Super Man

A Moment with Frank Supovitz

by Carolyn S. Baragona | Published in November 2007 Event Currents

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From ushering at Radio City Music Hall in New York City to launching his own event company, overseeing events for the National Hockey League (NHL) and becoming the senior vice president of events at the National Football League (NFL), Frank Supovitz has worn many hats over the years. With Super Bowl XLII fast approaching, we tracked him down to ask a few questions as he headed from the Valley of the Sun back home to New York.

Here’s his take on breaking in to Super Bowl events, the one question he wishes you’d ask him and what’s more important than being a successful entrepreneur. All this on a BlackBerry at 39,000 feet — hey, we told you he was talented.

Event Solutions: What key advice would you give event professionals who would like to become actively involved in the Super Bowl and/or the NFL?

Frank Supovitz: Wow, what a tough question right up front! It takes literally thousands of people of every imaginable specialty to stage the Super Bowl, from experts in logistics and transportation to technical production, hospitality, security, stadium operations, hotel management and meeting planning, and the list goes on and on. Many of these professionals work on the Super Bowl year after year, and some are added from the host community for specific functions.

To say it is tough to break in is an understatement, because it seems that everyone wants to be part of America’s Unofficial Holiday. We are inundated with inquiries from all over the events industry, but few truly and honestly demonstrate unique qualifications. As much as I would like to spread the opportunities around, the events industry is blessed with hundreds of highly qualified professionals and great companies out there. It’s just hard to match up what makes them unique with what we really need.
So, my candid advice before approaching any client is to assess what you can demonstrably and inarguably do better than anyone else and make that your first pitch. Don’t send creative concepts. Most experienced event organizers have heard them before or thought of them already. Send solutions.

ES: What would you tell corporate planners who are or may become involved with the NFL and the Super Bowl in some event aspect? What do you recommend to event professionals who aspire to be involved in mega-events?

FS: Excellence is only marginally acceptable. We have to push ourselves far beyond that. Teamwork is essential because no one can execute big events alone. And, time management is paramount. The ball will be kicked when it’s supposed to — with us or without us.

Finally, remember that events are not a career; they’re a lifestyle. If you can’t balance your life, you won’t make it here or anywhere else in the industry. If you can embrace the combination of these characteristics as your mantra, you will go far.

ES: How do the challenges of your position with the NFL and the Super Bowl differ from those you faced with the NHL?

FS: I consider myself so lucky to have had an opportunity to be a part of two great sports: hockey and football. I’ve been passionate about both for many years, even before I devoted my career exclusively to sports organizations about 15 years ago. Because of that, I don’t see challenges. I see opportunities and different routes to get there.

Our business is all about providing touch points and memories to our fans, clients, partners and even our teams and players. All leagues recognize that events are a very compelling way to establish these bonds. If there’s one thing I have to keep hearing in my head, it’s that the NFL has to deliver beyond our guests’ highest expectations, beyond what we accomplished the season before, and in such a way that people say, “Only the NFL could have done that.”What a great standard to work toward.

ES: How would you say the entrepreneurial spirit has affected the development of the events industry and will shape the industry in the future?

FS: The events industry is inherently entrepreneurial. Events separate the extraordinary from the ordinary. So, as the content of meetings and events — and the techniques and technologies they use — become more mainstream, we have to keep changing and evolving to stay two steps ahead of the ordinary. That happens naturally in our business, and that’s what keeps it exciting for us, as well as our audiences.

ES: What is one question you wish someone would ask you?

FS: “Can you succeed in the mega-event world and have a personal life too?”

I don’t want to be defined strictly by who I work for or what I do, as “cool”as that might be. Not to be a downer, but if you visit any cemetery, the headstone won’t read “Beloved Bookkeeper”or “Successful Entrepreneur.” Personal commitment — to friends or family, as fits the individual — is essential to our physical, mental and emotional well-being. For me, I could not possibly have succeeded without the support of my wife Catherine over 25 incredible seasons — oops, years — and my children Matt, Ethan and Jake. But it’s a two-way street — I have to be there to support them, too. They understand when I have to be away doing what I do, and I understand that I need to make time available only for our family, as well.

Excuse me…gotta go. About to land and head to Ethan’s basketball game!