I received an email from the Whitecaps about a week or so ago inviting me and my fellow volunteers to the Whitecaps Volunteer Appreciation Dinner to be held at the River Rock Casino in the Fraser Room. All of the management staff were there and a couple players came out as well, namely the goalkeeper, Jay Nolly and Atiba Harris. They were there with their wives and babies. It was a classy move on the players part to come out to acknowledge and support the volunteers, so thank you Jay and Atiba! The volunteers included everyone from the Ball boy manager, us Ambassadors to the Stats team. Paul Barber and Bobby Lenarduzzi both gave speeches praising the hard work of the volunteers and recognized us as part of the "Whitecaps Family". Our Team Leader, Lindsay Olimer also gave a speech on how wonderful it was to work with us. It was her first year as our Team Leader and she is also new to the organization, so we all tried to help her out as much as we could. She did a great job and hopefully it will run even smoother next year!
Once the speeches were done, we had a buffet dinner which was very good. Dessert table was amazing as well. While all this was going on, the Whitecaps headed by former player, Carl Valentine, went around the room interviewing volunteers. They ended up at my table and asked me if I wanted to be interviewed. I hate being interviewed, so I declined. I felt bad, but I couldn't do it. So I encouraged my fellow partner, Nadine to do it. She agreed and did really well.
Afterwards, we received a panoramic picture of opening day at Empire Stadium in March. Its a very beautiful picture. I was able to get Bobby Lenarduzzi, Atiba Harris and Jay Nolly to sign it. We also recieved our new Whitecaps Scarf, certificate and a personal note from Lindsay, which I thought was a nice touch.
Although I didn't do the interview, I just want to say that the Whitecaps are an amazing organization to work for, even though we are volunteers. They never make us feel like we aren't a part of their staff. We get treated with respect and given great roles within our capacity. I've been with them since 2006 as an Usher at Swangard Stadium when they were in the USL and have forged many great relationships not only with the staff but also with the season ticket holders with whom my partner, Margo and I looked after in our section. For the move to MLS, my role changed to an Ambassador and was grateful that I could not only still interact with my old season ticket holders but meet the new ones as well. Its like an ever-growing family. Although the Whitecaps didn't win alot of games in their MLS debut year, they still managed to bring in a lot of new fans. Those fans are loving the atmosphere and excitement of the games and will continue to come to the games as long as we make it fun for them. So, here's to the end of the 2011 year and hope for new beginnings next year and hopefully a year with many more wins for the fans!!
Here is the video from the volunteer dinner...if you look hard enough, you can see me in some panning sequences of the video. lol. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment