THE TEXAS SKI COUNCIL
THE TEXAS SKI COUNCIL
Hosted by, JAMES MERSHON, President
GARY BUTLER, V.P. Marketing
Greetings and welcome to the second issue of Inside Online. As I stated last month, it has been brought to our attention that there just simply isn't enough information trickling down to those of you who want to know more about the operation of the Texas Ski Council. As part of an all out effort to keep you informed, we will we will make every effort to post this newsletter every month on the web for your convenience.
From the Inside, I will be sending you updates concerning the Council's operations and our interaction with the industry on policy, procedures, and schedule of events. From marketing, Gary Butler, will keep you informed about decisions and operations directly related to the operation of trips, skier benefits, and other club marketing opportunities.
The entire Board of Directors is behind this operation to supply you with the information you not only need, but also information you just might have an interest in. SO STAY TUNED!
The Forum: On June 8th, the TSC hosted a delegate's meeting in Dallas at the Embassy Suites, Love Field. As promised, we conducted an open Forum before the meeting commenced. Being a new concept, we spent most of this session in a "give and take" about what exactly the forum was designed to accomplish and just what parameters were to be followed for discussion.
Here are the topics we discussed. There is a mounting concern about our efforts to pursue and acquire sponsors for TSC activities. The TSC as well as many other organizations are encountering much greater difficulty in not only obtaining, but also retaining sponsors. Karen Mann as well as the other TSC officers are in contact with several suppliers, and will continue to work diligently to serve these interests. If you can be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Karen or another officer in your area with details.
Fortifying communications seems to be a topic every time we open a discussion. The delegate's approve of the current initiative to better coordinate the information exchange between the TSC board and the membership. Don't forget that you have every opportunity to be a part of the solution by submitting your thoughts through the on-line forum.
Training concerns that were discussed will be addressed in the TRAINING section of this newsletter. There seems to be a high level of interest, but there was also a great deal of discussion about just how much of that interest will actually develop into participation. Stay tuned….
Several other items were touched on, but prompted no real discussion. We will follow up on all of them and give you additional information as issues develop and warrant reporting.
The Delegates' Meeting: Aside from trip updates that you should get from your Trip VP's and trip captains, two items of interest are the 2002-2003 budget and several proposed changes to the by-laws and standing rules.
We did amazingly well with last year's operations, especially when you consider the devastating effects of 9-11 on the entire economy and psyche of the American people. I would personally like to commend all the officers for the frugal administration of their respective offices. With the concerted effort to govern expenses and the excellent participation in Ski Bid Fest, the TSC as an organization successfully overcame the short falls in trip participation. All of you, club officers, delegates and members, should consider yourselves an indispensable contributor to the excellent health of this organization. THANK YOU! If you have the opportunity, thank our resort reps, industry suppliers and sponsors for their continued support. I know they would appreciate it!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch… The new budget has a slight excess of expenses over revenues, under $200. In a cash accounting system it is often difficult to report single line-item expenses that are paid out over more than one budget year, without it appearing to adversely affect a given year's budget.
An example is the money that was allocated for club race software. By allocating the entire budgeted amount in one year, and spending a large portion of it in another, we appear to have a surplus in the budged year because we did expense the entire budgeted amount. On the other side of the ledger, we appear to have a shortfall because the remainder is expensed in the current year without regard to the previous year's budget.
Therefore, the appropriate review of capital investment is to examine the bottom line in terms of net increase, or decrease, of the organization's assists and liabilities. We are doing very well, and as such have requested and received approval from the delegates to purchase a new computer for TSC trips. Our current laptop is damaged beyond feasible repair. All other budgeted items were deemed reasonable and necessary, and the proposed operating budget was approved.
Proposed changes to the by-laws covered meeting notices, the number, tenure and qualifications of the board of directors, responsibilities of the past president, and the selection and operation of the nominating committee.
Proposed changes to the standing rules covered the duties of the officers and directors, and committee selection and operation guidelines. The proposed changes are quite extensive. If you wish to review the proposed changes, please contact your club's TSC representative. They should have copies of all the materials.
TSC Summer Meltdown: After several years' absence, we as trying to revive the TSC Summer Meltdown event. Currently, we are working with your clubs to secure reservations at The Shores, and Lake Travis Resorts, on Lake Travis just outside Lago Vista.
The event is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 6th - 8th. We are in the still midst of planning all the weekend's events, but the tentative schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 6th
2-5PM, Leadership Forum
7-9PM, Poolside Welcome
Saturday, Sept 7th
9AM-2PM, Meltdown Games (Volleyball, Obstacle course, etc.)
3-5PM, Margarita Chill-off
7-8:30PM, Fish Fry Dinner
8:30-12:30, DJ and Dance
Sunday, Sept 8th
9:00AM-12: 00PM, Leadership Forum (Will be held either Friday or Sunday depending on
response and availability of facilities.)
11:00 AM, Checkout and departures
Note: Golf is available for interested parties. Please contact your club representative
for details.
TRAINING TIPS AND OPPORTUNITIES:
Gary Butler and I will be hosting training sessions for trip chairpersons. The training will involve an in-depth look at the bid process and the resort's proposals, as well as the responsibilities of the trip chair and TSC officer. We also intend to offer leadership training at the summer meltdown event and the next bid meeting. We will be happy to coordinate training for your club as well, but we will need a great deal of cooperation from your staff as well.
Please note the changes in the training schedule from last month. In an effort to better serve you we have added training segments to better facilitate the geographical areas of TSC clubs. In conjunction with the board of director's meeting in Houston, we will host a Trip Chair seminar July 28th. We will add sessions for Dallas and Austin-San Antonio as well. Those dates are to be announced.
Training Schedule:
WHAT: TRIP CHAIR PLANNING & RESPONSIBILITIES
WHEN: Sunday, July 28th, Sunday August 18th
WHERE: Houston and Odessa respectively. To be held in conjunction with the Board of Director's meeting and delegate's meeting.
TIME: 9:00AM - 12:00PM. Group lunch on our own, afterwards.
FOR: Any club trip chair or other parties interested in a better understanding of the TSC bid process and trip operations
WHAT: LEADERSHIP FORUM
WHEN: Either Friday, Sept 6th, or Sunday, Sept 8th. (Depending on response and availability of facilities.)
TIME: Either Friday, 2:00PM - 5:00PM, or Sunday, 9:00AM - 12:00PM.
WHERE: Lake Travis Resort, at Summer Meltdown
FOR: Club leaders and potential candidates for club leadership roles.
Monthly Training Tip:
Having a plan well formulated before implementation usually saves considerable time, and results in a higher quality and more desireable outcome.
HEAR YE! HEAR YE! If you would like information about your clubs activities posted for others to share. Please send your notices to me, James Mershon, at lamurian@flash.net.
TSC 2002 Calendar
July
Monday the 1st - Club deposits due at the resorts.
Saturday, July 27th - TSC Board of Directors Meeting-Houston
Sunday, July 28th - TSC Trip Chair Training
August
Saturday the 17th - Delegate's Meeting, Odessa
Sunday the 18th - TSC Trip Chair training
September
Friday the 6th-8th - TSC Summer Meltdown
Tuesday the 15th - Club deposits due for Costa Rica
CLUBS:
Club St. Bernard:
Tubing Trip, June 29th - Guadalupe River Livery
Club Picnic, July 27th - Potter's Creek Park
Space City:
Mountain Bike Adventure, June 29th - Double Lake Recreation Area.
Flatlanders:
Lake Brownwood Trip, July 19-21
The Texas Ski Council would like to extend an invitation to you to express your ideas, concerns, and most of all your successes. If you would like to initiate an open discussion please feel free to send your comments to me, James Mershon, at lamurian@flash.net. There will also be a member's conversational forum prior to each delegate's meeting. Tell your representatives to pass along any pertinent information. Thank you.
The American Ski Corporation has sold Heavenly Resort to Vail Resorts. This deal is in $102 million dollar range. Vail Resorts has committed to spending $25 million dollars to upgrade Heavenly's lift system and its food and beverage service over the next 5 years.
In a related development the American Ski Corporation has backed out of a deal to sell Steamboat Resort to Triple Peaks, LLC due to the Heavenly transaction.
Many resorts are starting to require kids 6 and under to wear helmets when skiing. Recently Aspen Skiing Corporation added this policy and Vail is considering the requirement.
It looks like SkiGroup Ski Shows has become part of our past with all shows for 2002 have been canceled.
The Texas Ski Council was formed 30 years ago to get the greatest economic benefit when dealing with the ski industry by grouping our buying power. A single club does not offer the return to a resort that 10 or more clubs grouping together does, therefore the larger group can make a better deal. This lead to the bid process we use today to bring some sanity and competition to getting the best deal. Because of this we can offer trips with more extras like Welcome Parties and Final Award dinners as well as ski racing that a single club could not afford to do.
Our bid process is endangered when club(s) choose to pass on a resort that has been selected as a TSC destination to attend another resort that bid. This has the impact of lessening our buying dollars since resorts cannot be sure of how much business they will get with the TSC. To a lesser extent it hinders the alternative resort's efforts to host a TSC trip because some clubs have just recently attended.
On a separate issue, the club delegates approved our taking bids from resorts for the "Learn to Ski Trip". As of the publication date of this newsletter we have received over a half dozen bids from resorts all over the US and Canada. I have also had many phone conversations with representatives of most of the major North American resorts who are excited at the program and wish to partner with the TSC to bring new skiers to our clubs and to their mountains. We plan to review the bids and present the best for approval at the August delegates meeting in Odessa.
