Jenn Senger’s job interview with the Saskatchewan Roughriders mirrored the process of purchasing a ticket to a game.
An introductory conversation with Gail Mund — Senger’s predecessor as the CFL team’s Director, Ticket Operations and Sales — was efficient, brisk and cordial.
“I was working with the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority and Murray Measner was my boss,” recalls Senger, referencing the husband of former Roughriders Merchandising Manager Liz Measner. “I said to Murray one day, ‘Hey, your wife works with the Riders. If they’re ever looking for someone, I’m looking for full-time work.’
“He called me on my cellphone when I was in Edmonton and said, ‘You have an interview with Gail Mund tomorrow at 10 a.m.’ I showed up, had my interview, and she said, ‘You start next week.’
“That was in 2003.”
Just like that, the Roughriders had a new ticket agent — someone who would become a colleague and friend of Mund and Carol Hoeving.
“Me, Carol and Gail,” Senger says with a smile. “The Three Amigos.”
Or, perhaps, Three Muske-ticketers?
“Actually,” Senger notes, “we call ourselves The Ticks Chicks.”
Mund, who joined the Roughriders in 1996, retired on March 31.
Hoeving, the Ticket Control Officer, has been an integral part of the organization since 1991.
Senger celebrated her 20th anniversary with the Roughriders on Jan. 19.
“Jenn has put in her 10,000-plus-hours,” Anthony Partipilo, the Roughriders’ Chief Brand Officer, says with a chuckle. “She’s an expert in ticketing. Yet, it has not changed her as a person.
“She is still incredibly open to learning and incredibly open and willing to try new things, but she always brings that element of perspective of the fan, of the customer, of who it’s impacting, positively or negatively. She’s able to bring that to the table and that’s so incredibly valuable.”
Senger also provides the perspective that has been acquired from seeing the Roughriders and their environs evolve and expand.
When Senger was hired, and for 14 years thereafter, the ticket office was located in cramped confines at Taylor Field, whereas she is now cheerfully employed at new Mosaic Stadium.
Her upbeat demeanour has been unaffected by some trying — er, make that “drying” — days over the years.
“I remember a time when Carol and I worked with umbrellas over our heads because water was leaking from the roof,” Senger says.
“Those are good stories, because we can laugh about it now. And now we have this beautiful facility.
“There would be a tour with fans and someone would ask, ‘Why do you have buckets with water dripping everywhere?’ I was like, ‘We need a new stadium.’ I know there’s a sentimental value, but we needed this.”
Just as the Roughriders need dedicated employees such as Mund, Hoeving and Senger, who continue to foster and cherish relationships with tens of thousands of fans.
“It’s super-important that they embody the values of the organization and that when they interact with fans, they’ve got those qualities,” President-CEO Craig Reynolds says.
“They genuinely care about people. They’re kind people. They’re thoughtful people. They’re nice people.
“Those are really important characteristics for all of us, but it’s really important on the customer side of things and in our ticketing department.
“Everybody in ticketing is going to interact with our fans. The customer-service side of that is really important to us.
“To be able to trust that you’ve got ticketing leadership like we do that embodies all the things that you would want, we’re just really fortunate.”
Senger feels the same way.
“There’s a sense of pride when you get to work for this organization,” she says. “Gail took pride in her work here and in every single thing she did.
“She instilled in all of us at the ticket office that, no matter what, you just jump in and help if needed.
“We’ve given out beads at Riderville. We’ve flipped burgers and done whatever we needed to do. That comes with the pride of working here and wanting to jump in, wherever and whenever.”
With that sense of pride comes an emotional investment and an attachment to the stars of the show — the people fans buy tickets in order to see and support.
“Everybody was literally in the same offices (at historic Mosaic Stadium),” Senger remembers. “Darian Durant would be getting hot chocolate at the same time and you never really thought, ‘Oh, there’s Darian Durant!’ He was like your co-worker.
“I remember when Darian got hurt in the first game of the season (in 2015) after coming back from an injury. He came out of the dressing room and looked at us and then looked away. He said, ‘I can’t …,’ because it was just making him more upset.
“They didn’t have a players’ lounge. They didn’t have the kind of facility that we’re in now, so we’d walk past them every day. Myself, Carol and Gail were kind of like their sisters or their mothers.
“Now you kind of see the cycle coming through. You see Craig Dickenson coming back after also being with us at the old facility. Travis Moore came back as a coach after playing for us.
“Even when Travis went to other teams, he would always come back to the ticket office, just to see us. It’s the same thing with Bob Dyce. He still comes to visit us. So do Paul LaPolice and Ken Miller. So does Richie Hall.
“Richie always comes to visit us at Christmas and sings, ‘Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …’ That was the song he always sang to us.”
One of the interactions even led to a nickname.
“Two-N Jenn,” Senger says proudly. “Weston Dressler called me that. I asked him to sign something for me and I said, ‘Just make sure there’s two N’s.’
“He said, ‘You’re a two-N Jenn? I didn’t know you were a two-N Jenn?’ ”
Not to mention a Two-N Engine in the ticketing department — someone whose sense of humour and personable nature are appreciated by all.
“Jenn is the epitome of our culture,” Partipilo says. “She is incredibly hard-working. She is empathetic. She is very smart. She is open-minded. She is always learning.
“For Jenn, it’s always about the team. It’s never about her. She may come up with an idea or do something that’s innovative, but she’s never looking for the credit.
“A great person once told me, ‘It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t need the credit.’ Jenn is selfless that way.”
Not to mention grateful.
“I grew up in a Rider family,” says the proud mother of Mackenzie, who is about to turn 19, and Mason, 15. “I common-law married another Rider fan, although I guess you just don’t have much choice in this province.
“My dad worked for Sask. Liquor and Gaming. After the Riders won the Grey Cup in 1989, they brought the Cup to his work. I have a picture of myself with the Cup from when I was nine years old.
“My grandpa — my dad’s dad — was a huge Riders fan. He was 6-foot-4 and my grandma was 4-11 and they always liked wearing the same Riders gear, so I always bought them matching hoodies.
“They had season tickets, so my grandpa was just over the moon when I got this job.”
So was Two-N Jenn, whose mindset has not changed over 20-plus years.
“I can honestly say, true and true, that I’ve never woken up and hated or dreaded coming to my job,” she reflects. “I love it.”
