MCC Night at the Palace with the Pistons

What a fun night!

A group of 25 MCCers joined us at the Palace of Auburn Hills for a behind the scenes tour, luxury party suite and an exciting Pistons victory in the final minutes!

We met up at the "big shoe" at 5:45 for the start of our tour. Palace Sports & Entertainment's Director of Strategic Communications, Dave Wieme had us in stitches as we learned the business and marketing secrets of the three time NBA champs. Now we all know the Palace's contribution to sports arena design, the inside scoop on sponsorship strategies, contract negotiations, customer service, corporate marketing and the meaning of the word "vomitorium".

Next up, we headed down to the hardwood to watch the Pistons warm-up from the VIP seats on the floor. Rasheed, Tayshaun and Antonio pumped jumpers from 3-point range while our camera's clicked.

The tour continued as we were escorted to the exclusive Club 53 lounge for cocktails, billiards and prime rib sandwiches. As we got nice and comfy in our private suite, we were greeted by a surprise guest: James "Budda" Edwards! He spent 20 minutes answering questions about the Bad Boys era, posing for pictures and sharing his secrets to success. 

We spent so much time chatting up Budda, we missed the start of the main event - our Detroit Pistons hosting Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. It was an exciting game with McDyess dominating the boards and Rip Hamilton scoring the Pistons’ last seven points to top Orlando 98-94.

The MCC crew capped the night from center court as we all said our goodbyes and thanked our hosts for a memorable night.

A big standing ovation goes out to  by Mary Garmo, Dave Wieme and Terry Bean for orchestrating the whole affair. Well done and thank you!

You can view our trophy photos at http://www.pistons.com/fanphotos

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