Transcript

The transcript below has been lightly edited for readability and clarity. Click any starting timestamp to jump to that exact point in the YouTube video.

Podcast Introduction

[00:00] Don Costante:

Welcome to the Rundown Podcast, hosted by Don Costante, a nationally recognized event presentation expert with over 30 years of experience and author of Beyond the Scoreboard. This podcast takes you behind the scenes with industry leaders to unpack the insights, strategies, and creative tactics that drive unforgettable live experiences. Let’s get started.

Building an Elite Fan Experience at Auburn

[00:27] Don Costante:

In today’s sports landscape, delivering an elite fan experience requires more than creativity. It demands the right staff structure, a disciplined planning process, and the ability to adapt to rapidly evolving technology. Expectations have never been higher, and the organizations that thrive are the ones that execute at a high level, behind the scenes. One leader who exemplifies this is Paris Buchanan, Auburn’s Senior Associate AD for Fan Experience and Creative Strategy. Since joining Auburn in 2023, he has overseen Fan Experience, War Eagle Productions, and War Eagle Creative, driving record attendance, industry-first technology integrations, and national recognition, including the 2024 Golden Matrix Award. His career also includes 12 years at Ole Miss, service on the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators Board, and teaching sport promotions at the University of Mississippi. Today, we’ll explore Paris’ career journey, his event presentation philosophy, how Auburn structures its fan experience and creative teams, their planning process behind major events, and the technologies they’re using to shape the future of fan engagement. I’m ready to get started. Let’s meet Paris Buchanan. Hi, Paris. Thanks for joining me on the rundown.

Meet Paris Buchanan

[01:56] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah, it’s great to be here.

Paris Buchanan’s Career Journey

[01:57] Don Costante:

Paris, before we get started with today’s topics, which I’m really excited to get to, I want to start with you first, and I want you to talk about your journey into the sports industry. So walk our listeners through your career path and share how your early experiences in the industry ultimately led to your role today at Auburn.

[02:16] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah, that’s a great question, and I’d love to share that. You know, I think that typically there’s not a, you know, standard path, but if there is one, I would say mine would be that. I started out as an intern, an undergraduate intern at Ole Miss, and I always had a passion for sports, but really didn’t understand or know that there was a profession that you could work in. And so I started out as an undergrad. My first job was the sports information department, and my whole job that summer was to alphabetize an archive of papers. And I was like, okay, maybe this career isn’t for me. I was like, I thought I was going to go be with the football coach all summer, and not quite how that worked. But it really was a good entry point for me to understand the different aspects of all the different departments in athletics. And so from there, the next year, starting my sophomore year, I decided I got an internship with our marketing department there. And so I worked three years of undergrad, really understanding and learning just how promotional events work, building game scripts, things on the very granular level that are in kind of the sports marketing side of college athletics. And so about the end of my junior year, I really felt like, okay, this is something I really want to take on, like, as my profession.

[03:26] Paris Buchanan:

And so we did not have a sports management degree at the time, so I was in business. And so I finished the degree, continued working, and then had the opportunity to become a graduate assistant when I graduated in 2011. And so that really was the first time that that was my first full, quote, entry or full-time position as a full workforce in the athletic department. And so from there, we were assigned different sports. And so my first sports were soccer and women’s tennis and men’s tennis. And so that was kind of the first year that I really had to understand and work through the challenges of promotional planning and attendance and things that really were not something that I was, you know, necessarily used to in the intern side. It was more of the execution from the intern side versus the leading and the planning of the full-time staff side. And so after those two years, I really learned a lot of time management and how you develop yourself as a person from an undergraduate side to a post-grad side. And so those were really two good years that challenged me a lot, but also gave me a lot of inspiration and knowledge of just how to navigate this crazy field that we’re in. And then from there, I was fortunate enough to gain a full-time opportunity as assistant director when I finished my graduate degree and gained more experience and more leadership throughout the department for the marketing side.

[04:41] Paris Buchanan:

And so from there, I moved to Auburn and I’ve been here almost three years coming up this spring. Really those first few years shaped for me how I manage, how I lead, and just the overall thought process of what goes into this. But it’s been a crazy winding turning road, but I was fortunate to stay, you know, at my alma mater for as long as I did. And it was an incredible experience and then got the opportunity to come here.

[05:15] Don Costante:

Well, that’s awesome. And we’re going to dive into all that great knowledge that you picked up over the last three years. But was there a point along that path that was a pivotal point that really shaped that event presentations where you want to land?

A Pivotal Period at Ole Miss

[05:28] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah, I would say, you know, we had some really, really rough years in football at Ole Miss. Let’s see, my senior year of college and then my first year as a grad student. And so I remember just working through how we were getting students and fans to games and what our event presentation, game presentation, was like and how we were navigating our, you know, telling our story in the venue and all those things. And we were starting new traditions and all those things that kind of come on as how you build. We had just hired a new coach. And so it was, I would say those like first three years of that new coach era when Hugh Freeze was hired at Ole Miss was really probably the most transformative three years for me. Just because you got to see your work and obviously success of the team. And it was all really, really fun. And I think those were like the three best seasons that I’ve had. It’s just so exciting because of the momentum and because we were changing things. And I felt like everything we did was we were striking gold with. And certainly that’s not the case through my whole career. But it was a fun ride. And we had an excellent staff. We loved working with each other. I still talk to all of them quite a bit, even though I don’t think anyone over there still left in the marketing side.

[06:37] Paris Buchanan:

But those were probably those three years coming out of my first grad school year to then were really, really a fun time for me.

[06:44] Don Costante:

Wow. It’s incredible to hear the types of questions that you’re asking and looking into early on. As you mentioned, there weren’t sport management classes at that time or ways of teaching you how to do it. But you’re asking the right questions, which was amazing. So we’ve learned your background, which is fantastic. Let’s talk about your approach to event presentation. In my book, Beyond the Scoreboard, I stress the importance of having a clear philosophy, something that guides every decision, every moment, and ultimately the fan experience. So, Paris, what is your event presentation philosophy?

Paris Buchanan’s Event Presentation Philosophy

[07:16] Paris Buchanan:

Well, I would say to start out, attention to detail for me is number one. There is not one thing, big or small, that we have to or we intentionally or unintentionally overlook. Because every single aspect of that game-day matters from lighting to music direction, is there dead airtime, which my staff loves to have that conversation. But it’s just all those little things that maybe the average fan doesn’t notice, but when you’re in this side of it, you do. So I would say that that is the premise of it. But we have some really interesting, our Deputy AD for External Affairs, Rhett Hobart, who I directly report to, brought in what we call our six external core principles. And I won’t get into all of them, but a couple that really we harp on from a game presentation side is really two things. Removing the fear of failure. We talk about that every single day. We don’t want to be scared or intimidated to try something because it may not work. And we have a leadership group here that encourages failure. And that sounds a little weird, but that is something that we take pride in because we have the autonomy and the leash to say, all right, we’re going to try this crazy idea. And if it doesn’t work, it’s okay. But we would rather try something and be innovative in that approach than to kind of sit back on our heels.

Removing the Fear of Failure

[08:33] Paris Buchanan:

At the same time, we’re not going to say, well, we’re just going to try a bunch of crazy stuff. It’s got to have high risk. I mean, low risk, high reward. But at the same time, that’s how we’re thinking. And so that’s something that we talk about every day. And the second one that’s a little more surface level, no pun intended, but we have a saying called be the swan. And if you’ve ever noticed a swan, if you look at the underwater, the swan’s legs are going a thousand miles an hour trying to move around. But on the surface, it’s very calm and elegant.

Be the Swan

[09:00] Don Costante:

Right.

[09:00] Paris Buchanan:

And so we tell our staff, hey, we get it. Chaos happens in live entertainment. There are things that could go wrong every second. But just try to stay calm on the surface level, like look presentable, act like we know what we’re doing because we do. And then let behind the scenes be the chaos that our fans and our student athletes don’t see. So those are really two things that we really try to resonate with on a game-day basis.

[09:23] Don Costante:

Two fantastic things. I love not letting fear of failure stop you from getting creative. I mean, there’s inherent risk in creativity in general. So I think it’s so important for people to step outside the box and be willing to fail. And the fact that you’re stressing that there, you guys live by that principle, huge. So before we get into the main topics today, planning and technology, I want to really talk about the foundation of any successful fan experience operation. And that’s the people. Really nothing that we come up with these ideas that we’re trying to put forth in front of the fan base. Nothing’s going to work without a well-designed structure or a team that really understands their role, responsibilities, and the culture they’re supporting. So Paris, to start, can you walk us through how the Department of Auburn is structured from an organizational chart standpoint? Right.

Building the Right Organizational Structure

[10:15] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah, sure. So Rhett got here in early 2023, and I think one of the biggest wins and kind of visionary ideas that he brought, and I’m sure we’re not the only school that’s done this, but I do feel like we were one of the first, at least in the SEC, is when he got here, the marketing department equals game presentation, promotional planning, digital marketing, all your traditional out-of-home marketing. Anything from a textbook marketing to game presentation to live event. And so that’s pretty standard. And so what he kind of brought here was, look, it’s impossible to have the person that’s writing a game script be an expert in how to effectively run an email campaign to fans or how to drive revenue off ticket sales and what those campaigns look like. And I feel like every athletic department around the country has just decided, okay, this marketing person has to be a unicorn and do it all. And that’s just not reasonable. And so it has worked because people have made it work, but it’s probably not the most efficient way to do things. And so what he did, he came in and said, okay, we’re going to take the marketing department. We’re going to split it. And we’re going to call marketing what is marketing, and we’re going to call fan experience what is more game presentation. And he had to get buy-in from our athletic director, which he did to support that from a staffing standpoint.

Separating Marketing and Fan Experience

[11:30] Paris Buchanan:

We did have to add more positions, and that is a cost that we incurred. But in his mind, he did that because he felt like that was the best way to go to make Auburn successful. And so when that happened, that has helped us so much because now we have a group that is our marketing and rev side that is just focused on that portion. And then now our fan experience group can focus on how do we innovate and how do we elevate our game-day. So that is one thing that for us has helped us. And so I lead our fan experience productions and creative unit. And so it’s really important from that standpoint, though, that if you do split it, the marketing side and the fan experience side can coexist peacefully. I’m not going to say the transition was as smooth as maybe we all thought it would be because obviously you’re taking pieces of people’s jobs that they’ve done for a while and said, hey, you don’t need to focus on that anymore. And so I feel like we’re in a good spot now, but our staff’s been great. But you also have to have leadership in those units. So Daniel Watkins oversees our marketing and revenue side and Daniel and I work really well together. And so that’s another point is you have to have those two groups and those two leaders of those groups play in the sandbox well, because that can get really ugly quick if you’re trying to step on people’s toes and things like that.

Creating Alignment Across External Units

[12:45] Paris Buchanan:

So we have a great relationship and we understand the value of each unit and the role they play. But from an organizational chart and just like how it all flows together, we are pretty lockstep in our external side. And that really is a testament to Rhett and his leadership and how he structured this. There’s nobody in our department in the external side that walks into a meeting and can’t spit off, hey, what are our external core principles? They’re on every meeting agenda. They’re on every all staff slide to start off. I mean, we are driving that message home. And so I think that’s an important piece from our staff standpoint that everybody understands, hey, like what’s our mission and what are we trying to achieve and how are we trying to do it? And I think Rhett does a really good job of leading into that. So for us, it’s making sure that everybody understands their role, how it plays a part in our game-day. You know, I’ll give you an example in our all staff, external meetings. We do this once a month and we have a revenue portion where we have our revenue team come up and give a presentation on just departmental revenue. And the reason we do that is so that somebody in our creative video team, they may have been asked to do a project for something and they feel like, well, this, I don’t really, you know, this maybe doesn’t fit into what I want to do.

[13:54] Paris Buchanan:

But when we show them, hey, all of this working in concert together is driving revenue at a high rate, then all of us play a part. And so it really draws the message home. But I think just to wrap it up, it’s all critical from an organizational standpoint of, you know, you have to be lockstep and you have to be aligned with your leadership and the vision that they have.

Inside Auburn’s Fan Experience Team

[14:13] Don Costante:

So let’s take a look in terms of the fan experience side of your department. And I think that’s going to be more in line with maybe what others are doing out there. And I love the fact that you broke it up because you’re right. I think there’s this mentality of a unicorn out there and you have to be able to do everything. And that’s where a lot of people fall short. But in your particular area under fan experience, kind of give people an idea how many people are involved. What’s the structure there?

[14:36] Paris Buchanan:

Yes, we have we have an army of interns, which are great. Our students are incredible.

[14:40] Don Costante:

Right.

[14:40] Paris Buchanan:

And we really do try to give them a lot of hands-on experience to get them, you know, ready for that next step when they graduate. And then we have two graduate assistants. And those we do treat like full-time employees. They’re given sports assignments. They’re in all our staff meetings. I mean, they are they are critical and a part of our team. And we’re not shy about making that known, even in the energy process. Like, hey, you’re going to be part of our full-time team, whether you’re, quote unquote, a student or not. So we have two of those. Then we have one assistant director. We have an associate director, a director and an assistant AD who directly reports to me. And so Matt leads our FanX group. And Matt’s been here a few years and has done a really, really good job of leading that group and creating that buy in from the group to make sure we’re, you know, hitting at a high level.

Identifying Staffing Gaps

[15:24] Don Costante:

Okay. And just to dig a little bit deeper, for those that are listening, going through this, you talked about there were some hires that you need to make in this change, the shift that you made dividing marketing and fan experience. What were some of the gaps that you identified?

[15:39] Paris Buchanan:

Well, I mean, for I’ll give you an example. Matt was he was leading the digital charge for right when I got here. And so I think the gaps were, all right, we need to hand over the keys to make this work. But then who do you go find? Because in reality, I think the biggest challenge we face, and I’ve had this happen at my previous school, is you’re trying to hire these digital roles to come in and run your shop from a revenue side. But there’s just not a ton of candidates who, like, if they’re really successful, they’re working at big time companies and corporations. Why would they want to come take a pay cut to work in college athletics? And so that’s something that’s a challenge. And so I think for us, it’s trying to find, you know, the right person for the role. But that was more on Daniel’s side and how he navigated that. But that’s something that’s a challenge. And I think a lot of people are facing it on college athletics is the digital analytics side.

[16:31] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[16:32] Paris Buchanan:

So that was one. And then the other one would be, you know, just how do they work together and how do they communicate and make sure that all the information is being shared through the right people and the timeliness of it. And we’re still, we’re not perfect, but we’re working through it. And I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress here in the last at least 18 months.

[16:49] Don Costante:

Sounds great. So just to talk a little bit about communication, and I know this is going to be a loaded question, but role clarity, understanding your role as an employee, having that clarity in what that role is, and just basic communication is so critical. So how are you ensuring that every individual from those interns that you have to your senior staff members, how are you ensuring that they know exactly what’s expected of them during an event or on game days, for example?

Role Clarity, Communication, and Consistency

[17:16] Paris Buchanan:

That’s a good question. For us, consistency. We want to show up every game week the same way. Like we expect this on Tuesday, this on Wednesday, this on Thursday. I’m not saying we’re athletes by any means. Please don’t take it this way. But, you know, when you show up on game-day, if you’ve practiced it enough, you’re going to be, you’re going to have the reps and the information that you need to execute it. And if you don’t, you’re going to look really sloppy. And so for us, it’s just being consistent. Like for our spring game, for an example, maybe there’s less production needs, you know, smaller crowd than a normal Saturday in Auburn. But we expect to operate the same level. And so from a communication side, we do some really simple things that every event we host or, yeah, that we have at home, we use Slack as a communication tool, which we really enjoy. And so in Slack, all our external units will go in. They have 24 hours following the game and they’ll put an event recap in there. It can be three bullet points or 20. It just depends. And so it gives everyone, not just your single unit, an overview of how, what were some challenges that your unit faced and how did you overcome them?

Using Slack for Postgame Communication

[18:21] Don Costante:

That’s good.

[18:22] Paris Buchanan:

And so it’s a good kind of snapshot of like, all right, maybe the fan experience had a great game and maybe the ticket office didn’t because the scanners broke. And so it’s all encompassing to that. And so I think that’s an easy win for us. It’s just far of, hey, let’s just over communicate and tell the good and the bad and not be worried about sharing information to maybe the next game that would help us get better.

[18:44] Don Costante:

I love that. I love your mindset on preparation. Just one last quick question. Just curious, are you meeting as a entire group marketing fan experience weekly? Is it just fan experience? Do you have your micro meetings? How does that work?

Auburn’s Meeting Structure

[18:58] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah. So each unit that I receive, fan experience, War Eagle Creative, War Eagle Productions has a weekly staff meeting. And those are led by the department heads, the unit heads. For me, I have a weekly meeting with the three leaders of those units every Monday.

[19:11] Don Costante:

Okay.

[19:12] Paris Buchanan:

And so we come in, we discuss a wide range of topics, but usually it’s information sharing from our leadership team down. And then also just, I mean, we do event recaps. We kind of talk through what’s coming up, big picture items, small items, all there in between. And then they take that information back to their groups to kind of get the information moving around. So yeah, usually it’s each unit meets after the meeting that I have and they kind of go through all their, all their stuff.

[19:41] Don Costante:

Okay. All right. Well, I think we’ve touched on staffing. So let’s shift now into the process that really drives everything that you do. Fans, they see what happens on game days, but they really don’t see what’s taking place months in advance. And that’s all the work that goes into this, as you’ve talked about. So I want to give listeners a look at how Auburn prepares for those moments. So walk us through your planning process. How early does your process begin and what are the first steps you take once a season ends?

The Offseason Planning Process

Evaluating the Previous Season

[20:09] Paris Buchanan:

Well, for us, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a pretty simple process in theory. Usually the week after our last home game, we’re in a meeting. I mean, it doesn’t stop. And so we usually take our game script and we go through it at a really like intricate level and say, okay, let’s go through every element we ran and let’s start it. Let’s mark it. Let’s talk about if we want to bring it back, but don’t. And then usually in those meetings in December, it’s usually one, I’m not going to say we meet every week in December. That would not be factual. But we take a larger group. We bring in people from our production side, our fan experience side, our creative side. And we really have an honest conversation and evaluate how do we think it went and how can we become better as a group? And that is more of a high level, like let’s circle the wagons, come back in January and discuss all of this further.

[20:58] Don Costante:

Are you providing, sorry to interrupt, are you providing that larger group with any sort of direction in terms of preparation for that meeting? Or are they just coming in, you’re, you’re kind of hitting it at that point?

[21:08] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah. Usually it’s not a ton of prep. It’s, Hey, be ready to talk about some things that you feel like were good and some things that you felt like weren’t good.

[21:16] Don Costante:

Okay.

[21:17] Paris Buchanan:

And, and everybody has an individual opinion. The ones that are universal are the ones we already know.

[21:21] Don Costante:

Okay.

[21:22] Paris Buchanan:

We probably need to get rid of this stuff because if eight people in the room all bring the same thing, Hey, we should not do this anymore. It’s usually pretty much.

[21:29] Don Costante:

Okay. That checks.

[21:30] Paris Buchanan:

But for us, it’s just talking through that, looking at it. And then, you know, in the January sob for us, we are, innovation’s a big piece of our game-day. I love using technology to its advantage. And so those things take many months to like come up and ideate and price and figure it out. And so for us, that usually starts January, February of like, all right, let’s get the nitty gritty out of the way. And now big picture, what technology do we want to go explore? There’s obviously a lot of conferences in the summer. The only challenge with that is it’s so late that, you know, by the time June and July hit, you pretty much have already had your mind on like what we’re doing. But there’s been some times where we’ve seen some things and made it work. So, but usually it’s February, February-ish. We’ll start talking about that.

Planning for Innovation and New Technology

[22:14] Don Costante:

Okay. So Paris, your department really intersects with marketing, partnerships, operations. Yes, the coaches, creative and more. So how do you align all of those groups early on to ensure that everyone’s working from that same roadmap that you’re coming up with?

Aligning Stakeholders Around the Roadmap

[22:30] Paris Buchanan:

It’s vital that every single person that this touches is involved in some way. Yeah, I will say this. We try not to get facilities and game operations and those groups in until we have a firm idea because we don’t normally when we call them in, it’s like, all right, I’m really sorry. Just hear us out, but don’t freak out. But hey, we want to launch a hot air balloon out off the midfield or whatever it is. And they’re like, oh my gosh.

[22:54] Don Costante:

So I love that.

[22:55] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah. But for us, it’s like, let’s try to iron out all the logistical details before we bring them in. We don’t want to waste time and have everybody, you know, run them in circles. And then we don’t even end up doing it. But it is vital. Usually from our marketing and creative and all those groups, those are the ones that are early in the meetings. They’re the ones sitting around the table. I would say the coaching staff would probably, this is, I hope none of these coaches are going to listen to this because they would be angry. But usually we try to bring them in towards the end because it’s a lot better to show them. Like if you have some really cool technology in basketball arena, if you try to explain it to them without any visuals or anything, they’re going to be like, okay, I don’t know. But if you walk them in and be like, here it is. And you push play, they’re way more accepting to, okay, this is great. And so we just don’t want to like pitch an idea and it fall flat. And then they say, no, we don’t want to do this. And then you’re like, well, I didn’t really even get the chance to explain it all. Or maybe I didn’t explain it correctly.

When to Involve Coaches

[23:55] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[23:55] Paris Buchanan:

So that’s something that we do. We bring our coaching staff in to see our intro videos. We want them in the arena before the game. We want their feedback. And that’s tricky. I mean, we’re not immune to it, but like some people are scared to death to get their coaches involved in that side because we don’t want our coaches directing our creative processes. But at the same time, it’s their program. So we want them to feel involved. And so we want them to say, hey, like this isn’t hitting on the themes that we have for this team. And so it’s a balance. I think it’s just a relationship that you have to continue to build, but we’re certainly open to it.

[24:28] Don Costante:

This whole idea, though, of discussing and having conversations with the departments that you work with is so important. So many people are working in a silo situation and they just have this narrow tunnel vision. And so it’s good to hear the conversations that you’re having. Obviously, the order and the timing in which you’re having these conversations with different groups matter. I mean, I laugh a little bit when you talk about the coaches. It’s kind of a slippery slope. I worked in San Antonio and Greg Popovich and the general manager, RC Buford. It shifted where they wanted more control. It got to that point where everything had to be approved. And, you know, the number of players, how many times they’re going to be seen, even as much as are they holding the ball in the left hand? Are they shooting? Are they boxing out? I mean, it got very specific on how it needed to be laid out. So you’re absolutely right. Go to them. Obviously, having those conversations is what’s important, but doing it in a timely manner and showing them visually definitely helps to move the needle. So when you’re evaluating last season, what metrics or feedback carry the most weight for you in shaping the offseason priorities?

Using Fan Feedback and Data

[25:31] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah, I probably should have mentioned this when talking about getting our groups together in December. The SEC does an incredible job. So as a league, we do a fan experience survey. So every ticketed sport once a year postseason gets a survey from the SEC. And then we submit our season ticket holder list to the SEC. They send it out. And then we get to review those results. And so for us, that is such a huge, huge thing is we get that valuable data that we can comb through. It’s got tens and tens of questions ranging from is the stadium audio too loud? Do you see enough information from a stat standpoint on your ribbon boards or a restroom cleanliness? How is your experience? Parking? I mean, it covers it all.

[26:17] Don Costante:

Are you able to provide additional questions, things, areas that maybe you want to cover?

[26:21] Paris Buchanan:

It’s standard.

[26:22] Don Costante:

Okay.

[26:22] Paris Buchanan:

So all the questions are the same for each school. We do have the opportunities as a group. We meet in March and we determine the questions for that year. So if there’s things we want to add or take away, we have to decide as a group. But yeah, this survey is a one-size-fits-all for each school.

[26:38] Don Costante:

Well, what a great tool though.

[26:39] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah. And having that data and it’s not just football, it’s basketball, it’s gymnastics, it’s softball. And so we comb through that. It’s also got it at the end, some open-ended questions. You can read some comments and that’s always interesting and engaging. Sometimes a little over the top, you know, we try to read through it and gain as much insight. The other tools we use, we actually started doing a few years ago, we started doing a weekly, for football, a weekly postgame survey. And what we do with that is every Monday we come in, it takes about an hour and a half, and we have probably a 30-person group ranging from fan experience to game operations, facilities, concession group, our parking group, our ticket office. Anybody that touches game-day has a representative in that group.

Weekly Postgame Surveys

[27:23] Don Costante:

Oh, I love that.

[27:24] Paris Buchanan:

And we go through our survey week-to-week and we benchmark, what did we do last week? How did we improve this week? Are there areas of concern? And so that really helps us from a week-to-week standpoint. And the whole purpose of that weekly meeting is to make actionable change for the next game.

[27:38] Don Costante:

I love that.

[27:38] Paris Buchanan:

So it’s not just to check the box, let’s circle up and talk about it. So if somebody says, hey, my cup holder’s broken, we make a concentrated effort to go fix that cup holder. Because for us, if somebody’s taking the time to fill the survey out and nothing’s happening, over time, people are going to say, well, you’re not reading this anyway, I’m not doing this.

[27:55] Don Costante:

That’s right.

[27:55] Paris Buchanan:

But when a fan actually says, my cup holder is broken in section 33, row 28, and then the next game they show up and it’s fixed. It’s like, oh, wow, they actually do read these. And there is things that come from us. So we take pride in that. And that’s something that we really, really do. The other thing is we’re very critical of our operation because we want it to be great. And we want the experience to be great. And so we have some tough conversations in there and talk about things that, you know, maybe we have to adjust. So those are just things that we do. But the feedback in the metric side is definitely more of the digital data that we get. And that really helps us drive decisions for not just week-to-week, but then the next season as well.

Leadership’s Role in the Fan Experience

[28:33] Don Costante:

How involved are those that you’re reporting to? How involved are they in the process?

[28:40] Paris Buchanan:

Oh, man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wish you could sit in one of these. So Rhett, our Deputy AD, he leads the meeting. And so he’s very involved.

[28:48] Don Costante:

Okay.

[28:49] Paris Buchanan:

That is one thing that he is laser focused on is just how are we treating our fans and what is their experience like when they show up? I mean, it’s everything from how are the ticket takers greeting our fans when they scan?

[29:01] Don Costante:

Oh, incredible.

The Fan Journey Starts in the Parking Lot

[29:02] Paris Buchanan:

We consider the event, the event doesn’t start when someone walks in the gates. It starts when they park their car.

[29:07] Don Costante:

Yep.

[29:07] Paris Buchanan:

Because when they park their car and they get out, is there a long line in the car to get into your spot? Is your spot taken by someone? Is it overcrowded? That forms your opinion as you walk into the game. Well, if you’ve already had a crappy experience before you even got to the stadium gates, then you’re already having a negative connotation as you walk in. And then what happens that the lines of the ticket gates are long? And then you’re like, well, crap, I have to wait. So it’s crazy of just like the data that we’re able to input into that. I mean, it’s a full effort. It takes a lot of different units to buy into this. And I think that’s one of the best, you know, and we also do it for basketball and baseball as well. Just not as frequently, just because of the number of games. So usually for baseball, we’ll do four to five a year. Same with basketball, just to make sure we’re getting some data from the season.

[29:52] Don Costante:

I think you guys are so lucky to have that leadership that is so laser focused on the fan experience. And I talk about that even in my book about that journey from parking all the way through. What does it look like? And what are they experiencing? You’re absolutely right. Negative impacts are going to have such a negative overall feel on that presentation. So how do you balance those big picture creative ideas such as new intros or new themes, new activations with the operational realities of budget, staffing and venue limitations?

Balancing Creativity With Operational Reality

[30:23] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah, that’s probably the hardest part is you have eager staff members like myself who are just like, oh, man, let’s have all this craziness happen. And then you get to reality and say, well, man, I can’t do this because the stadium is 100 years old. We don’t have enough power here. How are we going to? So we really try to in our intro meetings, when we talk about just these big picture items, we try to have a saying that says like, hey, no idea is bad. Don’t worry about the ifs and the when and how it’s all going to play out. Let’s talk about if you had a blank canvas, what would it look like? And then we’ll go backwards and say, all right, how do we figure it out? How do we make it work? But from my standpoint, I have to communicate up. So I have to go to my boss and say, listen, we’re going down this path. Actually, I’ll tell you a funny story. And we’re not doing this, but this is just kind of how our brains were. I had to go to him a year ago. We were about this point last year, kind of ideating on the season for this year. And I talked to several vendors about some really, really unique things in the venue and things that I have never seen before. And one of them was so this company had these like almost like these projector screens.

When a Big Idea Is Too Risky

[31:32] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[31:33] Paris Buchanan:

And they would lift them off the ground with helium balloons and they would be able to project images onto the screens like hovering above midfield.

[31:42] Don Costante:

So cool.

[31:42] Paris Buchanan:

And so it was almost like a mini Jumbotron video board over dangling in the air. And so I was like, man, this would be sick. And so I go and I’m like trying to pitch my conversation to Rhett. And he’s looking at me like, are you OK? Like, this is insane. And so I was like, well, you know, I think this is this. And so we finally start talking and ultimately we kind of got to a place where, hey, it’s way too risky. Like if the winds blow and you can’t do it. And then what if something happens? So like the not being afraid to fail thing also has some reality to it.

[32:16] Don Costante:

Yeah, it does.

[32:16] Paris Buchanan:

Like, hey, let’s let’s not be afraid to fail. But let’s also be realistic of like, hey, if these balloons break up, OK, that’s not going to be good. But just having that opportunity to go and have that honest conversation and saying, hey, I might be crazy. Tell me I’m crazy. And he’ll be the first to say, yeah, this is outlandish. We need to find another direction, which we ultimately did. But it’s just important. You’re communicating up with your leadership and explaining your vision and how you can get there. And then on the other side is just making sure like, hey, are there revenue generation ideas that can help offset costs to make this work? And so I think our team is really good at that. Hey, we know this is a little bit outside our budget and our scope. But are there ways that we can recoup some of the costs by X, Y, Z? And so I think that’s important, too.

From Concept to Execution

[32:57] Don Costante:

So once you do get an idea approved, walk us through the process from concept to execution. What’s that lifecycle look like for Auburn?

[33:05] Paris Buchanan:

A little hectic.

[33:06] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[33:06] Paris Buchanan:

For us, we installed a whole new lighting and laser system in our football and basketball arena. And so for that, like just looking through how that went, we had some vision and some ideas. And so then you get your group together and say, all right, this is what we want to do. Can we maintain it? Can we operate it? Once that all is checked out, then you go into the whole financial side of it. Like, how much is this costing us? How are we funding it?

[33:29] Don Costante:

Right.

[33:29] Paris Buchanan:

If we don’t have the funding, where are some other opportunities? And so one thing that really was cool this year, this past year for us, and I think it’s so important, and a lot of people don’t talk about it, is your relationship with your athletics foundation or your university foundation. There are so many donors that love projects like this. That like, hey, I love technology. I will help support you guys in this. And having a group of our athletic donors, our Tigers Unlimited Foundation is who we work with, that are comfortable enough to say, and look, if a donor’s passionate about this, we want to connect them with you. Yes, we want them to donate to us, and that’s great. But if this is the passion of theirs, like, here, let’s help facilitate this. And that’s exactly what they did for us.

Using Donor Support to Fund Technology

[34:10] Don Costante:

Such a great idea.

[34:11] Paris Buchanan:

They helped us with, they were in a meeting with a donor and a family, and they were soliciting a gift. And the family said, hey, we love technology. Oh, well, why don’t we make part of this gift part of stadium technology? And they’re like, we love that. And so he came to me and said, hey, here’s your scope. You go find what we can do, and we’ll pitch it to them, and then we’ll go from there, which I’ve never been a part of that in working in athletics in 15 years. And so it was such a cool moment to, like, work with them and get that done and not have to dig into our budgets to try to figure this out, because I don’t think we could have pulled it off. But that was a really cool way. And so then, you know, you build those relationships. Then you start talking about infrastructure and timing and then the creative aspect of building out shows and what it looks like. And so it takes, I mean, for us, it took seven, almost seven months from start to finish to, like, start the idea to, like, actually have the physical stuff installed, the equipment. So that was a process that kept me off. I mean, we were up at the stadium every night until kickoff, right, the first home game. The timing was made me super uncomfortable, but we got it done. So that’s all that matters.

[35:14] Don Costante:

Well, it’s not just that seven months of getting it installed, then the stress of preparation in terms of your rehearsals, I’m sure, to make sure it’s seamless.

[35:22] Paris Buchanan:

Oh, yeah.

[35:22] Don Costante:

And that short timeframe compounds it.

[35:24] Paris Buchanan:

Yes. Yes.

Improving the Planning Timeline

[35:25] Don Costante:

Last question before we move on. Is there anything new that you would want to try in your planning process that you haven’t implemented yet?

[35:33] Paris Buchanan:

I don’t know. Like, for us, it evolves year to year. We honestly, we just don’t know. Like, it’s crazy that in November 2025, I have no idea what’s going to happen in September 26th.

[35:43] Don Costante:

Sure.

[35:44] Paris Buchanan:

I really don’t. Like, this time last year, I had no idea what the technology you would use right now. So it’s a little bit scattered. But, you know, for us, I think we say this every year. It’s just like from a planning process. How can we be more efficient of, like, making sure we’re not in the stadium Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday when we play Saturday?

[36:01] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[36:01] Paris Buchanan:

We would love that to be 10 days, 14, 21 days out so we’re not scrambling. And that’s something that we are prioritizing this year. So we have got to figure out a better, efficient way to not put that pressure on our staff. I mean, it was tight and people were frantic and it just added a lot of stress to our group that we really didn’t need to have. And so that would be something that we are stamping right now saying, no matter what, we have to have a hard deadline of this date to make sure we’re ready to go for football.

[36:30] Don Costante:

Okay. So we’ve talked through staffing now in the planning process. And of course, we all know that none of this exists in a vacuum. Technology now plays a role in every aspect of fan experience from creative production to sponsor engagement, from storytelling to those in-venue moments that define a game. So I want to explore how Auburn is embracing these opportunities. So, Paris, how are you using technology to elevate the fan experience and create deeper engagement?

Technology and the Future of Fan Engagement

Using Fan Data and Heat Maps

[36:58] Paris Buchanan:

And I mentioned the lighting infrastructure we put in, which is something that we’re excited about. I think from an engagement standpoint, though, in working with our partner, Paciola, and our marketing group that’s loved this charge. I remember this concept years ago, but it never came to fruition for us at Ole Miss. And I was hoping that maybe we could get there here. We use a thing called PacIQ where, you know, I mentioned those weekly surveys. Well, now we have an awesome opportunity. So anytime someone puts in a negative comment or positive, but we’ll go with negative, a negative comment, we can look at a heat map and it pops up every one of them in a color red or green.

[37:33] Don Costante:

Oh, so cool.

[37:33] Paris Buchanan:

And so for us, it is really cool to look at that holistically and say, all right, if there’s one tiny red dot in a sea of green, it’s not probably a structural or a widespread issue. However, if you got all red in the same section around the same concourse and they’re all complaining about the bathroom, something’s probably wrong. And so for us, it gives us a huge opportunity to look at the data real time and see it after the survey is done to say, okay, here’s where we need to spend our focus and figure out what’s going on. The other part of it is it also logs into their account what their issues are. So if someone says week one, they send in my cup holders broken week two, they said, thank you. You fixed it week three, the popcorn’s cold. Like you can literally go to their profile and say all their data points.

[38:23] Don Costante:

That’s awesome.

[38:24] Paris Buchanan:

So when our ticket office and sales team are on the phone, they can pull that information up and say, hey, I can get a kind of a cheat sheet on this person before I call just so I know what’s going on. And their temperature of like, hey, did they send in a lot of complaints? Are they usually very complimentary or is it like a middle ground? So they kind of know how deep the water they’re jumping into before they get the call. And it also helps for them to say, hey, you know, I noticed, you know, your cup holder was had an issue a few weeks ago. And I just want to make sure that’s fixed. And when somebody picks up the phone and actually call someone in 2025, the reaction’s crazy.

[38:57] Don Costante:

Yeah. Yeah. This is awesome.

[38:59] Paris Buchanan:

And so you develop that human connection that I think is missing a lot just because of just the scale of what we do with the number of people we’re hosting every week.

[39:08] Don Costante:

So cool. When you’re evaluating new technologies, whether that’s the AR, VR, the mixed reality, integrated light shows, all the different things that are out there, all the other emerging tools. What criteria really determines whether they’re worth pursuing or not for you?

Evaluating New Technologies

[39:23] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah. You know, I mentioned risk versus reward earlier.

[39:26] Don Costante:

Yep.

[39:26] Paris Buchanan:

Cost, obviously, is a big factor. The drone shows now, like everybody does drone shows.

[39:32] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[39:32] Paris Buchanan:

I’m like, I’m not anti-drone show, but I am anti, like a lot of teams will just throw the drones up and there’s no like coordinated story. There’s no real like planning. It’s just like, okay, at this time we’re going to throw the drones out. We’re going to play some music and then I’ll spell out some logos. It’s going to look cool. Which is great. That’s not a bad thing. And I applaud the people that are doing that because they’re trying to elevate their fan experience. But with us, we’re talking about what are things that can move the needle that fit our program and not just, you know, check a box because it’s the trendy thing to do. And so we are deliberate in that. We have a very traditional fan base and we have to kind of be careful of we are super in like our vision of technology and how we implement it. But at the same time, a lot of our fans don’t really enjoy that. They don’t want to see lasers on the field. They don’t want lights shining in their eyes. They just want the band. They want the game and they want to win. And so it’s a balance for that. But for us, we always go back to how can we take our traditions and elevate them with the use of technology? And if the answer is, yes, we can do that with this certain product, we’re going to unusually take advantage of that.

Using Technology to Elevate Tradition

[40:40] Paris Buchanan:

So that’s a guiding principle that we try. We try to really be intentional on does this fit Auburn? And if it does, how can we just take what we currently do and just make it a little bit better with some technology?

Getting New Technology Approved and Implemented

[40:52] Don Costante:

So as you’re establishing what to go forward with based on enhancing your traditions and what you’re doing there with so many stakeholders, partnership operations, team personnel, digital and others, how do you manage that internal process of getting the approval and implementing the new technology? And who’s involved in that implementation?

[41:12] Paris Buchanan:

Oh, an army of people.

[41:14] Don Costante:

Right.

[41:14] Paris Buchanan:

My first year, I had to really drink from a fire hose because we were trying to do some things and I was not aware of some of the protocols and procedures of, right? You know, forms that had to be signed, sign offs that had to be done. What group on campus has to be this? Is it risk management? Is it IT? Is it whatever all this stuff is? And so it took me almost eight months to figure it out. But I feel like we have a good workflow for us. It’s number one, making sure that our campus facilities and our internal facilities are in the loop from the beginning stages. Obviously, we need if it’s technology that involves data or power, making sure IT is involved, which we have a great IT group here. And then the third part of this is just the game operations group. We want to make sure that whatever we’re trying to look into or that is number one, the league approves it or it’s capable of. And then the other part of it is just making sure everyone’s comfortable with it. So, you know, from a team personnel, too, you mentioned like part of our fourth quarter show right now is a laser at midfield and we have to keep our team off of it. They can’t stand on it because we don’t want something bad to happen if they look up at it. So we have our director of operations at football. We have just a whole lot of different player personnel groups that we in our meetings say, hey, like we really need to help keeping the players off the field at this time.

[42:31] Paris Buchanan:

And so like we’ll walk out there. They’ll help us. So like it is a full buy in of people and it’s important that it’s just communicated. But we’ve had a really good group at Auburn and ones that are willing to help try to make our vision come to life.

Measuring Technology Success

[42:42] Don Costante:

And once you do have that vision come to life and you integrate that new technology, what metrics or indicators do you track to determine whether it’s successful?

[42:50] Paris Buchanan:

You know, the survey back to the survey.

[42:52] Don Costante:

OK.

[42:52] Paris Buchanan:

We get a net promoter score every year and we track that year to year. And it’s important to us on what people are saying, how they feel. Would they recommend our game-day to someone? So that’s a really important piece is really that’s how we’re tracking it. You know, the other the other ways, if you didn’t have a survey, it’s like, all right, well, go the old route and just kind of peek at Twitter and see what’s going on or X.

[43:14] Don Costante:

And I don’t recommend that.

[43:15] Paris Buchanan:

No, but that is something that we monitor message boards. I’m not going to say we are hardcore tracking them, but it is a pulse. And I think it’s important that you keep a pulse of your program.

[43:24] Don Costante:

It is. Yeah.

[43:25] Paris Buchanan:

I would say I wouldn’t recommend like living and dying on that hill because it is not a healthy one. But, you know, I think you have to understand you can’t just live in a box and hide. You have to reach out and see what are people saying on social media? What are they saying in message boards? How are they filling out their survey? I think it’s a compilation of all those metrics into one.

[43:44] Don Costante:

Okay. So for all those organizations out there that are listening to this, that maybe don’t have your resources, whether it’s a small college, a minor league team or leadership groups hesitant on investing in any type of technology. What affordable technologies can they take advantage of right now, in your opinion? And how would you recommend they incorporate those tools into their fan experience strategy?

Creating Great Moments Without a Massive Budget

[44:09] Paris Buchanan:

I mean, I would say I’m saying this generally. I would say most teams, whether it’s a minor league team, small college, whatever, they have a sound system that’s pretty standard across venues.

[44:20] Don Costante:

Right.

[44:20] Paris Buchanan:

Some may have a video board, some may not. But for us, like here at Auburn, some of our programs, they do not have a budget like football. And so we still have to come up with unique ideas of how are we entertaining people and what’s making their experience different. But I would just recommend like thinking outside the box and thinking intentionally on making moments. And so for us, we’ve talked about little things at soccer or volleyball or how do you capture these little tiny one offs and build on those things. And so I don’t think you have to have a large. Obviously, it helps, but you don’t have to have these massive budgets to create these moments for fans. And during timeouts or pregame, I think you can creatively think, how do you start granularly and say, all right, I’m going to do four moments this year in volleyball. And so you plan those out. It’s OK. I know Texas is coming this year. I’m going to look at that game as being one and this two. And then you kind of build that out. And so a lot of those efforts don’t take finances to pull that off. And so that’s something that we talk about a lot is just creating those moments. And then the other part of it is just be intentional about what you do.

[45:25] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[45:25] Paris Buchanan:

Even the way you play your music or the way you use your lighting systems, if you have one, it has to be intentional. It has to be choreographed. It can’t just be, I’m going to show up. And if it happens, something happens. You have to think through that. And so I would say it doesn’t take a ton of resources, but we’re in a great situation here at Auburn. We are very, very fortunate to be in a conference that has the resources for us to do that. But I do think there are ways, if you’re not in that situation, there’s ways that you can create those moments.

How Auburn Is Using AI

[45:53] Don Costante:

Are you utilizing AI at all?

[45:56] Paris Buchanan:

That’s a touchy subject.

[45:57] Don Costante:

OK.

[45:58] Paris Buchanan:

We actually, so hey, don’t be afraid to fail. Well, we were not. And we, I might as say it was a failure, but we actually had a, we ran a little video board piece with AI. And it was, we had like, it was called Baby Tiger Beats. And it was some of our student athletes as babies and they would route nursery rhymes. And we tried that a couple of games at basketball and it was booed out the door. And so we had to stop doing that. So we are no longer running Baby Tiger Beats.

[46:25] Don Costante:

OK.

[46:25] Paris Buchanan:

But we use AI in the creative space, you know, in some of our videos, some of our editing, some of our processes and that. We’re dabbling in that world.

[46:33] Don Costante:

Right.

[46:33] Paris Buchanan:

It’s certainly a newer thing that we’re trying to figure out and get our hands-on it. But that’s something that we’re, we’re looking into as far as how do we use that to our advantage as we move forward.

[46:42] Don Costante:

It’s allowing teams now to personalize experiences more than ever.

[46:46] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah.

[46:46] Don Costante:

Creating music, promotions, content based on fan behavior.

[46:50] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah.

Technology Trends Over the Next Three to Five Years

[46:51] Don Costante:

Looking ahead three to five years, Paris, what technologies do you believe will have the biggest impact on college athletics? And how has all been preparing for that shift now?

[47:00] Paris Buchanan:

Yeah. I mean, I think, look, I think that a lot of these like crowdsync technologies with these wristbands and things like that, like things that are, that are using Bluetooth or radio frequencies. Those are becoming less and less expensive as the years go on. Those are something that are really cool that a lot of schools are in partners and sponsors are lashing onto. You know, we’re exploring, it’s a crazy thing to explore, but holograms and AR like, oh yeah. How in these VR type deals? Like we had some crazy ideas last year that just didn’t formulate. And I’m okay with that for now because I wasn’t super comfortable with it. But like, I think there’s going to be a day where you’re like going to be able to just, I mean, there is now, but I’m saying widespread, like roll out a cart and have some of your players come to life and tell stories. You know, those are type of things that we’re exploring.

[47:49] Don Costante:

Yeah.

[47:49] Paris Buchanan:

But even beyond that, like on our video boards, how can you make, like we have a couple of LED screens in our lobbies of basketball arena. How can you utilize that to personalize your fan experience? I’ve been into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta and you wear this tag and you walk around and you pick your favorite team. And every time you go to a kiosk, it automatically picks up your team and it just curates the whole experience for you and your team.

[48:13] Don Costante:

Yeah, so cool.

[48:13] Paris Buchanan:

And it’s really neat. And so like, how can we develop that? How do you curate some of those things to where when a season ticket holder walks in, it auto identifies who they are, what their preferences are, what their concessions options are. How does all that technology go into one? And I think that’s where we’re moving. It’s just the difference is it’s like, how do you get that on a college level and versus a pro level where the budgets are just not there. And so, I don’t know, three to five years maybe, but hopeful that we can get that technology more on a college landscape.

[48:44] Don Costante:

Well, that’s where your foundations come in.

[48:46] Paris Buchanan:

Absolutely. And I hope they’re not listening because they’d be like, we’re not there yet. But yeah.

[48:50] Don Costante:

Right. So we’re wrapping it up here. This has really been fantastic. And I just have two more questions before I wrap up this episode. The first is geared towards the students, the early career professionals, even those that are already in the industry for that matter, that are looking to keep growing. The question I have for you is if you could give one piece of advice to somebody who wants to build a career and fan experience or creative strategy or even event presentation for that matter, what would it be?

Career Advice for Fan Experience Professionals

[49:16] Paris Buchanan:

I would say just keep demanding to explore and to learn and to find ways in your current situation to take on more and to just be around and be present. I was so fortunate in my undergrad experience to get to do some really cool things and be in meetings and just kind of absorb things and be around. You know, I look back at like, what did I try to do when I was an intern or when I was kind of an entry level position? And it was just showing up every day. A mentor of mine gave me some advice. And this isn’t like his, he didn’t create this. I’ve heard it before. But, you know, you can control two things. It’s your attitude and your effort.

[49:52] Don Costante:

Exactly.

[49:52] Paris Buchanan:

And those are like two just like key things for me is like the world can be literally on fire. Your stadium could be blown up. But like you can control those and your output. And so for me, it’s just and I would give that advice, like give 110 percent and try to just absorb as much as you can. Because if you put your head down, go to work, people will notice that and you will be rewarded. It may not be quick. This is not like a get rich quick industry. And I’m not talking about money. I mean, just in general, you’re not just going to shoot up to become the general manager, you know, of the Yankees tomorrow. You have to build that foundation and learn as much as possible. So that would be some advice that I would give.

[50:31] Don Costante:

I love that. Final question for those listening to today’s discussion. What are your final thoughts?

Final Thoughts From Paris Buchanan

[50:36] Paris Buchanan:

I think we’re in a storytelling, at least from a game presentation, creative production side from my seat. We have such an opportunity to tell stories about our student athletes from a college standpoint, about our fans and our traditions. And our history, I would just say, like, don’t take that lightly. We have a huge opportunity and unbelievable time to, like, use the resources and technology that we discussed to amplify that. You know, this has been in my head for a few years is we installed a new sound system at Ole Miss a few years ago. And I remember I was trying to pitch it to my boss at the time. And I said, look, people may go to a game and they may remember, like, what they saw from, you know, videos or visuals. And they can remember maybe what they heard, you know, from the band or the spirit squads or whatever. But, like, with that speaker system, this would give us an opportunity to really help people make them feel it. And so everything we do here is, like, don’t just check a box. Don’t just go through the motions. Really try to, like, curate this experience and think of all the details so somebody walks away and, like, feels different when they walk out. You’re not in control of the wins and the losses. But if you give them a good experience and you wow them and they’re going to come back and say, that was an incredible experience with me, with my family.

[51:50] Paris Buchanan:

My kids loved it. I want to come back even though we may have lost the game. And so that’s, for us, the biggest thing is how do you keep pushing that? And hopefully your team, you get that home run where you have an excellent, incredible experience for your fans and your team wins. It’s like this home run of opportunity.

[52:07] Don Costante:

Right. But that’s something that we just, like, try to push every day is just giving them an experience they want to come back for. Well, Paris, this has just been outstanding. And I want to thank you for sharing such thoughtful insight into Auburn’s approach and the incredible work driving your success. And I know that those that are listening to our conversation today are going to get a lot from it. And I know I did. So thank you so much.

Don Costante’s Closing Thoughts

[52:28] Paris Buchanan:

Thanks for having me. Really enjoyed it.

Podcast Closing

[52:32] Don Costante:

That’s a wrap on this episode of The Rundown. Have a question or want to share your thoughts? We’d love to hear from you. Just email [email protected]Email The Rundown. Also, be sure to subscribe, share the podcast, and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram. On behalf of Don Costante, thanks for listening. Until the next time, this is The Rundown Podcast.