A mountain in peril.
Yes. I’m the guy who came from Maine (interrupting an otherwise impeccable ski industry career) to take possibly the most daunting job in the ski business in 2008 – being the face, voice and fingers of Mt. Bachelor tasked with rebuilding the resort’s credibility, communications, and marketing in the face of the strongest public opinion headwind the ski industry has seen in the modern era.
Turning around a decade long trend of growing disdain (that led to a mass firing in 2008) was to be somehow accomplished alongside a new parade of unpopular business and customer service moves. I was not told those moves were planned. I also reported to the finance department rather than the decision makers. Sounds fun eh?
Guests, media, the blogosphere and even the local chamber of commerce had lined up to call out the resort. Need a refresher? This was the local media’s take. And here’s what was being circulated in the business community. These are not blogs of conspiracy theorists or anonymous comments, this is the professional community who was treading lightly, while sounding the alarm in more professional terms than the public at large. Could this environ be remedied under the same ownership after a management firing within a large community rooting for failure in order to get new owners? The answer was unclear.
Flash forward two years. Mt. Bachelor’s credibility has been reborn. The snow report is more accurate than what your buddy tells you. The mountain leveraged social media to answer questions and rumors to the point that people are skeptical. Video has told the story of operations to better inform a hungry public. The news media (and even that pesky opinion paper) is covering Mt. Bachelor as a community member, rather than a target. In bound emails have gone from 10-1 negative to 2-1 positive. Charitable efforts have expanded and created a wide network of evangelists. I was invited to speak to Central Oregon Ad Fed to show the strategies employed to accomplish this and more. Maybe you were there.
But how was this even possible? Good question. These were just some of the directives dropped onto thy desk for delivery and justification to the public, which make it seem pretty far fetched..
- Cancelling Free Ski Day
- Raising Daily Prices
- Eliminating 70+ Free Skiing
- Restricting Uphill Access
- Shortening The Ski Day
- Discontinuing Flex Ride Passes
- New Sliding Scale Pricing
- Voiding Joe’s Sports Vouchers
- Eliminating Non-Holiday Season Passes
- Charging For Overnight Parking
- Newly Dormant Outback Chairlift
- Terrain Park Re-location
- Numerous Lift Breakdowns
- Crippling Ice Storm
- 2 Full Mtn Power Outages
Any level of success was possible due to the heroic efforts of Mt Bachelor staff and a healthy diet of communications efforts to address, respond, and inform the public and media across all mediums so that these significant changes were accepted over time, rather than the alternative. It was a bruising task to tackle on behalf of Powdr Corp, and I wish them well in continuing in such efforts, or adjusting their tact to lessen their output of unpopular change. That said, it’s a smart move on the corporate bottom line to handle large scale unpopular business adjustments as rapidly as possible via an underling that is willing and able to absorb the crossfire, and be refreshed when the period concludes and the playing field is leveled again.
Though it’s clearly not a satisfying or personally beneficial role to fill, if the community and ski area live a more sustainable life together going forward, then I’ll have to accept that. This deflection plan was highly successful for the company and owner in turning the public and local opinion media tide in 2 years, due to a capable and motivated middle manager absorbing and/or deflecting ongoing calls for corporate accountability in all mediums. Had I stayed out of the fray, I might still be working there, but the Resort would still be mired in the unpleasantness of 2008. I was hired to take on the mob of discontent, and in doing so Mt. Bachelor quickly evolved from a hated ski area with serious morale and credibility problems to a proud mountain within the Powdr Resorts family.
In the future, I’ll be seeking a less controversial brand within which to focus marketing skills on strategy and delivery in a collaborative and sustainable business environment. Lessons learned were many.
I am now in a position to offer my services to the professional community. My wife is pregnant, we like Bend, I no longer exist on behalf of Mt. Bachelor, I can help small business get their (less controversial) messages out, so MediawithAK for local business is the result. Check out the pages detailing my services (still in development). I will also be doing a bit of “pro bono” work at the outset to grow my portfolio. Ask and you may receive.
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