SAM Flirts with the Millions
Here at SAM we do not suffer from number inflation. We are perfectly happy being small: we measure our circulation using just four digits. We are well aware we serve an industry where the total number of full-time, in-season employees at U.S. ski areas is under 90,000—less than a lot of Fortune 500 companies.
So, it is a new experience to think of SAM reaching out to people measured in millions. Sorta like winning Powerball.
What’s happening is that we are working together with the very able and creative people at Resort Sports Network (RSN—the guys with the the Resort Cams®) to deliver selected industry news from SAM’s online breaking news service to RSN.com’s million-plus visitors monthly. Packaged with the breaking news will be a biweekly poll that will, in turn, be posted in real time on saminfo.com.
You ask what we mean by “selected industry news?” Well, not all our industry news would be that fascinating for John Q. Public. Nor do Mr. and Mrs. Public need to be exposed to whatever linen we wash in public. But, when we have news about wonderful new lifts going in, or huge expansions, hey, that’s great stuff to tell the public about. It creates excitement.
Our new polling system will also give us the opportunity to reach a large portion of the skiing/snowboarding public on issues that are important both to them and to us—issues like helmet usage and online booking, for example.
But, it doesn’t stop there, as RSN is also packaging our industry news with other ski/snowboard content providers, and is currently seeking opportunities with the major online portals. I’m told the numbers will be measured in the tens of millions—a dizzying thought.
As publishers of an insider’s trade magazine, we never thought we would be in a position to do positive things in reaching the skiing/snowboarding public. But now, thanks to these things we have in the works with RSN, we will. If readers have any creative thoughts about directions we might take with this new capability—or ideas for the questions we might pose to the public in our online polling—well we’re all ears!
Saddlin’ Up for Texas
We sorta knew Woodbury, Conn., wouldn’t hold her forever, and now she’s leaving to head back home to Texas.
Heidi Schultz, SAM’s managing editor, has been lighting up countless industry meetings with her infectious enthusiasm. She even found a new “uncle” at the OITAF/NACS gathering in Albuquerque, and her unrelated namesake, LeRoy Schultz, quickly rose to the role of introducing a new-found “niece” to his gearhead colleagues.
The good news for us is that Heidi will continue to have a role with SAM. Thanks to electronics, Austin and Woodbury are just a byte apart. Among other projects she will continue to produce the Construction Site and Idea File features she created for us. She will also be coordinating our special editorial focus on the 1999 OITAF World Congress in San Francisco.
In the meantime, we’re looking for a replacement. Heidi’s not an easy act to follow, but we know you’re out there! It’s fun. You serve a really cool audience: SAM readers! —D.R.
