This past weekend, I continued my journey to become a #SuperstarVolunteer for the Houston Super Bowl. Great branding of the volunteer squad amiright?

If you recall, I had my volunteer interview earlier in the fall. Turns out, I was one of nearly 30,000 people who applied and just 10,000 who got accepted and invited to attend volunteer orientation. The volunteers were all invited to a big pow-wow in October at Toyota Center. It was a huge #hype session lead by MC Deborah Duncan of Great Day Houston. In case you missed it, I was traveling all over the world for work this past month (Munich, Amsterdam, and beyond)….and had to miss it. But below are some incredible shots from the orientation.

Luckily, the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee was kind enough to offer a make up session for us stragglers (crazy, I know 10K people couldn’t all make the same appointment). Anyways, the orientation I attended the in the Host Committee headquarters downtown was much of the same thing. We watched video highlights of the Toyota Center event and got to skip the hassle of the long check-in line (I heard they were horrible).

We heard from Mayor Turner and had a Q&A sesh with President of the Texans Jamey Rootes and President/CEO of the Host Committee Sally Sargent. There were football highlights and even an interview with Taekwondo Olympic Gold Medalist Steven Lopez (also a Houston native). Shout out to MC Deborah Duncan–who was hilarious and has a not-so-secret crush on JJ Watts (don’t we all). She killed it!

Despite only having 200 people around me instead of 9,000, the room was HYPED. We laughed with the video. Clapped for the speakers. Cheered at the appropriate times when someone praised Houston. It was fairly interactive session with a rowdy crowd which made for a good time.

The 10,000 volunteers selected range from ages 18-88 and represent every zip code in the Houston area #hollaaaaa. Our customer service playbook (oh football puns) is to “Create Raving Fans.” Easy enough right? We got some tips on customer service, some more hype about how Houston is becoming the cultural and cuisine capital of the Southwest (duhhhhh), and got a preview into the Equilibria personality test that we’re all going to have to take to learn how we work in teams. From a previous employeer, I’ve actually taken the e-colors test and LOVE how the Host Committee plans to apply it in order to build a more cohesive and efficient team. I’m a red-yellow (Doer-Socializer who likes the big picture). If you’d like to take the e-colors test you can do so here.

One of the most exciting parts of the orientation was the…..UNIFORM REVEAL. All the #SuperstarVolunteers are going to be decked out in red. We get a red polo, pullover and jacket with the special Host Committee logo on it. We also get a lanyard, backpack and water bottle. All of the swag!

I’m pretty excited to discover my job assignment. We’re supposed to hear back by the end of November. Volunteers are going to do anything from greet people in airport to manning desk in one of the NFL partner hotels around the city to provide visitor information. There will also be people assigned to Discovery Green and the George R. Brown Convention Center for the Super Bowl Live and NFL Experience zones. They estimate that over 1 million people will travel downtown for Super Bowl hype activities.

Come December we should get our shift schedules. And in January we get our uniforms. And then on January 27 the festivities begin! We’re less than 100 days away from the “Big Game” and I am beyond excited to be an ambassador for Houston. Stay tuned for more Super Bowl updates!