By Shannon Russell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Amy Schneider has a spacious new office at Great American Ball Park, but she doesn't have much time to enjoy the view.

Amy Schneider has hired public address announcers to mascots in her role. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

There are vendors to talk to, promotions to solidify, bobblehead dolls to order, scoreboard features to discuss and mascots to coordinate. And that's just before lunch.

"Not everybody who comes to Great American Ball Park wants to see a baseball game. People come to hang out with friends or sit outside on a nice evening," Schneider says. "Those are the people we need to cater to, as well as traditional baseball fans."

Reds fans, meet the new Queen of Fun.

Schneider, a member of the Reds' marketing department, is its first-ever director of promotions and entertainment. The Reds created Schneider's position to manage the new ballpark's grand-scale marketing vision.

"Our goal is to make the experience of coming to the ballpark as exciting as we can make it," says Cal Levy, director of marketing.

Schneider, 25, a native of Minneapolis, attended Indiana University and came to Cincinnati with a broadcast journalism degree after her 1999 graduation.

When the Reds hired the Hyde Park resident, her biggest responsibility was ordering promotional items. Four years later, Schneider's still in charge of ordering baseball memorabilia - and a whole lot more.

Every Major League Baseball team has an Amy Schneider type, but most of Schneider's counterparts are in charge only of the scoreboard and entertainment features, or only the promotions. Schneider does both.

As part of a seven-member marketing staff, Schneider and her co-workers have been logging 12-hour days since January to make sure everyone visiting the park makes the most of their entertainment dollars.

"Basically I work on putting together everything that doesn't involve baseball that happens at the ballpark," Schneider says.

From Cinergy Field to Great American Ball Park, the entertainment changes have been enormous.

The Reds have taken ownership of the Pepsi Reds Rally Pack, the crowd-pleasing troop that launches T-shirts into the stands between innings, instead of relying on outside companies for the service.

They added another mascot, the fluffy, red Gapper, to go with Mr. Red.

They revamped features on all the scoreboards, including the outfield marquee board that's the longest (217 feet) and the third-largest in Major League Baseball. Only Colorado and Detroit have bigger scoreboards.

Schneider works closely with marketing assistant Zach Bonkowski, who's in charge of organizing the Rally Pack and mascots.

The marketing staff screened 100 aspiring Rally Pack-ers in 15-minute interviews at the Millennium Hotel in January. Thirty-five people were called back for auditions, and 12 were hired.

Last year, only four Rally Pack-ers jazzed up every home game. Expect six this season. All 12 will be at big events, from Opening Day to sold-out games.

"They'll still be doing the things people love, like shooting T-shirts into the crowd," Bonkowski says. "But there will be more fan interaction this year and different cheers."

The Reds wrapped up mascot auditions in January, and Schneider was on a panel that chose Bernie Wells as Mr. Red and Nick St. Pierre as Gapper. The mascots will entertain at every home game and will sign autographs to special Reds postcards at some games.

Gapper debuted at RedsFest and has appeared with the Winter Caravan and visited patients at Children's Hospital.

"Kids have embraced him. They seem to like (Gapper) more than they ever did Mr. Red. He has a cute face, so it's not as hard to win kids over," St. Pierre says.

The one aspect of the park Schneider can't talk enough about is the scoreboards.

"I think fans will be shocked when they see all the great new features," Schneider says.

The Reds hired two full-time scoreboard staffers for the first time: David Storm (media designer for scoreboard operations) and Russ Jenisch (director of scoreboard operations).

New music, including snippets from local bands, will be thrown in with old favorites. Innovative graphics, videos and animations will pop up on every board.

Not everything at the ballpark is new, but don't expect to see your favorite Reds features at consistent times.

The child selected to announce the lead-off batter at the bottom of the third inning might debut in a different inning. The Mr. Red race is new, improved and top-secret. And it might not always be in the second inning.

"Our features used to run in the same inning every game. Now we're going to move them around so no one knows exactly what to expect," Schneider says.

Schneider also is in charge of ordering promotional items. Highlights include Marty Brennaman and Joe Nuxhall dual bobblehead dolls, which honor their 30 seasons as a broadcast team. The bobbleheads will be given free to the first 20,000 fans May 24. Right fielder Austin Kearns' bobblehead day is July 19.

With exhibition games Friday and Saturday and Opening Day on Monday, Schneider is still putting finishing touches on the season.

From auditioning P.A. announcers to dreaming up new promotions, she says the long hours are worth it.

"We want to get people out of their seats, dancing and singing and enjoying themselves," Schneider says. "We just want to create a fun environment for everyone."