Men's Journal Profile Piece on Vail's Mike Katz

[thetrailboss]

I don't think anyone has yet posted this, but it is a VERY interesting read.

http://www.mensjournal.com/features...il-resorts-conquered-the-ski-industry-w469851

One tidbit that I found interesting being a 30-minute car ride from Park City: it was POWDR who initiated the "Park City"(TM) application and not Vail (however, Katz does admit that Vail did continue to pursue it until the public outrage was too much).


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[BenedictGomez]

Smart, but somewhat creepy.

By analyzing (RFID) Epic Pass data, the company can see exactly which runs its visitors are skiing, and with whom. The information allows Vail to target its marketing and personalize emails: Expert skiers get aggressive pictures; the mom who skis once a year sees happy kids on the green runs.

 

[thetrailboss]

Smart, but somewhat creepy.

Creepy, but no surprise.


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[bushpilot]

By analyzing (RFID) Epic Pass data, the company can see exactly which runs its visitors are skiing, and with whom. The information allows Vail to target its marketing and personalize emails: Expert skiers get aggressive pictures; the mom who skis once a year sees happy kids on the green runs.

How do they know the actual run you skied or are they just generalizing a group of potential runs based on what lift you ride?

Interesting, cool and very creepy all at the same time.

 

[BenedictGomez]

How do they know the actual run you skied or are they just generalizing a group of potential runs based on what lift you ride?

Interesting, cool and very creepy all at the same time.

The latter, probably, but remember they also know the exact length of their lift lines and lift rides in seconds, and also what lift you "check-in" on next after that run, and time-stamp both of those points, so my guess is they can get a very good guess as to whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or expert skier. In fact, with that data in mind, I bet they nail it correctly more than they guess incorrectly.