On NSAA Conventions
But having said that, and meant it, we also have to wonder out loud as to what the annual NSAA convention should really be and do. The Homestead in Virginia is a beautiful spot. The golf, the tennis, the food—all were fabulous. But so was the cost. At least in our industry a couple doesn’t expect to pay the specially negotiated low rate of $120 per day ($2 per day extra to park your car!). Heads are still shaking over the $3.85 hamburger in the snack shop, and the $9.80 lunch sandwich. To put it mildly, the Homestead was pricey, and it didn’t sit well with a number of people.
We are inclined to agree that this sort of thing tends to create resentments. (No skin off us, however, since SAM’s budget doesn’t allow for such expenditures anyway, and we stayed at a motel down the road.) The Homestead and places like it provide a delightful expense-account rest for the officer of a well-heeled destination resort. But that creates a needless have/have-not barrier between areas that can afford it and those for which such high living is inappropriate.
On the other hand, will the smaller areas come to any NSAA convention unless it is on their back doorstep? Historically, no. And, in truth, this is understandable.
Those who are most disappointed by an NSAA Trade Show & Convention are those who come with the wrong expectations. The exhibitor, for instance, who expects to write a whole lot of orders will be disappointed. The lift, vehicle and snowmaking stiffs don’t come to these affairs, so many exhibitors don’t see the people they want to. On the other hand, it is an occasion where the Marketing Director of a tracked vehicle manufacturer can go out on the tennis court with the president of a large destination resort. And that’s not bad.
The area operator who comes seeking some magical way to turn his losing area into a profitable one will probably also be disappointed.
The most important work done at the Convention is in committee meetings and Board of Directors meetings. The Convention also provides a focal point for such ancillary industry organizations as the Association of Recreation Tramway Authorities.
Above all, the Convention and Trade Show is an opportunity to grasp our industry as a national whole rather than as state or regional units. The contacts between area operators from all over the country (and a few from abroad this year) are invaluable.
The suggestion is often made that it should be held at some central and efficient spot, such as a convention center near Chicago’s O’Hare airport. But we disagree. It is possible (though by no means sure) that attendance would be better, but the quality of the convention experience for our industry would be sadly lacking.
We question the return of the convention to San Diego. Like others who attended the 1974 convention there, we had a marvelous time, and found the hotel and convention facilities to be great.But the people who look forward to going there again are the same people who were there before: the few who can absorb the cost of that sort of a trip.
Obviously, there’s no easy answer. The logistics of our Convention limit the choices, as does the need for booking years in advance. We put our personal bid in for another convention at Seven Springs some time. That was a good place that made everyone feel comfortable. (That tuxedo-clad trio playing tea-time music in the main hall at the Homestead . . . well, let’s face it, that just doesn’t fit us! But, in passing, one has to add that the Homestead did make us look spiffier than usual. We may have looked grungey to the Homestead staff, but to ourselves, we never looked better!)
Once again, though, our thanks and admiration to Cal Conniff for all he did to make the event so successful.
A SAM Editoral
Disunity in the ranks?
Readers of Deedee Corradini’s splendid piece of reporting on the Haskell hearing (page 29) will wonder what happened when NSAA and the Forest Service testified in opposition to the Haskell bill while Colorado Ski Country USA strongly supported it.
Impossible! Couldn’t be! Not a rift like this!
Have no fears. We are all playing the age-old game of politics (recommended for fun-lovers of all ages). Here how it works — we think, anyway: it all comes down to the semantic differences between the words “if” and “unless.” The Colorado areas support the Bill IF certain amendments are attached, while NSAA is agin it UNLESS some amendments (essentially the same ones) are included.
(Actually, NSAA is probably agin it anyway, but if there has to be a Bill, they can live with it only IF the amendments are included. The Coloradans don’t really want the Bill either, but feel they may be in worse trouble UNLESS Haskell gets some sort of bill. Clear?)
Senator Haskell is a fact of life in Colorado. Whereas in most states the skier vote is meaningless, in Colorado it is important, and Senator Haskell goes after it by attacking lift ticket price increases. His bill, however, contains some provisions with regard to Forest Service lease structure that are desirable for our industry.
Another fact of life is that Senator Haskell comes up for re-election in 1978, and it can be safely predicted that the whole dog-and-pony show of Senate hearings on the ski area industry will be transported to Colorado next summer.
Well, the Colorado areas perceive an opportunity to work closely with the Senator and his staff. The Senator probably understands our industry better than any other senator, and this knowledge is better in the hands of a friend than of an adversary. So, the Senator is being courted, and had the keynote spot at CSCUSA’s annual meeting.
The Senator well understands the importance of the ski industry to his state, and because of this he can be useful. Especially after he has got this thing of the skier vote and re-election behind him.
So, to repeat, the Colorado areas are still very much on the same team as NSAA, appearances notwithstanding.
Save us from the “Experts”
People in the ski industry seem to have an almost masochistic proclivity toward being bored to death.
The impression many people have of those in the ski business is that they are hardy outdoor people, who prefer, thrive and survive on the outdoor life. And to a marked degree that is true. skiing in winter, and golf, tennis or sailing in the summer keeps our people healthy and fit.
People in the ski industry are also totally devoted and dedicated to their profession, and gather and meet in a variety of trade organizations in order to learn from — and to teach — each other. Certainly there is an aspect of socializing at these meetings, because ski people are also friendly (probably brave, reverent and trustworthy, too). Most ski people genuinely like other ski people and do enjoy each other’s company.
Why then, must we populate our seminars with “experts” who very often come to talk to us fully prepared with notes, speeches, slides and films which are usually very slickly prepared, and very often have nothing at all to do with the ski business?
One speaker, at a recent national conference, categorized an “expert” as one who has travelled more than three hundred miles to arrive at the conference — and carries a briefcase! Unfortunately, in too many cases, this is all too true’.
Ski people, to their eternal credit, do want to learn. They are truly interested in improving everything about their business — from snowmaking to food service.
But why does the marketing “expert,” on hand to dispense his wisdom, serve up such generalized platitudes that he turns off his audience. Why doesn’t he realize that what works for General Motors or IBM will not necessarily work for a ski area? Many of the things they are told (lectured?) to us simply have no application in the ski business.
Why does the food service “expert” talk to us not like the highly specialized business we are, but like MacDonald’s?
Why does the resort and travel “expert” know so little about our totally weather-oriented business that he ignores this vital fact, and proceeds to tell us about “concepts” and “theories” and “positioning.” Many times the only positioning a ski area needs is seat-of-the-pants common sense.
There is a continuing desperate need for information on a regular basis in the ski industry, and most of the “experts” we listen to are sadly lacking in the ability to translate their knowledge (and they are knowledgable) into terms that a ski area operator can understand — and put to use.
When a problem arises at a ski resort, a three-day “brainstorming” session will not solve that problem. “Brainstorming” might be fine for Madison Avenue, but when the power fails, or a lift is down, or something else as immediate and serious occurs, the answers must be there now.
So we sit through the lectures, and meetings and symposiums, eager for whatever scrap of information we can glean.
We spend large amounts of time and money to travel all over the country to attend these functions — and often come away with the vague feeling that nobody out there really understands our problems.
And in the final analysis, we are still looking for those “experts” not to solve in one fell swoop all our problems for us, but to give us a clue — a hint — and a direction to follow.
And we will probably keep on doing it just that way.
Paul Pepe
Laurel Hollow, N.Y.
An editorial service
We don’t make a practice of commenting on our advertisers in the Speak-out columns, but we make an exception this time to call the reader’s attention to the Skiing Trade Newsletter on Page 6. This will be a regular feature in SAM, and we congratulate Skiing for this constructive use of their advertising space.
A SAM editorial
