Addressing Fan Concerns with GM Randy Whitaker, Part 2

This is Part 2 of Addressing Fan Concerns with GM Randy Whitaker. Again, leave feedback if you still have additional concerns after reading this.

SFU: On the public relations side, the fans are reporting no boost in advertising and no visibility in the community. When Michael Reinsdorf purchased the team he said they would be knocking on doors and making phone calls, essentially to spread the word about the Senators. Are there any plans to boost the advertising and activity in the community?

RW: I’m not sure what the fans you are speaking of are watching, listening to or reading. We have already advertised more this season than the Senators did all last year. We’ve had hundreds of commercials on ABC 27, CBS 21 and CW 15. The Senators ran no television commercials last year.

We have commercials on WINK 104 almost daily – the number one rated radio station in the market – in addition to commercials on the other top three rated stations. We are in the Patriot News every home stand.

Someone is seeing our ads as website pageviews are the highest they have ever been by a tremendous margin. Granted we have not seen the results we expected from this advertising but we believe that our consistent advertising will yield the results we are seeking – ticket sales – as the season moves on.

The Senators are very active in the community via donations, fundraising and appearances. We probably need to promote ourselves a little more than we do.

SFU: A lot of people have voiced concerns regarding Sports Service. The quality of food being offered is below what was offered in the past and customer service has been reportedly horrible. How are you working to improve the quality of food and customer service they are offering?

RW: The food literally the is the same as in the past, being purchased from the same companies and prepared and served by the same people on the same equipment. The only difference is the management. While there may be concerns I find it hard to believe that the quality is down when we’re using the same products. I also find it hard to believe that people who have been serving in the past have suddenly become poor at customer service just because there is new management over concessions.

SFU: Every person I speak with is asking for new stadium updates. As I’m sure you are aware there have been a lot of false promises over the past few years. Are there any new updates on the progress of the new stadium? When can fans expect to see a design? Has there been any progress on state funding?

RW: We are actively working behind the scenes and believe there will be a new stadium for the 2009 season. The lack of public visibility is by design as we are sensitive to the history related to a new stadium.

SFU: Superior Customer Service was a big topic during our original interview back in February. A lot of fans have expressed customer service oriented issues. How do you rate the customer service being performed by the Senators staff? Where would you like to see improvements?

RW: Customer service can always be improved and we will be working to do so.

SFU: With the overwhelming backlash in the media and by the fans is there a sense of panic by the Owners and Front Office?

RW: No sense of panic. We have a long term plan which we believe will be successful. The fact that some people are upset and that the media have taken some shots at us is not pleasant, but people have a right to express their opinion. I’m confident things will change for the better.