Of course, I am going to let you in on some more secrets
from my
Beta Gamma Sigma conference this past week. During my stay, we were
fortunate to hear from the president of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The racetrack
is known for holding the Indy 500, but it also hosts a golf course, museum,
driver training, tours and much more.
Douglas Boles, the president, gave an inspirational speech
on following your dreams and servant leadership. However, I was able to gain a
bit of insight into a slight PR crisis he handled, because one person asked if
he had any interesting stories with celebrities.
Boles, surprisingly, gave us insight into the events that
unfolded when Donald Trump announced he wanted to run for president in 2011. At
the time, IMS planned for Trump to drive the pace car for the Indy 500 because
of his connection to the Apprentice and IZOD. He seemed like the perfect fit,
until he started releasing to the public his radical ideas for presidency and his
efforts to run for office.
Boles later heard rumors that Trump may use his time at the
Indy 500 to formally announce to the media he was running for president.
Obviously, this would not support the image for IMS, and takes away from the
event. So, Boles decided he had to
fire the Trump.
After a rough phone call, Boles said he was glad he made the
decision. I would have to agree, you should never combine politics and
racing…ever. I never thought the issue of PR would occur during a leadership
conference, but it proves that every business professional, no matter the
position, will deal with PR. In the case Trump ever decides to run for
president again, I don’t think he will attempt to announce it at a racetrack.
With fellow BGS students at IMS
I actually kissed the bricks!
The IMS Museum