Last week I wrote a series of posts about being first.

Aside from the direct benefit that comes from catering to the people who align with that specific piece of innovation, I suggested that a huge PR benefit could come as well.

Little did I know that the Friday before Whistler/Blackcomb announced a resort-wide policy that doesn’t allow smoking…anywhere…ever. As far as I know, they’re the first.

The Results
And, so being, let’s do a quick recap of what happened once they did starting with Twitter.

Some highlights of the 400+ tweets (so far) include:

Whistler Blackcomb resort bans smoking completely http://t.co/EpV8kY6H0m pic.twitter.com/B6ZfkSeg1k

— CBC British Columbia (@cbcnewsbc) May 15, 2015

#Whistler #Blackcomb brings in complete smoking ban. No smoking anywhere by May 31. pic.twitter.com/TN0mYa6ICf

— CKNW (@CKNW) May 15, 2015

Whistler Blackcomb resort bans smoking everywhere on its property http://t.co/Vqdmev6PZ0 pic.twitter.com/KUpvv1H4az

— The Vancouver Sun (@VancouverSun) May 15, 2015

#Poll: Do you agree with @WhistlerBlckcmb's plan to ban smoking? @CTVColeen http://t.co/eUMkSKWOCO pic.twitter.com/4GFrHahjmy

— CTV Vancouver (@CTVVancouver) May 15, 2015

Whistler Blackcomb announces its going smoke-free on May 31st. No smoking on the lifts, gondolas, trails, parking lots or bar/restaurants

— KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) May 15, 2015

#Whistler Blackcomb bans smoking resort wide http://t.co/MLV66te8p8 pic.twitter.com/PVZQFnsKUq

— Vancity Buzz (@VancityBuzz) May 16, 2015

As expected there were people who were for it…

Sweet – Whistler Blackcomb (@WhistlerBlckcmb) says NO SMOKING resort-wide; kudos! http://t.co/0r2pXveIHR

— Kovas Palubinskas (@KovasP) May 19, 2015

I can get behind this. #Whistler bans smoking on entire resort http://t.co/kgBC2ZIK27 #explorebc #beautifulbc

— Ryan McKenzie (@RyeMcKenzie) May 16, 2015

Great move by Whistler Blackcomb banning smoking! @WhistlerBlckcmb http://t.co/IHifaWIQ9p

— Adam Scheuer (@WatertigerBC) May 16, 2015

…and those who weren’t.

Whistler Blackcomb Will Ban Smoking on All Property Starting May 30, Even Medical #Cannabis. Terrible! #bcpoli http://t.co/7oPW0zzPS8

— Cannabis In Canada (@CinC_Society) May 19, 2015

@CannabisCulture I know where I won't be going

— Melody LaPier (@MsDuhMeanor) May 17, 2015

But as we’ve seen so before, it got people’s attention.

Limited Supply
After a few more resorts follow suit the PR value of doing so will quickly go to near zero.

But for those that take step likes this into an information age where even good intentions can turn into nightmares, the risk has earned a reward.

Well played, Whistler/Blackcomb, well played.

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.