Stay Classy Caps

7 Jul 2010

"Tip of the hat to you!"

The Washington Capitals media staff was recently awarded their 4th straight Dick Dillman award, voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. For those that don’t know much about this accolade it goes to the staff members of the team that has the Best Media Relations in the NHL. It’s named after the late Dick Dillman, a man who was a pioneer of his time that worked in PR for former NHL team the Minnesota North Stars. This award was announced during the 2010 NHL Enrty Draft in Los Angeles, having the San Jose Sharks media staff win it for the Western Conference.

The Caps media relations consists of :

Vice President of Communications, CCO	Kurt Kehl
Senior Director of Media Relations	Nate Ewell
Assistant Director of Media Relations	Paul Rovnak
Communications Coordinator	Kelly Murray
Director of Community Relations	Elizabeth Wodatch
Community Relations Coordinator	Jennifer Vassil
Director of New Media	Sean Parker
Senior Writer	Mike Vogel
Graphic Designer	Andrew Mattice
Website Producer	Brett Leonhardt

There are far more staffers that share in this award because so much happens off the ice day-to-day, that goes unseen and unnoticed by the fans. Everything from having media notes ready and making sure players are available for pre/post game interviews to posting news on the website for the fans to immediately access. Having a staff that has the passion and drive that these people do is necessary and vital to the overall wellness of a franchise.

The Caps media relations are what you call “fan favorites” with it comes to their accessibility and friendliness towards the fans. You can find them regularly interacting with masses on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter, answering questions, throwing out random facts, and trivia. Their willingness to put themselves out there is important for the growth of the Washington Capitals brand as a whole. Fans like to be able to interact with the individuals directly involved with the players and coaches. They want their voice heard and these are the people that help facilitate that and are doing a great job to boot.

Congrats on your award as I’m sure more are in your future and in the words of Ron Burgundy “Stay Classy”!

http://capitals.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=43&id=72622

Side note: As many fans know Paul Rovnak has taken a position at the University of Minnesota. Good luck with the new job and thanks for all the hard work you did!