Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium

to celebrate. “As soon as we adjourn from the meeting, all of our fan hosts are assigned to specific areas to wipe down all of our surface areas, making sure that all of our general areas are clean - seating, the Kids Zone, our condiments station - making sure there’s no reason for anyone to come to ticket services saying ‘this wasn’t clean.’As soon as they’re done doing that, they head to their assigned stations. Then, throughout the evening, they relieve each other for their breaks, and by the end of the night, they’re saying goodbye to our fans, and then we send them on their way.” Truss believes that fun and safety go hand-in-hand. “My head is on a swivel at all times during game day,” she reports. “Anything can happen, so I need to make sure our staff always knows our operating procedures, our bag-check policies, our fan code of conduct, what concession stands might be open that night, what time the Kids Zone will be open; making sure that their heads are also on swivel. For the fans to have fun, the staff behind the scenes needs to be looking out for them.” PARTNERS AND SUPPLIERS In addition to its seasonal staff, the stadium also relies on a broad network of local contractors and suppliers to make sure that it has the products and services it needs to operate smoothly and safely.“Our main local supplier is API Source,” says Truss. It’s a creative brand merchandising agency, family-owned and operated since 1965. “They have done an amazing job with us these past few years.Their turnaround times are amazing.When sponsors want to do gate giveaways, we point them in the direction of API to get them here quickly. We do all of our season seat member gifts with them; they’re able to present quality products every time. There is never a ‘no, we can’t do this.’ They’ve been a great partner to work with.” This past season, the stadium has also worked with PuppieLove, a local clothing company that donates 10% of its net profits to animal shelters and rescue groups. The company has made new logos for IronBirds T-shirts and accessories. APD officers so that fans have a clean, safe, fun experience at the ballpark,” she states. The stadium hires about 80 seasonal staff for the Ironbirds home games. Known as “fan hosts,” they get briefed before each evening game when they’re apprised of the night’s theme, the number of fans expected, the number and types of groups coming, and if there are any special gate giveaways or events 6 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 01