February 7, 2009, an event took
place at the Verizon Center. The Washington Capitals played the Florida
Panthers. As warned by my Professor, this event is fine-tuned event, but there
are still definite strengths and weaknesses in an event no matter how many
times the event is run. I saw things that were strengths and weaknesses in the
events.
I
went with my girlfriend as a Valentine’s Day gift. Being with someone else at
the event, I was able to point different things out to her, and in turn she
started critiquing certain things as well. It was refreshing. Since the event
is massive, it was nice to be able to have someone else’s eyes to notice things
I may or may not be able to see. For instance, I can only observe the Men’s
restroom facility, but I cannot see the faults or strengths in the women’s
restroom. I can try to critique in such a way so that I’m viewing the event as
facilitating both genders.
Because we only took one avenue of
transportation to the Verizon Center, it is impossible to evaluate all the
types of transportation. I do know that the center does have the capacity for a
group or individuals to drive and park. I’m not sure how large or what the
capacity is, but from what I saw at the end of the game, the majority of people
take the Metro-Rail as the main transportation. The mode of transportation we
took was Metro-Rail. The Metro stop is literally one block from the Verizon Center.
The Metro Station is on 9th Street and G Street, while the center is
7th Street and F Street.
Getting into the Verizon Center is
extremely quick. I’ve been to the center several times, and each time is the
same. There are several entrances surrounding the center, which allows the
large audience to permeate the center quickly and efficiently. The center is
open hours before the game started because there are bars, grills, and
restaurants. There are other activities one may do before the game. I just was
not able to spend the money to do those activities.
I have been to the
Verizon Center numerous times sitting in different seats. This specific time
point I was sitting in section 100, row H. The seats were 8 rows from the ice.
From this vantage point I was able to get a unique and a highly involved
experience.
There are numerous stores throughout
the concourse, which offer the specific teams memorabilia. The stores are laid
out well on the upper and lower concourses. They are spread out so that every
each corner of the ellipse had a merchandise shop. I believe that the set up
for these shops were well thought out because no matter which entrance one
entered, they would have to at some point pass one of the merchandise shop.
Even upon exiting the arena, groups or individuals would have to pass the
shops. The prices for the merchandise were too high, in my opinion, but that
did not affect the event.
The food concessions were on the outer loop of
the same hallway whether it was the upper or lower concourse. There were 3
basic types of food concessions, and these were scattered throughout the
concourse. Verizon Center is also doing its part in being responsible while
serving alcohol. The food concession stands cut off alcohol purchases before
the start of the 3rd period. Each of the prices at all of the
concession stands had the taxes in the prices. Therefore if the price is $7.50,
your exact cost is $7.50. If anything I would make the prices more affordable
only because the ticket prices for the tickets should more than cover food
expenses.
The music for one was a positive use
within the event. The genre of music was alternative rock, which for the style
of sport fit well. Hockey is a high octane game, with a roughness and grit. The
music definitely drew out that type of emotion. I thought the music at times
was ear-splitting, but I believe that is because the speakers positioning on
the rafters were pointing directly down in my direction. When I sat in the
upper deck, 402 section, the music was just fine. It was very enveloping, but
not uncomfortable to me. By being too
loud, the sounds began to blend in, which limited the distinctiveness of the
sound.
There were a lot of signs in the
Verizon Center, and they were well informative. But there were times where the
signs did not inform very well. These signs were in reference to the restrooms.
They did not show you which direction to find either the men’s or women’s
restroom. I had to walk in one direction in order to find the restroom because
I knew I would eventually come across it. Another bad signage was upon exiting.
If I did not know the Verizon Center or the streets surrounding it, it would
have taken me more than double the amount of time it took me to exit the
building. Though exit signs are clearly posted and labeled properly, they did
not have anything but “exit” on the sign until you got to a specific exit where
it would tell you where these exit doors would lead you. There should be signage
pointing the direction of the street side exits, or at least a sign pointing
the general direction of where you are walking towards.
The restroom lines formed quickly.
For men, it was really long and moved slow. Even though there were two
entrances, for some reason the men formed a line in only one, which slowed the
process even more. If there was a sign directing the men into both sides, then
the line would move in a timely manner. For women, the lines were sporadic.
Some were extremely busy and long, while others were not, but were better
organized.
The seating was definitely more
comfortable than the 400 level. The 400 level had plastic seating, while the
100 level had cushion seats. The 100 level was safer than the upper level. When
I sat in the 400 level seats, it is incredibly steep that the tops of the seat
would be parallel to the next row above. One feels like if they would fall
over, they would topple to the bottom of the 400 section. Since this is a
facility side, there is little one can do to change this.
One of the best feelings during the
event is when the Capitals would come on the ice just before the initial
face-off before any one of the 3 periods. The lights would dim, and spotlights
shaped as stars would move across the ice. The LED’s across the middle section,
which would normally have advertisements, are now turned red with patterns.
This red glow would permeate the Arena, as the Capitals would come out in their
home red jerseys. This was excellent form of creating anticipation and
excitement.
Overall the event went smoothly as
expected because it was an event that occurs over 82 times during any one
season. It is extremely hard to have a full critique of the event because in a
arena that seats over 18,000 people, it is impossible to experience the event
from every vantage point, but from what I could, I drew upon to critique.
