Mini Indy... oh my! Don't know what it is? Don't worry, you will in a second.
You haven't heard of it simply because outside of the SkyWest culture Mini Indy isn't really known. That is, unless you have family or friends within the SkyWest culture, but even then there aren't any REAL guarantees.
So what is it? Well, my friends- let me tell you. Picture this, if you will. 42 teams ranging from 6-20 adults each, using a souped up go-kart to beat each other around a track with lots of turns and obstacles. This is no small event, but rather a HUGE 3-day production with people dressed up in their NASCAR jumpsuits and a "go big or go home" attitude. Competition was stiff (to put it mildly) and cheaters were doing their best to not get caught. All proceeds from this race (which totalled in excess of $100,000- went to the United Way of Dixie.) Each of our 2 teams was comprised of 6 people that were nominates by other employees as being exemplary. Out of over 2,000 flight attendants in our company, I was 1 of 2 that were invited to take part. What a HUGE honor and boy was I excited to be there.
Day one started out with the kids and I in the van on a road trip to Saint George, UT. About a 5 hour drive.... which I thought would be nearly unbearable. I am happy to report that the children were FANTASTIC!! Not a peep or anything (PTL for the Ipod!!). That night I checked into my hotel room, only to find:
How nice! After a brief touch up on the hair and makeup, we were off to dinner with the executives of SkyWest. Our CEO Jerry Atkin, and our COO Chip Childs were there, along with many other VP's and important people (yes, including me!).
The next morning we met to register and check out our car and start practicing not only our driving skills, but our pit stop skills. Since we had 2 teams both team selected a team Captain. Rave Team 2 (car 72) was my team, and our captain was... ME! Yay!
Practicing for the pit stop competition.
After the practice sessions, we were offered a tour of corporate offices. Here's me behind the CEO's desk. Hope he didn't mind if I signed off on a few things. :) Thanks Jerry!
On Friday night there was a large banquet and a pit crew competition.
At the Banquet:
We lost by by 1/100th of a second... grr!!!
The last day was Race Day. We were supposed to ride in a parade, but never made it to the track in time (our ride never showed up). We all know how much I love parades, so I was terribly disappointed, but nonetheless I pressed on. We started racing and there were 4 rounds of driving.
We all took turns and had a grand time, especially on the wet corner of death.
Our other team ended up crashing and taking off the front end of their car.
We left ours in pristine condition, all things considered. We didn't win, but we tried hard and fought a good fight. In the end, the SGU Fire Department won. It was okay, because they were HOT. :)
Our President and COO, Chip Childs.
You haven't heard of it simply because outside of the SkyWest culture Mini Indy isn't really known. That is, unless you have family or friends within the SkyWest culture, but even then there aren't any REAL guarantees.
So what is it? Well, my friends- let me tell you. Picture this, if you will. 42 teams ranging from 6-20 adults each, using a souped up go-kart to beat each other around a track with lots of turns and obstacles. This is no small event, but rather a HUGE 3-day production with people dressed up in their NASCAR jumpsuits and a "go big or go home" attitude. Competition was stiff (to put it mildly) and cheaters were doing their best to not get caught. All proceeds from this race (which totalled in excess of $100,000- went to the United Way of Dixie.) Each of our 2 teams was comprised of 6 people that were nominates by other employees as being exemplary. Out of over 2,000 flight attendants in our company, I was 1 of 2 that were invited to take part. What a HUGE honor and boy was I excited to be there.
Day one started out with the kids and I in the van on a road trip to Saint George, UT. About a 5 hour drive.... which I thought would be nearly unbearable. I am happy to report that the children were FANTASTIC!! Not a peep or anything (PTL for the Ipod!!). That night I checked into my hotel room, only to find:
How nice! After a brief touch up on the hair and makeup, we were off to dinner with the executives of SkyWest. Our CEO Jerry Atkin, and our COO Chip Childs were there, along with many other VP's and important people (yes, including me!).
The next morning we met to register and check out our car and start practicing not only our driving skills, but our pit stop skills. Since we had 2 teams both team selected a team Captain. Rave Team 2 (car 72) was my team, and our captain was... ME! Yay!
Practicing for the pit stop competition.
After the practice sessions, we were offered a tour of corporate offices. Here's me behind the CEO's desk. Hope he didn't mind if I signed off on a few things. :) Thanks Jerry!
On Friday night there was a large banquet and a pit crew competition.
At the Banquet:
We lost by by 1/100th of a second... grr!!!
The last day was Race Day. We were supposed to ride in a parade, but never made it to the track in time (our ride never showed up). We all know how much I love parades, so I was terribly disappointed, but nonetheless I pressed on. We started racing and there were 4 rounds of driving.
We all took turns and had a grand time, especially on the wet corner of death.
Our other team ended up crashing and taking off the front end of their car.
We left ours in pristine condition, all things considered. We didn't win, but we tried hard and fought a good fight. In the end, the SGU Fire Department won. It was okay, because they were HOT. :)
Our President and COO, Chip Childs. 
3 comments:
Congrats on your mini indy. Sounds cool, one day I hope to be a part of it. The tour of HDQ in Siant Geoerge would be cool I could think of a few things I would sighn off if I could get behind the big guys desk :)...congrats again... we have the best FA's in the idustry!!!
wow, i knew you were important, but apparantly i didn't know HOW important. CEO's desk?
yeah but who's under the desk?
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