I had a chance to meet Katie Blackburn

[COB]

Yesterday I attended a meeting at a downtown Cinci hotel. It was put on by GE. Although I don't work for GE, a business I work with does a lot of business for GE, so I got invited to attend.

The afternoon session was comprised of a couple talks, then question and answer sessions with the speakers, then a mixer/free bar thing where you could mingle. There were probably over 200 people in the room.

First up was a talk by GE CEO Jeff Immelt. He's been CEO for like 10 years, and knows how to work a room. Just what you would expect, a very good speaker and has GE's interests at heart. A lot of the questions for him were underlings trying to suck up, so it was funny to listen to that bulls**t.

Then some other guy stood up and said we're going to hear from the vice president of the Cincinnati Bengals, "please welcome Heidi Brown." Pretty funny. Jeff Immelt stood back up before Katie got up there and said he was a huge football fan, and was a Bengals fan, and that he wanted to welcome Katie Brown.

So she gets up there and the first 30 minutes or so are Jeff Immelt asking her questions. He really is a football fan, and asked really insightful questions. I didn't record it, but I'll try to summarize what she said in response to certain inquiries:

First, Katie Brown is smart. She isn't a great public speaker, but she reminded me in an almost overwhelming sense of one person: Paul Brown. From the way she talked, the very direct answers and some non-answers, all the way to the manner in which she absolutely did not back down from some audience questions (some from some frustrated season ticket holders), she really reminds me of her grandfather.

She was quickly asked about the concussion issue. Katie Brown, just as I would expect from Paul Brown, didn't seem too concerned about player health. She said that yes, they get injured, but almost all of the injuries are things they recover from after football. She said the overwhelming majority of players can, if they want to, lead productive lives after football. She said she believes all players should plan for and have a second career after they are done playing football, and she doesn't see injury or disability standing in the way of that.

Why don't you have a GM? She said the GM duties, as they are commonly accepted to be throughout the league, are split between the Bengals' head coach and the player personnel department. She said the important thing isn't the title, but that the duties are assigned and performed. She also said her father isn't big on titles.

Immelt asked her how she deals with her family being criticized in the media. She said it is difficult for her to deal with, so she often doesn't read the sports page, especially after losses. On the other hand, she said her father isn't bothered much by it, and he has told her "we have passionate fans, they love it when we win and we have to accept that they hate it when we lose."

Question from a person in the crowd: Since the system is set up for parity, how do you explain that your record doesn't even reflect the level of success that the system would seem to be designed to deliver? She made the guy repeat the question. Then she said we suffered terrible setbacks by picking quarterbacks who didn't work out. She said the years and resources spent on "Klingler and Akili" really cost the organization in terms of on-field success. Then she said I'd like to point out that we've made the playoffs two out of the last 3 years, we made it in '05, and she said she believes they are on the right track.

Immelt asked her what organization in the NFL, if any, do you admire? She said I hope our fans can forgive me for this, but it is Pittsburgh. She said not only in terms of their on-field success, but she said at league meetings, and when giving input on league affairs, the Pittsburgh organization, unlike many others (she absolutely meant Jerry Jones, as she mentioned him several times in regards to some league things), always puts the best interests of the league first and their own interests second. I about threw my chair at her for saying that.

Immelt asker her how the draft decisions are made, and for instance who ultimately decides who will get drafted. Now, the CEO of GE just asked her this question. She blatantly refused to answer it. She said, "Oh, I think we had a great draft. We got a lot of the players we targeted, and we got them at a lower slot than we expected, so we felt good about it." Then she went on to explain that the new players have been on the field the last few days and look good. So I guess it's still kind of CIA stuff how the Bengals decide things on draft day. Jesus effing Christ.

She was asked about her own duties. She said she is heavily involved in ticketing and marketing. She said she watches tape on players but doesn't have time to go out and scout players in person. She said she goes to the combine and it is one of the highlights of her year. She said the football part of her job, watching tape, talking to players, is her favorite part of her job.

She was taking a little bit about her background, and she said her undergraduate degree is in mathematics from Dartmouth. Jeff Immelt then chimed in and said he also obtained his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth, and it is also in mathematics.

She was asked what the biggest challenge in the next few years will be. She was stumped. She said we're in a pretty good place. We've got a stadium deal in place for a good number of years. She said we've got the CBA in place for ten years, so that's set. She then said probably the biggest challenge will be to keep the small markets competitive with the big markets. She said when our stadium was built it was state of the art. And we still love our stadium, and our deal allows us to compete. Then she said, but since we built ours, which by the way cost about one third of what stadiums are costing now, lots of other teams and cities have built new stadiums. She said some of these places have 300 suites, so they are going to have a financial advantage.

Finally, Immelt put her on the spot and asked her how many wins the Bengals would have this year. She said some nice things about the team they have right now, and she said they would win 12 games.

Afterwards, both speakers mingled with the common people. I could have met either one, but it was 4:15 so I blew out of there and still had to sit on 71 north for like 35 minutes trying to get up past 275.

[skyline]

Thanks for sharing. Generally, I like what I hear.

[HoosierCat]

Tremendous report, COB! Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Why don't you have a GM? She said the GM duties, as they are commonly accepted to be throughout the league, are split between the Bengals' head coach and the player personnel department. She said the important thing isn't the title, but that the duties are assigned and performed.

I agree that the most important thing is that the duties are performed, but I still believe the lack of a single person with the title subverts accountability. If you have a head coach who is a good coach but not very good at his "GM duties," what then?

So I guess it's still kind of CIA stuff how the Bengals decide things on draft day. Jesus effing Christ.

Yeah, it's pretty silly.

Finally, Immelt put her on the spot and asked her how many wins the Bengals would have this year. She said some nice things about the team they have right now, and she said they would win 12 games.

I'll take the under on that. Hope she's right, though.

[ArmyBengal]

"Please welcome Heidi Brown." Pretty funny.

Probably done on purpose by a pissed off fan. Classic if that were the case...

She also said her father isn't big on titles.

Am I the only one who read titles and saw "titties" ?? Sorry...

"we have passionate fans, they love it when we win and we have to accept that they hate it when we lose."

Yeah, accept it. You know, as oppose to telling the fans we don't understand how hard things are.

Question from a person in the crowd: Since the system is set up for parity, how do you explain that your record doesn't even reflect the level of success that the system would seem to be designed to deliver? She made the guy repeat the question. Then she said we suffered terrible setbacks by picking quarterbacks who didn't work out. She said the years and resources spent on "Klingler and Akili" really cost the organization in terms of on-field success.

Someone should have followed that with asking her how many scouts the organization had when those selections were made and where the organization stands in that department today in regards to other organizations.

Immelt asked her what organization in the NFL, if any, do you admire? She said I hope our fans can forgive me for this, but it is Pittsburgh.

I actually don't blame her for that one at all. I might hate the Steelers (and I do) but if our front office were to operate close to theirs, I would be very happy with it.

Jesus effing Christ.

I always wondered what his middle name was.

We've got a stadium deal in place for a good number of years.

And if given the chance to do it all over again, I can't say the taxpayers in Hamilton County do it again.

If it comes to that again at current stadium costs, the Bengals leave Cincinnati.

Finally, Immelt put her on the spot and asked her how many wins the Bengals would have this year. She said some nice things about the team they have right now, and she said they would win 12 games.

Yeah, i'll take the under there as well and will be very happy to be wrong !!!