July 24, 2005 – The annual USSA Partners Summit, a two-day meeting of U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association sponsors, licensees, athlete representatives and event organizers leading into the Olympic season, drew high marks from participants for cross-pollination, marketing and promotional programs, a chance to meet with athletes, and the inaugural “8,000-foot Corporate Olympics.”

The sessions at The Canyons resort – with the fun competitions taking place up on Red Pine Peak – drew a record gathering of nearly 100 participants. USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt was the opening speaker with other presentations from USSA top executives (Ted Morris, vice president of sales and marketing, athletic VP Alan Ashley and Tom Kelly, vice president or marketing communications) as well as Peter Diamond, senior VP of programming for NBC Olympics, and Outdoor Life Network’s Victoria Quoss and Mike Long. NBC and its affiliates, including MSNBC and CNBC, will televise the Olympics Feb. 10-26 from Torino, Italy, while OLN, Quoss and Long said, will have skiing every Sunday 4-6 p.m. ET this winter.

In addition, snowboardcross world champion Seth Wescott (Farmington, ME) and alpine downhiller Bryon Friedman (Park City, UT) thanked attendees for their support of the athletes as they discussed life on the World Cup tour. Friedman, who plays guitar and writes songs in his free time, also sang three of his own songs.

“I think we learn each year how to make it better…and this was the best Summit yet,” Morris said. “It’s a good start for the Olympic winter.”

The Summit began with a reception by Newsweek magazine, which produces a USSA special section each November to spotlight USSA teams, athletes and programs. Wednesday included a half-day program of speakers, a high-energy breakout session discussing promotional ideas and the afternoon “corporate Olympics” with an awards dinner that night. Some partners scheduled their own one-on-one meetings for Thursday.

Andy Wirth, vice president of sales and marketing for American Skiing Co. at Steamboat (CO) and The Canyons, agreed. “There was no single ‘Ah, ha!’ moment but it was a series of really good, informative pieces. Put ’em all together and it was just so good.”

Many USSA partners also are partners with Steamboat and The Canyons, he said. “It’s great that USSA sees resorts as partners, not just sites for events. Many sponsors – Sprint, Nature Valley, and so on – are also our partners, and so it is a great opportunity to visit with friends and partners, to see how Steamboat and the Canyons, and our company and the Ski Team can work together,” Wirth said.

“I found it one way to take care of a great deal, a very efficient use of our time.”

Bridget McCarville, national advertising and sales promotion manager for Chevrolet, added, “It was a fabulous meeting. Chevrolet is America’s brand and being able to sponsor the U.S. Ski Team and U.S. Snowboarding is a perfect match for us…

“I have three key take-aways: First, I got to really network this great community of sponsors of USSA and put names with faces. That’s vital,” she said, as she fanned a stack of business cards from other partners. “I’ve been making the most of this opportunity.

“Second, this was a precursor to a pretty big Olympic season that we’re walking into, and I got some thoughts on how to activate and leverage what everyone’s doing, and third – and this is pretty rare anymore – I think we all got the feeling we’re part of a great event for the United States, and really doing something for a lot of people.”

Rick Rundall, publisher of Ski Racing magazine, said the opportunity to network with other USSA partners is invaluable. “There may have been more buzz [than in previous meetings] because of the Ski Team’s success, but – even though I saw a lot of new faces – the overall attitude is still very high and everyone’s still very committed to the team, to the athletes.

“This was a great opportunity for those of us who are very passionate about these sports but not necessarily in the same business to get together and talk over different ideas.” He and Associate Publisher Andy Hawk had numerous meetings with not only USSA officials but advertisers and potential advertisers “to see what their needs are in this Olympic season.”

Jim Goff, events director for the Olympic Regional Development Authority in Lake Placid, echoed Wirth. “From a sites standpoint, it’s so good to be understanding better how all the USSA sponsors work into the mix – and what they’re expecting. It was very positive again,” Goff said. “We never have an opportunity, other than this partners meeting, to interface with the partners. They come and go but we so often don’t have that interfacing so we can learn what everyone’s looking for at events.”

One key thing he liked, Goff said, was what seemed to be more apparent this year among other attendees, i.e. the interdependence of each element. “It’s not rocket science and we can all do this together – together being the key word. Sponsors, sites, athletes and teams – take away one of those ingredients and all of these events go away,” he said.