Q&A With Former WNBA President Donna Orender

Q: Describe how the process of adding a new WNBA franchise begins. Does the league decide to expand and then actively seek out interested cities, or do the cities first let it be known they�d be interested whenever the WNBA is ready to expand?
A: It�s actually a combination of both. The phone is always available to ring should there be somebody of interest, but then strategically we would sit down and say �Okay if we�re going to expand, what are the markets where we think we should be?� I always had a list, and I always kept track of where our top television ratings were. What was interesting was there was always a strong bastion of interest in the Southeast. It was remarkable to us that some of our top television markets were in, whether it was Jacksonville or Atlanta or Birmingham or Charlotte, it really gave us a good indication that there was a good fan base down in the Southeast of the United States, and we had no presence, so Atlanta was a logical destination.

Q: How many cities were under consideration before Atlanta was chosen, and could you tell us which ones?
A: I don�t know that I could tell you any specifically at that time. I could tell you that I spent time meeting with as well as studying several other markets.

Q: What was appealing about Atlanta�s bid?
A: First of all, Atlanta is a really good sports town. It�s an interesting sports town, but it�s a really good sports town. When we looked at Atlanta we really felt that there was a strong sports base, of which a piece of the fandom wasn�t being serviced. I�ll never forget when I went to initially meet with the Falcons, and they said to me, �Why would you want to come to Atlanta? We already have so many teams.� And I said if you look at the fanbases of all of the teams, they all overlap very strongly. But if you look at the WNBA fanbase, there�s a huge opportunity here to reach a whole group of fans and consumers who really have not been reached by the current teams that you have there. Currently there�s an opportunity there waiting to be met. Eventually we met with city leaders, and we all have to give credit to former City Council President and mayoral candidate Lisa Borders, who really was amazing, and A.J. Robinson, who I believe runs downtown Atlanta. Those were really the first city leaders that I met with.

Q: What were the obstacles or hurdles that needed to be overcome?
A: Any time you want to put together any new business you want to make sure you have community buy-in and you have to have good ownership to succeed that believes in the strategy that will deliver success over the long haul. We took a lot of time to make sure we vetted a series of ownership groups that were interested in being in what came to be called the Dream, and ultimately we found Mr. Ron Terwilliger, who had a deep interest in creating something that was sustainable and allowed us to move ahead with creating the Dream.

Q: What do you remember about the day of the announcement?
A: I remember it being a fantastic day, not only for the city of Atlanta, but for people who had the dream to create this team in this market. It was also a great day for the entire country, for all WNBA fans and for all people who really believed there was a place and continued to be a place for professional women in sport, and it all came together on that wonderful day. I think it was at the YMCA, and I remember all of us feeling such an incredible sense of pride and accomplishment, and hope for what could be.

Q: What was your most memorable moment during the experience?
A: I remember being with Lisa Borders and we were looking at each other saying, �Okay, you know what? Ideas can move to reality with belief and hard work.� And I remember we had these pink Dream t-shirts � actually I used to stick it up in my office and I still have it in my closet � and then all these kids came in wearing them, and it just made the whole thing so real. There was a tremendous amount of enthusiasm, I thought. There was a lot of interest, and I think we felt that we were taking a great first step to adding something meaningful to the city of Atlanta.

Q: In addition to the city leaders, did you get a sense of excitement from the fans and people in the city of Atlanta?
A: Oh without a doubt. I don�t think without that we would have felt as comfortable as we did moving forward. That said, we didn�t think it was going to be an easy proposition, but women's professional sports leagues are probably one of the most worthwhile propositions when you really look at the impact that they have socially, culturally, economically, and then of course on top of all that the great entertainment value they bring. So we knew and we still believe, all of us who are involved in this industry, and in life, that this is such a vital and really important pursuit. And the Dream is so appropriately named. Actually it�s one of my favorite names. I don�t often get involved in naming teams. We do research and we brought it in-house, but before this one ever started, in the back of our minds, we thought there was a name that would prove to be so emblematic of a city and an endeavor and an opportunity, and the Dream was it.

Q: Looking back seven years later, do you feel your assessment of Atlanta as a WNBA city was correct?
A: We would not be doing our job as administrators if you would if we didn�t look at a business and say �Hey, we can be doing this better or that better.� With that said, let�s just take a step back. We are seven years down the road. We had Ron Terwilliger kick this business off. We had the amazing and passionate Kathy Betty who took this team from stage one to stage two, and without her there wouldn�t be the stage three we�re in. So I think our city and every fan owes Kathy Betty a debt of gratitude, and now we have this new ownership group (Mary Brock and Kelly Loeffler) who are anxious, willing and doing all the right things to take it to the next level, I think there�s a lot of appreciation and gratitude as well as optimism looking forward.

Q: What are your expectations for the franchise moving forward?
A: I think any new franchise would look at Atlanta and be somewhat jealous, because their ability to be successful on the court as quickly as they were is truly amazing. You can look at the NFL, you can look at Major League Baseball, and it�s not like we stacked the cards like the NFL does. You don�t automatically get a top-round draft choice, although I remember Ron Terwilliger, he wanted that to be part of his negotiation all along. It was really fantastic, all of those discussions we had. With that said, the on-court success of the Dream has really been tremendous. I would love to see the community be able to rally around this team, show up in greater numbers, support it and really realize the benefits of having such a great entertainment vehicle full of role models, as well as a vital business that features women who are strong in a city that historically has been known for featuring strong women leaders.

Q: Tell us a little about what you�re doing now and how you�re staying connected to the WNBA.
A: Since I left the WNBA I have a consulting company. I work with digital and entertainment sport entities on a variety of strategic and business and marketing issues. But I also, based on my work in the WNBA, went on to create what is now a not-for-profit call Generation W. Generation W is all about the belief and the magic of when people come together, especially women, and we�re focused on educating, inspiring and connecting women and girls. And to that end, we have an event each year � this year will be March 27 � that brings in speakers and presenters from all over the country, and we gather women, and men for that matter, to really discuss and be part of understanding the issues of the day that are action plans, and what we can do to make the world a better place, the place that we would like it to be. On Nov.5 we have an event called Generation Wow, which is our teenage girl event, in which we bring together the leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow. And I would say all of this has been inspired by my work and involvement in the WNBA where I was on the front line, the nexus of where the world expressed its desires and its opinions and its economic weight if you will about women, and I was able to take that knowledge and apply it to this next endeavor. And I continue to speak around the country on issues of gender, I work for the golf industry, I wrote a guidebook for them on how to market to women, how to create a service industry that engages women. I�m working on an entrepreneurship platform right now, a multi-media platform. So I�m still very involved, I�m also a proud board member of the World Surfing League, which has men and women, the top women surfers in the world, and helping them work on developing their global business, so I am still very much engaged, involved and a passionate advocate for all that the WNBA represents and wants to accomplish.