|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Before becoming vice president of events for the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, Priscilla Almeida flew to Mexico City to organize and execute an in-person event for emerging Raiders fans in Mexico. As the director of event operations at the time, she wanted to create experiences that would help the organization grow its fan base within a Latino audience.
“There was no game, there were no active players with us, just a few of our Raiderettes (the team’s professional cheerleading squad), Raiders alumni (former players), a handful of employees, including members of our executive team,” Almeida remembers. “And it was one of the best events I’ve ever participated in.”
The Raiders hosted a high-energy, all-day event where fans experienced the true “NFL feel” by participating in drills, field goal kicks, diving catching balls into a foam pit, learning drills, and more. The event also featured live musical performances and the ability to meet and talk with alumni players and organizational staff.
Almeida says the excitement of the Mexico City crowd rivaled that of a Super Bowl event. The energy in the room was electric. She says fans were just excited to be acknowledged and appreciated and to meet other fans who were as excited as they were.
Later, during that same trip, Almeida was touring Museo Nacional de Antropología when a mother and son approached her. They asked if they could take a picture with her. She tried to explain that she wasn’t anyone “important,” but they disagreed. She was a woman who looked like them and worked for the Raiders. It’s a moment Almeida will never forget and why she’s approaching seven years with the NFL team.
“There has never been a vice president of events at the Raiders,” Almeida says. “This opportunity is beyond any of my wildest dreams. I look at our fans and see so many people who look like me. I’ve had a great career, but this is the first place I’ve worked where that has been true. It means so much to give back to my community and know that the people I’m serving in this role are the people who helped raise me.”
Almeida lives by one rule that has helped her come so far: “The worst they’re going to say is no.” We’ve all heard it, but it’s something else entirely to live by it. String together enough “no’s,” and it can hurt your soul. It can affect how much you enjoy your job. And it can profoundly impact your willingness to take chances in the future. That’s why anyone truly willing to commit to that philosophy deserves a lot more credit than the motto implies.
“I look at our fans and see so many people who look like me. I’ve had a great career, but this is the first place I’ve worked where that has been true.”
Priscilla Almeida
True to form, in graduate school, Almeida extended a six-month internship in guest services and event security at LA’s Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) to eighteen months by merely asking. She inquired because she believed internships were the key to creating opportunities for herself to gain experience, make connections, and begin her professional career.
“My graduate school experience was going to last eighteen months, so I asked if I could intern for the same length of time,” the VP remembers. “The worst they could say was no. But they said yes.”
During her time at Staples Center, Almeida worked at professional sports events, concerts, and the Grammys. She learned to ask for new opportunities and growing responsibilities in event management, even though her internship was technically in guest services and security. She shadowed every single event manager. In fact, she shadowed every single department, including housekeeping, food and beverage, and broadcast engineering.
“I was there setting up chairs for concerts and picking up trash between circus events,” the VP says. “I was all over that building, soaking up the experience. I wasn’t getting paid, but I tried to use that to my advantage. I could spend more time there, meet more people, and no one had any desire to tell me no because they could see how badly I wanted to learn.”
Now, as the vice president of events, Almeida believes a crucial distinction separates her from many others. Her job is what she loves to do, and she believes that she is fortunate that her job is her hobby and her hobby is her job. That means you might find Almeida at the Modelo Tailgate Zone on Raider game days. The parking lot tailgate features screens showing the NFL Redzone, airbrush tattoos, face painting, cold beer and cocktails, and even mariachi appearances from professional and high school performers.
She seeks opportunities to say “yes” and understands that building a successful career requires earning the trust of those around her.
Almeida has found a way to connect her passion for the Raiders, her passion for her community, and her herculean work ethic for the betterment of the entire Raider Nation. This VP wants you to know that the worst they can say is no, and that’s OK. She has one demotion on her résumé to back this up. But it didn’t stop her, and it shouldn’t stop you.
