Two of Chicago Blackhawks’ senior management employees, Vice President of Finance, T.J. Skattum, and Manager of Marketing, Brian Dahm were brought on campus by the College of Business Jan. 23rd, for the Global Speaker Series event to talk about the Blackhawks and how they operate off the ice. Both hired to the organization in 2008, Skattum and Dahm talked about their jobs and how the “One Goal” campaign has evolved in the last decade.

Skattum, with the accounting and finance department, described how the organization has seen increases in the last ten years in fan growth, ticket revenue, and sponsorship dollars. Skattum said he makes sure he is on the same page with others by sitting in on other departments meetings. It’s a way to prepare oneself for work that may or may not end up on the desk, Skattum said, adding as cliché as it may sound “communication is vital.”

Dahm, in the marketing department now, originally started out as intern ten years ago. He was hired into the sponsorship team, and now has worked his way into the management position with the marketing department. As communication is vital in his department as well, Dahm works more with advertising, branding, and media buying standpoint.

Aside from “consistent excellence” on the ice, and six total Stanley Cup Championships, the Chicago Blackhawks is one of the first National Hockey League teams to reach two million Twitter followers. What do they do with all the fandom? They incorporate it into campaign videos with the fans.

The “One Goal” campaign, implemented by the President of the Blackhawks, John McDonough, originally started with players skating up to a mic to state their goal for the season. Fast forward ten years to now, and the “One Goal” campaign has turned into an engaging “call and response with the fan base,” as described by Dahm. The Blackhawks uses Twitter as a strong source to reach out to fans for a response to add to the campaign videos. Aside from building motivational and emotional “One Goal” campaign videos, it helps connect with fans on a deeper level and show a personal side with the organization.

Dahm described it as showing “not much separation between the organization and the players, and our fan base.”

“One Goal” campaign videos such as “What is your rink?” can be found on Twitter with the hashtag #OneGoal or by scrolling through the @NHLBlackhawks twitter account, or YouTube account, bhtv.