Ironman and Star Trek - this week's ROOST News has it all!

In the coming weeks, ROOST will start creating and promoting ‘Lake Placid Packages' through the new Inntopia booking system on lakeplacid.com. These packages will bundle a stay in Lake Placid with value-added attractions/activities that are also available a la carte on the system. Once the packages are created, ROOST will be implementing paid promotional campaigns that feature select packages on the system based on appropriate niche target markets. ROOST will only be able to package lodging and activities that are currently available in the system and will be contacting these lodging and activity providers with more information shortly. If you own a lake placid based business or lodging property and are not currently in our booking system, contact adsales@roostadk.com for more information. Don't miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of this new sales channel and the opportunity to be included in a Lake Placid Package!

Ed Finnerty, the vice chairman of the ROOST Board of Directors, has been on the board for seven years in his current stint, but his involvement with the organization goes back decades. It’s hard to get Ed to talk about himself. He’s definitely not interested in self promotion. But he’s very willing to talk about his involvement with ROOST and all the organization has done over the years. Ed first got involved with ROOST back when it was the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce. He was on that board in the 1980s, when the organization acted as both a chamber and a visitors bureau. When someone reached out to him to see if he wanted to join the board once more in 2009, he was pleased to get involved again. He sees ROOST as an important organization throughout the region, not just in Lake Placid, as it has the ability to promote the brand of the entire Adirondack region rather than every community and organization attempting to do its own promotion. Since the economic impact of tourism on the North Country economy is huge, it’s important to have a strong organization like ROOST focused on tourism promotion efforts in a unified way. He also believes that ROOST has the power, more so than any other organization in the region, to work with municipalities and organizations throughout the area to stage large-scale events like Ironman Lake Placid and the Empire State Winter Games. He sees ROOST’s strengths only growing now and in the future. But he says the most important challenge the organization faces moving forward is keeping all the various municipalities and other interests of the region working together for the greater good. “I think it’s crucial that this collaborative effort continue,” Ed said. It’s also important that the counties continue to support occupancy tax legislation and the collection of it, because it’s essential to funding these marketing efforts. Ed is uniquely positioned to see the influence of ROOST throughout the greater region, as he travels throughout the region regularly in his position as general counsel and vice president of Champlain National Bank. He regularly bounces between branches in places like Lake Placid, Elizabethtown, Willsboro, and Plattsburgh — the time he spends traveling around the region may even rival that of ROOST CEO James McKenna. For the record, Ed grew up in Rochester and went to college there before heading to law school in Albany. He moved to Lake Placid in 1978 to be a part of the organizing committee for the 1980 Olympics. He got married while here, and he and his wife decided that Lake Placid was the best place for them to live, and they’ve been enjoying it ever since. Ed loves the multitude of outdoor recreation options around here. He was one of the people who helped start the New York State Ski Educational Foundation Nordic program in the area, and he has served as a board member of the U.S. Ski Team, so much of his free time over the past 35 years was helping to make sure that the region’s young people would have a chance to learn winter sports.

ROOST staffers Ashley Andrews and Kerry Blinn had an educational and exciting experience at Destination Marketing Association International's annual conference last week in Minneapolis. The conference began Monday, Aug. 1, and ran through Wednesday, Aug. 3. It included a variety of interesting speakers, workshops, and opportunities to meet people from other destination marketing organizations throughout the country. Ashley, ROOST’s conference sales and service manager, was officially introduced at the conference as one of DMAI’s 30 Under 30, a prestigious program that identifies and provides opportunities for young professionals in the destination marketing field. Ashley said that being recognized as part of that program was one of the highlights of the conference for her. She was the first to be called onstage, since the announcement was done in alphabetical order, which was both exciting and nerve-racking. She got to do a lot of great networking with her 30 Under 30 peers throughout the conference. She thought the various keynote speakers at the conference were great, including the closing one with Andrew Zimmern on the transformative power of travel, and one by digital marketing guru Jay Baer, who encouraged sales and marketing teams to work together. This gave her some great ideas about how ROOST can tighten up the relationship between its sales and marketing teams to get better results for both. Other key points she took away from the experience: • Sales must embrace social media - leads are more likely to close when utilizing social media • Sales people who use social media are more likely to out sell their peers who don't. • There's still a divide with salespeople on if they use their personal Facebook pages to connect with clients. • I also took away reasons why a Meeting Planner needs a DMO - we are a one stop shop, have expertise in the area, communicate with the hotels, one point of contact, offer site tours & exclusive experiences and have connection with venues. For Ashley, who spends her days planning conferences but isn’t used to attending them, the event was a huge learning experience just by seeing how the conference was run and what idea she could pull from its organizers. Kerry, destination master planning coordinator and administrative assistant to ROOST’s CEO, was excited about a few sessions that had a lot of information about planning — one about tourism master planning and one about strategic planning. She got some great ideas from those workshops that she expects to put into practice as she tours the region with CEO James McKenna working on destination master planning. Kerry spent a ton of time networking at the conference. She attended a session about events as a demand driver, and at it she talked with a man who is on the committee for site selection for the Gay Games, similar to to the Olympics but with an LGBT focus. She also talked with a woman from a county CVB in Maryland who was having trouble with marketing her entire county as a whole. The woman was intrigued by the way ROOST markets its various regions within its counties by highlighting the various differentiating characteristics of each area, and she told Kerry she would contact her to use that as a model for her restructuring efforts. Kerry also spent a lot of time talking to the crew from Visit Syracuse, and she learned that they keep their eyes on innovative DMOs in the area and counts ROOST among those. Both Kerry and Ashley said it was a highlight of the conference to visit the new U.S. Bank Stadium during the conference’s opening celebration. The stadium is the new home for the Minnesota Vikings professional football team, and the DMAI event there was the first private event in the building — Ashley said it even smelled new. A drum line welcomed the group to the new stadium. [gallery size="medium" ids="19304,19305,19306,19307,19308,19309,19310,19311,19312,19313,19314,19315,19316,19318,19319,19320,19322,19323,19324,19325,19326,19327,19328,19329,19330,19331,19332,19333,19336,19338,19340,19341,19342,19343,19344,19345,19346,19347,19348,19350,19351,19352,19354,19355,19357"]

ROOST staffers have enjoyed the company of three wonderful interns this summer. The interns have added a lot to the office, and we hope they've learned plenty from their experience here! Emilee Hazelden 23, graduated from SUNY Potsdam in December 2015 with a BFA in Digital Design and New Media From Bloomingdale, went to Saranac Lake High School and Northwood School What did you do at ROOST? Assisted Designer Dan Cash with design work. Created web banner ads, Tupper Lake Recreation Guide, Adventure Outdoors Magazine Ad, Brand Bigfoot Festival and Essex Initiatives logo, several info-graphics, maps, blogs and posters. I've been able to take part in staff meetings and give/receive input and feedback. What did you learn from your time here? I've really enjoyed the opportunity to become part of the team here at ROOST. Everyone is very supportive of one another and positive. It is great to be able to work and collaborate with a team to reach objectives and goals. I've learned a lot about how to market events and tourist destinations, particularly the regions ROOST is responsible for. Looking forward, ROOST has certainly given me the confidence and resources to further my career path. Emilee, left, and Billy, right William Bellos 22, entering his junior year at Rochester Institute of Technology, studying New Media Design From Lake Placid What did you do at ROOST? I worked with Director of Marketing Jasen Lawrence and Web Developers John Huttlinger and Zach Lacourse to create and update a few pages on adkdata, and developed a virtual reality application to show off some 360-degree photos of the region. What did you learn from your time here? I hope the experience I gained in PHP and working with the Oculus Rift will help me out in the job market. Connor Manning 22, graduated from St. Bonaventure University in May 2016 with a BA in Sociology, now seeking an MA in Integrated Marketing Communications From Upper Jay What did you do at ROOST? After ROOST destination sites recently moved to a new reservation software platform through Inntopia, I was presented with the opportunity to work closely with the Advertising Sales and Service Manager in efforts to promote the new booking platform. Duties included organizing and attending meetings with various lodging sites and local businesses to setup and review the new software. I helped the suppliers upload company and product information as well as assist them in managing their inventory on their destination site through Inntopia. What did you learn from your time here? How to communicate effectively with business professionals. I developed a general understanding of how to operate and manage reservation software platforms. I am seeking a career in advertising and or real-estate with hopes of starting my own business down the road, so the knowledge and experience I’ve gained in my time here at ROOST has helped me a great deal.