As anyone who is from the Indianapolis area knows, the city just hosted Super Bowl XLVI to much fanfare. The event went off without any major incidents and was a fantastic success. Way to go Indianapolis!
One of my professors at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) called me a few weeks before the big game and asked if I would be interested in volunteering for a special assignment during the Super Bowl. Heck yeah I was up for whatever?! My mind raced as to what it was and I finally found it would be assisting local civil service with the media in case of an emergency. I was given the opportunity to volunteer at the Joint Information Command Center for several days alongside members of police, fire, homeland security & more.
It was amazing to see how well organized the different entities were and how they all came together to help the city for a common cause. I cannot get into any details as to where the JICC was located or what it looked like unfortunately due to security. BUT…it was very impressive. In the case that an emergency would have happened, all information that would go out to the world would have been coordinated through the JICC by members of civil service. The operation was really amazing and efficient.
I learned some new skills and it was interesting to talk with other people when I was working to see how they were connected and dealt with the media. I am glad in the end that nothing happened to the city and game. Way to go Super Bowl 46! Working the JICC alongside my duties with DoItIndy (www.doitindy.com) made for a very interesting and no-sleep week. I will never forget how cool it was to be a part of history in Indianapolis.
I’m already looking forward to the next time we get to host a Super Bowl.
