I’m known for my ability – almost, my preference – for settling down to work in odd corners. Bits of St. Norbert College Magazine have been written in lobbies and locker rooms, on planes and trains, and once, at the back of the stalls in the Grand Opera House, Oshkosh (Wis.) while my son rehearsed with the pit orchestra. I hope it doesn’t show. But, in a way I do – there’s something so freeing about liminal spaces, and I seem to be at my most productive when perched on a staircase or camping out in a coffee-shop. The white noise and the people-watching don’t hurt at all, either.
This morning, my workplace is the club-seat level of Lambeau Field, and I’m happy my trusty travel mug (pictured!) is working well with the overall green-and-gold. Because of the close relationship between SNC and the Green Bay Packers, I’m at Lambeau once a year or so for work. I don’t follow football at all but, all the same, there’s something of a thrill about finding myself reasonably at home in this cathedral of the game.
I’m here today to hang out on the fringes of the Sport & Society conference, the biennial academic conference hosted jointly by the college and the Packers. (Cutting through the white noise currently is a knowledgeable side-conversation between two women of academic aspect about gender-testing in sports. I did not know they did that. I think one of these ladies may, in fact, be Dr. Julia Chase-Brand, the pioneering distance runner due to speak this afternoon.) Next up: our own Mike Counter ’14, MLS – he works three doors down from me as St. Norbert’s director of media relations. Mike is moderating a panel on the challenges facing coaches in women’s sports. Two of the panelists are also from SNC: Rob Morgan (Womens Hockey), and Connie Tilley (Womens Basketball). For me as a magazine editor, the biggest benefit of events like these is the chance to hear our people talking about the work they do and the issues they spend their days addressing. It’s the stuff of story, and days spent like this seed future articles for our own publications and others’.
