Night out with Ted and the Washington Capitals

Theodore "Ted" J. Leonsis is a long-time AOL executive and owner of the NHL's Washington Capitals.





About 2 years ago I started working for DS3 DataVaulting. I was able to talk Stacy Hayes, COO, into giving me a gateway job as a telemarketer. After 3 months of banging out 100-150 calls a day, Stacy decided to give me a shot. Instead of handing off my leads to qualified sales guys, I was able to pursue them on my own. With a little luck and a lot of determination, I cold called the Washington Capitals and set a meeting with their IT director. A long story short, I made the sale and began a marketing relationship as well. Marco Gentile, the Assistant Marketing Director for the Caps, became a great connection and a good friend. So, one day, I asked Marco to introduce me to Ted. About a year later, Stacy received an email:

Dear Mr. Hayes,

As majority owner of the Washington Capitals, Ted Leonsis would like to invite you and a guest to join him in the Owners Suite for an upcoming Caps game.

Attached is the Caps home game schedule. Except for those highlighted in red, please let me know your top 3 preferences and I'll FedEx you tickets to one of the games. Please include an address with phone number to where you'd like the tickets sent.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

GO CAPS ! ! !

Kind regards,

Wendy Hogan Personal Assistant, Leonsis Family

SCORE!!



So, last night was the game we decided to meet Ted. We got to Suite 103 about an hour early. We were met by security, they checked our tickets, I took a deep breath and they opened the doorway to hockey heaven. Upon entering the Owners box we were greeted by Joe Dupriest, Caps Marketing Director, and waiter with a tasty Jack and Coke. As I slurped down the familiar burning sensation and pieces of ice kissed my upper lip, Ted stepped out of his elevator. We talked business for a bit and he seemed very interested in what we had to say. (I got to tell you, it fells pretty good being able to talk business with a legend like Ted Leonsis). He asked about our technology, how we got our financing and then we chatted about my sled hockey team. As soon as the light dimmed in the rink Ted was in his seat ready to watch the game. We sat down and he mentioned that he changed things up and to expect an all Russian line (Alex Ovechkin, Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin). Seriously, I was in Hockey Heaven! As the game went on the drinks went down and life was great.







We met the Washington Mystics General Manager Angela Taylor, Julie Plank the team’s Head Coach, and COO Greg Bibb. Bibb asked Stacy and me if we had kids. He told me to bring Maya to a game next season and he would get us all tickets. We also got to talk with Donald Graham, the owner of the Washington Post. He had a brace on his foot and walked with a cane due to a recent tennis injury. This whole thing was starting to get a little weird. Stacy was loving it. He told me it was our new mission to make enough dough to get our own box. We were mingling with people that have excelled in life and it was contagious. Anyways, earlier in the evening Ted mentioned that if the Caps won, he would take us to the locker room. Unfortunately, the Caps went down early and were losing in the 3rd. Things looked pretty grim until the final minutes of the game. There was another group of three dads and their young sons. They were all flipping out when Semin scored the game tying goal with less than two minutes left. Then from out of nowhere…BAM! With 10 second left Semin cracks another one and the place went nuts. I was high fiving Ted and Donald. I turned around and hit Stacy and Angela. Ted grabbed a few security guys and some black markers for the kids and we all hopped in the elevator. The reporters were rushing by the doors as they opened. Ted let the kids off first as DS3 and the dads trailed. When we got to the locker room all the players were already out of their gear and talking to reporters. The kids were running around getting their jerseys signed by the Caps and the adults felt like kids again too!

I made a joke about how excited I was that I wanted to get my suit signed…Mike Green laughed. I wanted to get my picture taken with him and Ovechkin but the damn reporters wouldn’t leave them alone and Ted told us it was time to go. We went out in the hallway and got our picture with him and he wished us well. Thanks Ted, it was a great night.