When season ticket holders at Southern Illinois University raised questions about Saluki Way, a project that will include a new football stadium and renovated basketball arena, Athletic Director Mario Moccia knew he had to deliver answers, so he called a meeting. But it was not other administrators in the athletic department he gathered around. The meeting was with the fans themselves.

Two town hall forums, which were open to all current SIU season ticket holders, served to educate fans and answer questions about how the changes to facilities would affect everything from seat locations to parking. "I thought it was important to speak with people face-to-face," Moccia says. "There are so many rumors that go around when you make big changes, but once we showed our fans the plans via a PowerPoint presentation, it mitigated a lot of their fears. It also worked well to answer questions in a public setting, which allows people the opportunity to express their opinions."

One key to the event's success was having a range of people represent the department. "We had our Associate Head Football Coach there, and he spoke about how the new facilities can help recruiting," Moccia says. "Also, our chief of police who handles all the parking was there, as was our facilities manager."

Southern Illinois sent out information about the meetings to season ticket holders four to six weeks in advance and publicized them through the radio and press releases. They also held the two forums in different locations. "We didn't throw a date out there and hope nobody came," Moccia says. "If you're going to open up discussion to the public, try to get a lot of people there."