Two ROOST bloggers recently gave part of a lecture on topics they originally blogged about for ROOST. ROOST Communications and Public Relations Coordinator Jess Collier and freelance blogger Noelle Short both talked about Fierce and Forever Wild Adirondack Women Sunday, March 13, in the Adirondack Museum's Cabin Fever Lecture Series. The idea for the lecture topic was in part drawn from one of ROOST's weekly emails about Badass Adirondack Women. Collier told the story of Anna Newman, who was one of the original settlers of the Uihlein Foundation's Heaven Hill Farm and was once referred to as the "strangest Adirondack woman." Short talked about two contemporary Tupper Lake women, Anne Fleck and Amy Farrell. Fleck is an entrepreneur and adventurer who co-owns Raquette River Outfitters, and Farrell is a local teacher who won the women's division of last year's Lake Placid Ironman. They were joined by other fierce Adirondack women Sandra Weber, Lorraine Duvall, and Niki Kourofsky. Here's a video of the presentation, for all who missed it. The Adirondack Museum's Cabin Fever Lecture Series is quite popular, and attendees should show up early so as not to get shut out. One lecture remains this season, and it will feature Amy Catania and Mary Hotaling discussing Saranac Lake's history with tuberculosis.

Members of the Franklin County Tourism Advisory Committee held a meeting last week at the Paul Smith's VIC, which included discussions with ROOST. ROOST CEO James McKenna gave a report. He spoke about the success of the Adirondack Destination Marketing Summit, occupancy percentages in Essex County to compare to Franklin County, how ROOST relates to the village and town of Malone, transportation in the region, and an upcoming event. He also reviewed some marketing statistics provided by ROOST Director of Marketing Jasen Lawrence. The meeting was called to order by TAC Chairman Brian McDonnell. The TAC also discussed the organization of the TAC as a committee, how the TAC relates to the Franklin County Legislature and ROOST, TAC's role and ROOST's role at TAC meetings. They welcomed Jake Kipping, assistant general manager at the Point resort, as a new TAC member, spoke about events around Franklin County, and discussed the possibility of TAC hosting a mixer. Pictured above are, from left, ROOST CEO James McKenna; Carl Sherwin, Franklin County legislator; Brian McDonnell, chairman of the Franklin County TAC; and TAC members Jake Kipping, Gil Paddock, Rick Donah and Emily Lauzon. TAC members who couldn't make the meeting are Chris LaBarge, Derek Sprague, Stephanie Ratcliffe and Bruce Monette.

Starting April 26, destination sites managed by ROOST will move to a new reservation software platform through Inntopia. We at ROOST are very excited for this change as it will provide third-party property management systems integration, a better mobile experience, and a much-needed upgrade in many other areas. The rollout will start with lakeplacid.com in April, and continue to other destination sites in the following months. Inntopia is a company that provides reservation technology and services to destination marketing organizations like ROOST as well as ski resorts, vacation resorts, golf courses, attraction parks, tour operators, and lodging, activity, event, and transportation suppliers. They are based out of Stowe, Vermont and have accounts across the country and world using their platform. Inntopia offers integrations with a variety of existing property management systems, meaning that some lodging properties will be able to push their room availability directly to their destination site through Inntopia. For those properties that are not able to make a connection, Inntopia offers an extremely versatile interface for suppliers to upload and manage their inventory on their destination site through Inntopia. A complete booking experience Perhaps the most exciting new functionality with the Inntopia system will be the ability for non-lodging businesses to sell their products and services independently of a lodging property. Breaking away from the lodging-exclusive model of booking will give all the destination websites managed by ROOST a previously unavailable level of versatility. For example, with Inntopia, a visitor could plan their entire trip with a three-night lodging stay, canoe rental, tickets to a museum, motor boat tour, and passes to the latest show at the local theater. The outfitter, museum, boat rental, and theater will all have independent control over their offerings and payment for their products through Inntopia. Booking is not just for lodging properties anymore! All at a MUCH lower cost It is recommended businesses that choose to use Inntopia have a photo listing on their destination website, but in most cases there is no monthly fee or startup cost from ROOST or Inntopia to use their system. Fees will be assessed as a 5% commission on any rooms or products sold through the system. How can your business take advantage of Inntopia? Lodging properties or other businesses that would like to be set up in Inntopia need to contact Glenn Pareira at glenn@roostadk.com or 518-874-0255 as soon as possible. Have questions? Want to be kept up to date when Inntopia comes to your destination site? Contact Glenn Pareira at glenn@roostadk.com or 518-874-0255. For lodging properties, you can view a slightly more in-depth introduction to Inntopia here: Inntopia is Coming.

Legislative reception tonight, a new booking platform and spring renewals! Read this week's ROOST news:

Lake Placid, NY – The nation’s best fly anglers will be returning to Lake Placid, Wilmington, Saranac Lake, Redford and Malone, NY June 1st – 4th, 2016 for the U.S. National Fly Fishing Championships, and organizers are looking for volunteers to assist anglers over the 3 day catch-and-release competition. “The event relies on volunteers to record the size and species of every fish caught, and is a great opportunity for avid fishermen to learn from these top anglers and share local ‘intel’, too,” said Ken Crane, event and volunteer organizer. “Anglers will be fishing on the Ausable, Saranac and Salmon Rivers while wading, and Mirror Lake and Lake Colby from boats. No experience is required other than a love of the outdoors!” For those who have never seen a Fly Fishing Competition before, there will be 12 anglers separated by 200 meters spread across roughly 2 miles of stream or in a boat with full access to the lake. That location is their “beat” and the angler may only fish in this section. This ensures no crowding between competitors and the recreational anglers. Sessions will run 9am – 12pm and 3pm – 6pm Thursday - Friday June 3rd and 4th. One session will take place 9am – 12pm on Saturday, June 4th followed by the closing ceremony that night from 6pm – 10pm. Lunches are provided each day. Volunteers may help for 1, 2, 3, 4 or all 5 sessions as their schedule permits. Volunteers will receive an event hat, t-shirt and pin along with a chance to win some of the amazing gear from event supporters like Sage, Umpqua and RIO. In addition, volunteers are invited to the awards ceremony and dinner Saturday evening to culminate the great event. For more information on the event and volunteer opportunities please visit http://www.usffc2016.com or contact Ken Crane at kcrane377@gmail.com or 315-725-7392. -- Fly Fishing Team USA (“FFTUSA”) wishes to extend its gratitude to the Ausable River Two Fly Shop in Wilmington for their support of this event. The mission of FFTUSA is to educate and train men and women in the sport of competitive fly fishing on both national and international levels and to promote, and educate its members in, the conservation of our fisheries, lakes, rivers and streams. For more information on FFTUSA please visit http://www.flyfishingteamusa.com