Sometimes some of the most fun ideas come from the most unexpected places. Case in point, last week we had colleague Gillian Kemmerer in our class at Columbia to talk about her unique experiences working in the KHL pre Ukraine war, and she brought up several opportunities and best practices she had seen or heard of…one of which was from, yes Siberia.
The KHL’s Sibir Hockey Club decided last year to reward their most knowledgeable and eclectic fans with a special spot…as a guest coach signed to the club for one game. Now this was not just an honorary promotion, the guest had to present his or her ideas, be part of a group of fans who were the most creative and engaged in and around the club, and then got to actually participate in all club decisions for a regular season KHL game with the input and participation of the coaching staff.
You can see the full list of candidates, many with pretty colorful backgrounds and read about them through Google translate here. Here was also the winner of last year’s contest, albeit without subtitles, but you get the story.
Now this was not just some minor league baseball stunt…it would be akin to an NHL club taking on a fan on the bench to make decisions, kind of like Fan Controlled Football with in person activation during the regular season…think of the issues that could create.
Still, Sibir was open minded and detailed enough to give it a try, and its popularity and success will bring the promotion back larger this season, with the winner hopefully getting some English subtitles to give us even more insight into the goings on. Fan for a day is one thing, coach for a game, certainly another…but if it worked in the wilds of Siberia, where else could it?
Well played Sibir and KHL for delivering on a promo wat beyond the run of the mill, and thanks Gillian for enlightening us as always.
