Comments on: A Super Effort By Indianapolis

By: Mark Wilkinson

Mark Wilkinson — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:03:02 +0000

Nice post, George. Indy really is a great place, even when we pass “right to work” laws and try to legislate that creationism should be taught in science class. *sigh* But that conservative bent is one of the reasons Indy is such a nice place: we value hard work, good manners, and friendship.

I would point out that there is a huge difference in the promotion of the Super Bowl and the 500. IMS promotes the 500; Indianapolis promoted the Super Bowl. The Hulman-George family rarely asks for city or state help other than with police, fire, and other safety related issues. I’m not sure that the city of Indianapolis feels any need to recreate the Super Bowl vibe for the 500. It’s already here and it’s staying. I posted a longer response at http://www.pressdog.com in regards to his premise that Indy and IMS need to do more to promote the race. As always, I have an opinion.

By: JohnMc

JohnMc — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:50:10 +0000

Redcar, in my opinion every year is a learning experience and there is no doubt that IMS got some fresh ideas working with the NFL this past week. I did think that the cars lined up on Meridian street south of the Monument Circle was sweet and I heard that a lot of NFL associated people kissed the bricks at an IMS event. I call it synergy and seeing that Tony George and IMS were very much a part of getting the Super Bowl to Indy as well as working with the event itself I would think that they did learn something. If you do get back to Indianapolis for the 500 then we two native Hoosiers should break bread at the track. The tenderloin is on me.

By: Ron Ford

Ron Ford — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:53:07 +0000

Maybe Jimmy could do another “Head Swap” bit at the Speedway. I’m thinkin’ maybe A.J. Foyt on Arie Luyendyk.

By: Megan K. Bickel

Megan K. Bickel — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:28:51 +0000

You know how much pride I have in my city (Indy) and my town (Speedway), so you can only imagine how very pumped I was this past week watching everything unfold. Of course, the whole time I couldn’t help but think of the “what if”s in relation to the 500. I think the city puts a ton of effort into the May events, but I think the part that is lacking (aside from the obvious Saturday lull) is the marketing component. If they know about it, they will come!

What about building on all these celebrities/media folks who now have a taste for Indy? For example, my husband suggested inviting Jimmy Fallon to drive the pace car or be the honorary starter. He taped his show here in Indy for the Super Bowl and produced some hysterical Indy-promoting segements that went viral. What if we got him as excited about the 500? Marco & the IMS played promanantly in one of those segments, so the connection is there. Jump on it!

All these awesome tie-ins were fantastic. I just hope they are followed up with action.

By: james t suel

james t suel — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:58:02 +0000

George i think you are right on the job that the city of Indianapolis did with the Super Bowl. I also belive that the Speedway and Indycar got a lot of good exposure to media that does not normialy pay attention to racing.

By: redcar

redcar — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:41:32 +0000

I just thought Indianapolis and IMS could learn from the Superbowl and capitalize on it’s success . But I’ll shut up now and I really do hope to get “back home” to Indy and that race this year.

By: JHall14

JHall14 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:40:58 +0000

As a lifelong hoosier, the game had ended, the News was on, and as I shut down things for the night, a tremendous feeling of pride hit me. 10 days of great exposure for the city.

I sent a question in to Kevin Lee this week, asking what the Speedway had seen and is it measuring the effects of the Super Bowl, on the Speedway. I went out on Friday to the Speedway, asked one of the ladies working in the souvenir shops, how has business been. She advised myself that Friday traffic had really spiked with a large flavor of Patriot fans. I can only hope we will see a spike of Northeastern addresses come back for race weekend. The Indiana Business Journal estimated a 1-5 Million Dollar exposure for the Speedway/INDYCAR. We can only hope those figures are accurate and continue the momentum for a great racing season in 2012.

By: JohnMc

JohnMc — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:25:12 +0000

Are you ribbing me or are you from Indiana as well? As for the Festival, they organize the parade, the 5k, mini-marathon (35,000 participants) Field tor the kids with good grades, community day and the “big ball” for the rich. Besides that, the festival committee works throughout the year securing sponsorships to pay for the events. As for getting stale, I guess a parade can get stale however the high school bands and the Gordon Pipers seem to always be turned on by participating. There are other events and such for the month of May as well which are staged by organizations other than the 500 Festival Committee. There are also enough party opportunities for those who aren’t into black tie events as well as parties put on by companies that have sponsorship at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Believe me, the city is lit up for May and always has been.
Now, as for the 500 Princess program, well that might not be everyone’s cup of tea and I respect that, but for those with a more discriminating taste there might be a “Miss 500” contest at the Gold Club on Lafayette.
The city of Indianapolis is awesome anyway and their chamber of commerce sells the heck out of that. There are some good schools, wonderful restaurants, AAA baseball, NFL and NBA, first class theater and night districts like Broad Ripple. Downtown is awesome, too. Also, Carmel, which is north of the city, is pretty awesome and Crooked Stick has held the PGA Tournament.
One thing that Indianapolis does better than anyone and that is hosting big events. That skill no doubt, came from having the Indianapolis 500 run since 1911. Having the largest single day sporting event gate can give you that skill, too. Indianapolis doesn’t rest on its laurels in May, but the only way you can be sure of that is to not listen to me, but to experience it yourself.

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:20:37 +0000

…..upon further review (Google is your friend, after all) there was at the vey least a Giants DW12. I have pics of older cars in Giants and Pats livery but apparently they did more than one car for the game participants.

By: redcar

redcar — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:18:52 +0000

Just wondering–speaking as a proud native of Indiana–if maybe the Festival hasn’t gotten a bit stale, predictable, less inventive–because they’ve done it for so long? You know–crown the Princess, black and white checkered pennants, probably a charity ball for rich folk. Check off the boxes like the year before and the year before.
I’m wondering if the success of the Superbowl might inspire Indy to up the ante on the hoopla that surrounds the race in order to take advantage of the downtown area. My impression of the Festival is that it’s dusty and insular and self-congratulatory rather than inclusive, celebratory and economically profitable for all in the city.