This spring, ROOST launched a new booking engine on lakeplacid.com. The engine is now on whitefaceregion.com, soon to be saranaclake.com, and will continue to roll out across all of ROOST's destination websites. The engine utilizes a robust third-party software called Inntopia, which is used to facilitate vacation reservations by many destinations worldwide. But it's probably completely wrong for your business, and here are eight reasons why: 1. It’s for CHEAPSKATES. At only a 5 percent commission on sales and no setup fee or monthly subscription, an account with ROOST doesn’t cost anything unless there’s a booking. So if you prefer to spend a lot more money to do business, ROOST’s booking engine isn’t for you. 2. It funds local marketing efforts. Two and a half percent of your commission goes back into ROOST's marketing efforts to make sure the world knows about the Adirondacks! If you are against sustainable tourism for the benefit of those of us who live here, ROOST’s booking engine isn’t for you. Don't want ANY of these people to know about you! 3. It promotes local business. Unlike most traditional booking sites, ROOST's websites are focused on selling the whole destination. Offering your property or your services as part of the entire destination experience adds visibility for you while supporting the promotion of the whole destination collectively. Elevated awareness about the destination = more traveler interest in the destination = more bookings! If you don’t want more business, ROOST's booking engine probably isn't for you! 4. It works for visitors. Inntopia provides a streamlined and well-designed booking experience for visitors, allowing them to plan and pay for their entire destination itinerary all in one place. If you’d rather make the traveler work hard to make their vacation plans, this booking engine isn’t for you. Definitely don't want to outfit these guys for their next adventure. 5. It works for all types of businesses. Bookings are not only for lodging properties anymore! Inntopia specializes in offering avenues for booking far beyond just lodging. Whether you sell admission tickets, guided trips, rentals, spa treatments, or another service entirely, ROOST’s booking engine will likely work for you. But if you’d rather not be visible to the people looking to add these experiences to their itinerary, you definitely don’t want your products and services to be offered on this booking engine. 6. It brings packaging and promotions to a whole new level. Lodging properties or activity/rental based businesses can offer to partner with each other to offer a packaged product/experience. But each business gets to collect their payments and gets the visitor info independently. Honestly, we couldn't come up with a reason you wouldn't like this one. 7. It pairs well with existing ROOST opportunities. The booking system is designed to work seamlessly with the photo listings currently offered to local businesses on the destination websites. The "book now" button now incorporated into the photo listing strengthens both the value of the listing and the visibility of the booking system. Those wishing to have their businesses left alone without any pesky visitors bothering them should only have a text listing — none of that fancy photo stuff. If you want to keep unpleasant visitors like these away from your business, don't sign up for ROOST's new booking engine. 8. It’s the future of online travel planning. Combined booking of lodging and activities all in one place is the next great frontier of travel planning services. You’ll see a few large companies already offering this service, and ROOST is at the leading edge of this promotional strategy. If you still use a chisel and stone to send messages, this booking engine might not be for you. It’s up to you, but if you insist on using the latest technology that’s user-friendly, inexpensive and will increase the visibility of your business, go ahead and contact Glenn Pareira to set it up. But don’t blame us if you get a whole bunch of reservations. You can contact Advertising and Sales at 518-523-2445 or adsales@roostadk.com.

At one time in her life, Melinda Little thought she would retire to the Adirondacks. But for the last 21 years, she has lived here full time and you could hardly call her retired. Melinda grew up on Long Island, then earned a bachelor’s degree in Art History from Wellesley College and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. She worked in the nonprofit theater world for some time then, when she got the chance to work on a few feasibility studies, she grew interested in marketing. Nowadays, she calls herself a serial entrepreneur. She has run a handful of her own businesses, and she was integral to the creation of Saranac Lake’s Community Store, writing the business plan and serving as president of the operation since the organization started raising money. The store, which is owned by members of the community who bought shares in it, has seen interest wane a tad since the huge burst of initial excitement when it opened and saw tons of national publicity. Sales continue to grow, though there’s a continued challenge to get new feet in the door. But Melinda and her colleagues hope to generate excitement about the Community Store once again with the fifth anniversary of its opening this fall. She also in recent years started as coordinator for Point Positive, an angel investor group that seeks to invest in early stage and startup companies. The group holds two live pitch sessions each year to vet potential companies to work with, and though the group is now a few years old, interest has not dropped off; instead, it has continued to grow. She said she loves being involved with Point Positive. She loves being involved in entrepreneurial pursuits, but she doesn’t have the fire in her belly to start her own, so it’s great to get the chance to be involved in helping get new businesses off the ground. “It’s right up my alley,” she said. Melinda also serves and has served on a variety of local boards. Some of her most impactful work has been with the Pendragon Theatre board, which she has been involved with on and off since the 1980s, and the Tri-Lakes Humane Society, which she has been on the board of since 2006. She got involved in the ROOST board three years ago when local politician Barb Rice asked her to represent the Saranac Lake area on it. Now she’s one of two representatives from Saranac Lake; Origin Coffee Co. owner Jecinda Hughes joined the board this year. Melinda was surprised to learn when she joined the board how much of an impact ROOST has in terms of marketing a diverse but cohesive identity for the region. She loves that her involvement with ROOST gives her a good vantage point for knowing what’s going on throughout the Adirondacks. She knows it’s always a challenge to maintain relationships with the various entities that ROOST has contracts with, so one of her biggest goals is to do anything she can to support keeping those relationships strong and creative.

Lake Placid, adirondacks, usa – IRONMAN Lake Placid is only weeks away, but officials have announced that volunteer opportunities are still available, including those for local non-profit charities to qualify for Ironman Foundation Grants. With a combination of multiple athlete pre-race visits and the activity during the days surrounding the race, the Ironman Lake Placid event drives approximately $10 million in direct economic impact to the region on an annual basis. The race welcomes over 2,500 athletes who are supported by over 3,000 volunteers, and 2/3 of those volunteers have traditionally been from outside of the Adirondack region. In addition to visiting volunteers, the region enjoys a tremendous resident volunteer base for Ironman and a long list of other events, committees and organizations. “For many, Ironman provides the opportunity to participate in an emotionally-charged, fast-paced, feel-good event that is so important to their beloved Lake Placid and the Adirondacks,” said Sue Cameron, Ironman Volunteer Director and Events Manager for the Lake Placid-based Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism. “As a bonus, some nonprofit groups enjoy the chance to both spend time volunteering together at the race while simultaneously raising money for their respective charities courtesy of the IRONMAN Foundation.” The IRONMAN Foundation was established in 2003 as a way to leave a legacy behind in communities where IRONMAN events take place. Since its inception, the IRONMAN Foundation has given over $1.4 million to support community funds in the Lake Placid region, and grant applications are welcome from qualified organizations from throughout the Northeast. Each year, the IRONMAN Foundation accepts grant applications from nonprofit groups with a volunteerism component from all of their U.S. race communities. Since 2003, the Foundation has supported a variety of Adirondack community efforts at various levels, such as awarding a grant to purchase an off-road ATV for the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department, and refurbishing the tennis courts in Lake Placid. The Foundation has also funded the Uihlein IRONMAN Sports Fund with more than $125,000 to distribute locally. “Typically, nonprofit applicant groups select one volunteer ‘station’ for their group to manage or to provide a contingent of volunteers for during the race,” added Cameron. “There are still some fun volunteer assignments available this year for both individuals and groups!” This year’s Ironman Lake Placid event will take place on July 24, 2016. Nonprofit organization representatives interested in applying for Ironman Foundation grants should contact Sue Cameron at sue@roostadk.com for more information. Individuals interested in volunteering for this year’s Ironman Lake Placid can sign up for available positions online at: www.lakeplacid.com/ironman-volunteer ###

SCHROON LAKE — Seagle Music Colony will hold a ground-breaking ceremony to kick off construction of a new nine bedroom faculty and staff housing unit on its Schroon Lake campus. The ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 14, at 999 Charley Hill Road. The new housing unit is part of the first phase of an overall campus improvement plan at Seagle Music Colony that will eventually restore or replace many of the aging structures used by the Colony during its now 101 year history. The housing unit construction has been partially funded by a grant from the New York State Regional Economic Development Council. New York State Senator Betty Little as well as Assemblyman Dan Stec will be present at the ground-breaking as representatives of the state. The project has also gained additional support from the Charles R. Wood Foundation. The remainder of the construction costs will be funded by individual supporters of the not-for-profit Seagle Music Colony. “This summer we had to retire one of our old cabins that had served beyond its useful lifetime,” said Seagle Music Colony General Director Tony Kostecki. "We have our faculty and staff tucked into every available space now and are literally busting at the seams when it comes to available beds on campus. This new building will not only accommodate our current housing needs, but serve us well into the future as we continue to grow our world-renowned program.” A full campus revitalization plan is currently being formalized by the Seagle Music Colony administration and Board of Directors that will serve the Colony in its next 100 years. The plan will include additional new housing for artists and staff, a dining and gathering hall with a commercial kitchen, improvements to the grounds and pathways as well as a new state-of-the-art theater to supplement the existing Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater. “We are formulating an 8 to 10 year strategic plan to try to implement all these improvements and are excited about the future, though we have a long way to go and a lot of money to raise to make our vision a reality”, says Kostecki. The mission of Seagle Music Colony is to identify, train and develop gifted singers and to present quality opera and musical theatre performances to the public. More information about Seagle Music Colony, including a full listing of its summer events and performances, can be found online at seaglecolony.org.

ROOST board member Laura O’Brien and her husband Matt have taken on one of the most challenging jobs in the area — running a small family ski slope and making it profitable. But they’ve made huge strides in diversifying their options at Oak Mountain in Speculator, and hopefully they will be there for many years to come. Laura is originally from New Hampshire, and she earned a fine arts degree at Montana State University in Bozeman, then she earned a graduate degree from the University of Nebraska. She and Matt met while working at Sugarbush Resort in Vermont, then they started running a camp store at Moffitt Beach in the summers while working ski slopes in Park City, Utah, in the winters. At the time, they didn’t even realize there was a ski slope in Speculator. But after a few years, the mayor of Speculator, aware of their background in working at ski resorts in both the west and the east, approached them to run Oak Mountain Ski Center. And they quickly fell in love with it. The village couldn’t afford to keep them on after some time, so they moved on to Maine’s Sunday River, but then the Hamilton County Industrial Development Agency approached them to see if they wanted to bid on the ski slope. After a year-long process of submitting various operational plans, budgets, and other documents, the O’Briens were the owners of Oak Mountain Ski Center. “It’s just been a blast,” Laura said. Over the last few years, they have grown skier visits by nearly 90 percent, from 8,000 when they were running the center for the village to 15,000 in their best season. (The most recent ski season was far from their best, but it wasn’t just Oak — it was a trend seen throughout ski slopes in the U.S. Laura is confident the coming winter will be awesome, though!) Laura and Matt have expanded snowmaking and put some oomph into the ski center’s marketing efforts, trying to focus in on who their customers are and reach out to that segment of the popular better to help build their customer base. They have also focused on improving the experience in their lodges, doing renovations, painting, and making things look better. The lodge now also includes the Acorn Pub and Eatery, a restaurant with delicious eats cooked up by Chef Lou Petrozza, who was a season 4 finalist on Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen TV show. “People just love him, and of course they love his food, because it’s amazing,” Laura said. Oak also recently took over ski rentals, now offering brand new Rossignol skis. The O’Briens have also taken efforts to expand their summer offerings, trying out a disc golf course and downhill mountain biking trails. The idea is to make sure there’s something for everyone, no matter what time of year a family visits Oak. They also tried mini golf under a tent, but there wasn’t much interest in that. Laura said they like to try things here and there to see what sticks, and if it sticks, like mountain biking has, they will expand it. If it doesn’t, well, the mini-golf course is currently for sale. When they’re not working on their business, Laura loves to spend time with Matt and their daughter and son, and their black lab. Laura loves the outdoors and can often be found hiking, paddleboarding, snowboarding, skiing, and otherwise exploring the woods and waters of the Adirondacks. Laura has also been involved in efforts to improve Speculator and the surrounding area, and she helped with a destination planning co mmittee ROOST facilitated. Last year, she was offered a seat on the ROOST board, and she said, “Heck yeah, whatever I can do to help out this area and make us more well known is great.” She notes that the small businesses of Hamilton County have seen significant impacts from ROOST’s marketing efforts already, and she hopes ROOST will continue to grow its efforts to bring more awareness and tourism to the area. For more information about Oak Mountain, like them on Facebook or visit their website.