Tag Archives: ski area

Marketing Mishaps-Not Funny Then, Funny Now

In today’s post I am going to borrow a concept I saw recently for “Not Funny Then, Funny Now” to describe some of the marketing related incidents that come to mind over the years.  If any of these trigger your own memories, please share below.

Not Funny Then…While working as the Marketing Director at Mad River Mountain Ski Area, a guest showed his dislike for a company no refund policy by lunging over the counter to try to attack me.  Police were called…Funny now.

Not Funny Then…Back in 1996 fighting to get the ok for a $2,000 web budget to create a company website (in the travel industry).  The “powers-to-be” felt the web was a passing fad and the budget allowance “irresponsible spending”…Funny Now.

Not funny then…Having to pull a brochure off a printer’s press because of one sentence that said “a skiing event for those with a lust for life”.  At the last minute, lust was considered too risque for the “powers -to-be” and had to be replaced by “love” for life.  By waiting to the last minute to change this, it costs us days of delay and thousands of dollars…Funny Now.

Not funny then…After a takeover of the organization I worked for, we were asked to put together a document explaining what we did, projects we’ve worked on and recommendations for moving forward.  I spent 2 weeks putting together a detailed portfolio book (and copies).  When my meeting time came to meet with the new CEO, he shook my hand, said “Oh, you are the Marketing Director, the necessary evil”.  Proceeded to flip thru the carefully prepared portfolio and hand it back to me.  When I told him it was his copy, he said, “that’s ok, I really have no where to put it”.  Got up and left after about 5 minutes…Funny Now (Developed a great relationship with the CEO and worked there for years afterward).

How a ski area manager blogs

Ski Snowstar Winter Sports Park in Andalusia, IL. He’s a regular fixture at the ski area and has a great sense of humor. Yes, he’s a natural to blog. At first Ed was concerned he’d have nothing to blog about. I recommended that he discuss the trials and tribulations of the “inside workings” at the area. That’s just what he did. I think it almost became therapeutic for him. He’d write about his frustration with the weather, especially at 3am when it wouldn’t cooperate. He wrote about his joy of being able to open the area the earliest ever. Then the heartache of having to close most of January due to unseasonably warm temps. Readers and guests loved it! There’s tons of supportive comments all over Ed’s blog. He even said he’s heard from people all over the country that he hadn’t talked to in years! Talk about a win-win for both sides. So what made Ed’s blog successful? A large part of it is Ed. He was consistent in writing and able to not take the blog or himself too seriously. Want to check out this blog? Click here…]]>

Today I want to take a few minutes to highlight one ski area manager that took up blogging at the start of the 2005/06 ski season.

Ed Meyer is the General Manager of Ski Snowstar Winter Sports Park in Andalusia, IL. He’s a regular fixture at the ski area and has a great sense of humor. Yes, he’s a natural to blog.

At first Ed was concerned he’d have nothing to blog about. I recommended that he discuss the trials and tribulations of the “inside workings” at the area. That’s just what he did. I think it almost became therapeutic for him. He’d write about his frustration with the weather, especially at 3am when it wouldn’t cooperate. He wrote about his joy of being able to open the area the earliest ever. Then the heartache of having to close most of January due to unseasonably warm temps.

Readers and guests loved it! There’s tons of supportive comments all over Ed’s blog. He even said he’s heard from people all over the country that he hadn’t talked to in years! Talk about a win-win for both sides.

So what made Ed’s blog successful?

A large part of it is Ed. He was consistent in writing and able to not take the blog or himself too seriously.

Want to check out this blog? Click here…