Business was booming over the weekend as Whistler played host to its biggest conference to date.
There was an uncharacteristic early June hustle and bustle in the village streets as patios buzzed in the beaming sunshine and shop tills rang up sales.
By all accounts, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) annual conference from June 5 to 8 was a great success.
Borrowing the words from a colleague, Mayor Ken Melamed said: "I think we hit a home run. It may have been one of the most exciting four days in Whistler for me."
The mayor said he couldn't walk anywhere without being stopped and complimented on the well-run conference, the beautiful resort, and on his welcoming speech.
"Personally, I was blushing pretty much the whole weekend," said a very proud and exhausted, mayor. "People were so complimentary."
Whistler, he added, rose to the occasion.
"We went out of our way to show the delegates how pleased we were that they were there and reached out with Whistler hospitality," said Melamed.
Whistler hosted more than 1,700 delegates over the course of four days. An additional 750 companions were also part of the program.
The municipality estimated a $6 million spin off in economic activity to the resort.
At this week's managers meeting of the Gibbons Hospitality Group, which runs Tapley's, the Longhorn and Buffalo Bill's, the feedback from all managers was that conference goers loved Whistler and were full of compliments.
Hearing that, said owner Joey Gibbons, is better than hearing anything else.
"That's the best - more than money, or anything like that," he said.
Sometimes, he added, we lose track of how great Whistler is and all it has to offer and it takes fresh eyes to see it again.
"That little village of ours, you can't compare it to anything else in the country," said Gibbons.
The Longhorn was busier than it normally is at this time of year as conference goers soaked up the June sun on the patio.
Chamber of Commerce President Fiona Famulak walked the village on Saturday to get a feel for the conference and a sense of how business was going.
"The village had a really nice buzz about it," she said.
"The businesses were very busy... I think we came together as a community."
The municipality, in cooperation with its partners, was responsible for several facets of the conference such as the delegate reception on Friday night, the mountaintop gala on Sunday, the Monday morning breakfast and the companion program.
The mayor highlighted the cooperation in the resort. For example, the Sunday mountain top gala Whistler Blackcomb had senior managers on the mountain personally greeting the guests and giving them a warm welcome. They also extended the hours of the Peak-to-Peak gondola.
David Udow, owner of Ziptrek Ecotours, said a couple of hundred people took tours as part of the FCM companion program, making for a very busy weekend.
It was the busiest weekend Ziptrek has had this year, bearing in mind that the company is always busier in summer than in winter.
Though municipal leaders may not be in the market for an adventure holiday, the Ziptreking experience was a hit.
"Even if you're a city councillor from Mississauga, you can come out and feel like you're a professional adventurer for a few hours," said Udow.
And while the Whistler Bike Co. didn't see a lot of municipal leaders perusing the store to buy mountain bikes, Sean Dunwoodie said their rental bike fleet was booked out by those connected to the FCM for one morning.
Please Mum was also busy with grandparents buying souvenirs for their grandchildren. Their 2010 merchandise was a big hit over the weekend.
"It was pretty close to a busy summer weekend," said Cristin Pittard, assistant manager at Please Mum.
Pittard also saw conference goers using their stamp card, a program designed by the municipality to reward those spending money in the resort.
She called it a "wonderful incentive" and thinks that should be replicated in future conferences.
"That was a great idea," said Pittard.
One of the exceptions to the general business boom was Subway, above the conference centre. Owner Paul Mann said the big tent that took over the surface parking lot outside his shop, combined with the new pay parking regulations (see related story) effected his business negatively.
"We definitely took a loss overall in the last two or three weeks," he said.
The FCM was an important crowd for Whistler - not just for the sheer number of bodies in the resort but because it consists of elected officials from across the country.
"It was a great way for us to market our town," said Gibbons.
The mayor's informal poll showed 75 per cent had never been to Whistler but many said they would be back.
As to what else it means for the future, Famulak said the FCM paves the way for future big conferences. Whistler has proven that it can do it.
"It shows that we can host large event like this," she said. "It shows that we can deliver."
And while nowhere near the scale of what Whistler has to accomplish in nine short months from now at the 2010 Games, the FCM is a sign that Whistler knows how to put its best face forward.
Famulak said: "It's a great test for February and March of 2010."
