It’s Thanksgiving in the ol’ US of A, so I’ll keep it short today. However, I did want to show some gratitude for a few things and remind myself how good I’ve got it. I (intentionally) live a very simple life, so I don’t always have “things” to be grateful for. Instead, I typically find I’m most grateful for the people who are good friends, support me with my goals, and have helped me progress in life and work.

That’s probably why last year my Thanksgiving post was about 10 people who rock. I might as will recap that list because each could easily be on this list again this year.

Eric Hoffman, Christian Knapp, Corey Ryan, Dave Amirault, Kim (my wife), Jon Slaughter, Evan Reece, Doug Holton, Brian Rodine, The Utah Joes (Johnson & Myers)

And, yes, I said “this year” because, as you might have guessed, I’ve decided to start a little tradition and add 10 more to the list. Here are 10 more rockin’ folks that I am thankful to know and work with. There are so many more I could include…but here’s a start.

1) Missy W Larsen (Sundance) – Back in 1996, Missy Larsen was the marketer behind a promotion Sundance did that gave a poor kid his first lift ticket and hooked him on an incredible sport. I was that kid.

2) Milena Regos (Diamond Peak / Out and About) – Milena’s weekly #mrktchat was how I met dozens of talented resort marketers and learned a long list of juicy tidbits about marketing along the way.

3) Shaun Alain (Sunshine Village) – No one uses the social dashboards as much as Shaun. Between providing awesome feedback and catching countless bugs, I owe much of the success of that project to him.

4) Thomas Prindle (Attitash / Wildcat) – I love meeting the marketers who read SlopeFillers. So, during a trip to the White Mountains with my wife last month, when Thomas worked around our totally random schedule so I could say “hi” and then threw in some mountain coaster passes to boot, it made my day.

5) Ben Zeeb (Ryan Solutions) – I love to build stuff, but often feel like a day-dreaming carpenter than awakens to find he only has a hammer and two nails in his took box. When I had some crazy ideas for social integration with Ryan Solutions, Ben took the reigns and built some 100% awesome stuff. Stay tuned on this one…it’s gonna be sweet.

6) Kim Blanchard (Wife) – Yes, I included Kim last time, but not including her would be like trying to ski without snow. I thought I was head over heels then, but now I’m beyond hopeless. Any woman who studies DNA all day and then cheerfully listens to me yap about season pass sales is a keeper.

7) Ryan Blanchard (Brother) – My brother is crazy smart (like wrapping up his PhD in Mechanical Engineering smart) and more than two years older than me. Yet, he dragged me along to many a weekend at The Canyons or preseason at Alta before I could drive (not to mention waiting for me at the bottom of the hill at the end of a run). He also helped convince my mom to take us skiing that first day – an eternal debt.

8) Alex Kaufman (MediawithAK) – Alex may not be in the resort game full time, but he’s always got a ton of awesome insights and feedback on posts. Not to mention the multiple guest posts he’s tackled on topics I’m clueless about.

9) Troy Thompson (Travel2dot0) – When I considered the potential for other people to take advantage of the Social7 platform, Troy not only provided awesome feedback, but stepped up to the plate as a willing and patient guinea pig. Plus, his blog keeps me on my marketing toes when other authors simply put me to sleep with empty hype.

10) Davy Ratchford (Northstar) – Davy is the crazy good marketer behind a resort that is doing some amazing stuff. When I reached out with a request for career advice, despite a busy schedule, he opened up and gave me boat loads of insight and help that helped much more than he probably realized.

BONUS) Everyone Who Drinks (The Ski Industry) – Apres is deep part of skiing culture and “grabbing a beer” is an industry social norm. Yet, unlike my peers in other industries, I’ve never been prodded or belittled for my personal choice to not drink. It’s a small thing, but I appreciate it.

Happy Thanksgiving :)

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.