Notable graduates: Joe Simler — Headed to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium

When Wisconsin native Joe Simler stepped foot on the UW–Madison
campus as a freshman in 2004, little did he know four years later he
would be assisting a 30-member sales staff charged with filling seats
at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the largest stadium in the NFL at 3 million
square feet.

And with premium seating at the team’s elaborate new digs selling
for a price of $340 per ticket, plus a special one-time seat license
fee for some ranging from $16,000 to $150,000, Simler’s task is no
small feat, all things considered.

"It’s very exciting to be part of such a major project for the NFL,
especially witnessing first-hand this monumental moment in Dallas
Cowboys history," Simler says of his upcoming experience. "I consider
myself very fortunate."

Because every ticket sold at the new stadium will be the result of
a one-on-one meeting, he hopes to channel his experiences as an
award-winning door-to-door student summer salesperson for The
Southwestern Company, a Nashville-based educational reference book
publisher.

For three consecutive summers, Simler earned the company’s
Gold Seal Award for working 80-plus hours per week for the duration of
the summer sales period. In 2005, his first summer with the company, he
was pinned with the Top First Year Dealer Award for being among the top
100 first-year dealers of the national sales force.