The changes to Fan Fest appeared to be a hit at the Lambeau Field Atrium on Saturday.
This year, for the third annual event, Fan Fest added offense, defense and scouting "101" presentations on the main stage by offensive coordinator Joe Philbin, defensive coordinator Bob Sanders and director of college scouting John Dorsey that were well-attended.
"When I looked at the program, one of the things I wanted to be sure to see were the Offense and Defense 101," said Barb Pomasl of White Lake, Wis. "I love football, but I like to be able to understand it a little bit more."
The presenters appeared to accomplish that, using visual aids that included scheme diagrams similar to what coaches might use in their meeting rooms.
"I thought it was great," said Bill Pomasl, Barb's husband, after watching Sanders' defensive presentation. "I like the way he presented it, showing the plays and what they do, and he got into the verbiage like 'zone dog' and 'man-to-man' and all the others."
Other new presentations included a look at the team's strength and conditioning and the coaches' video operations, as well as previously popular presentations by the medical and training staffs.
Dorsey's scouting presentation, which included having a volunteer from the audience take a Wonderlic intelligence test that all draft-eligible players take at the NFL Scouting Combine, focused on the behind-the-scenes work the scouting staff does and what their typical schedule entails, from visiting college campuses to reviewing film and writing scouting reports.
"It was very detailed," said John Lake of Lafayette, Ind. "He had some great pictures of what goes on at the Combine. You hear players say how it's like a meat market, and it looks like it's exactly that.
"I thought he did a great job interacting with the fans and answering questions."
One of those questions was from Lake himself, who asked about the value chart teams use that assigns a certain value to different draft spots.
"He reassured me of the philosophy of trading down to get value whenever possible," Lake said. "You only have seven rounds, it's so truncated now, so I've always believed in having more picks. Some picks you used to get in the 1950s and '60s are street free agents now."
Equally well-received was the change to the autograph procedure at this year's Fan Fest.
Tickets for specific autograph sessions were part of each attendee's Fan Fest program, allowing fans to plan out which autograph sessions to attend and when. Having a ticket for an autograph session guaranteed receiving an autograph from that player, as long as fans arrived at the session during its scheduled time.
"I like it because you know what you're going to get," said Tracy Krueger of Muscoda, Wis. "You know the time slots you have and it's not mass confusion.
"My wife and I had four tickets apiece and we just made a schedule and wrote them all down."
Added Krueger's wife, Cecilia: "It's a good feature, the guarantee. Also, trading is fun."
A special trade zone was set up away from the main Atrium traffic, allowing fans to trade autograph session tickets. That was especially valuable for some fans who received the same tickets as other friends or family members they came with.
"I traded all of mine for Nick Barnett," said Guy Kemp of Sun Prairie, Wis. "I like to have the players now versus the older guys. Everyone knows he's playing and he's going to be around awhile."
{sportsad300}Fans also appreciated the fact that several players signed autographs outside their regularly scheduled sessions, giving fans who didn't receive or couldn't trade for that ticket a chance to get something signed.
"We've had some great comments back from fans that feel like this might be the best-organized Fan Fest we've ever had," Team President and Chief Operating Officer John Jones said. "It's very exciting for us to get that feedback from our fans."
In all, the 3,500 fans attending Fan Fest represented 41 states and 16 foreign countries.
One couple flew more than 5,000 miles from Kaneohe, Hawaii, a trip Danny Gomez selected back in January over a 50th birthday bash.
"Never give a Packer fan a choice," said Gomez's wife Lynn. "They'll always take coming to Green Bay."
The Gomez couple had attended the first Fan Fest and found themselves getting re-acquainted with several fans they met here two years ago. They also enjoyed simply sharing Packer stories with fans from all over, a common pastime while waiting in line for autographs.
"Everyone tells how they became fans," Danny Gomez said. "One we heard was because her mom bought the wrong color jersey. It was supposed to be green-and-white and it was green-and-gold.
"Ours is I read Jerry Kramer's 'Instant Replay' back in the '70s, and I've been a fan ever since."
