As I’ve studied the crossover between social media and guest behavior, all signs seem to point to these new media outlets being a place for loyal guests to connect rather than creating significant numbers of new customers.

But that has value and these channels can certainly increase loyalty. So, in that context of that idea, where else could resorts connect with their loyal guests?

Last month I published a series of posts about ski shows and, more specifically, why resort’s do go, don’t go, and how they get the most bang for their buck.

Among the reasons for investing in these shows year in and year out was a very simple, probably obvious, but relevant thread.

Meeting guests in person.

One Such Event
For a few years now, Brighton Resort in Utah has been holding one such event. They call it Passapalooza.

Here are a few photos from last season’s recap:

Barbeque.

Product toss.

Movies.

A notice how simple it is. No need for complicated logistics, just a simple, fun event.

Does everyone come? Of course not, but that’s not the point. It simply gives loyal skiers and riders a way to connect even more with the resort they love.

For Locals
True, a family traveling from DC spends more than a park rat from down the road, but the one piece missing from a lot of the ski show shenanigans is something for the in-state crew.

Bear Mountain adds a few more logistics to the event, but Hot Dawgz and Hand Rails accomplishes much of the same goals along with a heavy focus on season pass sales.

In that sense, an event like Passapalooza is an awesome venue for those locals to get the same face time and shake the same hands as the folks in Chicago or Boston or Toronto or San Francisco and spend a few minutes at the resort before the snow flies.

The Gist
The common denominator between Passapalooza, HD&HR and others is simply this: bring loyal locals to the mountain at a time that you have a captive, personal audience so you can reciprocally share the stoke.

Whether it’s big or small, if there’s value in face time with guests at a ski show, maybe there’s value in face time with locals as well.

Food for thought.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.