The Formula For Creativity w/ Chris Grosse (Show Notes)

Is a hot dog a sandwich? Why does that even matter? It matters a great deal to Chris Grosse, Assistant Athletic Director of Marketing for Penn State Athletics.

If you follow him on Twitter, @Chris_Grosse, you'll know these are the types of questions that get Chris fired up, out of the box questions that no one else is thinking of. Think of the hot dog question as an exercise for him to grow his muscles when it comes time to creating one-of-kind experiences for students and fans.

In this episode, Chris goes into detail as to how his creative ideas and experiences have brought him major success and praise nationwide for his innovative execution of unique gameday experiences. We unpack his creative process with his team, and explore how some of his greatest hits (such as Millennial Day at Georgetown) came to life. We talk about why he would go to work for Phil Dunphy from Modern Family and we discuss the differences between innovating in a small athletic department versus one of the nation's largest departments. Join us for this wild ride. 

For more hot takes from Chris, follow him on Twitter, @Chris_Grosse

Time Stamps

1:27 - Is a Hot Dog a sandwich? Chris’s mindset around creating engaging discussion with out of the box ideas

04:11 - How Chris infuses his personality into his work output

08:40 - How adding fun into the workplace helps Chris recruit team members

13:37 - Why trusting relationships are so important to creative outputs

15:38 - Incorporating learning from failures into the creative process

17:41 - Millennial Day promotion at Georgetown

20:48 - Creating immersive experiences for the next generation of consumers

27:05 - Difference between innovating at a massive brand versus a smaller brand in a crowded marketplace

30:58 - Most impactful thing for fans the Penn State marketing team has done in the last year

33:20 - Chris’s creative process for building new ideas

40:00 - Happy Valley Hospitality

Segments

46:00 - Describe your favorite personal customer experience in recent memory?

49:54 - What’s a new tool that has been a game changer for you and your team in the last 12 months?

53:42 - What new initiative from your team are you most excited about?

57:12 - Who is a fictional character you would go to work for?

Full Podcast Link: Episode 5, The Formula for Creativity w/ Chris Grosse