says, "I assisted with the Super Bowl Bid process by helping create a timeline that streamlined how the events departments plan the Super Bowl 5 years out."

Lindsay Erstad knows more about what makes the NFL tick, and vicariously, you reading this column now also have – to a certain extent – a more-accurate impression of what happens in their Park Avenue offices.  Education is a good thing, right?