The Prince George Cougars and their new ownership group are trying to orchestrate a rapid revival of local interest in the WHL team.
So they've tapped into the talent pool of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra to create an ensemble of sharp business minds to make that happen.
The newest member of that team is Marnie Hamagami, introduced Friday as the Cougars director of sales and marketing.
Hamagami's work with the PGSO in building ties to community resulted in a 15 per cent increase in ticket sales and sponsorships and has helped build harmonious relationship with the musicians. The Cougars believe her people skills and passion for hockey will translate well into a sports marketing environment, leading to increased community support for the hockey team.
"I'm really excited to try to help this organization work in the community, there are so many opportunities to start something new and exciting for the Cougars," said Hamagami. "The Cougars definitely see themselves as part of the community, and we need to behave that way. We need to work with community groups and other organizations to engage people."
Hamagami, a 30-year-old native of Cranbrook, has a business degree from the University of Lethbridge and has also studied business in Germany, has worked the past two seasons as general manager of the PGSO. She worked for 10 years in partisan politics for provincial government candidates on Vancouver Island. She's married to Liam, a lawyer, and they have a two-year-old son, Keith. The fact there was a WHL team in Prince George helped convince the family to move to the city two years ago when Hamagami joined the PGSO.
"The biggest thing with Marnie is she brings enthusiasm and passion along with a proven track record of success," said Andy Beesley, the Cougars vice-president of business. "She's done a phenomenal job of marketing the symphony and has brought positive and energetic leadership. She's passionate about building the new Cougar team and passionate about making Prince George a better place to play and she's also a huge hockey fan."
The Cougars are promoting the changes in the organization in a concerted effort they've coined, A New Ice Age, and Hamagami says fans who show up at CN Centre next season will expect to see more than just a hockey game and promises more of an effort will be made to keep the crowds entertained.
"People are going to be very surprised with what they see coming from the Cougars over the next 18 months and I think it's going to be the kind of thing that will make people want to be season's tickets again," she said.
Season ticket sales have been brisk since the new ownership group was introduced May 13 and Beesley said the team plans to market smaller packages of games to try to appeal to fans who can't or don't want to commit to a full season.
"The Number 1 goal of the Cougars right now is to get people back in the building. Everything else comes secondary to that from the business point of view. We're going to focus very hard on full season tickets, which will always be the backbone of our organization, but we'll also focus on other forms of package deals for people."
The Cougars will be the major sponsor of the PGSO's annual Pops in the Park, a free concert at Fort George Park on Sunday, Sept. 7. Beesley said there will be more collaborative promotional events that involve the PGSO.
PGSO board president Teresa Saunders said the symphony will miss Hamagami's energy and creative marketing strategies but she's looking forward to the building the partnership with the Cougars.
"I think all of us at the PGSO knew we weren't going to keep her forever," said Saunders. "She is so skilled and has taken Prince George by storm in so many ways. She's found partnerships and collaborated with people all across town in the arts community and outside of it.
"We weren't surprised the Cougars asked her to join the organization. They are putting together an amazing team of people and asking Marnie to join that team is brilliant."
• Saunders announced Friday that Jeremy Stewart will take over as PGSO general manager on June 2, the day Hamagami begins her new job with the Cougars. Stewart, a native of Prince George, has been working with Theatre Northwest as marketing and development officer since 2011. He's a former director of Arts Wells.
