John McDonough: The Man Behind Fan Conventions
CHICAGO (CBS) -- When John McDonough joined the Cubs as their director of marketing in 1983 he had an idea: How about a fan convention? He proposed the concept to team president Jim Finks and General Manager Dallas Green.
They bought in and the rest is history. The Cubs convention became a monumental success. Other teams followed suit with their own fan conventions. When McDonough joined the Blackhawks in 2007 brought the same concept with him and it didn't take long for this fan convention to become a hit.
So what inspired the native of Park Ridge to invent the fan convention?
"Allow fans an opportunity to ask players, general managers, broadcasters questions and for players to make appearances during the off season; and familiarize and humanize these players to our fans."
The tenth annual Blackhawks convention takes place this weekend, July 21-23 at the Chicago Hilton but alas, it's already sold out.