“Sooners Send The Right Message”
The Oklahoman received an email today from Matt Eventoff, who is a public speaking expert. Eventoff was in Miami a couple of week ago on business and just happened to stay at the same hotel the Sooners did during the BCS National Championship. Eventoff was so impressed by what he encountered, he decided to write us an email, with the subject line “Sooners Send The Right Message.”
Here’s what Eventoff had to say in his email:
“As a communications and messaging strategist based in Princeton, NJ, I am blessed (or cursed) with a hypersensitivity to how people communicate, and what message people send through verbal communication, body language and actions.
On a recent business trip to Miami, I spent a few days at the Fontainebleau Hotel, and happened to coincide with the BCS title game. Little did I know upon my arrival that I would be spending the next few days with Sooner Nation, including the team, and what seemed like an endless sea of maroon and white. I was born on the campus of Purdue University and did my undergrad work at an ACC school, so I was no stranger to college football and passionate fans.
That being said, the sheer number of fans and the intensity and devotion to OU was overwhelming. I didn’t know what to expect — I do know one thing I did not expect what to become an overnight fan of the OU players and the fans from all over Oklahoma.
In my world, everything you do communicates a message, and I mean everything. This was no different for the OU players and fans.
The reality was that the few acres that the Fontainebleau sits on had become Oklahoma with a beach for the week. Maroon and white everywhere. Thousands of fans. I was not wearing (crimson) and white, I speak with a Northeastern accent, and knew no one else there except for my small little group. That didn’t stop nearly everyone I encountered from starting a conversation, smiling, and generally being very warm and inclusive — I am still wondering if there was a pregame tailgate I wasn’t invited to.
I happened to be in the auxiliary lobby of the hotel at the same time as the OU players on the morning following the devastating defeat. That being said, as I was walking through the lobby to the restaurant, I casually told ONE player in passing, “you guys played well, you should be proud.” He, and three teammates standing with him, smiled and thanked me — and then started a conversation, asking about where I was from, what I did, etc.. This cascaded into a number of conversations with a number of players.
These players have been in the national media spotlight all year, had tens of thousands of fans, many three times their age, follow them to Miami, a few will be instant millionaires next year, and they had just had what for many had to be one of the roughest nights of their college lives. I am not a coach, agent, writer or even a fan, and was dressed in a sweatsuit. The players could have nodded or just said nothing and it would be completely understandable. They did the opposite.
Everything you do sends a message, and the message sent by the actions and conduct of the OU players and fans did more, in my eyes, for the University and state of Oklahoma than any advertising program could have.
