GREEN BAY, Wis. — The job is as cool as the title: Fan Engagement Specialist, Green Bay Packers.
And that’d be Haylee Helmle.
“It really is a dream come true to work for my hometown NFL team. It is a very fun job,” said Helmle, who grew up in Little Suamico near Green Bay. “I really love meeting our fans, hearing their stories. I miss traveling for our pep rallies because that’s where you would really connect with a lot of fans.”
Helmle and the team she works with have had to take a little different approach to some of their fan engagement activities this postseason.
“We had to adjust like everybody else this year. But the main goal of the Packers has always been to reach our fans that maybe aren’t able to come to an event or to come to a game,” she said. “That’s really why we have Packers Everywhere, because we know there are fans outside of the state and outside of the country.”
While much of what they’re doing to keep fans connected hasn’t changed, there are some notable — and necessary — alterations due to the pandemic.
“Our biggest change this year for the playoffs, compared to last year, has really been our pep rallies….We probably would have had an event in person at Lambeau Field for our pep rally the day before the game, but we’ve moved those events to be virtual,” she said. “They’re very similar to what they’d be like in person.”
That includes a virtual pep rally Saturday night at Packerseverywhere.com.
The team is hosting a string of largely virtual events this week for fans of all ages. From encouraging people to send letters and drawings to Lambeau Field to a number of social media-based sweepstakes and prize events.
“We’re shipping a little piece of Green Bay to maybe fans inside the state of Wisconsin, maybe outside,” Helmle said. “We have activities all week long for our fans who aren’t able to attend the game this weekend.”
And after this week?
“There are always plans being made,” Helmle said. “We’ll have to see what happens and where we go from Sunday.”