Since 1983, Mimi Griffin has run MSG Promotions, which specializes in major event management, marketing and client entertainment with an emphasis on golf.
Professional
A TIMELESS IDEA: Treat everyone with respect whatever his or her status or station in life.
A SPORTS FACILITY: The Palestra in Philadelphia. It’s a mecca for college basketball. The walls whisper the history of the game every time you walk in the building.
A SPORTS PROMO: Bringing the athletes to the fans. Many colleges have student athletes involved in community-service projects to help them connect with their fans and understand a world they might not otherwise know.
AN AD: Nike’s “Let Me Play.”
A BUSINESS DECISION: I appreciate any corporate decision that keeps employees on the job and happy. Wegmans (Food Markets) is an example of an organization that systematically takes account of employees’ quality of life in corporate decision-making. It pays off long-term in the quality of their product and in their bottom line.
A MARKETING IDEA: Kids get in free. It doesn’t really matter what the event or product is. Any effort to provide more family-affordable entertainment in tough economic times will pay off.
A TV AD CAMPAIGN: The Gatorade “Is it in you?” series.
A PRINT AD CAMPAIGN: Cingular’s “Raising the Bar.”
A HIRE: ABC-TV selecting sports broadcaster Robin Roberts to co-host “Good Morning America.” Robin and Diane Sawyer are the only all-female host team on a daily national morning TV news show, so ABC took a chance. But it has proved to be a very good move.
BRANDS: Apple, Keurig.
A TREND: Business casual.
AN INNOVATION: Bluetooth. It helps prevent cramps in my neck muscles from cradling the phone.
A COMPETITOR’S IDEA: Vertical marketing of an event. IMG perfected this concept.
AN IDEA OR INVENTION I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF: E-Z Pass.
What I’d Like To …
CHANGE: The perception that golf is not a sport for everyone.
SEE: Greater financial viability for women’s sporting events.
SEE MORE OF: Women in decision-making roles.
SEE DIFFERENT: People in all industries to emphasize life balance instead of workload obsession. I think it is silly that people brag about having “no life.” We, myself included, should be embarrassed to say that we are workaholics.
REINVENT: Our obsession with electronic communication.
REINTRODUCE: Face-to-face conversations.
ELIMINATE: My inbox. I have 3,500 e-mails in my inbox and I want to get rid of them.
What I Don’t Like …
IN GENERAL: Insecurity. It seems to me to be the source of so much destructive behavior.
IN SPORTS: The sense of entitlement seems to run rampant.
IN MY SPORT: The disparity in purses and paychecks between men’s and women’s sporting events.
ABOUT COLLEGE SPORTS: When coaches use players as a means to their end. They think the games and the success are about them instead of about the team and the players.
IN BUSINESS: There is too much posturing instead of honest communication. Often this posturing is a result of insecurity.
IN SPORTS FACILITIES: When there are not enough stalls in the women’s rest rooms.
IN SPORTS JOURNALISM: The emphasis on all things football.
PERSONAL
What I Like …
PLAYERS: Hall of Fame golfer Betsy Rawls, WNBA standout Katie Smith and Davidson basketball player Stephen Curry.
TEAMS: Jody Conradt’s University of Texas 1986 national championship team played basketball the way it was meant to be played.
CITIES: Austin and San Francisco.
MEMENTO: The medal from our 1974 Pennsylvania state high school basketball championship at Lancaster Catholic High School.
MUSIC: R&B.
BOOK: “Warriors Don’t Cry,” by Melba PattilloBeals.
AUTHORS: John Grisham, Kelly Corrigan, John Feinstein.
WEB SITES: www.pandora.com. I love music, but I’m too busy to manage my own music collection. Pandora Radio does it for me. My new favorite Web site is www.SienaSaints.com, the college (Siena) where my son, Kyle, will be playing basketball next season.
HOBBIES: Watching my kids compete, working out myself.
MOVIES: “Awakenings,” “The Hours” and “Whale Rider.”
TV: “West Wing,” “Good Morning America ” and “Dallas.”
ARTIST: Thomas McKnight.
FOOD: Swedish Fish and lemons.
DRINK: Anything fruity and frozen with an umbrella hanging out of the glass.
SCENT: Dolce & Gabbana.
VACATION SPOT: The Jersey shore.
CAR: Lexus RX400 Hybrid.
MUSICIANS: Indigo Girls, Luther Vandross, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and India.Arie.
QUOTE: “There’s a place in hell reserved for women who don’t help other women.” — former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
