This year I had the privilege of working with our clients at Gibson’s Finest Canadian Whisky. As part of Gibson’s Finest Canadian Football League sponsorship, which includes, the CFL Player Awards, CFL Players of the Week and Players of the Month (both in the categories of Offensive, Defensive, Special Teams and Canadian player recognition); Gibson’s Finest also activated the Gibson’s Finest Fan Competition to support this sponsorship. The Gibson’s Finest Fan Competition was where TrojanOne’s role came into play.
The Gibson’s Finest Fan Competition was the search for the ultimate CFL fan. This crowned ultimate fan represented their team at the 97th Grey Cup in Calgary, 2009! This year the Grand Prize winner and Gibson’s Finest Fan was Jayson Wall of Winnipeg MB! Jayson beat out 32 other finalists who submitted entries (4 finalists from each CFL team) by receiving the highest number of votes to become the Gibson’s Finest Fan.
As soon as I spoke to Jayson to inform him of his prize, I knew that I had just got off the phone with someone with a true passion for the Canadian Football League and his beloved Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Working alongside my colleagues at TrojanOne, I coordinated Jayson’s trip and his Gibson’s Finest Fan experience in Calgary for the Grey Cup weekend. Jayson’s Grey Cup weekend, included: airfare, accommodations (4 nights) and transportation, tickets to the Grey Cup and events surrounding it, $1,000 spending money for him and 3 friends, plus the right to present the Most Outstanding Player Award during the Gibson’s Finest CFL Player Awards. In addition to Jayson’s grand prize, Gibson’s Finest and the CFL awarded 7 other secondary prize winners (one from each of the other 8 CFL teams) who received airfare and accommodation (2 nights), tickets to the Grey Cup and spending money for themselves and 1 friend, also coordinated by TrojanOne.
I had an amazing time meeting Jayson and the 7 other secondary winners in Calgary and hosting Jayson’s party. Seeing all the passion they displayed for the CFL and their favourite teams was something that has truly made me a much bigger fan of the CFL. Jayson does a much better job than I could ever do in describing the events of the weekend so I will let his letter tell the rest of the story:
“As for the trip and the experience, I can not simply put it into words! From the moment we landed at the Calgary airport, myself and my party were pretty much ìawe struckî when we met Matthew Harpur and were whisked into the stretch Ford Excursion limo. Then, upon entering the limo, the Grey Cup Gibson’s sweaters, official CFL Grey Cup Ball, mini Bomber helmets and Bottle of Gibson’s Finest Canadian Whisky was a nice surprise!!
The Calgary International Hotel Suites was more than adequate. Its location couldn’t have been more perfect. It was within walking distance of all the official and unofficial events. Matt met us in our room shortly after checking in and gave me the rest of the Grand Prize package. I must say I was speechless when he displayed on the table all of the tickets, VIP’s passes and the $1000 spending money.
If I had to single out one event, the Thursday night, I think for me, was the highlight of the trip. Just before the awards show, in the Gibson’s Finest suite at the Telus convention centre was something I will never forget. Having the opportunity to be in the same room and converse over a few drinks, Gibson’s Finest of course, with the likes of Matt Dunigan, Wally Bouno, Anthony Calvillo, Mark Trestman, Mike Kelly, Doug Brown, John Chick and CFL Commissioner Mark Cohon, just to name a few. If that wasn’t enough, Gibson’s Finest Chief Marketing Officer Rob Malloch addressed the room, where he spoke of the Gibson’s Finest product, Gibson’s Finest’s relation to the CFL and the Awards show and then introduced me to the audience as the Gibson’s Finest Fan. Simply an unbelievable experience!
Our seats for the awards show were great! We were surprised that we had better seats than most of the players that were up for actual awards. I had met Matt Dunigan in the past and having the opportunity to meet him again was fabulous. He is an amazing person and took the time to make sure that me and the rest of my party we’re taken care of. Presenting the Most Outstanding Player Award with Matt Dunigan to Anthony Calvillo was an honor. Even though Matt jumped ahead of the script, I was thinking to myself, ìoh no, what do I do knowî, it was great and will give me something to talk about for many years!! When I had returned to my seat, my wife told me that my phone had not stopped beeping. I had received several text messages from friends and family letting me know that they had seen me live on TSN Sportscentre. What a thrill!!
After the Award show, we attended the Gibson’s Finest Pro Players Awards Show after-party at Flames Central. Again, an amazing time was had by all!! I was again star stuck by the many players in attendance. I think what really sets a lot of the CFL players apart from other pro sports players is there personable demeanor and approachability to the average person. What really caught me off guard and made me take a step back in amazement was that during the after-party there were three players, Jermaine Copeland of the Calgary Stampeders and John Chick of the Saskatchewan Roughriders came up to me, shook my hand and congratulated me on being the Gibson’s Finest Fan. The third player was Fred Stamps of the Edmonton Eskimo’s. Not only did he come up to me, shake my hand to congratulate me, he also brought me to his table and introduced me to his party, which included a few other Eskimo players. An unforgettable night!!
For the better part of Thursday, there was a camera man following me around, everywhere I went, recording this amazing experience. My friends called it the filming of the “Gibson’s Finest Fan Documentary”. On Friday we spent the better part of the day walking around downtown Calgary doing a bit of site seeing, visiting the Calgary Tower. After that we headed to Stephen Street where the Grey Cup Festival was well underway. Friday night included a stop at the Spirit of Edmonton party and finishing off at the Pro Players Party, again at Flames Central.
Saturday afternoon we took in the Grey Cup parade and toured some more of Calgary. As avid country music fans, we went to the Molson Canadian Quick Six Saloon at the Telus Convention Centre to watch Gord Bamford and Aaron Prichette on stage. With our VIP passes around our neck we were treated like “A” list guests. Here we got to really visit and party with hundreds of other die hard CFL fans from all around the country. With VIP mezzanine access, we had the privilege to once again meet and talk to several CFL players including now retired QB, Damon Allen. The concerts were great and the atmosphere was amazing!
On Sunday we were picked up by yet another stretch Ford Excursion limo and taken to McMahon Stadium for the big game. On exiting the limo, I was greeted by the same camera man from Thursday. The documentary on a Gibson’s Finest Fan continues. He recorded my every move just prior to us entering the stadium. We had excellent seats for the game where two of us were cheering for Montreal and the other two for Saskatchewan. What a game and what a finish!! I was pulling for Montreal as Calvillo deserved to win this year! After the game, we were once again escorted back to our hotel by limousine. That night we decided to take it easy and visited one of Calgary’s fine dining establishments. As all four of as ate our meals and reminisced our weekend together, we were all amazed at what all we had experienced in such a short time. We all agreed that this was by far, the best sporting event experience that anyone of us had experienced or probably would ever experience again!
A huge thank you from me and the rest of us goes out to Matthew Harpur, our host for the weekend. Even before we met, I spoke with Matt over the phone and via email. He was always knowledgeable and helpful. He made it known that he was at our disposal for any of our needs. He did an amazing job in organizing our weekend and making it enjoyable and unforgettable! Thank you Matt!!
I can not put into words how grateful I am for this experience and how thankful I am for letting me bring three close friends along to enjoy this with me!! A simple Thank You to Gibson’s Finest, does not do justice. So I’m not sure really how to say it, but a BIG Thank You to Gibson’s Finest!! You have first class people working in a world class organization.
Also a big Thank You goes out to the people of TSN, the CFL and everyone else that had a hand in organizing the Gibson’s Finest Fan Competition! In the future, if there is anything I can do for you, weather it be help promote Gibson’s Finest, next years Gibson’s Finest Fan Competition, TSN or the CFL, I am forever in your debt and would be honored to be apart of anything. I still visit the Gibson’s Finest Fan Website on a daily visit. Just to check it out and say “WOW” to myself!! It was truly an honor to be selected as the FIRST GIBSON’S FINEST CFL FAN. I would encourage every CFL fan across this great nation to enter the 2010 version of the Gibson’s Finest Fan Competition. The winner will not be disappointed and will be treated to a once in a lifetime experience!!
Thanks Again!
Sincerely, the 2009 Gibson’s Finest Fan,
Jayson Wall
