"Another form of fan communication is a 'great idea' for Cavs" by Corey Smith. Vol. 8, Issue 37, pg 13.

The Cleveland Cavaliers in an attempt to open the communication lines between fans and ticket holders have put a message board on their website and it acts as a switchboard for fans and the team alike. The idea is to answer all messages within 24 hours of the posting and to actually take action on as many of these as possible. This is done by a three person team that takes the postings and delivers them to the correct personnel to be answered. Although is has been tough for the organization to keep up they have been giving it a valiant effort.

Team personnel claim this is not a advertsing scheme and the return messages have nothing to do with advertsing or an attempt to sell the poster anything. Telling everyone it is just a way to get closer to the fans and learn about their concerns and things they believe are a success for the team.

I think this is a great idea and brings the fans so much closer to the team. Making fans feel like they are part of the team and can see improvements made based on their thoughts will definately draw them closer to the team. Possibly selling more tickets and merchandise of all sorts. But it needs to stay the way it is, just a message board. Not a way to post sales promotions and other things of that nature. If the fans start to see it as just another way to sell them on something it is going to lose all of its good feeling by the fans. Fans of all sorts want to be heard and when they have the ability to do it in a quick and simple manner it is great. Plus they will recieve an answer to their message. Making them feel as though the money and time they spend on the team is really worth it. As long as the idea behind this message board "fan-first, revenue-second" stays they same I think it will bring the Cavaliers a small boost in fan fair and this will show a boost in marketing.