GREEN BAY (NBC26) — There's nothing like being in the crowd for a big moment at the Resch Center, but these experiences only happen thanks to people you may never see.
"We always say we're kind of the backbone," said Ben Brunner, the Operations Manager at the Resch Complex.
Brunner leads the crew tasked with changing over the arena as soon as one event ends to prepare for the next.
"I have the night crew coming in for eight o'clock and they'll basically be on standby until they are ready to start tearing down, tearing up the turf and getting the glass up for hockey for tomorrow," said Brunner.
If events are scheduled on consecutive days, the lengthy process continues into the early morning hours, often as late as 4 or 5 a.m.
"Ideally, we could finish an entire changeover, which is hockey to [Green Bay] Blizzard or basketball or whatever we're doing in eight hours. That is our goal. And if we have a day in between we do do a day changeover so it's not right overnight, but sadly when the events fall on the weekends usually it is an overnight," said Brunner.
PMI Entertainment Group, which manages the Resch Center, aims to appeal to all types of audiences through different events, but that diversity requires flexibility from the operations team.
"We want to provide the biggest variety of events we can to please and entertain the most people in northeastern Wisconsin. Our operations team, they are our unsung heroes in this company," said PMI Communications Manager Terry Charles.
Between long overnight hours and tight turnarounds, trust becomes essential.
"There's definitely some lost sleep when there's an overnight because I worry what I'm going to be going into the next day, what problems came up and stuff like that. But just being able to rely on a crew is number one. Being able to trust them that certain parts of the changeover are done so we can finish off the rest of it," said Brunner.
For Brunner, the hard work and long hours are worthwhile because he believes they play a crucial role in filling a community need.
"We can service the community and keep entertainment constantly flowing in the community and giving people something to do. We're not a big city but having entertainment for the community is very important," said Brunner.
The behind-the-scenes work makes all the difference for local entertainment options.
"If the operations crew and our overnight crew doesn't turn over those events, the events don't happen. It's just one big piece of the chain so while northeast Wisconsin is asleep, our overnight crew is making magic happen inside of the Resch Center," said Charles.
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