MEADOWS BLOG

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Meadows Blog

Hi Folks!

I wanted to take some time to discuss with you some of our new plans for this blog. These plans have been in the works since last July.  This blog is a critically important communication tool that allows guests to provide feedback and insight regarding our operations. The comments, suggestions and constructive criticisms posted on this blog have and will continue to impact the decision making process at Mt. Hood Meadows.

I have enjoyed the many good conversations and want to continue this opportunity to facilitate constructive, meaningful, two-way dialogue between our guests and other management team members.

In order to make the blog more effective, we’re making some improvements to the blog itself. First – the name is now Meadows Blog. I’ll still be involved in posting special topics and associated responses.  We are, however, expanding the opportunities for input from the very talented members of our management team to formulate some of the responses to your posts. This will improve Meadows Blog in two important ways. First, responding thoughtfully and consistently to the sheer volume of people posting comments -- which is awesome. Since July 2007 there have been more than 2,000 posts to this blog – that is an incredible amount of activity particularly when you consider that each post is read and responses are published to the many posts that are on topic. The second, and more significant reason, is because this blog has evolved to the point that many of your posts are well thought out, asking detailed and challenging questions that demand a thoughtful response. In some cases, we may take a little longer  to provide a thorough response, or so that we can organize responses that adequately address similar posts.  In this way we will improve the quality of the conversation – your good questions deserve well thought out and detailed answers.

The blog has become a part of the Meadows community.  In fact, it may be a key instrument which is helping to build that community, at least virtually. The blog will never take the place of a good face-to-face conversation, but it does provide a way for those who care about Meadows and want to see it improve to express their concerns, ideas and great suggestions in a productive and constructive way. To further advance this concept we will ask you to join the community before posting.

This is a simple process – you select “Join” in the upper right hand corner of this page. You provide as much or as little information as you want – you don’t have to give your real name or set up a profile. You will need to provide an email address to receive and confirm your password. Once you are a member of the community, the “post a comment” box will appear at the bottom of each topic page, allowing you to post freely as you have done in the past. You only need to join the community once, when you come back simply “Sign In” and the page will recognize you – and the “post a comment” box will be visible. Those who aren’t members or haven’t signed in will be able to read the blog topic as well as the posts of others. Many of you have already joined – you do not need to join again, just keep using your current sign in. There are other benefits that this community can provide those who join that we will be exploring further.

Let’s discuss the rules for posting. The two main rules have been that the comment must be on topic and refrain from using profanity in order to be posted.

We would also like to refrain from rude or misleading statements intended to insult other guests or our employees.  If you don’t like something about MHM or its operations – express it, but not without a specific suggestion for improvement.

Also, we’re not going to post comments, which are basically advertisements for other ski areas. While providing examples of how things are done at other areas can be helpful, a blatant commercial isn’t going to be posted. Again, we are more concerned about the members of our community who want to make Meadows better.

Through these changes the Meadows Blog serve its purpose – providing a forum and a resource for improving the experience for our guests and staff members. So join the community and have a terrific summer!

Onward!

--Matt
 

Comments

nicbot said:

Good work.  I think this will prove to be a super useful and productive change.  I have to add that it makes me happy to see MHM embrace and respect it's online community.

Matt's reply:

nicbot: Thanks for the post. This Blog has become a great resource for sharing ideas and suggestions and getting feedback. 

--Matt 

# May 16, 2008 1:59 PM

Just a Rider said:

    I think this is a terrific idea; it will help eliminate mundane generic responses.  I hope individuals who have a true passion for the slopes/MHM will register and provide insight.  Specifically those who can elaborate on ideas and provide suggestions to reasoning rather than just simply saying something “sucks” without providing any detail as too why.  

    Although I question and am concerned with how much censoring will be taking place considering I have posted three pieces of material and have only seen one become “official posted.”  I’m hopeful future progression will take place.  Even though it may not seem at times I do in fact understand the MHM online crew is working exceptionally hard when it comes to this BLOG and I do appreciate all the hard work those techies do on a day to day bases (even after hours)!  There is obviously a wide-range of attendees at MHM and we all have our different opinions and ideas, I hope and strongly encourage everyone to VOICE their opinions…still anticipating a park post!

-just a rider

Matt's reply:

Just a Rider: Right on! You're totally in tune with the spirit and community that we want to create through the Blog. A steady and constant steam of good ideas that can be discussed, celebrated and debated here on the Blog will lead to a progression of implementable ideas at the mountain. That will lead to continual improvement and a more enjoyable Meadows - both virtually and in reality!

Thanks for the post.

--Matt 

# May 17, 2008 11:05 AM

sseres said:

Matt:

I am glad you're putting so much into this blog, and I am amazed that you continue to write personally to each post.

This was my first season skiing in about 12 years and I became totally rehooked.  When I wasn't up skiing, I was looking at the webcams and conditions page to see what the most up to the minute data was.

I wonder if you have plans to restart sending out the daily snow conditions, even though it's obvious that the pack is rapidly melting.  Ok, I know the cameras are still up... but it's still cool to see what is (of what was).  

Many thanks,

Steve

Matt's reply:

Steve: Thanks for the post - I am glad that this season rekindled the magic of the sport and the mountain! We aren't sending out conditions updates - don't want to confuse anyone who may think the resort is open. We will update the conditions frequently. You can also track the telemetry from this page: http://www.nwac.us/~nwac/products/OSOMHM

--Matt 

# May 18, 2008 9:29 PM

capt powder said:

Matt,

I can't beleive how helpful the blog is to us and to MHM :-).

Looking forward to hearing about the new scoop for next year.

Happy trails.

Matt's reply:

Matt: Thanks for the post - I'm very excited about the changes we are making to Meadows Blog and involving our talented and dedicated management team in the dialogue. Have a great summer!

--Matt 

# May 21, 2008 11:49 AM

MikeG said:

Seems like I have been waiting for this type of change and I am sure others have as well. I like other appreciate the fact there is a place to voice our opinions and ideas on the topic at hand, I try to just skim over the off topic comments to get to the issues about the blog. However I would like to know is there some way to get in touch with someone to discuss other topics that maybe good to get out there in a blog format or just helpful suggestions so not to seem unfairly critical or to promote other resorts policy and procedures of doing business. Believe me I had written other resort in past asking to create a blog to help them understand what their guest/pass holders would like at the resort to no avail.

BTW- great season and almost always cool staff at the lifts and other areas. Keep your chin up, people are more likely to complain then complement any business or person. See ya next season on the first day! count down is on!

Matt's reply:

MikeG: Thanks for the post. You can send an email directly to me by selecting CONTACT from the menu row. You can communicate something directly to me or another management team member that won't be posted. It's a good way to get in touch with us and bring up some issues which may be off topic (or suggest future blog topics).

It has been a great season and we are stoked to make improvements this summer and fall in preparation for 08/09!

--Matt 

# May 23, 2008 8:03 AM

Meadows Lark said:

Kinda like MySpace huh.  Sounds good.  Will we be able to upload photos, vids, and etc.?  Also, will there be multiple blogs/sections like a Parks and Heather, or just a General Operations section?

Anyways, the community is a wonderful idea to bring together all types of Meadows (Tech-Savy) riders.  I've actually been waiting for you to launch the full capabilities of your blog system to the public.  I could tell it was coming quite a while ago when I was navigating through the system checking out pics & stuff.  Thanks for letting me join now.

Can't wait for my next ride.  Hopefully the season pass special won't go up too much.  I love Meadows so much, it would be very sad for the cost to go beyond my fund abilities.  4x420 maybe?

Always a pleasure Matt.  Peace.

Matt's reply:

Lark: Thanks for the post. We are investigating ways that we can use the CS (Community Server) functionality to create a more social community. We also want to integrate those features into our main skihood.com site to get more members involved, and to allow them a more enjoyable (and relevant) experience.

We'll be announcing our season pass pricing later this summer. These passes will continue to be provide the best overall value on Oregon skiing and riding.

--Matt   

# May 23, 2008 11:42 AM

jamie said:

some comments which may prove unpopular and some suggestions which you may already be working on.

first, it was a nice season. i didn't get up as much as i would have liked to, mostly due to my own fault of running a fmaily and working; but there were some stellar days.

everybody has different tastes. i read the blog on a semi-regular basis. the belief that if enough people complain about HC or Parks, then those are your only customers is hogwash. i suspect, like myself, there are plenty, if not most of your base, that could really care less about HC and Parks. my perfect day is 1-2" fresh over corduroy groom, blue skies and no wind with a temperature in the 20's. fast enough to sail, deep enough to carve.

what i don't like is people zinging by me at a high rate of speed or popping out of the woods without looking. i think it is less a board/stick issue but more an age issue. but i might pop over to Alta next year to test my theory.

notice to hood river people-it's no YOUR mountain. it's a ntional forest, which makes it eveybody's mountain. it's as much the guy from Alabama who has never been to the PNW as it is the liftie who has been working thirteen seasons. were it Mt. Adams and you were part of the Yakima Nation, then i would say, yest, it is YOUR mountain and respect it.

i think carpooling will take care of itself when gas hits $5/gallon, particularly for people with giant SUVs and trucks. but don't penalize the solo user who comes up in an economy car.

i like south canyon, ridge run an the trails on vista. unfortunately, windy conditions prevent vista from running at times. i almost never go over to HRM.

i wish you'd open up something above the annex lot, and install a little snack/concierge shack with bathrooms and maybe some season locker area. i'd use this as much as possible. maybe move blue over there and run it to the bottom of My-Ty.

i have a season pass. i have a season locker. i'm in my mid-forties and i don't mind buying a beer and food when i'm on the mountain. if my family comes with, i buy lunch for everybody. we like to come early and leave by 1 or 2pm. the season pass/locker is still a great deal when yo consider places like Boyne Highlands charges close to $1,000 for just a pass and that is a short season fraught with ice and machine snow. i wish your F&B people would consider smaller portions of some of your popular items. i love the mountain nachos, but it is way, way too big for one person. cut the price 2 bucks and make it smaller. i'll still buy it and i will not waste it.

you'll want to eventually do something about the conflagraion at e-z rider, vista, butter cup; for beginners, e-z rider is the next logical step after buttercup. vista can be a little too daunting, but that's also where you have your bigger park. what it ends up as is mitchell's creek being the only run for the beginner/not yet intermediate set. i would vote for more long, wide michell creek type runs, maybe above annex. just a suggestion.

thanks for everything.

see you next year.

Matt's reply:

jamie: This is a stellar post! It addresses those areas that you would like to see improved, explains why and provides suggestions. I also hope it will stimulate some additional comments and postings to create a dialogue among and between our guests.

--Matt
 

# May 26, 2008 8:51 AM