The goal of SlopeFillers has never been traffic. In the context of today’s media scene, that’s a refreshing thing to be able to say.

Instead, my initial goal was simply to meet people, get my name out there a little and share the things that rattle around my head all day. I’ve long since crossed the first part off the list. And anything more in terms of personal branding feels selfish.

But along the way I found a new goal, a new purpose for this site: to give our industry a place to meet and talk about important topics. Big topics. Tough topics.

Right Now
The way I’m doing that now is supplying a constant stream of new thoughts every day. We can all wake up and have something to tickle our cerebellum into gear.

Today marks the 915th such morning.

But today also marks a change to this approach simply because I think it’s time to take the next step. And, because I’m not handcuffed by pageviews, I can.

The Time Has Come
My goal, from here on out, is to find solutions to the problems and questions we’ve harangued. We’re at a point where we need to stop creating as many new dots, and start connecting old ones.

The first step on this path involves three things.

1) Post 3 Days a Week
The first step is to cut down on volume. With the time I save I’ll put more effort into going back through old posts, finding and connecting the pieces, and putting more effort into big ideas.

I also plan to start studying other industries like beach, golf, and hotels like I did skiing. I think we’ve got a lot to learn from them. Some of these thoughts will show up on the Ryan Solutions site (where they’re a better fit) with the big takeaways making their way back here.

2) Resurface Old Content
There is a good chance that some future posts will be nothing but sentences that connect quotes, comments, and charts from old posts. I really feel we need to do this. There are too many important topics and discussions that have been lost in the constant flow of new ones.

3) Get More Voices Involved
Without a doubt, we’ll need more voices to share their expertise. Specifically I’m beginning to extend invitations to vendors. While I’d love for resort marketers to write (and you’re still 100% welcome), I know you can’t always talk openly about your biggest successes and, even more, you rarely have time.

Most vendors have been in your shoes, they have tons of data, and, yes, they have a more direct benefit. But that benefit creates motivation which helps them meet deadlines (a point that has plagued my efforts in the past).

Tomorrow
I think there are a lot of ways we could take this website and project to benefit our industry, but I think the combination of tying together past discussions, exploring outside of ski for solutions, and getting more perspectives from people smarter than me will be a good first step.

Tomorrow, for the first Thursday in 3 and a half years, there will be no post. Instead, what you see will encourage you search the archives for the dots you want to connect and share what you find.

That’s what I’ll be doing. See you then.

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.