The Impact of Social Media

[tt431]

The K website is a very stagnant and boring website. It is stagnant like a bad painting. How about 10 webcams? They surely are not too expensive. No reason that it does not provide more current info in a user friendly way. Plenty of ways to do it and features to upgrade that Dwight you could even import the tweets and latest FB info in 2 seperate realtime windows that cycle and get updated often quickly. Pretty cool. Like trials, lifts, conditions, lifts on hold, weather, etc. And stamp the TIME and DAY on it. If you want to be the BEAST, act like the BEAST.

ps: Loose that new whimpy Killington font and get something BOLD.

I agree with the webcams. If you claim to have a great product, show it, it's cheap. They already have Internet access in every lodge so why not spend a couple of hundred and at least put cameras in all the lodges.

[Big Bob]

The K website is a very stagnant and boring website. It is stagnant like a bad painting. How about 10 webcams? They surely are not too expensive. No reason that it does not provide more current info in a user friendly way. Plenty of ways to do it and features to upgrade that Dwight you could even import the tweets and latest FB info in 2 seperate realtime windows that cycle and get updated often quickly. Pretty cool. Like trials, lifts, conditions, lifts on hold, weather, etc. And stamp the TIME and DAY on it. If you want to be the BEAST, act like the BEAST.

ps: Loose that new whimpy Killington font and get something BOLD.

I get the impression Dwight works at Cooper now and is no longer at Killington.

[rogman]

Their WWW site, which is still their primary means of communication whether they like it or not, has tumbleweeds blowing through it.

I'm not sure why you believe that their site is stagnant? Other than snow, lift, trail info, photos and videos, what should be changing on a daily basis on a ski resort website?
Sure new deals come out etc.. but we're talking weekly at best. If the mountain is closed what do they really need to be updating?

Also, per previous emails I think some of the times that things are updated were off by a bit. (May have changed since I was there), but speaking on behalf of Copper our site is updated at 5:15, the snow phone at 5:30 and the snow emails go out at 5:45. Not to mention posting a quick conditions hit to facebook and twitter. Killington's times used to be pretty much on par with that. I'd love to hear your ideas on how we could better get the snow info to you (*not sarcasm). Copper does also have a mobile site m.coppercolorado.com and a facebook snow report app.

Ok, I don't need 10 on mountain cameras. I'm really not interested in playing Mall security guard. I'm an information junkie, and I want it at my fingertips, not scattered all over.
Trail report:
--What's open today, tomorrow, and for the weekend (acres, trails, miles, whatever). Same thing with the lifts.

Snow making report:
--What trails are getting snow, how many guns, gallons up the hill, and/or acre feet per hour. When you got it, flaunt it.

Weather:
--Whats the outlook for the next 10 days. hi/lo temps, snow, r*in etc.
--What are the real time temps, wind, and humidity at KBL, the Peak, bottom of Skyship, and Bear. The one temperature report, at an unspecified location, is bogus.

Events:
--What's the live music in the bars for happy hour this weekend in KBL, Snowshed, and Bear.
--What events are this weekend and next. (Rail Jam/Etc.)
--Who's playing in the Wobbly. I'd say it would be in the mountain's best interest to also publish the same for the Pickle, the Grist and any other place offering live music, but I won't hold my breath.

Deals:
--What deals are available. Lodging/Food/Equipment.

The whole point of a web page is to repeat visits. Why would anyone come back to the new site? The information you want is buried so deep that it isn't worth the effort to find it. There is nothing on the home page that draws you in. It is a bore.

By the way Dwight, I have impression that your the person that created the Killington's award winning interactive trail map. It is the best of its type that I've ever seen. Last year it took them half the season to get it working, this year it is gone completely. It has always been the best thing on the entire site, and they obviously can't deal with it. Would you please fix it?

[millerm277]

By the way Dwight, I have impression that your the person that created the Killington's award winning interactive trail map. It is the best of its type that I've ever seen. Last year it took them half the season to get it working, this year it is gone completely. It has always been the best thing on the entire site, and they obviously can't deal with it. Would you please fix it?

Agreed. That map was phenomenal, and extremely useful.

[Dr. NO]

Their WWW site, which is still their primary means of communication whether they like it or not, has tumbleweeds blowing through it.

I'm not sure why you believe that their site is stagnant? Other than snow, lift, trail info, photos and videos, what should be changing on a daily basis on a ski resort website?
Sure new deals come out etc.. but we're talking weekly at best. If the mountain is closed what do they really need to be updating?

Also, per previous emails I think some of the times that things are updated were off by a bit. (May have changed since I was there), but speaking on behalf of Copper our site is updated at 5:15, the snow phone at 5:30 and the snow emails go out at 5:45. Not to mention posting a quick conditions hit to facebook and twitter. Killington's times used to be pretty much on par with that. I'd love to hear your ideas on how we could better get the snow info to you (*not sarcasm). Copper does also have a mobile site m.coppercolorado.com and a facebook snow report app.

Ok, I don't need 10 on mountain cameras. I'm really not interested in playing Mall security guard. I'm an information junkie, and I want it at my fingertips, not scattered all over.
Trail report:
--What's open today, tomorrow, and for the weekend (acres, trails, miles, whatever). Same thing with the lifts.

Snow making report:
--What trails are getting snow, how many guns, gallons up the hill, and/or acre feet per hour. When you got it, flaunt it.

Weather:
--Whats the outlook for the next 10 days. hi/lo temps, snow, r*in etc.
--What are the real time temps, wind, and humidity at KBL, the Peak, bottom of Skyship, and Bear. The one temperature report, at an unspecified location, is bogus.

Events:
--What's the live music in the bars for happy hour this weekend in KBL, Snowshed, and Bear.
--What events are this weekend and next. (Rail Jam/Etc.)
--Who's playing in the Wobbly. I'd say it would be in the mountain's best interest to also publish the same for the Pickle, the Grist and any other place offering live music, but I won't hold my breath.

Deals:
--What deals are available. Lodging/Food/Equipment.

The whole point of a web page is to repeat visits. Why would anyone come back to the new site? The information you want is buried so deep that it isn't worth the effort to find it. There is nothing on the home page that draws you in. It is a bore.

By the way Dwight, I have impression that your the person that created the Killington's award winning interactive trail map. It is the best of its type that I've ever seen. Last year it took them half the season to get it working, this year it is gone completely. It has always been the best thing on the entire site, and they obviously can't deal with it. Would you please fix it?

Who is doing Bay 1 BBQ, What is being served, and who will be there? I think those are your most important questions. We don't need snow to BBQ in Bay 1.

[Dwight]

[

Trail report:
--What's open today, tomorrow, and for the weekend (acres, trails, miles, whatever). Same thing with the lifts.

Snow making report:
--What trails are getting snow, how many guns, gallons up the hill, and/or acre feet per hour. When you got it, flaunt it.

Weather:
--Whats the outlook for the next 10 days. hi/lo temps, snow, r*in etc.
--What are the real time temps, wind, and humidity at KBL, the Peak, bottom of Skyship, and Bear. The one temperature report, at an unspecified location, is bogus.

Events:
--What's the live music in the bars for happy hour this weekend in KBL, Snowshed, and Bear.
--What events are this weekend and next. (Rail Jam/Etc.)
--Who's playing in the Wobbly. I'd say it would be in the mountain's best interest to also publish the same for the Pickle, the Grist and any other place offering live music, but I won't hold my breath.

Deals:
--What deals are available. Lodging/Food/Equipment.

The whole point of a web page is to repeat visits. Why would anyone come back to the new site? The information you want is buried so deep that it isn't worth the effort to find it. There is nothing on the home page that draws you in. It is a bore.

By the way Dwight, I have impression that your the person that created the Killington's award winning interactive trail map. It is the best of its type that I've ever seen. Last year it took them half the season to get it working, this year it is gone completely. It has always been the best thing on the entire site, and they obviously can't deal with it. Would you please fix it?

I know for a fact that they are very good with updating the lift/trail/snow info in season. I also know the website is the first thing they update, even before the social media. They in fact do it twice a day and also throughout the day as conditions change and trail open. I'd say as far a ski resorts go they are in the top 10%. Maybe all they really need is to timestamp it. As for the music, we tried, we had KillingtonLive and gave the all the places on the access road the ability to send us info or even update it themselves. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get people to help themselves.

Yes I did create the original interactive map , one of my more fun projects. I thought K's update last year was definitely a step forward. It was way more polished than what I had put together. However you should check out Copper's http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... /index.htm and then what are your thoughts on this? I had a webcam installed on the snow stake http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... wstake.htm No longer will anyone be able to second guess how much snow we received. As far as getting 10 webcams, the ones we use are roughly $1500 for the hardware and if you're streaming like K does bandwidth pushes the price much higher. Not to mention installation of power and internet. At a ski resort only so many places are feasible and you can only allocate so much of your budget to webcam bandwidth.

So I guess here's my question, how would you most like to receive your snow report info? Rank your top 3 if you need.

[millerm277]

Yes I did create the original interactive map , one of my more fun projects. I thought K's update last year was definitely a step forward. It was way more polished than what I had put together. However you should check out Copper's http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... /index.htm and then what are your thoughts on this?

Copper's looks quite nice, the "view inset" animation is a nice touch. I think the problem is more that Killington no longer has any interactive map on their website, and that last year it didn't work properly for a good part of the season, so we're all assuming that they just got rid of it because they didn't know how/didn't feel like fixing it.

[tt431]

[

Trail report:
--What's open today, tomorrow, and for the weekend (acres, trails, miles, whatever). Same thing with the lifts.

Snow making report:
--What trails are getting snow, how many guns, gallons up the hill, and/or acre feet per hour. When you got it, flaunt it.

Weather:
--Whats the outlook for the next 10 days. hi/lo temps, snow, r*in etc.
--What are the real time temps, wind, and humidity at KBL, the Peak, bottom of Skyship, and Bear. The one temperature report, at an unspecified location, is bogus.

Events:
--What's the live music in the bars for happy hour this weekend in KBL, Snowshed, and Bear.
--What events are this weekend and next. (Rail Jam/Etc.)
--Who's playing in the Wobbly. I'd say it would be in the mountain's best interest to also publish the same for the Pickle, the Grist and any other place offering live music, but I won't hold my breath.

Deals:
--What deals are available. Lodging/Food/Equipment.

The whole point of a web page is to repeat visits. Why would anyone come back to the new site? The information you want is buried so deep that it isn't worth the effort to find it. There is nothing on the home page that draws you in. It is a bore.

By the way Dwight, I have impression that your the person that created the Killington's award winning interactive trail map. It is the best of its type that I've ever seen. Last year it took them half the season to get it working, this year it is gone completely. It has always been the best thing on the entire site, and they obviously can't deal with it. Would you please fix it?

I know for a fact that they are very good with updating the lift/trail/snow info in season. I also know the website is the first thing they update, even before the social media. They in fact do it twice a day and also throughout the day as conditions change and trail open. I'd say as far a ski resorts go they are in the top 10%. Maybe all they really need is to timestamp it. As for the music, we tried, we had KillingtonLive and gave the all the places on the access road the ability to send us info or even update it themselves. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get people to help themselves.

Yes I did create the original interactive map , one of my more fun projects. I thought K's update last year was definitely a step forward. It was way more polished than what I had put together. However you should check out Copper's http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... /index.htm and then what are your thoughts on this? I had a webcam installed on the snow stake http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... wstake.htm No longer will anyone be able to second guess how much snow we received. As far as getting 10 webcams, the ones we use are roughly $1500 for the hardware and if you're streaming like K does bandwidth pushes the price much higher. Not to mention installation of power and internet. At a ski resort only so many places are feasible and you can only allocate so much of your budget to webcam bandwidth.

So I guess here's my question, how would you most like to receive your snow report info? Rank your top 3 if you need.

You can get an IP camera these days for about $100 to post a picture shot every 5 minutes, if you want to go pro ok up to $500 no need to spend any more money to get good quality live video. I have been using a cheap panasonic IP camera for 2 years and never even had to reset it. It gives me live feed, a picture shot, or both. It works great for me. The only real expense would be to find a location at the lodge, install an outlet and run a network cable to the router. Internet access is already available in every lodge. I find using 3rd party streaming like US Relay annoying and totally unnecessary.
Nice looking interactive map congrats, the only thing is the map requires scrolling in my computer, no option for full screen. I'm running IE7 1280x720 pix resolution.

[Dwight]

You can't go that cheap, you have to include the heated weather proof housing. also lots of them are mounted high so you have to get ones that are motorized so you can control them remotely.

[rogman]

The two existing cameras are more than enough. If they are properly located, the pan/tilt/zoom would be unnecessary. The one at Bear is useful for looking at the half-pipe, but not much else. It doesn't pan high enough to really see OL. I'd prefer a fixed view of either, done well, rather than watch some 9 year old try to maneuver the thing. The one at KBL allows you to see a lot of things sort of, but nothing well, other than the deck of KBL.

Dwight, the Copper interactive map looks terrific. 5 Megs is a lot to load, however. How much is code and static imagery, and how much is the actual database? Seems like only the latter would need to be reloaded on a normal basis (and the rest could be cached), but I suspect that is hard to implement.

[RENO]

I still say that once the season gets going (with more than 2 trails) their main web page will be a lot more active. Where all you see now is THE BEAST sayings you will see video and pics. I also think the Interactive trail map will return. What's the point of having it right now anyway? As far as the cams, I remember them saying they were thinking of putting one on the peak lodge a year ago. Tom said it is very difficult with the weather and transmission up that high on the mountain. Understandable. They should move the current cam to the base lodge so you can pan the mountain and not just mostly see the base lodge, lower superstar and Ovation...

[RENO]

[

Trail report:
--What's open today, tomorrow, and for the weekend (acres, trails, miles, whatever). Same thing with the lifts.

Snow making report:
--What trails are getting snow, how many guns, gallons up the hill, and/or acre feet per hour. When you got it, flaunt it.

Weather:
--Whats the outlook for the next 10 days. hi/lo temps, snow, r*in etc.
--What are the real time temps, wind, and humidity at KBL, the Peak, bottom of Skyship, and Bear. The one temperature report, at an unspecified location, is bogus.

Events:
--What's the live music in the bars for happy hour this weekend in KBL, Snowshed, and Bear.
--What events are this weekend and next. (Rail Jam/Etc.)
--Who's playing in the Wobbly. I'd say it would be in the mountain's best interest to also publish the same for the Pickle, the Grist and any other place offering live music, but I won't hold my breath.

Deals:
--What deals are available. Lodging/Food/Equipment.

The whole point of a web page is to repeat visits. Why would anyone come back to the new site? The information you want is buried so deep that it isn't worth the effort to find it. There is nothing on the home page that draws you in. It is a bore.

By the way Dwight, I have impression that your the person that created the Killington's award winning interactive trail map. It is the best of its type that I've ever seen. Last year it took them half the season to get it working, this year it is gone completely. It has always been the best thing on the entire site, and they obviously can't deal with it. Would you please fix it?

I know for a fact that they are very good with updating the lift/trail/snow info in season. I also know the website is the first thing they update, even before the social media. They in fact do it twice a day and also throughout the day as conditions change and trail open. I'd say as far a ski resorts go they are in the top 10%. Maybe all they really need is to timestamp it. As for the music, we tried, we had KillingtonLive and gave the all the places on the access road the ability to send us info or even update it themselves. You'd be surprised how hard it is to get people to help themselves.

Yes I did create the original interactive map , one of my more fun projects. I thought K's update last year was definitely a step forward. It was way more polished than what I had put together. However you should check out Copper's http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... /index.htm and then what are your thoughts on this? I had a webcam installed on the snow stake http://www.coppercolorado.com/the_mount ... wstake.htm No longer will anyone be able to second guess how much snow we received. As far as getting 10 webcams, the ones we use are roughly $1500 for the hardware and if you're streaming like K does bandwidth pushes the price much higher. Not to mention installation of power and internet. At a ski resort only so many places are feasible and you can only allocate so much of your budget to webcam bandwidth.

So I guess here's my question, how would you most like to receive your snow report info? Rank your top 3 if you need.

Great job on the Copper Interactive trail map! Will be hitting Copper for a day or 2 this season. Had a lot of fun there last season...