Page 60 - NSAA 2017 Fall Journal

Marketing

on the ski bar wall, not in full animated color on the Resorts can reinforce their place in skiing history by
screen of a smartphone,” Towle says. “Either way, it is working with ISHA on one or more programs, such as:
still history.” • Offering an introductory ISHA membership to
passholders, VIP customers, or employees, which
Working with ISHA includes a one-year trial digital subscription to
Resorts can embrace their history even further by working Skiing History.
with the nonprofit International Skiing History Association • Becoming a sponsor of ISHA. As a nonprofit public
(ISHA), founded in 1991 by Mason Beekley, who over the charity, ISHA relies on membership dues, individual
years compiled one of the world’s largest private collections donations, grants, and support from 50-plus corporate
of ski art and books. sponsors—resorts, manufacturers, suppliers, and
Today ISHA has 1,500 members around the world, retailers in the ski industry. ISHA sponsors are listed in
including racing champions like Jean-Claude Killy, Penny every issue of Skiing History, promoted on its website,
Pitou, Nancy Greene, and Billy Kidd, and many other and receive print and digital subscriptions.
innovators, leaders, and pioneers of the sport. • Submitting story ideas to Skiing History magazine,
ISHA, based in Manchester Center, Vt., in working which seeks short items for “Why’s It Called That,”
to preserve skiing history, publishes the bimonthly Skiing “Short Turns,” and “Museum News,” plus longer
History magazine that covers the sport’s illustrious past. pieces that celebrate resort and ski town history during
ISHA also maintains skiinghistory.org, the internet’s important anniversaries or milestones. Become ISHA’s
most extensive website for information about the sport’s eyes and ears in the community.
history, and presents annual ISHA Awards for lifetime • Nominating local or regional books, films, websites,
achievement and the year’s best ski history books, films, and and other creative media that cover resorts and other
creative media. ski-history topics for ISHA’s annual awards.
• Hosting a Skiing History Day in your base lodge.
Whistler held one such event in February 2016.
Former Whistler CEO Hugh Smythe told an ISHA
board member shortly thereafter, “For a ski area
there are spokes of interest—ski school, racing

program, host/hostess program, restaurants, etc.
This added a new dimension, an event focused on
Whistler’s history.”

ISHA believes that skiers who understand and appreciate the
sport’s history are more valuable customers—they are more
dedicated to and passionate about the sport.
Adds ISHA board member Chris Diamond, former
COO and president of Steamboat Ski & Resort Corp.,
“Every operating ski resort has a dedicated fan base that
stretches back over generations. It was where parents first

learned to ski or maybe even met for the first time—where
their children learned to ski, then the grandkids. The
connection with the resort’s history is very emotional, as it
represents family history as well. That, in essence, explains
why the skiing history of individual resorts is so valued,”
Diamond says.

Jeff Blumenfeld, an ISHA board member, runs Blumenfeld
and Associates PR in Boulder, Colo. He is the recipient of the
2017 Bob Gillen Memorial Award from the North American

Snowsports Journalists Association.

58 | NSAA JOURNAL | FALL 2017