SKI AREA MANAGEMENT To Publish bi-monthly
The reason for our new move to bi-monthly frequency? Very simply, it is needed. The growth and maturity of the ski resort industry call for it. Some industries are served by tabloid dailies, some by annuals. It is partly a matter of publishing economics — how frequently does an advertiser want to reach his potential customers? But it is more than that, because a publication must have meaning and usefulness to its readership before it can be an effective medium for advertising.
All of this is a long way of saying that we think that both advertisers and ski area personnel want the extra issues, and we are going to oblige. I should add that it makes our editors happy, too, the additional workload notwithstanding, because there is so much genuinely useful and significant editorial material available.
From year to year there may be minor adjustments in issue dates so that we can best serve National Ski Areas Association and the ski resort industry. And that brings up an important point—our relationship with NSAA. We are the official publication of that organization, and have been from the very beginning. The first issue of SAM appeared in September 1962. A number of ski area operators had met informally at Colorado Springs in May of that year to investigate the feasibility of a national association. One of the points made was that communication would play a vital role in any such association, and that the association needed a trade magazine. SAM was proposed on the spot and accepted as the official publication.
It might be appropriate to quote briefly from the editorial in that first issue because it still expresses our basic purpose ten years later.
“SKI AREA MANAGEMENT intends to be a forum for the exchange of constructive ideas between area operators . . . SKI AREA MANAGEMENT is an independent publication . . . As such its editorial policy is its own. The association does not dictate this policy, nor can the association be embarrassed by it or held accountable for the contents. This is as it should be.
It exists to serve and interest every person connected with the operation of a ski area.”
Our increase in publishing frequency is evidence of the success we sought.
