A happy belated New Year to all of our NSC friends! As I write this month’s message, the 2010 ski season is in full swing and as this happens to be an El Nino year, the snow reports are encouraging. On the National ski scene, Colorado and Utah have epic snow. Finally, the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is set to thrill the world with international winter sports competition.
So far, the NSC kicked off this season with Bus Trip #1 to Squaw Valley on Jan. 8-10. You can see some details of this trip in an article by NSC newbie, Tammy Lee.
Also, a happy NSC band of brothers and sisters converged on Whistler, British Columbia for our annual weeklong ski trip Jan. 24-31 led by yours truly. While everyone came home content and exhilarated by the trip to the venue of the upcoming Winter Olympic games, we all felt the rush of the week go by oh so quick. Stay tuned for next month’s articles on this great trip.
As our country’s president gives a State of the Union address in January this year, I will give a brief “State of the NSC Union” here. In brief, the past few years have been challenging for our club in that our bus trips have been more difficult to fill. While we are still a strong organization by most standards, it is time to start aggressively recruiting new members so that new people will inject this grand organization with new blood. Your Board and I have been wracking our brains these past few years in the search for a “magic bullet” that will inject new vigor into our organization and hence attract new members.
The conclusion in this search for reasons are complex and varied. In short, there is no simple solution. One theory is that the Internet has made instant information gathering related to engineering local trips to Tahoe so easy that many would be bus trip attendees may not have a need for a ski club as a resource for such trips. Another theory is that the nature of modern social networking websites such as Facebook make the coalescing of instant ad hoc ski trips very easy to organize amongst friends. Yet another theory is that the NSC is in competition with for-profit companies that organize local ski trips and hence these otherwise NSC attendees are attracted to a more business-like approach to going on these trips. (ed. Many non-ski clubs are having similar membership problems.)
Whatever the reasons, there is one thing that is clear: it is imperative for the NSC to try many different new “out of the box” approaches to attracting new members while focusing on our core competencies that have allowed us to thrive for 52 years. While we cannot be “someone else’s ski club,” the NSC should evolve with the world on a continuous basis.
And so, I announce the “NSC Membership Stimulus Package.”
This new program is targeted to attract potential new members by the old fashioned tactic of giving a very awesome introductory price to previous non-members in order to really demonstrate the NSC value on these trips. Please refer to the attractive details in the article by Trip Director, David Jensen, this month. The Board and I really believe that the investment on behalf of the NSC in this area has a very good potential to jump start our new membership numbers and lead the NSC to a vibrant future.
However, attractive prices WILL NOT alone guarantee success. The NSC needs all of our existing membership to participate! We need you to sign up for the 3 remaining bus trips AND to invite friends and family that could see the value of joining the NSC. WE NEED YOUR HELP!!
So I end this message with a brief note about the picture this month from our just -completed Whistler trip which holds personal significance to me. But I will get to the Whistler trip next month. Meanwhile, please sign up for Trips 2, 3, and 4 and get your friends and family on those trips!
#1 by Elaine G on March 1, 2010 - 6:17 pm
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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! What a fun weekend at Northstar this last weekend in Feb. While we were not without our ‘challenges’ – InterState 80 closed for an accident which delayed our arrival at the Sands/Reno until 3:15 AM, a ‘crunch’ over a snowboard , a young skier that had just a wee bit too much liquid refreshment (!) – enuff said, this was one delightful trip.
From the moment we arrived in San Jose to park the car, to our departure late Sunday evening, your members could not have been more gracious and welcoming. Un-believably organized from start to finish, it was a true pleasure to be a part of this weekend.
With members ranging in age from late 20′s to early 80′s, there was something for everyone. Delicious, lovingly prepared food, beverages galore and enough snacks for the next trip!
As a non-skier, I cannot talk about snow conditions, lifts, trails, etc., however, as far a genuine hospitality – “great to excellent – packed powder’.
THANK YOU!