13 WTHR IndianapolisWomen on Super Bowl Host Committee call the plays

Women on Super Bowl Host Committee call the plays

When it comes to the Super Bowl, it's the guys on the field who get all the attention. But in Indianapolis, it's women calling a lot of the plays.

In fact, 25 of the 35 people who work for the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee are female, from the receptionist to president and CEO Allison Melangton.

Melganton is just the second woman to head a host committee in the Super Bowl's 46-year-history.

"There's definitely the occasional question of why are there so many women on your staff, which I always giggle a little bit about because we didn't hire male or female. We hired the people we thought were best qualified for the job," said Melangton.

Coincidentally or not, most are women, which is evident at the daily briefings where six of the nine people presenting were women.

Dianna Boyce heads up communications. Mel Raines is in charge of operations. Connie Israel oversees special events, Susan Baughman event planning and Susie Townsend guest services.

Townsend, like the others, has worked many large events.

"We all have a passion for sports and our city," she said, adding that women do bring something different to the table. "The women I work bring a sense of caring. That's not to say men don't, but I find women tend to be more emotionally tied to what they're doing and we're good listeners, that's another thing. We care about how you feel."

Baughman added, "Women are really good at details and event planning. We tend to be very logical and sort through things and come to a resolution. That takes time. I don't know if it's a female trait, but it's dominant in our office."

"Allison always jokes we'd never have a Super Scarf program if men were running the Super Bowl," Baughman said.

Host Committee Chair Mark Miles agrees. He also credits women with pushing for the Super Cure Project which raised $1.3 million for the breast tissue bank while collecting numerous tissue samples.

"It was absolutely Allison Melangton, Cathy Langham and Angela Braly. They presented it to the board and even though it was late in the process and an ambitious project, they said we can pull it off, and they did," he said.

Asked about all the women at the helm, he said, "The culture is different than a male-dominated organization and I it's think better."

As for how so? "It's just a little thing, but you walk into the Super Bowl office and it's decorated in a way that celebrates the people in the office. If it were me, I'd probably lather it up with information about schedules and deadlines and the like. Allison has created a culture where people are celebrated for what they're doing and they feel good about that," he said.

Melangton agrees the friendships are important.

"I think we all really like each other and respect one another and in many cases love each other, so it's a great environment to be in. We're all in this together as a team."