Archive for December, 2011

New Year’s Eve together

Saturday, December 31st, 2011

If you think about it, it’s a nice problem to have.

Yesterday, we issued a brief press release about tonight’s New Year’s Eve game against the Phoenix Suns. One of the top messages we wanted to get out was to advise fans to arrive early to the game. Not only do we love our fans to fill up the house early, we also know tonight was going to present a special problem.

Any city of this size, on New Year’s Eve, will have a good crowd downtown. But few cities are hosting the number of big events downtown that OKC has going on – including a semi-pro hockey game, a rock concert from our local fearless freaks, a ball raising (we don’t drop the ball here) and, of course, an NBA game.

Most people take New Year’s Eve as a time to reflect on the last year and dream about the year to come. At the Thunder, we are more the looking-forward types, though we draw inspiration for our dreams of next year from everything that’s happened for us – our team, and our city – in years now past.

While writing this post, our new hype video – the video that helps really kick off the start of our game presentation – showed on the screen, serving as a perfect complement to the excitement and appreciation we feel tonight. Called “This City,” it’s as much about you as it is about us.

Happy New Year, and let’s GO Thunder!

- Karina Henderson

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Bleeding blue

Friday, December 30th, 2011

Today’s Oklahoma Blood Institute blood drive at the Cox Convention Center had a few special features you don’t normally find when you’re giving blood – a bouncy castle, a free Rumble T-shirt for donors, a few Thunder Girls and Thunder players Cole Aldrich and Reggie Jackson. The all-day event is a Thunder tradition, supporting a life-saving organization at a critical time of year.

Our blood drive runs until 7 tonight, but you can always find an opportunity to join this cause and give blood by visiting obi.org.

We’ll have more details, including photos and videos, on the main website soon – in the meantime, come on down and see if you bleed Thunder blue!

- Karina Henderson

Posted in Community, Players, Thunder Girls | Comments Off

Christmas joy and Thunder spirit

Sunday, December 25th, 2011

Earlier today, we asked our fans on Twitter to send us pictures of the Thunder gear they got under the Christmas tree. We had an outstanding response, full of new gear and old favorites that you’ve broken out to root on your Thunder tonight.

The pics above speak for themselves, but I think our fan @clwnbby captured the spirit of the season nicely: “The @okcthunder play today. That’s the only gift I want! #ThunderUp #RiseTogether”

Merry Christmas, and LET’S GO THUNDER!

- Karina Henderson

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He’s coming to town, all right

Friday, December 23rd, 2011


In a bit of a switch this holiday, we made our list and checked it twice today. Rather than sorting the naughty from the nice, we focused on making sure everyone who needs to be in the Chesapeake Energy Arena for the Thunder’s Opening Night game will be able to get through the doors.

Our colleagues in the Events & Entertainment department told us to expect a very special guest who will be helping us bring some Christmas magic.

Santa Claus is coming to town, and after he finishes delivering presents around the world, he’ll be back in OKC. Even if there’s no snow in the weather forecast, Santa has promised us that there will be snow outside the arena on Sunday night. He’s going to help our E&E crew create a winter wonderland scene just before the game starts and spread some holiday cheer to all our fans on game night. (Be ready with your “Miracle on Reno Ave.” quips.)

And just in case Santa gets cold or needs to get some Thunder gear to take back to Mrs. Claus, we’re ready for him to walk through the arena doors. After all, how silly would we feel if we forgot to put Santa on our list?

No word yet on whether there will be cookies and milk ready for “The Main Man.” We figure he’ll get his fill the night before.

- Karina Henderson

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Game day!

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

We're not the only ones gearing up for tonight's game. One Thunder staffer spotted this well-used flag on the Broadway Extension this morning.

“Must be game day – you can just see it in everyone’s faces,” remarked Stephen from our Business Development office this morning.

And he’s right. There’s a telling combination of stress and excitement in the air around our office that gives away what’s going on tonight. Plus, you can always tell it’s a game day when most of our Events and Entertainment department is already out of the office before lunch.

We’re excited to be a part of the team for tonight’s game, and we hope you are, too. If you’re coming to tonight’s game, get ready to see some terrific improvements at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. You might also want to take a look at this construction map to make it easier to get around downtown. (And by the way, there are still a few tickets available to purchase.)

If you can’t be at the arena, you know you’re still part of the team. Watch tonight on Fox Sports Oklahoma (OKC Cox 37/722 HD; full listings here) and see your Thunder Broadcasters Brian Davis, Grant Long and Kelly Crull. Or listen to Matt Pinto on the Thunder Radio Network – flagship station is WWLS – The Sports Animal.

No matter where you are, though, you know what to do when you’re watching your Thunder – be loud, and wear BLUE!

- Karina Henderson

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Office photos

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

Last week, we posted this picture to our Facebook page – and after a few hours, we discovered that just this picture got more “likes” than anything we had posted in several weeks.

On one hand, it’s easy to understand why. It’s a strong image featuring four of our players, with a bunch of Thunder-y and basketball-y stuff right below.

On the other hand, it’s a little bit odd to see such a strong reaction to something that you see every day.

This photo was taken in our office, in the Marketing department. It’s one in a series of player photos we have scattered throughout the office that make a big impact when you first walk through our doors.

The thing about these photos we have posted, though, is that they all speak to more than just basketball – they really convey the values of our team.

Individual player photos usually feature them in a community setting, not on the court. On-court photos feature our team huddling together or picking each other up off the floor, not driving for a dunk.

Our organization on-court is such a reflection of our organization off-court, and the high value we place on teamwork, hard work, community, humility – all of that translates from the highest level to every front-line staffer. There’s more to our story than basketball, and there’s more to our team than the players.

Everyone who works for our organization knows that we are part of the team, and our fans and our community understand that they are, too.

An article I read earlier this summer discussed how fans of sports teams tend to use the word “we” when they talk about a team’s game performance – “we” did great tonight or “we” will get ‘em next time. Though the article took a different view, it got me thinking then – and still thinking now – about how incredible it is that our fans have embraced the “we” … and how much “we” value that.

Without this community, our team isn’t complete. Without you, our fans, there is no “we.”

We’re excited to start this upcoming season, and we hope to see you at the games, in the community and gearing up wherever you are. We are so grateful to have you on our team.

- Karina Henderson

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Media Day

Tuesday, December 13th, 2011

We’re just putting the wraps on Media Day, held this afternoon at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. This is a chance not only for the press to talk with our players one-on-one about the upcoming season, but also for our staff to get photos and videos we need of the players to use for in-arena videos, promotional materials, broadcast segments … the list goes on.

This year, while the players were stopping through photography stations, green-screen sets and even our live webcast, another group was in a separate room getting their moment to show that they’re an important part of the team, too.

About 30 Season Ticket Members were part of a commercial shoot for an upcoming marketing campaign that we’re set to launch during this season. Like the players, they went in front of the cameras with a green-screen background to deliver lines and B-roll for our soon-to-be-released ad. When you see the final product, they’ll be sharing the screen with some of our players, who also shot scenes for the same campaign.

We didn’t just keep them in their own room the whole time – Karlis, our director of Season Ticket Retention, and some of our Account Managers made sure these fans had an opportunity to watch the players in action on the arena floor.

Of course, the action wasn’t what they’re used to watching at the arena – it consisted mostly of players posing for photos, stopping by the live webcast to answer questions and cracking jokes at one another.

Without the fans, though, the team wouldn’t have been complete; with them, every part of Thunder Basketball was represented at Media Day.

- Karina Henderson

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