Cubs broadcaster leads off Schaumburg business expo
Pat Hughes, the radio voice of the Cubs, kicked off the 2011 Schaumburg Business Association Expo Wednesday mixing baseball stories with a little business.
Hughes shared funny stories about the late Ron Santo and the time they spent announcing games together. Hughes, who is approaching his 30th year with the “big leagues” and 17th year with the Cubs, is optimistic about the team’s personnel changes.
Members of the Schaumburg audience asked who he thought would be named manager. “It seems like the front-runner and leading candidate would be Mike Maddux,” Hughes said. He stressed, however, that the players on the field will also be changing, and they are the ones “who have to get the job done.”
One of Hughes’ biggest hopes for the upcoming year is that the Cubs will make it to the World Series. “I’m ready for the Cubs to be a contender,” he said.
The personable speaker talked about how fun and unexpected the game of baseball is.
He spoke about the importance of hustle in running to first base and the need to give everything a 100 percent effort. “If you go the extra mile, it will pay off,” Hughes said. After the presentation, he added, “hustle is something I really believe in.”
About 150 people, mainly Cubs fans, listened to Hughes before they attended the business expo and sat in on talks by other financial speakers. Hundreds of others from the business community arrived later for the expo portion of the event.
“His talk was wonderful,” said Cubs fan Kathy Bassett. She said the part about working hard and the need to hustle made an impact. “They tell us at work to go the extra mile,” the Friendship Village employee said.
“He was a positive speaker,” added Matt Frank, economic development coordinator in Schaumburg.
Three other speakers followed Hughes, addressing more serious business topics. Economist Bill Gregg spoke about the current economic climate while Jim Patrician spoke about health care reform. Jeff Barbera from Home Depot gave insights on how the world’s largest home improvement specialty retailer works.
About 110 businesses served as exhibitors for the event that was billed as the “World’s Biggest After Hours” with food sampling.
Last year about 1,500 people came through the expo, according to SBA President Tonya Lamia.
For the first time, visitors had to pay to enter the event. SBA members were charged $5 and nonmembers paid $10. Lamia said she didn’t hear negative feedback about the charge. She said many exhibitors used it as a way to market the event and invited customers providing them with $5 coupons.