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Opening Days THE B5 STADIUM TOUR 2024

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The Centerfold

The Centerfold

By Jeb Breitzke, B5 Installations

Here in Chicago, we take our sports teams seriously... and our love for our favorite team is indefinitely large. In my lifetime we have certainly had our ups and our downs, and we have had some absolute LEGENDARY players thrive in our neighborhoods and on our Chicago rosters, leaving their sports legacy in our city’s history books and their pictures on our walls.

At B5 Installations, we have the privilege of working with the Chicago White Sox as well as the Chicago Cubs to get their beautiful stadiums ready for the always nostalgic Opening Day festivities. We have had the opportunity to feel like an important part of the “team” for almost as long as B5 has been in business. Just like the players on the field, we have to do our jobs no matter what Mother Nature or our physical ailments can throw at us. We have dealt with soreness, sickness, and even injuries as we’ve just tried to get graphics installed while the proverbial time clock is ticking away, second by second. We have dealt with rain and snow delays, we have had windy conditions and sometimes we are blessed with a beautiful sunny afternoon, and that’s when we get to squeeze every last drop out of the sunshine to make sure everything is done on time for our favorite players to come to town and do what they do best, which is play some baseball.

I have personally been lucky enough to be part of 2 World Series-winning seasons here in Chicago. In 2005 the Chicago White Sox brought us home a trophy, and in 2016 the Chicago Cubs made history by breaking the curse of the infamous billy goat (google it, great story), and 11 years apart we were World Series Champions here in Chicago. In any event, both years our teams hailing from the Windy City brought us home a ring, and both years they were absolutely LOADED with fierce talent. Let me tell you, watching your work being broadcasted in high definition for the entire world of baseball fans and sports gamblers to see is a pretty cool moment, you feel like part of the team that you are rooting for… all while washing down your self-induced nostalgia with a cold Miller Lite. Baseball Opening Day in Chicago is typically never what you would consider to be a beautiful day. Many times, you see our athletes on the field dressed in layers and high collars… we have industrial heaters in our dugouts for crying out loud. Late March/ early April can either be 60* and sun or 30* and snow... ya just never know… and either way, it is out of warranty guidelines for any OEM film manufacturers. The forecast for the couple of weeks leading up to the long-anticipated Home Openers for each respective ball club can be even worse... Have you ever heard the phrase “make hay while the sun’s shining?” that is EXACTLY what we do here to get Guaranteed Rate Field ready for the Chicago White Sox and the iconic Wrigley Field ready for the Chicago Cubs. That is when OUR TEAM of professionals here at B5 hit the field(s). I like to think of owning a graphics installation business exactly like running a professional sports team. As an owner, you hire a new prospect based on the talent and potential you see in them, you collaborate with them, you train them and teach them, your seasoned veterans on the team guide them and you let them learn from their mistakes even if it costs you some money along the way, all in hopes of making them an All-Star team member and installer. You coach your team and call your plays based off getting the “W” for that day and putting a big dent in that mile-long list of graphics to be installed before you can walk off the field. By the way, I want to mention that most of us current “coaches” were former “players” and we have been coached by some of the best. I have had some great coaches in my career, and some of them are still coaching me to this day. Each of them has taught me a few valuable lessons about my game strategies. I’m still on the field (or in a lift or hanging off a ladder) playing the graphics game that I love, but I can see the transition to “coach” beginning to happen. These teammates here at B5 will knock any project out of the park, they’re all super talented players in this game of graphics installations.

2024 has been no different than any other year. Our team is on the field and working hard to get everything looking its absolute best for game time.

B5 has had the chance to collaborate with several vendors as well as the purchasing agents and operators at these ball teams to strategically and carefully orchestrate a majority of the work done at these venues. Luckily for me as the Coach (because of what I have learned from my coaches and my hard work in my career) I have developed great internal relationships within each level. I let my players on the field worry about the task at hand and I try to take care of as much of the closed-door business dealings as possible. I can select materials and finishes needed to make things happen and deliver a fresh look to the stadium just in time for Opening Day. I also have the luxury of (mostly) choosing the installation schedule.

There are always “priority” items due to a corporate walk-through or sponsorship item, but for the most part, everyone understands we are all up against two inevitable factors that we have no control over… time and weather. Neither of these factors can be controlled no matter how great anyone thinks they can plan ahead.

Luckily for us during this hustle, modern-day technology and freakin’ science has also gifted us with the proper materials and equipment to make this magic happen. The vendors that hire us for installation of all these products all use top-of-the-line equipment and we have a wide array of materials to combat any situation we are experiencing. HP latex inks provide the ability to laminate immediately following print, 3M, Avery, and Arlon films have so many solutions

but we primarily stick to the PVC-free options due to the cold temperatures we’re installing in. We’ve literally had to install heat-applied block wall graphics in the snow and they’ve held really well. Of course, there are tips and tricks we use as installers and as you know, there’s no way to offer a warranty on these applications, so it's best to ALWAYS do everything you can do to prevent any future issues. We just simply don’t have the option to wait until it's 75* outside to do these installations. Oh - don’t let me leave this segment without mentioning the absolute solidarity of this industry and when things aren’t looking good and your back is against the wall you can always call on your brothers and sisters of the wrap industry. LITERALLY THE WRAPFAM!!! Some of this wrap fam has developed some AMAZING products that make these monster projects so much more manageable and profitable. Products such as the bill collector squeegee, the blade cage, ways to make your propane torch more manageable, Magstrapz, different rollers for texture and rivets… I mean c’mon… for wrappers, by wrappers. You have The Wrap Institute and Wrap IQ at your fingertips. I even special order the zip ties, ratchet straps, and fiberglass rods (gripper poles) we use to install LARGE banners. This industry is GROWING and I freaking love it. It wouldn’t be possible to get this scale of project done without every person doing their job from top to bottom. I don’t say “top to bottom” in terms of ranking… simply front to back, end to end... everyone from the operations personnel at the ballparks to the graphic designers proofing the sponsor’s art files after hours in order to get approvals ready for first thing in the morning so that production teams can scramble to get things finished and QC’d and in our installer’s hands to be installed and crossed off of everyone’s list (it’s actually bonkers how great everyone is at their jobs)… there are early pick-up times and late deliveries so that typically takes extra time and effort... I often find myself making sure I have extra Red Bulls, water bottles, and granola bars in the truck on those late nights. We are constantly sharing our locations and ETAs with each other at certain checkpoints just to make sure no one is waiting on anyone, and that way everyone is getting the most out of the time they’ve committed to their duties. Everyone is trying to save each other a few minutes of sleep, a few steps on their Apple watch, and the possibility of a decent meal with their family.

Again, much like a professional sports team, everyone on our team plays a certain role and has specific talents that we utilize come game time. I do my best to plan these long days and call these plays according to our strengths, but sometimes Mother Nature has a different game plan. One of my favorite quotes comes from a young, ruthless Mike Tyson, he said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

This reigns true for installing baseball stadiums as well as any other large-scale project we’ve had on our plate... I am sure most of you can empathize with this in your day-to-day tasks. The key, as we all know, is to roll with the punches and get that win. Always hit back harder than they hit you. All this means is that sometimes you have to share your coffee from your old Stanley thermos. Sometimes you need to take the crew out to lunch for a big fat burrito and take a mid-day breather. Sometimes that means we’re all working late and you’re left with whatever you were smart enough to pack in your Igloo lunch cooler (@stanley and @igloo if you’re reading this, I’m available for an influencer deal, but I’m not cheap) ... and if you’re lucky Taco Bell will still be open on your ride home (@tacobell go ahead and holla at ya boy as well ).

I guess being an installation-based company, the key to success is planning on not sticking to the plan... at all. As a “coach” or owner, you need to know the strengths of your team and understand at certain points you’ll be relying on them to come through in the clutch and win you a game, a day, or a certain portion of your project... and a good team will do that for you. You will learn who your clutch players are. You will want them to come in as your hottest closer throwing 100 mph in the 9th or pinch-hitting in a game-winning situation with bases loaded. This is what the big games AND big jobs come down to... our players (installers) just take the field before any of the big leaguers do. The energy on these types of projects is uncanny... and I can’t help but believe it’s a similar energy to these big bats stepping up to the plate. Not everyone watching their favorite teams will look for the graphics in the background, but I certainly do. I’m sure anyone who has read this far also does the same thing. All I know is I love that when I watch the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago White Sox play baseball, I watch a lot more than baseball. I remember the looks on my team’s faces and I remember the efforts they put in during those grueling days. I love that I have friends and family who text me with pictures from the game. I love that I have stories about how things happened in those fields that no one else will understand.

I know it takes A LOT more than just large format graphics to put together a team and a baseball season. We have a small role in the success of a stadium, but we have a big role to play. My team and I understand that role and we play it pretty damn well, and we love it. Every year when we walk out of the stadium during the 11th hour, there’s a fresh buzz in the air, sometimes the players warming up and practice happening… my team is walking off the field as the big league pros are walking onto the field to warm up, all I can think in my head as I am leaving the parking lot is... “PLAY BALL!”

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