2003 SAMMY Award Winners Announced
Another year and another great crop of SAMMY winners! We couldn’t be more proud of these four. They truly reflect what this program is all about: recognition of people in mid-career who have already shown great leadership qualities and who show even greater promise of industry leadership in the years ahead. Here they are:
- **Bill Benneyan** — Director of Marketing, Mountain Creek, New Jersey
- **Genevieve Gunnarson** — Director of Marketing, Big Bear Mountain Resort, California
- **John McColly** — Marketing Director, Mountain High Resort, California
- **Ron Nova** — VP-Operations, Harbor Properties, Inc. (Stevens Pass and Mission Ridge, Washington and Schweitzer Mountain Resort, Idaho.)
There is a strong focus this year on achievement in marketing, and all four have each distinguished themselves with great programs built around the youth market. This is surely where we want to be these days.
By happy coincidence, two of this year’s winners are SoCal operatives who should feel quite at home when they receive their awards in the context of the 2003 NSAA National Convention and Trade Show in San Diego. The SAMMY Awards are sponsored by Acordia Resort Insurance, Leitner-Poma of America and Ovo Helmets.
Cutters Camp Launches
Scheduled to run just about the time this issue mails, the brand new Cutters Camp, presented by *SAM* and Timberline Lodge, Oregon, launched on a note of great expectations. That there was a huge demand became apparent—spectacularly apparent—when there was a waiting list for the 40 slots the program was designed for. (We later expanded the program to include 50, but even still, the waiting list remained long.)
This is clearly a project that fell into place because of a need. Terrain parks and pipes have become the focus of much of what’s reigniting the excitement in our sport. The ultra-cool world of rails, c-boxes, spines and hips is such a vital part of our future and our ability to grow! And Cutters Camp is where all this developing expertise will be shared—expertise in building the parks, designing the features and then operating them safely. It will be hands-on. It will be four days of discovery; of questions, discussions, answers, demonstrations and critiquing.
It will be a time for everyone to learn—most especially for us, so that we can build on this premiere staging of Cutters Camp and make the next and the next and the next even better and more vital. We are open to ideas. In the meantime, look out for a full review in the upcoming July issue.
We at *SAM* are grateful to so many people who are bringing their knowledge, experience and their imaginations to bear on the project. It’s going to make a huge difference. We are especially grateful to Jeff Kohnstamm of Timberline for being our co-presenters and of course to his inspired crew, starting with the dynamic, make-things-happen duo of Steve Kruse and Rick Wargo.
Shock and Awe? Gimme a break! It’s Tricks and Hits.
