Yesterday was my last official day working at U.S. Bank Stadium as the Director of IT. I was about a week shy of six years, but what a wild ride it has been:
- Five plus seasons of Vikings Football (including the Minneapolis Miracle)
- Super Bowl LII
- Men’s Final Four
- Summer X Games
- A.C. Milan vs. Chelsea
- Monster Jam and Super Cross dirt shows
- MSHSL Championships
- Metallica, Coldplay, Taylor Swift, Guns N’ Roses, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, U2 with Beck (and many other shows)
It’s been an honor to work in this building from pre-opening through today, partnering with outstanding organizations, working with truly amazing people and learning an awful lot about the sports and entertainment industry.
There are really too many people to thank for helping me succeed in this chapter of my life, but I’d like to call out a few:
- Armon Farrari, who I stole from Apple (h/t Pash) and who became one of the best technology managers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with in any industry.
- Curtis Schmillen, Director of Operations, Leo Pidde (now retired) and Ed Kroics (who took Leo’s place): just an amazing group of coworkers inside the building and great people to be with outside of work – be it on a golf course or at a happy hour.
- Jim Farstad, executive director of the Minnesota Sports Facility Authority (and former technology consultant during construction): a true renaissance man in every way.
- Inaugural GM Patrick Talty (and HR manager Shelly Wynia) for picking me to join the opening team back in 2015.
- Current GM John Drum, who helped during my health emergency outside the stadium in 2018.
- The CTAC team at CenturyLink (now Lumen) that designed and built the original technology infrastructure: Andy Diment, Mark Olson and Evan Teisberg. Still helping to this day, extraordinary knowledge that always made my job “really pretty simple.”
- Bill Anderson and Wesley Terry at AmpThink: no one in the world knows more about WiFi than these two individuals.
- Mentor Doug Podolak: your continued support of my career (and friendship) means the world to me.
- My wife and daughters: zero percent chance I’d be here today without their love and support. You da best ❤️
Lastly, to everyone at the Vikings (past and present): you’ve been great partners and I can’t wait to see you bring home the Vince Lombardi trophy to the great state of Minnesota. Skol, Vikings!
