ROOST and ORDA is coordinating with Lake Placid business owners to organize community involvement during the Skate America event November 24-26. To date, 2,500 tickets have been sold for this three-day Grand Prix exhibition skating competition held at the Olympic Center. ROOST’s Lake Placid/Whiteface Region Marketing Manager, Catherine Ericson, is contacting Lake Placid business owners who want to help welcome the athletes and crowds and support the event. To date, 25 businesses have signed on to "adopt an athlete," decorate the fronts of their businesses, offer drink specials, and stay open later in the evening to accommodate those who may want to eat after the events finish in the evening. ROOST will be creating maps including participating businesses that will be given to hotel guests at check-in. For information on how you can get involved, contact Catherine at catherine@roostadk.com or by calling 518-621-3656. What is Skate America? The 2017 Skate America will feature three days of competition in ladies, men, pairs an ice dance. The field of competitors will include 60 world-class athletes, including Olympic and World competitors and national champions. On Sunday, the Smucker’s Skating Spectacular, an exhibition of champions, medalist and invited guests, will be the feature event. Skate America expects 3,500 people will attend this final event. The full schedule can be found on LakePlacid.com.

October 30, 2017 Recently, local leaders met with representatives from Special Olympics World Winter Games at the ROOST Lake Placid office to discuss potentially hosting the event in our region, and what host year would be appropriate should it be pursued. The meeting also included Lake Placid resident John Piestrzynski, a cross-country silver medalist, who shared his experience from the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria. The preliminary visit included a brief tour of area winter sports venues. The Special Olympics World Winter Games is the largest sports organization for adults and children with intellectual disabilities. The organization provides sport opportunity, competition, and training for athletes year round. The most recent Special Olympic World Winter Games were held in Austria in 2017. Official winter sports for the Special Olympics include: alpine skiing, short track speed skating, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, snowshoeing, floorball, and floor hockey. Other non-sport events would include Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony, awards ceremonies, and torch runs. The last time the Special Olympic World Winter Games were held in the United States was in 2009, in Boise. Left to right: Jay Rand, former Olympian; Anne Marie Nightingale, Special Olympics; Jeff Bryne, ORDA; Kim Widdess, Special Olympics; Lou Lauria, Special Olympics; John Piestrzynski, Special Olympics athete; Craig Randall, mayor of Lake Placid; Jim McKenna, CEO of ROOST.

Nov. 1, 2017 Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) representatives provided a destination marketing program status report to Saranac Lake area residents and officials last Thursday evening, Oct. 26. at the ROOST Saranac Lake office. The two hour event spurred many great questions from audience members about ROOST's scope of work and marketing strategies. The presentation included our scope of work, a snapshot of marketing results to date, and a profile of the visitors to the region. ROOST manages paid and earned marketing campaigns, destination website development (SaranacLake.com), social media accounts, content development, communications, special projects, and creates and maintains a video and photo database. Click here for the full presentation. The evening wrapped up with a Q&A and a discussion about the Saranac Lake branding study that is in its initial phase. To be successful in forming a cohesive brand for the region, ROOST will need participation from local government entities and organizations, residents and visitors. If you are interested in being involved, please contact ROOST’s Saranac Lake Regional Marketing Manager Kelly Brunette: kelly@roostadk.com.

November 1, 2017 According to a study performed by Longwoods International, the Adirondacks saw 17.8 million person trips in 2016. Of these trips, 43% were overnight trips. The rest were day trips. The overnight trips and generated $1.08 billion in spending, which is an increase in 3.5% from the previous year. The top state markets for Adirondacks visitors were New York, Florida, and California. The rest of their findings can be found on our research page or by clicking here. Longwoods International began tracking American travelers in 1985, and has conducted large-scale syndicated visitor research quarterly since 1990.

November 1. 2017 In the next month, ROOST will be rolling out it's new booking platform to visitmalone.com. The system relies on a third-party software developed by the software company Inntopia, out of Stowe, Vermont. It will provide businesses in the Malone Region the opportunity to reach visitors through a modern online booking channel. The platform also adds the ability for visitors to now book nearly any activity (admission tickets, guided tours, equipment rentals, etc.) all through the same system. Reservations are not just for lodging anymore! Malone businesses are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this new marketing tool. There is no setup fee or subscription fee, only a 5% commission for sales made through the system. For more information, local businesses should contact Tim Lamay at tim@roostadk.com or 518-319-1056.