THE TEXAS SKI COUNCIL Hosted by, JAMES MERSHON, President
GARY BUTLER, V.P. Marketing
November 2002
Greetings and welcome to the November issue of Inside The Texas Ski Council. I will be giving you updates concerning the Council's operations and our interaction with the industry on policy, procedures, and schedule of events. Gary Butler will keep you informed about decisions and operations directly related to the operation of trips, skier benefits, and other club marketing opportunities, as well as ski industry news.
National Ski Council Federation Membership Services
As you are probably aware, the Texas Ski Council is a member of the NSCF. As such, you are entitled to discounts from several suppliers. For your convenience the current providers are listed below.
Breeze Ski Rentals/Max Snowboard Rentals
Breeze/Max has over 60 locations across the U.S. and Canada. They are offering us a 30% discount of the walk in rate for ALL ski club or council members. The only exception is for groups of 10 or more that anticipates renting, they MUST make a reservation at least two weeks in advance. Reservations can be made by calling 1-800-525-0314 ext. 122 or reserve online at www.skirental.com and follow the group reservation set up instructions. This will ensure that the club/council members receive the best service as well as equipment availability.
Additionally, Breeze is offering NSCF members a 25% discount on shop services and 10% discount retail sales.
Contact: Tim Downing, tdowning@intrawest.com, (303) 384-0800 x121
Christy Sports
Christy Sports also has multiple locations throughout ski country and have extended NSCF members a 20% discount on rentals.
Contact: Kathy Brookman, kbrookman@christysports.com
Sports Express
Sports Express specializes in shipping sports equipment from the member's home directly to their destination lodging property and back again. For NSCF members they can also ship your luggage.
Pricing depends on how many days prior to departure you can have your "stuff" ready for pick-up. Sports Express has extended NSCF members a $5 discount per item, on their order.
When ordering online at www.sportsexpress.com, they may receive an additional $5 discount off the entire order. Just use the code NSCF when you are prompted for a source code near the end of the online ordering process. If you call let the agent know you are a member of an NSCF member club. Reservations can also be made by calling (800) 357-4174.
The service can also be used for golf, bike, or other off-season trips.
I will be discussing with them group pick-up to see if they can provide a group discount rate.
Contact: Dave Welz, dwelz@SportsExpress.com, (970) 375-3404
Snowprodeals.com
Snowprodeals.com is an online supplier of snowsports accessories, such as socks, gloves, etc. Their merchandise is already discounted and is available to the general public. Snowprodeals is offering the NSCF a special deal that is NOT available to others. NSCF members will receive FREE sock liners with their first order. Simply identify yourself as "a member of the NSCF", those "magic words", and the gift is yours.
Contact: Fred Sapp, Rockymntzapp@aol.com, 303-417-1944
Sports Basement
Sports Basement is offering NSCF members a $25 one-time use only gift certificate per member plus an ongoing 10% discount off their merchandise. This offer is not limited to snowsports products. Each gift certificate will have its own code and can be used only one time. They have tracking mechanisms in place and can provide us usage reports if we desire. I need each council to provide me with the number of members for each club and a contact name and address to ship the certificates. Shop online at www.sportsbasement.com and enter your gift certificate code in the appropriate place. We will also be given a code to identify our members as NSCF members to receive the ongoing 10% discount.
Contact: Dan Michelini, dmichelini@sportsbasement.com, (415) 437-0100, ext. 28
Resort Quest International
Resort Quest is pleased to extend to the NSCF council and members our newest promotion 'FAMILY AND FRIENDS FLY FREE'. The program rewards your members who book a minimum of 4 night stay at anyone of our Resort Quest SKI and GOLF properties with a 5% discount off their lodging plus 2 companion fly free certificates valid on all major airline carriers to over l06 cities in the US! Feel free to visit our website at http://www.resortquest.com/fam-fly-free.cfm - this explains the program in greater detail.
Contacts: Gayle Morris, gmorris@resortquest.com, (604) 669-5353 Marline Williams, mwilliams@resortquest.com, (604) 669-5354
Return to Top | CURRENT EVENTS | TRAINING TIPS AND OPPORTUNITIES |
BULLITIN BOARD |
MEMBERS FORUM
TRAINING TIPS AND
OPPORTUNITIES:
Is your club's marketing function keeping you on track, developing your membership base - or is it collecting dust? Marketing and operation plans are supposed to keep you focused on the concerns and desires of not only your current members, but also new prospects.
Jay Conrad Levinson suggests a simplified plan that clearly communicates and directs your actions. For example:
Mission: Statement of your project's focus.
Target Market: To who are you directing your efforts - current or new members or both?
Goal: What do you wish to accomplish?
Message: How do you want the public to perceive your club.
Means: What avenues have you put in place for people to contact you and gain information about your program.
Club officers, directors and organizers must remain aware of the program goals that have been established to promote the welfare and growth of your club. Tasks and assignments should reflect efforts designed to attain the mission and goal of your club. Easier said than done! That's why it is so important to have a plan to guide you through.
Return to Top | CURRENT EVENTS | TRAINING TIPS AND OPPORTUNITIES |
BULLITIN BOARD |
MEMBERS FORUM
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.
November 2002:
Friday the 8th - TSC Newsletter mail out.
Saturday the 9th - Board of Directors Meeting, Houston
December 2002:
Wednesday the 4th - Activity Fees due for TSC traditional.
Saturday the 7th - Delegate's Meeting, Houston
Sunday the 15th - Bid Proposal mail out.
January 2003:
Friday the 4th - 11th TSC Traditional at Whistler, Canada
Wednesday the 15th Activity fees due for Winter Shootout
TSC 2003 Officer Applications due
Saturday the 18th Ski Area Bids for '03 -'04 season due
Friday the 24th - TSC Winter Expedition
Return to Top | CURRENT EVENTS | TRAINING TIPS AND OPPORTUNITIES |
BULLITIN BOARD |
MEMBERS FORUM
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.
Tour Operator Sportours is merging with East*West Resorts. East*West already owns four other tour operators and manages condominiums throughout the country, mainly in Colorado and Utah.
Ski Europe has announced that they have entered a joint-venture agreement with PowderZone Adventures to increase their winter group business. PowderZone, owned by Sandy Best, will focus on marketing groups, principally ski clubs and councils, to Europe. Sandy will also be responsible for developing group business to North American winter destinations, and for marketing other specialized group travel experiences such as Fiji/New Zealand.
Common sense had a victory when to National Park Service reversed themselves and announced that snowmobiling will continue in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks next winter.
This last summer Heavenly Resort had a victory of technology over nature when they successfully used their snowmaking system to protect it's ski runs from a forest fire.
This is the quiet time before the storm. The first TSC trip is about to happen and we are still hearing back from resorts on interest in bidding on trips for the 2003-2004 ski season and running FAM's. Starting in December we open the floodgates and send the bid requirements out and come January they come flooding back in. So far we have bid requests from 24 resort companies and tour operators who represent over 40 or 50 resorts, with new requests still arriving.
On the FAM front I visited with a number of resorts at the Houston Snowfest and setup some interesting FAM's. The prospects are so far:
Vail
Telluride
Park City/Canyons/Deer Valley
Sun Peaks, Canada
Mont Tremblant, Canada
Beaver Creek
Somewhere in Europe
One issue we are running into this year is the lack of assistance toward the cost of airlines tickets on the FAM's. Because of this the cost of participating one of these trips can be higher than in previous years. To try to get some benefit from the additional cost we are looking into stretching out these trips up to five days to allow the participants more time on the slopes and better chance to experience the wonders of the area. I would like to hear back from our club leaders and potential participants on their feeling on this issue.
