Going Off The Grid: Execs Share Biggest Event-Planning Challenges, First Live Games

A weekly survey of sports execs and personalities offering their thoughts on a handful of pressing (and trivial) issues in sports and pop culture. This week, four execs share their most significant event-planning challenges, as well as the sports they believe have the greatest growth potential.

• NFL VP/Events Mary Pat Augenthaler
  – Never misses an episode of "Odd Mom Out."
• Yankees Exec Dir of Non-Baseball Events Emily Hamel
  – Considers herself a Netflix addict.
• WME-IMG Head of Events Kelly Austing
  – Musically challenged, except when it comes to country.
• FanAngel CEO Mickey Stern
  – His pop culture experience is "almost entirely unplugged."

Going Off The Grid
	First sporting event attended	Biggest event-planning challenge	Most recent vacation	Sport with greatest growth potential	Favorite sports pump-up song
Augenthaler	Islanders game at Nassau Coliseum	The weather!	Martha's Vineyard	Youth football and lacrosse	"Go Big or Go Home" by American Authors
Hamel	Whalers game at the Hartford Civic Center	Planning for the unexpected	North Hero, Vt.	Soccer in the U.S.	"All I Do is Win" by DJ Khaled
Austing	Bears game at Solider Field	Building an event people will talk about afterward	"Staycation" in L.A. for Thanksgiving	Tennis	"Livin' on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi
Stern	Cowboys-Redskins at RFK Stadium	Enormous gap between vision and execution	Park City, Utah	NBA	"Thunderstruck" by AC/DC