Cubs partner with MHC’s sport event marketing and management program

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The Medicine Hat Cubs and Medicine Hat College have partnered to create a stronger game atmosphere while providing valuable experience.

The local HJHL club announced Nov. 3 they are working alongside the college’s sport event marketing and management program and their second-year students.

Throughout the month of November, students will take over numerous game-night promotions and take their knowledge from the classroom to the ice.

It’s a partnership Cubs’ head coach and general manager Randy Wong says they’ve enjoyed and look forward to continue building.

“Working with the college allows the students to turn their ideas into a practical setting,” Wong said. “Often the vision cannot be incorporated in a classroom setting, but with the Cubs it gives them a real-life experience, it’s been a great partnership.”

The college’s second-year students had their first game promotion during the Cubs’ 6-4 win Sunday against the Three Hills Thrashers. They organized two on-ice activities during the intermissions, a Timbits game and the Rattlers women’s hockey team performing a skills competition.

They were also tasked with handing out free tickets within the community to be used at the game. They had 100 tickets to distribute with 48 being used at the game.

After their first week and first game, MHC sport and event management instructor Amber Farrer liked the showing and says they enjoy being out in the community.

“It’s been awesome that Randy has been so accommodating, helpful and easy to work with, and that the Cubs have been so receptive to it,” Farrer said. “It’s an awesome experience for them to learn hands on what it’s like to run events, the highs and lows of that and then reflect on it. They also share their reflections and advice with the other students whose events are coming up. It’s nice to be working in the community with real companies and not-for-profits and teams.”

Another group of students is holding promotions tonight when the Cubs take on the Red Deer Vipers. The students are partnering with Southeast Canadian Mental Health Association and Our Collective Journey. Those students, as well as the Cubs, sat down with Our Collective Journey for a talk about mental health one evening last week.

The partnership between the Cubs and MHC’s two-year program came together through the program’s desire to be in the public and the Cubs wanting to further their game-night experience for fans. Farrer says it’s allowed the program to come full circle and allow students to apply their learnings to real-world moments.

“It isn’t just the lectures in the classrooms, you can really see them put all the pieces together and figure out what area they would like to work in because they get a little bit of everything,” Farrer said.

She also says it’s a tight-knit program because all the students share the same classes, which she says has created a unique experience.

“There is such a good energy, they have formed their own club within the school and they are planning their own events and trying to take the two years to really connect, help each other and work together,” Farrer said. “It’s honestly an awesome program for being part of something, not all programs are like that. But because they do all the classes together for two years, they really get to be a cohort.”

After tonight’s contest, the students have two more games of promotions in November – they have partnered with the Root Cellar to collect food donations on Nov. 24 and will be volunteering at the Root Cellar in December. At the Cubs’ Nov. 26 game, the students are partnering with the SPCA to collect pet supply donations while hosting French bulldog and Weiner dog races at intermission.

The program has previously worked with other organizations and companies in the city such as the Esplanade, Co-op Place and the Mavericks. Farrer says they’re hoping to continue partnering with other community organizations and encourages anyone interested to reach out.