Over the last several years a fair number of our messageboard bloggers and readers have planned their own "SkiNC Summits" and it was cool as heck meeting up with the mods of the board and numerous other "SkiNC personalities". The first season only a handful showed up at Hawksnest Resort, but each year more and more have attended. I was out of town attending a Media Weekend at Wisp Resort in Maryland when the messageboard crew planned and hosted this year’s SkiNC Summit at Ski Beech and from all of the Pics Posted (click here to see photos) it was a fun event. (Sometimes the parking lot is more fun that the slopes!)
Messageboard members have organized and attended numerous trips out west and most recently just returned from skiing in Colorado with the likes of "eastcoaster" (who also attended the SkiNC Beech Summit), "KneeDeep" (who is on the board often though he resides in Colorado), GaTom (who is a longtime SkiNC board member), and "jbc28" (who can take some righteous photos!).
Nowhere else can you hang and ride with monikers such as teledave, davidski, mellowyellow, downhill, zuess, eastcoaster, publicenemybrad and more. TeleDave is one of the original messageboard members and a consensus "head of the messageboard crew" and he’s been known to organize many of the past events and provide a tailgate or two of "provisions" for attendees to enjoy.
afrobigfoot, skiatlanta, snowbird, skiatlanta, outdoorwood are all popular bloggers to the board and of course we could not mention the messageboard crew without bringing attention to the top message poster of all time – SkiCop with 10, 615 posts! TeleDave’s second with almost 7,000 posts. WayneCash, SkISC, ParisandDrewsDaddy, GreshamB, Snowbird, AfroBigFoot, MBlacky1051, g8erhater, ma267, and msdog ALL have more than 3,000 posts each!
There are many more who are regulars to the board and some new members who are blogging their way up the post ladder pretty quick!
In total, there are 1223 members on the messageboards and they have posted 119023 posts! FYI, the second most visited ski website in the east has only posted 36,000+ posts in a longer period and its top poster has put up 1800 articles…so there is no question that our membership continues to grow!
WHY A SKISOUTHEAST SUMMIT?
The truth is that we’ve wanted to host something nearly every year, but schedules have simply dictated that we have just not been able to pull it off. However, the growth of the readership and the outreach of the website now simply warrants that we need to start making more of an effort to sponsor more reader events and of course on mountain skiing and snowboarding comps.
Okay, the above paragraph sounded good, right? Well it IS true, but the truth is that YOU, our readers – and particularly the messageboard bloggers have gained the attention of the media, and most importantly – the managers and marketing staffers at the various Southeast and Mid Atlantic ski areas. With increasing frequency we see evidence that General Managers, snowmakers, groomers, ski patrollers and marketing staffers are spending some time reading the front page stories…and then kicking over to the messageboard to read what YOU guys are saying about them. BELIEVE ME when I state that the top brass and owners at many ski areas are reading your comments almost daily!
THE POWER OF THE PEN…
Over the last few years I have been fortunate to be able to attend numerous Media Weekends at several of our resorts in the Southeast and Mid Atlantic. The most pro active resorts recognize that they need to get their product and message out to as many of the influential media markets as possible. Each time that I attend these events I am able to hang with television personalities such as Jim Cantore and Paul Goodloe of the WEATHER CHANNEL, and numerous regionally famous on-air personalities at stations from Pennsylvania, Maryland, D.C., and North Carolina. Occasionally I have met other outdoor website editors, but for the most part SkINC and SkiSoutheast.com has been the only real ski web presence that is in attendance at these media weekends. That is a testimony to the outreach, popularity and traffic that this website has gained in the 12 seasons since we came online.
I have met and become friends with many of the top brass at resorts across the region, and communicate regularly with marketing professionals across the region. Those friendships have been wonderful…but the introduction to all of these contacts and friendships have come NOT because I am a nice guy (although I am) but because the website has a readership that pulls on average more than 60,000 unique visits every single day! When we have snow, that figure gets doubled! Hence, the power of the pen.
WE OWE IT ALL TO YOU GUYS AND GIRLS!
Without YOU, I’d be typing a personal diary! Since I could care less about looking backwards at a boring diary – I (we) need you. Because of that we are rather tickled to have worked with Snowshoe Mountain to reward YOU our readers and messageboard bloggers with a chance to make some turns with us (I wouldn’t be all that hyped over that!), with the President and COO of the largest ski resort in the region, save a $100 on lodging, get some free wings and drink specials, maybe pick up a FREE NEW SKISOUTHEAST.COM hoodie and even get some Free Lift passes in the process!
HERE’S THE DEAL…
Join the staff of SkiSoutheast.com and many readers and messageboard bloggers at the inaugural ’08 SkiSoutheast.com Summit at Snowshoe Mountain, March 7th-9th!
Mark you calendars, get your gear ready and be sure to pack the camera…
Snowshoe Mountain is throwing a party for Skisoutheast!
March 7-9 will be the inaugural SkiSoutheast Summit at Snowshoe Mountain. The West Virginia resort is offering discounted lodging, free Sunday lift tickets and bar specials, all available ONLY to Skisoutheast readers and bloggers! HOW COOL IS THAT!?!
You’ll receive $100 off your lodging package, and if you attend Saturday’s après ski party at Moonshine Bar, you’ll get Sunday’s lift ticket absolutely FREE!
Make reservation online and enter the code MWD100 to receive $100 off your lodging package. (Must be a two or more night stay, so be sure to block off the whole weekend to hit the slopes and hang with great friends)
You may also make your reservations by calling 1-877-441-4FUN. To receive your discounted package just let the reservation specialist know you’re part of the SkiSoutheast event, or give them the MWD100 code.
Spring Break Weekend is the Same Weekend …and Snowshoe has a lot of fun activities planned, so in addition to being able to ski with some friends from the website, there will lots of fun going on all over the mountain!
FREE WINGS, BAR SPECIALS, FREE SKIING! SEE HOW!
Saturday night we’ll be treated to a party at the new Moonshine bar inside the Shavers Center. Free wings and bar munchies will be provided and bar specials just for SkiSoutheast members will be offered. As Snowshoe’s gift for attending this gathering, you’ll receive Sunday’s lift ticket for FREE!
FREE NEW SKISOUTHEAST.COM HOODIES AS WELL!
We have just ordered a bunch of new SkiSoutheast.com hoodies and we’ll be giving those out at the Saturday night as well!
DETAILS ARE STILL BEING FINALIZED…
Snowshoe’s staff has been gracious enough to put this together for our readers and there’s even a good chance that we’ll get to do some First Tracks skiing and riding with Snowshoe’s President and COO, Bill Rock – before anyone else hits the mountain!
Like many of the managers and marketing crews at the various ski areas of the Southeast, Bill Rock enjoys spending a bit of time here and there reading the messageboard blogs. This new media venue has intrigued ski resort management for years and basically Snowshoe is recognizing the value of getting their product in front of our readers and message board "bloggers".
This is the Inaugural SkiSoutheast.com Summit and if it goes well, we’ll grow it to include even more fun. A lot of you have attended impromptu gatherings over the last couple of seasons and we’re joining in the fun!
This is a great way to hit the snow, meet the friends you regularly communicate with on the message boards and have way too much fun in process. The entire SkiSoutheast.com office staff has rented a house for the weekend, and you know we’ll be having a good time and providing plenty of photo-worthy moments!
Come join in the fun and make some turns with the SkiSoutheast.com and Snowshoe staff!
As you’ve read on this site, Snowshoe is the largest resort in the Southeast and regularly has some of the best conditions available. If you haven’t visited this premier destination yet, this is a great deal and a great opportunity to see what you’ve been missing. If you have questions, please contact Snowshoe Communications Manager Laura Parquette at 304-572-5443 or [email protected] .
Hope to see you there March 7-9!
All you have to do is make reservations by calling 1-877-441-4FUN or make reservations online and either way just mention MWD100 to receive $100 off your lodging package. Then attend the Saturday night gathering at Moonshine and get free wings, free hoodies (while supplies last) and free lift tickets for Sunday skiing!
Though not required…we’d love to know who and how many will be attending this first annual event. Either hop over to the messageboard and post on the Inaugural SkiSoutheast.com Summit Thread if you’re already a member of the messageboard, or join up and post…or simply fill in the form below to let us know you’re planning to attend! THE MORE THE MERRIER!