1. Hold That Space, The Pope is Coming! Preparing to host Pope Benedict XVI at The Catholic University of America

2. Fall 2007 Call from vice president, September 4 Hold the Pryzbyla Center for an event on April 17, 2008—in fact, put a hold on the building for the 14 th through the 17 th. Uh, can you tell me what this is for? Let’s just say a guy who wears white may be making an appearance….. Oh. Formation of Papal Visit Committee, November 13 (subcommittees started meeting December 13) Campus community announcement, November 16 Spreading the word—this is going to happen, now what?

3. This is really happening—now what? Committee of all committees Where to begin? Security Communicating to the university community Waiting for everyone else to catch up The only certainty: Most things would change

4. Initial Considerations Venue selection and preparation Security concerns Potential impact (positive and negative) on students Ticketing (for multiple venues) Publicity/generating media attention Involving/including students Volunteer coordination/training Who’s paying for all this?!

5. External Parties U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops U.S. Secret Service Vatican personnel Archbishop Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio D.C. Metropolitan Police Media (print, electronic, local, national) Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

6. CUA Events Meeting with bishops Mass at Nationals Park Rock the Pope! Address to Catholic educators Meeting with leaders of other religions Arrivals and departures

7. CUA Map

8. Student Center (Pryz) Facility Considerations Student organization office windows Door operation Kitchen (all food service prep) Building/event staff Line of sight Access for production cables/equipment Parking/proximity to building Restrooms, first aid, etc.

9. Volunteer Coordination Knowing your campus Student/staff/faculty Assignments (or “I really don’t want to be at the Metro station”) Training Planning for the unexpected Communication Shirts and radios!

10. Media Opportunities Student design of “Papal Furnishings” for Nationals Park Mass Student design of chair for address to educators Student essay contest Fox documentary Address to educators

11. The Devil’s in the Details Pryzbyla Great Room (main venue) Green room Food distribution for students Access to Pryzbyla Center Ticket distribution

12. Game Day Things you don’t learn in grad school How close can you get? Glorified door monitor No, you’re not coming in here This is my stage Get the people out of the restaurant NOW! Hey, buddy, you can’t take pict…oh, sorry.

13. Unique Touches Student essay contest—reward “The 10” Medallions for attendees Dinner for students Countdown clocks Gifts to/from Holy Father

14. What did we learn? Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run…or, working with the United States Secret Service The more, the merrier Nothing will go as originally planned We’re all human—even the pope (Fanta) If you can imprint the pope’s likeness on something, someone will buy it

15. The Best of the Best Number of students we were able to get into the venue Getting all our students fed without having access to any food service space No international incidents on campus Over 400 volunteers came together to make it work Publicity, publicity, publicity: Priceless The Pope gave a speech in our building!

41. References http://papalvisit.cua.edu/ http://libraries.cua.edu/papalexhibit/index.ht ml http://libraries.cua.edu/papalexhibit/index.ht ml http://www.popevisit2008.com/store/ http://www.uspapalvisit.org/ http://www.ewtn.com/uspapalvisit08/index.a sp http://www.ewtn.com/uspapalvisit08/index.a sp

42. Bill Jonas Director, University Center, Student Programs and Events The Catholic University of America 202-319-5628 jonas@cua.edu