Thursday, May 29

The Priorities of Climate Change, Water and Kids in the Management of the National Forests

U.S. Forest Service Chief Gail Kimbell oversees 30,000 employees, a $4 billion budget, 193 million acres of public land and the largest forestry research organization in the world. Since her appointment as Chief in 2007, Gail has provided exceptional leadership to the agency and its partners on three key concerns: climate change, water and kids. Chief Kimbell will address mitigation and adaption strategies for climate change, protection of watersheds, and recent agency efforts to get “More Kids in the Woods” and encourage life-long connections to nature and to public lands. Learn the ski industry’s role in partnering with the agency to address these three priorities and in turn shape quality of life, recreation resource management, and the protection of natural resources for future generations.

The Business of Snow Sports Schools: Getting More Out of Your Operation

How do the challenges of recruitment, profitability and finding more customers affect your ski and snowboard school operations? What are the emerging consumer and terrain park education trends and resources? How do these issues relate to the Model for Growth and affect your trial and retention strategies? This session will focus on these questions and leave you with a variety of free and low cost tools that you can adapt to your area’s needs.

RFID Technology

For decades Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) gate systems have been prevalent in the European ski markets and scarce in the North American market. For the first time not only are next generation gate systems getting traction, but the underlying technology is becoming pervasive in nearly all industries from cruise ships to shipping pallets. Many of these applications are becoming the standard within the resort and recreation industry; visit a major theme park and your RFID Tag opens your hotel door, the park gate, allows purchases and tells you where the kids are. This session will look at the innovative ways our industry and other similar indutries are using RFID to better manage their businesses and provide a better experience for their customers.

The Power of Snowsports as a Youth Development and Education Tool

This panel discussion will evaluate the efficacy of snowsports participation as a youth development and education tool. Included in the discussion will be recent findings from primary research examining the effects of snowsports participation on the lives of at risk youth, as well as an analysis quantifying the short and long-term impacts of these types of programs in terms of revenue, increasing diversity, and their role as a component in the Model for Growth.

Kottke and Economic Study: Year End Results

Get the most up-to-date information on the season as well as critical analysis and implications for the future. Find out how the industry performed in the 2007/08 season in terms of skier visits, snowboarding growth, pricing, season pass sales, snowfall, lessons, destination versus day visits and other vital factors. RRC Associates’ Nolan Rosall and David Belin will also discuss the most current demographic trends and provide an update on recent economic and financial patterns.

H2B or Not to Be? Coping with Foreign Worker Visa Shortages

It appears that immigration reform has been left for dead after last year’s Senate train wreck, but pressure for stopgap immigration legislation continues to mount. The industry is facing a potentially critical staffing challenge which could have devastating outcomes. Don’t miss this important legal update as we outline the current state of affairs and explore alternative solutions.

Future Ropeway Technology – A Look at New Phases in Design

With resort base area land becoming a premium and better utilization of mountain terrain a must, uphill ropeway transportation is entering a new phase of design that offers new possibilities aimed at enhancing the customer experience. Doppelmayr CTEC, Inc. and Leitner Poma of America will review and explain new designs that span, bend around, and go over, terrain and obstacles to better utilize available land or optimize existing ropeway alignments.

The Sediment Source Control Handbook Program: Getting it Right the First Time

For years, ski resort managers and operators have struggled with how to achieve success in erosion control and water quality protection while meeting the myriad of regulatory requirements. We’ve tried, failed, tried again, maybe succeeded. What we’ve lacked is a programmatic, user friendly approach to achieving those goals. This session will describe how six California resorts worked with the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, the US Forest Service and others to create a program and handbook that builds on cooperation and collaboration to achieve regulatory and environmental goals. Learn how the regulated and regulators are working together to find common ground and achieve common goals. This program defines a road to the future that sooner or later we will all be facing. Whether you go into that future smiling or kicking and screaming is up to you. This session will help you move toward that future gracefully while building your green resume and helping to quantify your successes using a logical adaptive management process.

Friday, May 30

CEO Forum

Now in its fourth year, the CEO Forum has been a prominent feature of the National Convention. Here again, industry leaders will meet with several professors from the UC Cal-Berkeley Haas School of Business as they discuss strategic leadership and stakeholder management, from homeowner associations to investors.

Legal Update – A Review of Emerging Litigation and Risk Management Trends

Join us for this important update on emerging litigation and risk management trends including releases, indemnity agreements, boundary management, e-discovery and alcohol-related incidents. Presented by astute members of the Association of Ski Defense Attorneys (ASDA). (Closed session—attendance limited to resort employees)

Rental Revolutions and Opportunities: How to Double Your Profits and Guest Satisfaction

Are your guests standing in long rental lines to get their equipment? Are your labor costs getting the best of you? New innovative rental systems are changing the rental environment by increasing efficiencies and reducing labor costs. Don’t get left behind!

New Developments in Resort Living – Creative Offerings in Ownership

An essential element of any resort development is the types of accommodations offered to users of the resort. In recent years, developers and their attorneys have become increasingly creative in offering a variety of ownership options. Learn more about the benefits and burdens of the variety of ownership options, and which ones may fit best with your resort, in this session led by Thomas Elkind, partner of the national law firm Foley & Lardner LLP and member of the firm’s Golf and Resort Industry Team.

Why Mountain Resort Markets are Maintaining Their Vigor

Mountain resort properties have not experienced the precipitous drop in sales and market value that some other types of resort properties have. What are the markets that still remain viable and why? Will they continue to stay strong and for how long? What separates the truly hot projects and the not so hot? Join us in this session as we serve up some answers regarding the current state of mountain resort markets.

Green or Greenwash? – Tips for Effectively Communicating Your Environmental Successes

As corporate marketing of “green” or environmentally friendly practices is on the rise, so are accusations of “greenwashing.” The Oxford English Dictionary defines greenwash as “disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image.” Find out from this panel of experts why more companies are projecting a green image and how their campaigns are perceived by the public and the media. The panel will also address the business opportunity presented by green marketing for the ski industry and how to avoid the greenwashing label.

Work Comp – Strategic Planning that Produces Cost-Saving Results

Workers Comp claims tend to fall into two categories: a few really big claims and a lot of little pesky ones. The big ones are the problem because they suffer from neglect. Learn how to set up a successful strategic plan that will produce huge cost saving results from some of the top legal and medical minds in this field.

Putting Digital Mapping to Work at Your Resort

Former Keystone Resort Patroller Brian Brill has forged an industry career through his work with GIS (Geographical Information Systems) technology and GPS mapping. Today he has created a wide array of digital, navigational maps and illustrations at 45 resorts nationwide. The technology is implemented by a host of ski area departments, from risk management and ski patrol, to lift operations, snowmaking, grooming and marketing. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to see Brill’s work in action, and discover how it can be implemented and utilized at your resort.

Terrain Park Litigation Mock Trial

The Terrain Park Task Force invested a great deal of time and energy this year tackling the topics of terrain park design, construction, operation and guest and employee education. Highlighting recent terrain park litigation, this session will apply that body of knowledge in a courtroom setting. Watch ASDA attorneys direct and cross examine resort employees and expert witnesses in a manner that will rival ABC’s legal drama “Boston Legal.”

How Secure is your Credit? How America’s banking crunch may impact your resort.

Given America’s current banking credit crunch, how secure is your credit? In this session several of today’s finest banking minds assemble to discuss current issues impacting resort financing, including renegotiations of term loans as well as seasonal lines of credit. Ask the tough questions of your bankers, in person, and find out how the current economic state will affect your resort.

Model for Growth Update: Tough Questions, Hard Answers and Lots of Work Ahead

How much longer will the ski industry’s survival/growth window stay open? Are our trial, conversion and retention strategies working fast enough to meet our goals? Are we losing the Baby Boomers faster than we anticipated? Are we killing the core destination customer base with higher and higher Average Daily Rates (ADR) and lift ticket prices, or are we increasing profitability? This session will focus on these and other key questions that will directly influence the overall health of our industry over the next five years.