Killingtons Mission

[mellowyellow]

what about local establishment who are losing money does any one care about the people who take care of you when you go out please enough about your personal gripes think about the big picture and future of the town i would like to ski and make money into june

[rogman]

I've always thought of "Mission Statements" as little more than advertising slogans on steroids. I had the misfortune of participating in authoring one; I protested bitterly. I've yet to read one that I didn't think was cheesy and moronic. Ours was no better. This one appears to be way below average. In principle, they are supposed to communicate a companies "values", both to the customers and the employees. Truth is, it only shows up on obscure web pages, or in fancy script as part of the annual report.

Frankly, this one is a meaningless piece of crap:
“Moving forward our mission is to exceed customer expectations, be innovative, profitable and environmentally responsible.”

Moving forward? Redundant self serving verbiage. Edit out those words.

"Exceed customer expectations". Obvious fluff that says nothing. Rathbun's "under promise, over deliver", actually says it better, but it doesn't fit the mission statement model. Needs multi-syllabic words.

"Be innovative"? Well, I'm sure glad to hear they aren't a bunch of followers. (Actually, if they even followed the lead of their competitors, they'd be doing a whole lot better).

"Profitable"? Nope. You don't put that in a mission statement. Newport News Shipbuilding did it better: "We will good ships. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But we will build good ships." Is this so freakin' hard????? "We will deliver a great skiing experience: at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but we will deliver a a great skiing experience." Not like anyone expects them to do stuff that actually loses money. (Note: late season skiing is profitable).

"Environmentally responsible". Let's be honest, a green ski area is an oxymoron, but the people who drive their 10 mpg SUV's up to the mountain want to feel they are doing their part, so blowing a kiss to the environment is relatively harmless.

[VermontGranola]

Who cares about the mission: The skiing was outstanding today!
Vision this: Blue skies, soft snow for Tuesday and Wednesday.

[mellowyellow]

is it not every business idea to be profitable good customer service have the customer get the most for the buck powwow dah is not reinventing the wheel they think they are and in there evolution of operating in killington they are losing there core and hurting the town they are in

[Bubba]

what about local establishment who are losing money does any one care about the people who take care of you when you go out please enough about your personal gripes think about the big picture and future of the town i would like to ski and make money into june

The complaint of the skiers - a shortened season - and your concern about the future of access road businesses are inextricably tied together. A shorter season means less business, and less business results in a town that will not approve a village any time soon.

As for granola cruncher's comment about the mission, he's right. Who cares? The vision, on the other hand, is important for the town in its consideration of the village.

[mellowyellow]

yes they are tied to each other i know that my pockets know that but people only care about there skiing i care about skiing a roof over my head and food in my belly powwow dah does not see the big picture right now open snowshed for brits who don't help the local business but close skye peak qaud which would bring people here close early with so much coverage yes they made money but you have to give a little to help out your base community and not alienate your selves i understand there idea of running there mountain but the people who complain should have a little thought it is not just about skiing into june for them it is people making a living and providing for there family

[Geoff]

I've always thought of "Mission Statements" as little more than advertising slogans on steroids. I had the misfortune of participating in authoring one; I protested bitterly. I've yet to read one that I didn't think was cheesy and moronic. Ours was no better. This one appears to be way below average. In principle, they are supposed to communicate a companies "values", both to the customers and the employees. Truth is, it only shows up on obscure web pages, or in fancy script as part of the annual report.

Frankly, this one is a meaningless piece of crap:
“Moving forward our mission is to exceed customer expectations, be innovative, profitable and environmentally responsible.”

Moving forward? Redundant self serving verbiage. Edit out those words.

"Exceed customer expectations". Obvious fluff that says nothing. Rathbun's "under promise, over deliver", actually says it better, but it doesn't fit the mission statement model. Needs multi-syllabic words.

"Be innovative"? Well, I'm sure glad to hear they aren't a bunch of followers. (Actually, if they even followed the lead of their competitors, they'd be doing a whole lot better).

"Profitable"? Nope. You don't put that in a mission statement. Newport News Shipbuilding did it better: "We will good ships. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But we will build good ships." Is this so freakin' hard????? "We will deliver a great skiing experience: at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but we will deliver a a great skiing experience." Not like anyone expects them to do stuff that actually loses money. (Note: late season skiing is profitable).

"Environmentally responsible". Let's be honest, a green ski area is an oxymoron, but the people who drive their 10 mpg SUV's up to the mountain want to feel they are doing their part, so blowing a kiss to the environment is relatively harmless.

Jeez. I guess Rogman and I think about this the exact same way. I've been rolling my eyes about the "environment" feel good stuff since they announced it. Look at the parking lot full of big carbon footprint automobiles. What a bunch of hypocrites.

I also agree that late-season skiing is profitable. By closing early, they are leaving money on the table. The incremental costs to stay open are next to nothing. Even after shooting 30% of their full-time staff, they still have plenty of salaried people to run a few lifts and man a ticket booth in May. The long-term cost of closing early and training their customer base to go elsewhere is monumental.

Killington has always been profitable if you're talking about operating profit. It's only when you create a leveraged corporation funded with 12% junk bonds that it all falls over. POWDR is a private company so we have no idea where the money came from to buy out the SP Land position. If it's borrowed money, we have no idea what kind of interest they're paying.

Killington is the antithesis of "innovative". They're bean counter driven. By definition, that completely stifles innovation since the only thing that matters is the spreadsheet. One thing I've learned in corporate life... when the CFO or the corporate lawyer becomes CEO, run away. If you own stock, sell it. If you work there, start looking for your next place of employment. The new management's first act was to fire 30% of their full time employees. That's bean counter behavior.

And yep, mission statements are total crap. They're created by committee in a conference room and always have nothing but motherhood & apple pie. The biggest piece of nonsense I've heard out of Rathburn's mouth is "We want to become a top-10 resort in the United States." He either has less IQ points than one of my house plants or he's just blindly stating the company line. You can't be serious. You can't have a top-10 resort east of the Mississippi. You can only have a drive-to weekend ski area that manages to do some small fraction of destination business. Killington is big for an east coast ski area but it's tiny by western standards and suffers from frequent meltdowns due to geography.

[robrules]

This is more accurate, hence the earliest close in recent Killington history which is a a disgrace to the history of the land that Killington sits.

I guess you guys complaining of no mission mentioned by Powdr, overlooked this...

“Moving forward our mission is to be profitable.”

[RustyK]

It's mission impossible.

Or it is NOT Possible!!!

[the Disemboweler]

Are there customers out there who's expectations have been exceeded? Coming in with low expectations doesn't count.

mine were....i was expecting horrible weather & conditions & another season without the lil fella again....instead i had great weather, conditions & little frankie came back into my life in mid january....

[chfriend]

As said by the great Vincent Flanders of Web Pages That Suck, all mission statements can be summed up in a few simple words...

"All babies must eat"

[Bizarro Jerry]

I guess you guys complaining of no mission mentioned by Powdr, overlooked this...

“Moving forward our mission is to exceed customer expectations, be innovative, profitable and environmentally responsible.”

they've certainly exceeded my expectations by closing on the 20th. Bravo Powdr! (heavy sarcasm alert)

[GoBigOrGoHome]

"Profitable"? Nope. You don't put that in a mission statement. Newport News Shipbuilding did it better: "We will good ships. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must. But we will build good ships." Is this so freakin' hard????? "We will deliver a great skiing experience: at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but we will deliver a a great skiing experience." Not like anyone expects them to do stuff that actually loses money. (Note: late season skiing is profitable).

This is just not a fair statement. I realize it is idealistic, but you have to at least be somewhat practical. If you come at a company saying that it doesn't have a right to operate profitably, then don't be surprised if they totally disregard anything that you say. These companies have shareholders/stakeholders they need to report to. If I was running Killington and a customer told me I should run the business in a non-profitable way I would most probably tell them they are crazy. I realize profit maximization should not be the only goal, but this is a business (and they do need to make money). If they aren't making money, then they will end up the same way ASC did (and that is not something Powdr will happily accept and willingly march off the cliff with the other lemmings)

[GoBigOrGoHome]

what about local establishment who are losing money does any one care about the people who take care of you when you go out please enough about your personal gripes think about the big picture and future of the town i would like to ski and make money into june

The complaint of the skiers - a shortened season - and your concern about the future of access road businesses are inextricably tied together. A shorter season means less business, and less business results in a town that will not approve a village any time soon.

As for granola cruncher's comment about the mission, he's right. Who cares? The vision, on the other hand, is important for the town in its consideration of the village.

Let me ask you something Bubba. The town refusing to approve a village anytime soon sounds to me like a kid throwing a hissy fit and breaking there own toys. They aren't getting what they want, so they won't let the mountain get what it wants.

Well, if everyone is so concerned about the town and its business owners well being why would you purposely depress the population?? Seems to me that a village will attract more people....more people buy more goods and services.... the town and store owners make out better in the long run. I see that right now it feels good for the town people to snub Powdr and SP Land (which they feel has not done right by them), but it is definately not (in the long run) beneficial for everyone involved.

I am not saying I like Powdr... I am saying that this course of action does not make a whole lot of sense.

[Bubba]

what about local establishment who are losing money does any one care about the people who take care of you when you go out please enough about your personal gripes think about the big picture and future of the town i would like to ski and make money into june

The complaint of the skiers - a shortened season - and your concern about the future of access road businesses are inextricably tied together. A shorter season means less business, and less business results in a town that will not approve a village any time soon.

As for granola cruncher's comment about the mission, he's right. Who cares? The vision, on the other hand, is important for the town in its consideration of the village.

Let me ask you something Bubba. The town refusing to approve a village anytime soon sounds to me like a kid throwing a hissy fit and breaking there own toys. They aren't getting what they want, so they won't let the mountain get what it wants.

Well, if everyone is so concerned about the town and its business owners well being why would you purposely depress the population?? Seems to me that a village will attract more people....more people buy more goods and services.... the town and store owners make out better in the long run. I see that right now it feels good for the town people to snub Powdr and SP Land (which they feel has not done right by them), but it is definately not (in the long run) beneficial for everyone involved.

I am not saying I like Powdr... I am saying that this course of action does not make a whole lot of sense.

I agree with you, to an extent. It is not in the long run interest of the town to block a village. Neither is it in the long run interest of KSRP to anger the town in the short term, which is exactly what they've done. You cannot reasonably expect that local businesses will willingly allow new competition in a market that has been intentionally shrunk by KSRP. KSRP must come up with a business plan that works for themselves as well as for the community, and until they do, and until they clearly and openly communicate, they simply will not get town support. They have, through their actions, taken a community that was pro-development and turned it neutral at best, at least at the moment. The ball's in KSRP's court to improve the situation.