& #8226; Rick Caruso
Chief Executive
Caruso Affiliated
How much time do you spend using your e-mail each day?
Probably not more than 30 minutes maximum. I am not a big fan of e-mails. It’s a very lazy form of communication. People say things in e-mails that shouldn’t be in writing. To get into an important discussion on e-mail, I wouldn’t do it. You could be in a sensitive meeting and you have a strategy that you may not want to have publicized.
Excluding spam, how many e-mails do you receive per day?
Not that many. Most people know that if they want to get a hold of me, the worst way to do it is through e-mail.
Do you check in on weekends or when you’re on vacation?
I have a Blackberry. If an e-mail comes across, I’ll check it. I only got the Blackberry because I had a vacation in Europe this summer.
If you didn’t have e-mail to use, how would it affect your life?
I would have more time to think. I’m a believer that people need to spend quality time thinking.
Has e-mail affected your telephone habits?
No. Picking up the phone and calling somebody sets the tone of importance. Hearing the inflection in somebody’s voice helps with understanding the message. It’s a much more professional and gentlemanly way to conduct business. You can never replace a personal call or a personal meeting and looking somebody in the eye.
& #8226;John Stoddard
General Manager
Wilshire Grand
How much time do you spend using your e-mail each day?
I probably spend 45 minutes a day reading it. Some of them are FYI type e-mails from department heads or a security report from the night crew. I’ll read them and delete them. Our ownership (Hanjin International Inc.) is in Seoul Korea so there are a lot of communications done via e-mail. As we are getting ready to go home, they are starting their workday. They have a chance to review the financials.
Excluding spam, how many e-mails do you receive per day?
Sixty, I guess.
Do you check in on weekends or when you’re on vacation?
On weekends and evenings, I can check it from home. I’ll be looking for something special some authorization for something I asked for so I’ll be mentally ready to deal with it come Monday morning.
If you didn’t have e-mail to use, how would it affect your life?
I remember when faxes came online, it just turned our lives around. (E-mail) has done three times what faxes did.
Has e-mail affected your telephone habits?
My time on the phone has not changed at all. I call attorneys, contractors, people from the L.A. Hotel Employer’s Council, a lot of local business people in local organizations that I serve with. There are a lot of internal phone calls within the hotel.
& #8226;Fred Claire
Columnist and Radio Host
MLB.com
How much time do you spend using your e-mail each day?
I spend in excess of an hour. When I do my columns, I do have my e-mail address because I want the readers to have a chance to respond. And I have done some columns where I have had more than 200 responses. I answer each and every one of them.
Excluding spam, how many e-mails do you receive per day?
I get in the area of 150 and 200 and probably 70 percent of that is spam.
Do you check in on weekends or when you’re on vacation?
I went to Maui for two weeks and I took my computer because I didn’t want to fall behind. My Dodger training for 30 years in the (Peter) O’Malley era was we answer every phone call and every letter and try to do it that day.
If you didn’t have e-mail to use, how would it affect your life?
I don’t have a secretary. I’m a one-man band. I just couldn’t do the things I do without e-mail. I would need an office of one or two more people just to do what I do on e-mail.
Has e-mail affected your telephone habits?
One of (my USC) students contacted me because she wanted to meet with me. Who knows how long it would have taken for us to connect by phone? She’s busy as a student, I’m busy doing what I do. But we set a time via e-mail.
& #8226;Charlie Woo
Chief Executive
Megatoys
How much time do you spend using your e-mail each day?
I spend at least two to three hours a day on the computer for e-mails with my offices in Hong Kong and China, suppliers, vendors and sometimes with people in my home office.
Excluding spam, how many e-mails do you receive per day?
I get 30 to 40 e-mails a day.
Do you check in on weekends or when you’re on vacation?
I check e-mails on weekends and on vacations so that when I come back, I don’t need to spend a lot of time catching up. I can manage my company when I’m away. Sometimes I don’t sleep at night.
If you didn’t have e-mail to use, how would it affect your life?
I can’t imagine I could manage my business without e-mail. With the Internet, it’s even more important. I can research the popularity of a product, a government regulation, legal issue and competitors’ information.
Has e-mail affected your telephone habits?
E-mail doesn’t replace conversation. If I have an important meeting with someone, the telephone conversation is still necessary. But the telephone bills have gone way down. It’s now $2,000 to $3,000 a month and those bills are mostly cell phones. In the past, it was $10,000 to $12,000 a month.
