Rings of Honor

This Friday, the Olympic Opening Ceremonies occur in London, England.

This is a special time for everyone, everywhere. It is often lauded as, the "one time where all the nations get together in peace and harmony". It's extra special for us here at the University of Florida because the Gators have 38 Gators, past, present, and future, representing 17 different countries in 5 sports in the 2012 Olympics. The Gators also have 2 coaches (Mike Holloway, Track & Field, and Gregg Troy, Swimming and Diving) coaching for the US.

As if that weren't enough, the "Pride of the Sunshine", the Gators Marching Band is in London playing and representing UF and the State of Florida.

This is all great news for the University and a huge source of pride to see our alumni, current students, commits, and coaches representing the best that their country has to offer. It was great to hear Bob Costas mention the University of Florida during the ceremony.

The problem is...

I had almost zero motivation or desire to watch the opening ceremonies.

None.

I would hope not to come off as a curmudgeoun, or unpatriotic, but I couldn't imagine myself sitting there watching 3 hours worth of people walking in a circle with flags and funny outfits. Especially when I knew that when the US team showed up, we'd get copious amounts of footage of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant. (Like we don't see them on TV enough...).

I'm sure there are millions and millions of people out there who were excited about the spectacle, but not me. I could think of about 756 other things I'd rather be doing... even though I love sport and competition, the USA, and the 38 Gators that were going to be there. There are so many options on cable, in the community, and in my house... I just couldn't do it. I would have rather been at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium watching the group of high school football recruits run drills and scrimmage that the opening ceremonies.

Then it got me thinking...

Is this the same battle that we are fighting in Alumni Relations?

There are so many options available to everyone and while people love tradition, there is an ever increasing population of folks who are not in love with these traditions. For instance, I'm sure my Dad watched the opening ceremonies and enjoyed most of it. Concurrently, my 23 year old brother, probably had no idea they were on.

But imagine the outrage if the International Olympic Committee cancelled the Opening Ceremonies? What if they said, we're not doing it... nobody wants to watch people in funny outfits walk in a circle. It would be a mess. Maybe just short of the recent Chik-Fil-A sandwich crisis.

What we're hearing from our alumni is that they want events and services, but then turnout is dicey when we have the events that they asked for. The opening ceremony, while watched by millioins and millions... was widely critiqued and ridiculed on social media.

So there is the challenge. How do we move forward and stay relevant, while still honoring the past and our rich traditions? How do we balance fresh and new with tried and true?

I don't have an answer. Just a question that looms as we do our work in alumni affairs. Especially the notion that the affinity for your country or a sport or your school, not translating to you watching or becoming a member. It's a challenge across several lines of business and industry... the quest to remain relevant.

I keep this in mind as we go forward, but it remains at the core of why listening to feedback from our constituency remains so important.

Anyhow, back to the olympics. If you are interested in knowing when your favorite Gators compete you can check out the schedule here. Have a great weekend.

Go Gators!