Q: How do you accumulate over 35 DAYS worth of website traffic in just 1 day? A: No need for a flux capacitor, you just need good content. (No fooling.) Adirondack Mountain Club shared Lake Placid ADK's blog link. There was a lot of online chatter about the Adirondacks yesterday. Perhaps some of you read one or all of the April Fools 2015 edition blog posts that the ROOST staff wrote and distributed in honor of this annual event. We (I) have written these typical hoax April 1 blog posts in the past - in news release format. This year, we added the annual holiday to our editorial list of topics and published one of the “fake” news releases on all seven of our current destination websites. They all went live at 8:00 a.m. on April 1. Like we do every week for our topical emails, we then distributed the links via the destination social media accounts, and then sent a mass email to our visitor database with links to all seven blogs. This works well to drive site traffic every week. THIS week, though, the content clearly resonated. The subjects varied but had one thing in common: controversy. ENGAGEMENT The great thing about social media is its potential for “viral” sharing and increased engagement with your content. Algorithms change and the percentage of your posts that your friends/fans actually see can be limited. With increased sharing, that potential news feed inclusion increases by some factor to which I’m not privvy or personally capable of calculating. The point is, when people read and share with their friends, and they share with THEIR friends, and so on, this results in (in this case) a lot of online discussion about the Adirondacks during one day. STATS Here’s where the 35 days comes in. Engagement on Facebook, specifically, was significant. For example, the blog “DOT and DEC Announce Joint Decision on Rails/Trail” on lakeplacid.com was distributed via the Lake Placid ADK Facebook page. That post garnered 30,700 impressions, 4,200 clicks, 352 likes/comments/shares. But wait! There’s more. Just ONE of those shares was from the Adirondack Mountain Club. They have 29,211 fans on their page. Their fans shared this link another 212 times. (They also shared the link to the “Visible border to define Adirondack boundary” blog, which garnered another 89 shares from their fans.) Not only did people comment on Facebook and on the blog posts themselves, but they actually clicked the link to the website, and spent significant time on the site READING the posts. That blog on lakeplacid.com had 10,539 views, 22 comments (engagement) and visitors spent an average of 5:24 minutes reading! Altogether, the seven websites welcomed site visitors who spent a cumulative 35+ days reading - all in one day. WHAT’S MY POINT? That’s a lot of engagement with our destinations. And a lot of chatter online ABOUT the Adirondacks. If you missed it, here are just a couple of comments from the blogs themselves: In the "Fooled" category (DOT & DEC Announce Joint Rails/Trails Decision): "Is this a joke??? why would we ever ruin the wildlife with trains??????? If people are too lazy and obese to see the high peaks then maybe they should go on a diet... i climbed all 46 high peaks and would be extremely disappointed if this is first real and if it becomes a reality" Thank god this was only an April Fool's joke! I was ready to hike up from Delaware to protest! You got me BIG time!!! Have a great day! Climbed on board: (DOT & DEC Announce Joint Rails/Trails Decision) "Come on, DEC, How much do we spend on rescues? I think we really need escalators on all the HIgh Peaks. Maybe Internet Cafes on some summits." (Wilmington Notch Toll Highway) "Well done!!! You got me hook line and sinker!!!" (Tree Tracking Grant Awarded to Hamilton County) "Think again. I'm from Waterford NJ where the police gained a little infamy clocking the trees going at 35 MPH. Of course the tickets were all thrown out when it turned out that the trees were actually in a 40 zone, not 25." (Visible Border to Define Adirondack Boundary) "Another great advantage of this plan: where the Park boundaries are water, as on Lake Champlain and Lake George, we will be able to look out on the lake and see a light show caused by the waves." If you didn’t read them yet, here are the links: DOT & DEC Announce Joint Rails/Trails Decision Senate Approves Drone Hunting in Park Region Wilmington Notch to Install Tolls $325,000 Tree Tracking Grant Awarded to Hamilton County Forts Reactivated: NY Tourism to Declare Civil War on Vermont Saranac Lake Attempts Summer Ice Palace Visible Border to Define Adirondack Boundary

Malone, N.Y. — This Saturday, April 4, will mark the end of the longest ski season that Titus Mountain Family Ski Center has had in its history of being Titus Mountain. The November 22, 2014 opening of Titus set a record for the earliest that the mountain started spinning their lifts and their final day of skiing this Saturday sets the record at 133 days from start to finish with over 100 days of skiing and riding in-between. “This year is unusual,” said Dene Savage, director of IT and communications at Titus. “Easter and spring break are early and coinciding with what really are excellent late-season conditions. I don’t ever remember being faced with that conundrum.” Since 1980, when Titus Mountain came to be after the purchase of Moon Valley, the mountain has normally shut lifts down at the end of March. “Thirty-five years later and the lifts are finally spinning into April,” Savage continued. To commemorate the 35 year mark, Titus will be offering Saturday lift tickets for $35 as well as offering Canadian at par for lift ticket purchases. More information on the mountain, its history, and this weekend’s trails and conditions can be found at www.TitusMountain.com or their Facebook page. ### About Titus Mountain Family Ski Center Titus Mountain is a locally owned and operated Family Ski Center nestled in the Foothills of the Adirondacks. With 3 interconnected mountains, 36 trails, 11 glades, 3 terrain parks, and a tubing park, Titus Mountain has trail for trail, glade for glade, the best skiing value around. Open 7 days a week and night skiing available 3 nights a week, Titus Mountain has the longest ski day in New York. On Mountain services include 2 lodges, multiple dining areas, mountain rentals, ski and snowboard tuning, and an IBC ski store. CONTACT: Brittany Taylor, Director of Marketing 215 Johnson Road | Malone, NY 12953 Phone: 518-483-3740 | Fax: 518-483-2031 Email: Brittany@TitusMountain.com

Our destinations in the media Travel writer Steve Bergsman, who ROOST hosted in Lake Placid and Inlet in February, recounts the Lake Placid portion of his trip in the East Valley Tribune, based in Tempe, Arizona. He mentions the great meals he got at local restaurants The Breakfast Club Inc., Smoke Signals and Lisa G's, and he discusses the variety of experiences visitors can have in Lake Placid in the winter. READ THE ARTICLE

Lake Placid, N.Y. - The Lake Placid North Elba National Volunteer Week Committee is pleased to announce the selection of both Adult and Youth Distinguished Volunteers of the Year for 2015. Bill Billerman, of Lake Placid, is the 2015 adult volunteer. The youth volunteer is Nina Armstrong, a senior at Lake Placid Central School. With an impressive list of leadership roles, Bill Billerman has dedicated countless hours of service to his community over almost three decades. In the late 1980s, Billerman facilitated an effort called Project Playground, and served on the planning committee for the community effort called Solutions Through Elba-Placid Planning Study (STEPPS). He served on the Lake Placid Village Planning Board from 1992-2000, and as chairman from 1995-2000. He was chairman of the Comprehensive Planning Committee from 1994-1997, and acting Chairman from 1997-2000. He was an instrumental member of the Lake Placid/North Elba Joint Review Board and Land Use Code Update, between 2001 and 2009, serving as chairman in 2001-02. Billerman is the Founding member and current Chairman of the Mirror Lake Watershed Association, established in 1997 to further the enhancement and protection of the ecology and beauty of Mirror Lake, its shores and watershed. He is also the founder and current chairman of the Songs At Mirror Lake concert series, and personally spearheaded the Paul White Memorial Bandshell Fundraising Committee project to upgrade the performance space for that concert series and other special events throughout the year. Lake Placid High School students are required to complete 40 hours of community service between sixth grade and high school graduation. Nina Armstrong is an exemplary model of volunteering and community service. Nina Armstrong has volunteered nearly 180 hours in community service for a variety of causes during her school years. The impressive list of organizations and events she’s participated in as a volunteer include Ironman Lake Placid, Lake Placid Marathon, Teddy Bear Picnic, Lake Placid Village Cleanup Day, Lake Placid Ski Club, Relay for Life, St. Agnes School benefit events, New York Ski Education Foundation events, Lake Placid Half Marathon, Lake Placid Ski Club Classic Car Show, Empire State Winter Games, Lake Placid/Wilmington Connecting Youth and Communities Coalition Youth Leadership and the Ecumenical Charities Food Pantry. Nina has volunteered for multiple years for most of these events. She plans to major in biology at Harvard University after graduating from Lake Placid Central School this coming June as valedictorian of the class of 2015. The committee encourages all to join them to celebrate these outstanding residents of North Elba who have given so much of their time in selfless service to the community. All are invited attend to a tree planting to honor all community volunteers immediately followed by a reception to honor the Distinguished Volunteers of the Year at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. The event is free to all and will include refreshments, beer, wine, spirits, and tastings from area food establishments. ###

ROOST in the news WAMC public radio previews Local Government Review Day, including an interview in which ROOST CEO James McKenna talks about trends in tourism marketing. READ/LISTEN TO THE ARTICLE