Wizards and Capitals Owner TED LEONSIS on Monday announced that he will "'unplug' both his Caps and Wizards e-mail accounts as of Aug. 1," according to Dan Steinberg of the WASHINGTON POST. Leonsis said that he has been struck by "the decreasing usefulness of his e-mail exchanges, and by more and more e-mails from out-of-market folks who aren’t fans or customers of his teams." He said, “I’m not learning anything any more. I just found myself spending an hour or two hours every day, and it wasn’t helpful any more. I’m finding that meeting with people one-on-one, being on message boards, reading comments on (The Post’s Web site) -- it’s just a better, more efficient way. And to be honest, e-mail has changed. It just has changed dramatically from the way you communicate to the way you sell." When Leonsis first started "responding to fans, the Caps were a less successful team, and fans unleashed 'pent-up frustration' through e-mail, which helped the owner learn about his base." But now he gets e-mails "from a guy in Vancouver who wants the Caps to trade for [Canucks G] ROBERTO LUONGO, or notes from a mother in Nashville whose daughter needs help with a fundraiser, or queries about what he thinks about the political situation in Cyprus." Leonsis said that the "nuts-and-bolts feedback" about his teams "is more likely to come from season-ticket holder meetings, or Facebook messages, or Twitter, a forum that might replace some of his e-mail exchanges." Leonsis: "I have lots of other ways to get input and interaction; this one just ran its course" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 7/17).
