So I've been working on the Army Tour (it's had a few different names over the years) continuously since 2007. Going into my 6th year, it's the longest I've ever worked for one company since I got my 1st real full time job in 1993, the 2nd longest is 39 months. So I jumped around a lot. From 2008-2011 I was the manager of Tour Bravo. The night before our last event of 2011, I was informed that I would no longer be managing Tour Bravo, that it another group received that designation. I was crushed (it ruined the night and it showed in my attitude at our event too).
In 2008 someone up on Mount Olympus thought it would be a good idea to offer me a Tour Manager position as the program was expanding. Then I thought it would be a good idea to accept that position. From the start of the 2008 touring season the tour that I would manage was known as Tour 2. Nothing special. There were 4 tours and we were designated as Tour 2. At the time I didn't think about all that much or at all. Some time in early August someone somewhere had an idea to rename tours 1-4 to Alpha, Bravo, Charlie & Delta (since our client is the Army it was a good idea and it sounded pretty cool as well). Thus Tour 2 became Tour Bravo. Again, no one on the team thought too much of as we continued to plod along.
By early October 2008 the classic Tour Bravo line-up was set; myself, Pops, J-Bro, Seth, Tim, Dr. Flute & James. This would be the line-up that would go into 2009 and stay together for the entire year. Part of our success was our limited turnover. Other tours experienced a lot of turnover in 2008 and it stunted their progress. In 2009 Seth & I created t shirts for the crew. On the front was the joker (with Tour Bravo on the right & left of the joker) and the back were the lyrics to "(We Are) The Road Crew" by Motorhead (easily the best road song by far, hands down & end of discussion). Seth came up with the joker and I want to say that I came up with he lyrics idea but it was probably mutual.
When we showed up at the track in Daytona wearing these shirts, the production & account staff were in awe...allegedly. On a side note, I will wear my 3 Tour Bravo t-shirts until they disintegrate.
As time went on, we became better at what we did, even on splits. On one occasion, one of the heads of production commented on how quickly we worked. By lunchtime of the 1st day of set-up at Lowe's Motor Speedway, we had more done than other tours did in a full day. Track set-up started on Tuesdays & We were done by Wednesday which enabled the rest of the crew to have a day off when all the other tours had to work in that same scenario. I was very proud of the fact that we were that efficient. Make no mistake I got handed a very professional crew who knew what they were doing (in 2008, it was rocky at 1st but as time went by & we got more familiar with the equipment, we got better).
It's going to sound like Ray Liotta's monologue from Goodfellas but we did a lot of stuff together. We went to a KC Royals game, a Cubs game and even made the Moosehead Bar & Grill in Charlotte our "happy place," it would eventually become a company "happy place" by 2010. By the end of 2009 it was decided that t shirts weren't enough. The idea came about that we needed blazers with a tour crest. This is the crest (the lightning bolt was possibly my best idea ever)...
Here's a photo of the team while at the 2010 All-America Bowl in San Antonio...
As you can see a few of the guys weren't as enthusiastic about the idea of buying a blazer so they sewed the crest on a shirt. The shirts & red ties were Seth's idea and what a good one it was. I liked to think that the guys from the other tours were jealous of our unity. I had my aunt make the patches and as Seth thought it would be a great idea to have the crest put on a red cap a la Team Zissou from The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou film from Wes Anderson (that's me modeling the cap in the photo). We got the hats for the 2009 Homestead NASCAR race.
I would like to add that once Tour Delta got got solidified in late 2008 and added J-No as the tour manager in 2009, they tried to copy us by making their own t-shirts. The short was based on the West Coast swing of the NHRA Race circuit, Denver to Sonoma to Seattle in consecutive weeks. I always thought the shirt looked stupid and Seth told me that the quote on the back of the shirt was incorrect. None of the guys who were on Delta in 2009 no longer wear the shirts and probably threw them out (allegedly of course).
In 2010, Seth became the Tour Delta manager (J-No, one of my most trusted friends, went back into the office) and took J-Bro and Tim with him. By 2011 James went to Tour Charlie and Bravo was only myself, Pops & Dr. Flute. The Doctor would get married and he was replaced by Steve M.
Tour Bravo meant a lot too me; the camaraderie, our efficiency, the way we worked together & covered each other, the post hot wash beer shotguns and the fact that our superiors admired the way we worked. There was a level of excellence & efficiency that I wanted to achieve and we did it (some guys may not have liked my over-zealousness with the paperwork but I have a background in auto claims so I'm good at paperwork). Our superiors and I like to think the client to a degree knew that when Tour Bravo worked an event they could expect a certain level of excellence and professionalism and I believe we provided it. During the rough spots it was 'us versus them". Whomever the "them" were, we were always "us." I Still wear the red cap with the crest so it can be argued that I haven't "grown out of this phase yet," which I haven't.
Not that I was owed an explanation or even a heads up, but no one told me that we would lose the Bravo designation. I campaigned to get it back but my appeal fell upon deaf ears. Apparently my superiors didn't know or care how much it meant to me. Not to sound like a sad sack but this job and the Bravo designation were everything. I wore the shirt when I went to Greece and I wear the cap everywhere. It's a badge of honor. I've worked on several tours since 2001 and the 2009 Tour Bravo line-up was the best I've had the privilege to work with. Thank you gentlemen.
In 2008 someone up on Mount Olympus thought it would be a good idea to offer me a Tour Manager position as the program was expanding. Then I thought it would be a good idea to accept that position. From the start of the 2008 touring season the tour that I would manage was known as Tour 2. Nothing special. There were 4 tours and we were designated as Tour 2. At the time I didn't think about all that much or at all. Some time in early August someone somewhere had an idea to rename tours 1-4 to Alpha, Bravo, Charlie & Delta (since our client is the Army it was a good idea and it sounded pretty cool as well). Thus Tour 2 became Tour Bravo. Again, no one on the team thought too much of as we continued to plod along.
By early October 2008 the classic Tour Bravo line-up was set; myself, Pops, J-Bro, Seth, Tim, Dr. Flute & James. This would be the line-up that would go into 2009 and stay together for the entire year. Part of our success was our limited turnover. Other tours experienced a lot of turnover in 2008 and it stunted their progress. In 2009 Seth & I created t shirts for the crew. On the front was the joker (with Tour Bravo on the right & left of the joker) and the back were the lyrics to "(We Are) The Road Crew" by Motorhead (easily the best road song by far, hands down & end of discussion). Seth came up with the joker and I want to say that I came up with he lyrics idea but it was probably mutual.
When we showed up at the track in Daytona wearing these shirts, the production & account staff were in awe...allegedly. On a side note, I will wear my 3 Tour Bravo t-shirts until they disintegrate.
As time went on, we became better at what we did, even on splits. On one occasion, one of the heads of production commented on how quickly we worked. By lunchtime of the 1st day of set-up at Lowe's Motor Speedway, we had more done than other tours did in a full day. Track set-up started on Tuesdays & We were done by Wednesday which enabled the rest of the crew to have a day off when all the other tours had to work in that same scenario. I was very proud of the fact that we were that efficient. Make no mistake I got handed a very professional crew who knew what they were doing (in 2008, it was rocky at 1st but as time went by & we got more familiar with the equipment, we got better).
It's going to sound like Ray Liotta's monologue from Goodfellas but we did a lot of stuff together. We went to a KC Royals game, a Cubs game and even made the Moosehead Bar & Grill in Charlotte our "happy place," it would eventually become a company "happy place" by 2010. By the end of 2009 it was decided that t shirts weren't enough. The idea came about that we needed blazers with a tour crest. This is the crest (the lightning bolt was possibly my best idea ever)...
As you can see a few of the guys weren't as enthusiastic about the idea of buying a blazer so they sewed the crest on a shirt. The shirts & red ties were Seth's idea and what a good one it was. I liked to think that the guys from the other tours were jealous of our unity. I had my aunt make the patches and as Seth thought it would be a great idea to have the crest put on a red cap a la Team Zissou from The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou film from Wes Anderson (that's me modeling the cap in the photo). We got the hats for the 2009 Homestead NASCAR race.
I would like to add that once Tour Delta got got solidified in late 2008 and added J-No as the tour manager in 2009, they tried to copy us by making their own t-shirts. The short was based on the West Coast swing of the NHRA Race circuit, Denver to Sonoma to Seattle in consecutive weeks. I always thought the shirt looked stupid and Seth told me that the quote on the back of the shirt was incorrect. None of the guys who were on Delta in 2009 no longer wear the shirts and probably threw them out (allegedly of course).
In 2010, Seth became the Tour Delta manager (J-No, one of my most trusted friends, went back into the office) and took J-Bro and Tim with him. By 2011 James went to Tour Charlie and Bravo was only myself, Pops & Dr. Flute. The Doctor would get married and he was replaced by Steve M.
Tour Bravo meant a lot too me; the camaraderie, our efficiency, the way we worked together & covered each other, the post hot wash beer shotguns and the fact that our superiors admired the way we worked. There was a level of excellence & efficiency that I wanted to achieve and we did it (some guys may not have liked my over-zealousness with the paperwork but I have a background in auto claims so I'm good at paperwork). Our superiors and I like to think the client to a degree knew that when Tour Bravo worked an event they could expect a certain level of excellence and professionalism and I believe we provided it. During the rough spots it was 'us versus them". Whomever the "them" were, we were always "us." I Still wear the red cap with the crest so it can be argued that I haven't "grown out of this phase yet," which I haven't.
Not that I was owed an explanation or even a heads up, but no one told me that we would lose the Bravo designation. I campaigned to get it back but my appeal fell upon deaf ears. Apparently my superiors didn't know or care how much it meant to me. Not to sound like a sad sack but this job and the Bravo designation were everything. I wore the shirt when I went to Greece and I wear the cap everywhere. It's a badge of honor. I've worked on several tours since 2001 and the 2009 Tour Bravo line-up was the best I've had the privilege to work with. Thank you gentlemen.
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