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INDUSTRY EVENTS NSAA 2008 EASTERN REGIONAL TRADE SHOW AND CONFERENCE From February 5-6, a total of 583 attendees (295 from ski areas and 285 suppliers) gathered at Mount Snow for NSAA’s Eastern Trade Show and Conference. A total of 119 supplier companies and 66 ski areas crammed into sessions and the trade show hall, where the new owners of Mount Snow really kicked it up a notch with delicious food. Not even the rain could dampen the spirits of hearty New Englanders, most of whom are seeing great numbers to date.Following are a few recaps of some of the informative sessions, as well as some pictures. PR War Stories Jeff Blumenfeld, President, Blumenfeld and Assoc. PR It’s hard to draw the line on compensation ticket policies and who is actually deserving. Freelance writers count, but what about retired ski writers looking for a free ride? There are the athletes that bring in great PR, yet will look to get their “photographer” friend a ticket. On the other hand, his “photographer” may post the video on newschool.com or youtube.com and attract 4,000 hits that day. That’s 4,000 hits of free, positive press, for your resort. Then there’s the blog-happy folks writing about your resort looking for a ticket. They provide another form of free digital press, yet everyone can write a blog… Clarify your policy and talk with your media before shelling out more tickets than necessary. Vail Resorts only allows a three-day assignment at max for media and guests are not permitted unless they are part of the story. Besides compensation, there are many ways to keep the media covering your area. Follow-up your calls and be persistent with e-mails. Press releases can easily look like spam so keeping the subject line short and sweet will get their attention and keep it out of the Junk box. The most widely accessible format for most e-mail press releases is a plain text version with a hyperlink below. This allows an immediate click through to your website while giving you the ability to track those click-throughs. When media coverage is false on the other hand, do not hesitate to correct them. E-mailing a correction gives media the ability to manipulate, change and distribute your response. Website forums, message boards and blogs can be both bad and good. All allow for negative comments to be posted anonymously, sometimes even by ill-spirited employees. Yet they can provide a place for fans to boast about your resort, sharing their experiences with potential newcomers. Resorts with message boards or forums must be able to monitor and control what’s coming in, allowing for inappropriate posts to be deleted and the overall attitude to remain welcoming. Finally, when to host a media event is always a toss up. First, determine the profit gain or loss when considering timing. Media value and exposure are just as important, but giving up major hotel space with media over an entire weekend will hurt the bottom-line. Moving media events to mid-week not only allows for more personalized attention but will lead to more profit as well. Analysis of Peak Performers Resorts that do best on the bottom line, according to this review conducted by David Belin of RRC Associates, do many things differently than other areas. But it all comes down to this: they use their resources better. They earn higher margins and maintain high customer service levels (and ratings) while holding expenses per visit, and expenses as a percent of revenue, lower than other areas. Some performance keys are unique to the different types of areas--day areas, drive-to areas, destination resorts. Day areas often run nights and structure lesson programs to maximize their infrastructure. Staffing, lesson programs, and pricing are set according to the customer’s perception of value or expectations for their experience. Peak-performing overnight drive areas, as with day areas, do not lead in revenue per visit--in fact, the overnight leaders are quite below average in that respect ($61, vs. $76 for non-peak). But they are miles ahead in cost control: their expenses, both per visit and as a percent of revenue, are well below those of the laggards. Night skiing, lessons, and summer business all help the top performers maximize infrastructure. Top-performing destination areas, on the other hand, have nearly double the visitors and much higher revenue per visit—particularly for lessons and F&B—than the rest of the destination pack. They also do more summer business. They also control costs: marketing, G&A, property operation and insurance are all lower as a percentage of revenues and on a per-visit basis. All the peak performers spend less on marketing, because they can. This is largely because they benefit from their reputations and strong word of mouth (which amount to the same thing). Impact of Climate Change on New England Ski Areas Lawrence Hamilton, a sociology professor at the University of New Hampshire, reviewed the science of climate change and the effects of weather on ski-area visits. He showed charts to demonstrate the correlation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and temperature, and stated that there is little scientific debate left over the connection between human GHG contribution and climate change. He noted that temperatures in northern New England have risen 2° F. since 1970, and that projections for this century are for a temperature increase of between 3.5° F and 12.5° F, depending on the extent to which humans cut their GHG emissions. To curb the rise, he urged action on several fronts to reduce carbon emissions: increased energy efficiency, public transit, use of renewable energy, and reforestation efforts. Deforestation, he said, is a large part of the GHG equation, he said. Studies of snowfall and snow cover at Cannon Mountain and Gunstock, N.H., and in Boston demonstrated the “backyard effect” dramatically, for anyone who might have ever doubted the connection.
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EVENTS WRAPUP 
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