Ep. 44: Water-Skiing Squirrels to A-List Celebrities

[00:00:00] Mall of America. For more than 30 years, it has been a retail leader in an international destination and it remains the largest mall in the U.S. Not to mention it welcomes millions of guests from around the world. It's huge. But it's also so much more.

[00:00:15] In this podcast, you're going to hear the real stories of how it started and why it continues to thrive. You'll hear about challenges we've faced along the way and what you can learn from them.

[00:00:25] We will feature guests and experts from all walks of life and business. And along the way, you'll laugh, learn, and maybe even change the way you look at things.

[00:00:33] So if you're a fan of the mall, a brand new visitor, an entrepreneur, or a dreamer, prepare to dive deep into so much more. This podcast is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Plot twist. This is your annual reviews. Oh my gosh! Yes! Love it.

[00:00:53] No, this is awesome. This is long overdue. Events are a huge facet of what make Mall of America unique. It's part of the secret sauce that has led this place to the top of the charts for over 32 years. And tons go into events.

[00:01:09] It's not even a word big enough to contain everything that is done. So just for a little context, you know, how many events did we do at Mall of America last year? By the numbers, how many events? Well, we have done over 370 events.

[00:01:26] And we say over 370 events because some of the events don't even fit our criteria for events because they're that good of an event. Which is insane. Yeah. Why do you work here under those high standards of condition? No, it's crazy to think about.

[00:01:41] But like why wouldn't you when the events, they are that fun and that exciting? They're always different. They have really cool people. I mean, what's more to them? Yeah, it's true.

[00:01:51] One of my favorite things too is to tell people like when you work for the Mall, it's always like, oh, what store do you work for? And you're like, no, I actually work for the Mall in the events. Like we're out in the mall creating opportunities for everyone.

[00:02:06] And it's a hard to grasp, but it's super fun. So speaking of Super, I feel like the two of you have personas and yours is directly superhero related.

[00:02:17] But you, Mary Ryan, the Pineapple Powerhouse, the heart and soul of the experiential events department, you started as an intern here. Correct. Yeah. What was that like starting? Yeah. And then finding a career here in events. Yeah, absolutely.

[00:02:41] In 2012, I had an awesome opportunity to become an event intern here. It was actually a friend had the job and she was like, I quit. You should apply for this. That's always a great start. She had another opportunity. She became a flight attendant. So it was like, whoa.

[00:03:00] But once she introduced me to it, I had an internship and I got to do some of the craziest things ever. Like One Direction was here. We had the cast of Hunger Games here too. It was the 100 year Girl Scout celebration. Oh my gosh.

[00:03:16] And I was working 60 plus hours a week and it was truly one of the coolest experiences I could ever say that I did. And then after my internship ended, six months, I believe, and then I was like, it was my goal to become full time at the mall.

[00:03:33] So I worked, worked retail, worked at a wedding shop, you know, gained some of those retail customers. Service skills and luckily enough, in 2015 there was an open position and I've been here since and it's still wild ride every day. So it's great.

[00:03:49] So right when you started, those were some of the events that hit the Hunger Games cast One Direction. Yes. Okay. Yeah. Did that skew your perspective of what the world is really like? It kind of did a little bit.

[00:04:02] But that why it was the goal to come back to them all because it was like there was no other opportunities locally that you could have that. So that's what the bar was set very high. It was set very high.

[00:04:13] Like, oh, you have a great wedding dress, but I'd much rather be hanging out with the celebrities at Mall of America. So and that's a fine segue to Sierra George, our sparkling superhero from super fan to creating these events. What was your role in the One Direction event?

[00:04:33] I was the super fan that camped out the night prior, got in line and was screaming their names for about like six hours that day. I had a sign made a little embarrassing but you know, I had a sign made I was there.

[00:04:47] I know it touched up my makeup right before they came up because you know, you never know. There might be a connection. You know, you might make a contact and it was just like wow. So, yes.

[00:04:57] Well, I mean that attention to detail paid off because as we found out after you became a permanent member of the team, you are actually in our events video as a fan from that event.

[00:05:07] It zooms in on me, me and my sign, which is very hilarious because when I was there a couple days afterwards when you would Google Mall of America One Direction, the second photo on Google Images was me and my sign just like blown up.

[00:05:20] I was like, oh, love that that is my like my mark on the mall. What what did the sign say? Just remember me or remind me what it was. It said, um, Harry prom question mark.

[00:05:33] Which would have had a suggestion for a type of prom or was it an ask to a certain member? It was an ask to go to prom with me. Did it work? No, I didn't. Unfortunately, you know, he's busy, you know, go on jet setting the world.

[00:05:48] So now you're here on this side of things and really do it all. You've been a fantastic addition to the team. What has it been like transitioning from, you know, participating in events or coming to Mall of America over the years and now being able to help

[00:06:02] put these things in front of guests? Yeah, well, it's so much fun because you know what makes the crowd like excitement. And now you can kind of get those little details that matter to guests that you can make sure that you highlight them, get them going.

[00:06:16] And so being behind that it's so much fun. It's it's worth the long hour days because it just knowing that you impacted that guest made their day, made their life even. You mean that's great. And you've been here almost 20 years now.

[00:06:32] So you've seen the evolution of these types of events. I have. It's been fun. I mean, I remember the Girl Scout 100th anniversary, which was so much fun. I have never bought and eaten so many cookies in my life. They were everywhere.

[00:06:46] They had their own store and everything. It was crazy. And I remember that after the One Direction debacle, we chose never to have young people line up outside again ever again. I'm kidding. It was so much fun. I loved it. They had a pop-up store here too.

[00:07:01] They did. And if you remember they sold their t-shirts and we had hundreds of people lining up just to buy their t-shirts. But I think a couple of my favorite things.

[00:07:10] One of my first events that I remember here at the mall before I worked here, I was a guest. And I saw this and the events team did it. I think what the tourism team was, there were Buddhist monks creating a floor sand sculpture drawing.

[00:07:26] I forget what they're called in one of our courts. And I actually came down specifically to see that. And I thought it was so cool that you were doing this live at the mall. And then I've also had a chance to meet with a bunch of celebrities.

[00:07:37] So I'm just going to mention one if I can because when Carrie Elvis was here. And I looked up how to actually say his last name because I never knew how to say that. He was here when we had theaters at MOA or whatever.

[00:07:49] That's what it was called, right? And he did a book signing and it was so much fun. And I actually, when they showed them, they showed the movie, a screening of the movie.

[00:07:58] And he was standing at the back of the theater and I didn't know that and I snuck in and I stood in the back of the movie and I went and I was like touching shoulders with him. So, yes, it was awesome. He speaks of it often too.

[00:08:10] I'm guessing he hasn't showered since I've heard that. This is, he wanted his tour outfits. This is what I was wearing that day actually. Thank you for bringing that back out of mothballs. It's fantastic. No, but it is interesting the scope and breadth of things that we do.

[00:08:29] Obviously there's a lot of celebrities, but there's also a lot of offbeat asks or what ifs that we do. Anything come top of mind for you? I see you nodding your head enthusiastically. I remember a few, but I'll tell you what.

[00:08:44] It was a community relations event, but the events team was thoroughly involved with it. We raised money once for cancer, for breast cancer research by walking a mile in her shoes. So it was all men attendees. Our security team did it, Bloomington Police.

[00:09:00] I did it where we had to walk around the mall in red high heel shoes to raise money and awareness. And it was awesome. It was just this weird funky event and my feet hurt so bad. I was just like, I'm slipping falls on me.

[00:09:13] We had two broken ankles. It was amazing. I love that though because that is what Mall of America is. It gets the weirdest, the most funnest. It's, what is that? Oh, it happens at Mall of America. That's where we do it. Yeah.

[00:09:27] For me, Twiggy the Water Skain Squirrels by far one of the biggest highlights. It was one of a dream of mine. I feel like I use that loosely a little bit dream, but back in 2018, I saw a water skiing squirrel at the X Games in town.

[00:09:40] Change my life. And it was kind of like the other day I was scrolling through my photos and videos of my phone and I was like, there it is. That was the moment that like brought it all. I was like, well that needs to come to the mall.

[00:09:51] And I brought it to the team. It just didn't fit with our event calendar at the time. And there's a lot of like operational hoops had jumped through. But last year, 2023 was the year we hosted Twiggy the Water Skain Squirrel.

[00:10:04] And it was really fun just to set up a pool. Like I didn't know how to set up a pool in the Rotunda. So we were setting up a pool. We had to pull water from the log shoot to put in the pool. The iconic log shoot.

[00:10:17] That's true. That's true. I mean, Twiggy was lucky. That is true. The water skiing extra hard that day. Yeah. We were really good about it. Twiggy did well. Yeah. Twiggy did very well. Amazing. But I think that's a good point too.

[00:10:31] We started working together more closely on events really in 2021, 2022. And sometimes an idea might not work at one time, but that doesn't mean it ever goes away entirely. And I remember coming over to the cube and asking about Twiggy the Water Skain Squirrel.

[00:10:50] And you're like, that is a dream of mine. Yeah, it's true. Let's figure it out. Yeah. It's super fun. Super cool. And we're hopefully having them back again. I guarantee. Guarantee. It's just too much fun. Yeah. How about you? Anything that has surprised you in your time here,

[00:11:06] co-creating and co-collaborating on these? I mean, my favorite event so far is when Ed Sheeran came and did his concert pop-up at the Lego store. That was my super bowl. Ed Sheeran has been like my favorite artist forever.

[00:11:20] And so when we got the call saying that he was interested in having a possible like pop-up and at the Lego store, which is iconic because of his Lego song, it was like, yep, we got this. This is what we do best. Don't you worry about it, Ed.

[00:11:33] We got you. We'll make it work. You were talking to Ed directly at that point. On it. Yeah. On it. Yeah, that Zoom call. Yeah. Just talking. But yeah, that was amazing. And that's a good example too of that had to turn around very quickly. Yes.

[00:11:49] He came on a Saturday and we got the call on like that prior Tuesday. And so it's a short turnaround with that things to coordinate security, logistics. And that one was unique because that was not meant to be a public event. We didn't message it beforehand.

[00:12:06] No, it was very, very tight wraps as a surprise and delight for guests. And you know, when you have a guest that's willing to do something like that too, it's important to try and maintain that and keep that secret.

[00:12:20] Just, you know, the word clearly got out to some somehow some folks knew with their signs outside of Lego. Yeah. Man. They said, Stan, you know, I mean, he was like, I'm at Mall of America. Of course he's going to come here. Like iconic.

[00:12:36] But yeah, so that was amazing. He was amazing. They say don't meet your heroes, but I encourage you guys to meet Ed Sheeran. He was great. And from a water skiing squirrel to a Cushman driving superhero, how was that for you? It was really great.

[00:12:55] And like I was saying, he was so great. He was so chill and casual. He was like asking questions about me at both the mall and he was just very excited to be here. And yeah, I loved it. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:13:08] And it was kind of a whirlwind once it happened. It was very whirlwind. He was here for less than two hours, like an hour and a half came. Did the little Lego shoot store and off he goes into the night to do more Ed Sheeran things.

[00:13:21] The US Bank Stadium. But that's also a great testament to our team that we have here at the mall. Like even for every event that we have, we have to work with housekeeping. We have to work with public relations.

[00:13:32] Like it's a variety of the teams that put on our events too. And that was a great example too. Of even just asking our team, like we have this thing. We can't tell you, but can we do it? And they're like, sure, we trust you.

[00:13:45] Like it's super cool that we work in a place that there's those opportunities and our team supports each other for those two. Yeah. And I think most people don't realize that given the enormity of the events

[00:13:56] and the magnitude and the number of the events and everything that happens at the mall, we have small teams that are dynamic and mighty. I mean, you're not a big team. Our events team is not a big team. And yet you pull off.

[00:14:09] It's really amazing the variety and the sheer number and the millions of guests that you welcome every year. I agree. I mean, I think it's unbelievable, but you have to understand the resources you have at your disposal in order to be able to do it.

[00:14:25] And I think in some ways being such a close-knit team helps because you know you're only counting on a few people to make sure that it happens. So it's easier to wrangle in those details that are so important because you are literally shoulder to shoulder.

[00:14:41] It's not a step or move. It's right there and you're dealing with it. Yeah. So do you have a question? I do. I'm curious, what is your most offbeat or unusual event experience here at the mall?

[00:14:51] One of my favorites was there was a documentary that came out years ago called The King of Kong that was about the two best Donkey Kong players in the world at the time.

[00:15:03] And I really wanted to get Steve Wieb here to try a Donkey Kong World Record attempt and I just couldn't make it work, couldn't make it work. And then the movie Pixels came out and our studio partner was asking if we had ideas for a event

[00:15:18] and I was like, boy do I. Hello. Yes. And so we use that to bring in Steve to do a World Record Donkey Kong attempt and to put that on the screen in the Rotunda, live streaming on Twitch

[00:15:29] and just all the people that came and sat in the Rotunda to watch a 40 year old man play a video game for eight hours was unbelievable. It was so much fun.

[00:15:39] And I was the event lead on this one and this is truly kind of when I first started it and I was kind of like, what are we doing? And I was like, people aren't going to sit at the Rotunda for eight hours on the uncomfortable benches.

[00:15:52] And I was like, that's not a thing. Oh, I was proven wrong. It's a thing. And it was just like, okay, this is great. So I was also there for eight hours watching it too.

[00:16:02] So but it was really cool to be immersed in that and be a part of that and make. Yeah. And that's another one too. Like there was a lot of scramble on that too because the people that were setting up the World Record attempt and streaming it

[00:16:13] didn't tell us that there needed to be a camera here and this machine had to have this certain card. So we had to work to find all these resources really quick to be able to do this. And at the time we had a best buy in the building.

[00:16:24] So I was able to go buy the American again. That's a better thing. I remember that. When you need last minute things, you're like, oh well, I have a Walgreens here. I go get some soup. It's so handy. Yeah. Yeah. And it happens a lot too.

[00:16:38] So for as detail oriented as we all attempt to be, there's a lot of runs to Walgreens. Yeah. We've also had celebrities needing something too. Like I know Madison Beer was here once and she wore a little bit too short of a dress.

[00:16:50] So the event quarter had to run up to Old Navy to buy clothes. Or like Crissel Strauss was here. And she didn't like her shoes. So she had to go buy another pair of shoes that were still five inch heels.

[00:17:04] So it's nice to have that opportunity in this building too. Part of my history here is because I've been here a long time is we've had a lot of celebrities. And most of the times I have no clue who they are. Right?

[00:17:18] I was here when the cast for Glee was here. Didn't know who they were. The cast for the Twilight series didn't know who they were. Taylor Swift was here in early in my career in 08. And I was able to get my niece to visit with her.

[00:17:34] I had no clue who this and she was on her way up, right? She wasn't. But imagine being able to meet in the green room. It was so awesome. And then like I remember one big event if I can really quickly is when James Charles was here.

[00:17:46] And we had so many people. I mean, it made me hyperventilate right? My anxiety level was so high because I'm worried about crowd control and stuff. But the cool thing that I saw was it was such an eclectic and diverse set of people.

[00:18:01] And they were compassionate and welcoming. And you guys, the event should do welcome all different types of audiences. I'd love to hear kind of about that because I think we're really good at that.

[00:18:12] Yeah, I think with the breadth and scope of what we do, there is a targeted audience that's going to respond to any one thing we do. But it's those crossover surprises that are really fun to just see how diverse an audience could be.

[00:18:30] I think one of the Donkey Kong thing was huge. Like to see that was bananas. How many people really enjoyed that? I mean, we had Sumo wrestlers when we had the Sumo wrestlers here. I forgot about that. And we had to do a specialty built stage and platform.

[00:18:46] And if I remember right, we had to check weight limits as well because of the stage. I mean it was the crowd that drew was crazy. The big one, most recent memory for me was our first drag show.

[00:19:03] And the first people in line waiting to get their tickets was a dad and a daughter. And he was happy to be there. She was happy to be there. And I love that we get to do those things. But I'm sure you see this all the time.

[00:19:16] Yeah, no for sure. Like the diverse of guests, it's really fun. And it's fun to kind of get into that specific niche of guests that have like a super fan element to it. So like when we have like our K-pop dances that come through

[00:19:28] that fan base is super like into it. And it's great when we had like our wrestling event. I didn't know anything about wrestling. I didn't know that there was such a world out there, especially in Minnesota here.

[00:19:39] And so seeing them come out and being so excited and just like all in. It is so much fun. Yeah. And I think with that too, I mean we've we've noticed you within just as

[00:19:49] the years go on with events that it really is tapping into those like markets and like getting a variety of opportunities. So with our Lunar New Year and our Autumn Moon Festival bringing in different groups that way, a text-max experience reaching out with those people too. It's awesome.

[00:20:06] But we also know like celebrities are kind of changing a little bit. It's turning more to the influencers, but it's also still bringing some of those celebrities into and seeing how that turns into. Yeah, the nature of celebrity has changed drastically since you started,

[00:20:21] since you started where those bands used to be able to tour venues like this to drive physical media sales. And that has gone away and even book sales and book tours to some degree has changed a bit.

[00:20:34] So it is being on top of trends, but also trying to find some of those other things that you know what this might work. This this this water skiing squirrel thing this might go somewhere. Yeah.

[00:20:45] I remember we did an event in one of our courts and it was the world's fastest Texture, a tip for someone who texted and I remember talking to someone on my team that you may know and saying what's texting. Was this too nice? Not to say I'm old.

[00:21:05] That was an event here. Yeah. That person stood up there for an hour and texted. That's great. There was not a big audience for that one. No, no. Not a draw? It was not a draw. Interesting. Noted. Interesting.

[00:21:19] And sometimes to just by nature of who we are and what we do sometimes celebrities will come here unannounced and then we find out they need help. You know, I need extra security. Yeah. Yeah. What is that like? Because we have our days.

[00:21:35] We have our tasks and then you get the call. Oh, pink is in Nickelodeon Universe or whatever it might be. I mean, sometimes honestly, sometimes we don't even know that. Exactly. It's like they're going to cover. Yeah.

[00:21:48] I feel like through the years we've also created relationships with some of the producers are some of those people too that they've called us. We recently had a celebrity that wanted to come in and go on rides. So we get that question a lot of, oh,

[00:22:01] can you escort people around on rides to get the VIP treatment and go on that? But typically we just get a call. We work really closely with our security team and we walk around with them and make sure that they're good. And there you go. Yeah.

[00:22:20] And it's not all, I mean, the celebrity stuff is super fun and those big events that we get to do, but there's a lot of details and a lot of smaller events too. What skills do you have now that you didn't know you needed starting an event? Ooh.

[00:22:37] Remember this is your annual review. I mean, I don't know. Bring that right back. No, I think for me you can be a really good event planner. You can plan everything to a T. You can have your list. You can have all that.

[00:22:52] But flexibility is the most important part. Like you never know what's going to happen. You never know if you're going to run out of power. You don't know if guests don't show up and you only have six people at your event, which happened one time and it was

[00:23:06] super awkward, but we worked through it. You know, you never really know. And flexibility I think is, and being able to work through that flexibility is probably the biggest thing that I've learned. For sure. Flexibility, like day of event but also planning. Things that people don't realize.

[00:23:23] Like for example, when we had Twiggy here, getting the weight of the pool, making sure it was up to code. Like those things can maybe change an event. So you have to, you have an original idea, but then,

[00:23:31] you know, you have to create it so it will meet everyone's expectations. All that math you never thought you'd need. What is the value of our math? My favorite math is our candy math for Halloween. Candy math. Why are you bringing this up? Tell us about candy math.

[00:23:52] Candy math, so we have Halloween events and of course we always hand out candy. And so it's always the, how can we calculate how much candy we need? How many pieces per bag? How many ways this much? How many will fit into this bag?

[00:24:06] And so we end up buying pounds and pounds of candy and then putting them all together. Pounds is not the metric to cover it. It is a cube of candy. It's a math for sure. Since this is a review, that is a skill that I need

[00:24:23] to work on because I always overshoot how much candy we actually need. But you know, it's good because we have extra. We never have too much candy. And then people come visit us. Or I will say, so after Halloween this year

[00:24:36] we did have a bunch of candy left. And I happened to be a caribou and there were two guys working talking about it. They missed Halloween but it was busy in the mall and so I brought them a bag of candy

[00:24:49] and you would have thought it was gold. And so I was like, they were so excited and I was like, Mary, come with me for a second. Good, go ahead. So she grabbed another bag of candy. We brought it in and we could hear them

[00:25:00] like cheering as we left the store. It was the best thing that ever happened. Love the moment for sure. For sure, yeah. I love it. All right. I would say, and I'm going to just share a skill that I've observed in particularly these two guests today

[00:25:19] but our entire team is creativity. I see them being really creative with their and that's part of the flexibility, right? Is I need to come up with a solution. I need to figure this out and you're very creative people which I love for that respect.

[00:25:32] And the other thing is you're not afraid to ask for help, right? And say, hey, who can let, we need to support each other. That goes back to your teamwork thing but I see a lot of really good traits

[00:25:42] and if I were their boss, I would just say their reviews going really well but I'm not. I'm just saying. You're not. To be clear, I'm not their boss. Just their collaborator. Just their collaborator. Happy to just bask in the glory of everything they do.

[00:26:00] And I, it's weird because I don't even consider myself a creative person. I just like doing weird things. Like I like the opportunities and I think we've been given a lot of opportunities to do a lot of cool things and continue to do cool things

[00:26:15] so I look forward to collaborating with everyone to see what this year brings to. Oh yeah, both of you are beyond exemplary. I mean the anonymity that you have and so many guests, core memories and moments is unbelievable. And you know, 10 plus years and two plus years.

[00:26:34] Like the amount of things we've been able to do is really cool and yeah, I look forward to collaborating with you every time and the rest of the team. It's really fun. So as we wrap up here, we'll do a little rapid fire

[00:26:45] but first we've talked about this before what is your finish line celebration? We've just had a huge event. We did it, your finish line celebration. I love to get a strawberry shake, preferably McDonald's if I can say that. You can say it. Yeah, it's just, there's nothing better

[00:27:03] than going home and just driving home and being like, I did it and I did that thing. It was awesome. So my go-to celebration would be a frozen margarita and chips and queso. It is just, I crave it afterwards and I have to get it.

[00:27:19] Dan, do you have a finish line celebration? That's awesome. Honestly, in the events that I've worked with and helped with, it's typically going to my office, sitting in my chair and just breathing. Right? No, sure. We did it. We made it. So that's my celebration.

[00:27:37] I love that because a lot of times after events you get an after event high and you're just like adrenaline is rushing so you kind of have to just bring yourself back down and be proud of what you did. What's your celebration? It varies.

[00:27:52] It used to be a burrito. I used to love just having a chipotle burrito and feeling like, because the foil made it feel like it was an award as well. Like look at this shiny glorious object. I got a silver. Yes. He keeps driving for gold.

[00:28:05] But really it is just, it's just a quiet beverage at home and it's that, it's a little blend of both. It's something comforting and a decompression. Yeah. All right. Rapid fire. Invisibility or super strength? Invisibility. Super strength. Super strength. Okay. Reindeer or llamas? llamas. Reindeer. Llamas.

[00:28:26] Do you believe in ghosts? Yes. No. Yes. Dan, okay. Ask permission or beg forgiveness? Beg for forgiveness. Beg for forgiveness. Beg for forgiveness. The correct answer is neither. We do what we want. We do what we want. In service of the guests. We do what we want.

[00:28:42] We do what we want. In service of the guests. In service of the guests. We do what we want. Yes. Anyway, thank you for joining us for this episode of So Much More. Thank you, Mary, thank you, Sierra. Thank you. Thanks, Dan. Tune in next time.

[00:28:57] Thank you for tuning in to today's episode of So Much More. If you wanna hear more, be sure to subscribe to our podcast wherever you find your favorites, including Spotify, Apple or Google Podcast. And you can also watch a video cast on YouTube.

[00:29:12] Go to podcast.malvamerica.com to leave a review, ask a question or give us an idea for the show. Until next time, thanks for listening. So Much More is presented by the Bloomington Convention and Visitors Bureau, the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minnesota.

[00:29:30] Before your next trip to Mall of America, visit bloomingtonmn.org for answers to all your travel questions, deals and packages for hotel stays, and so much more.