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Last of the Perry brothers

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, BEGIN IT. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

When Whistler-Blackcomb let David Perry slip through their fingers six years ago, I wasn’t sure that Intrawest’s brain trust realized what they were losing. The energetic former VP of Marketing & Sales had done everything he could to let it be known that he was ready to stay put; all he needed was a sign that he was wanted. "It really wasn’t about money," he told me. "It was more about respect. I wanted assurances that I had a future here." The hoped-for signal never came and Perry moved to Colorado where he set about orchestrating an impressive turnaround at Aspen.

When Whistler-Blackcomb’s David Brownlie signed the final papers last week that sent Doug Perry packing in turn, I really started to wonder. A 23-year resident of Whistler, the younger Perry had parlayed a modest spring skiing event into the biggest – and most copied – art, sports and music festival in the mountain resort world. And that’s no cheap hyperbole. The World Ski and Snowboard Festival totally revolutionized the concept of mountain celebrations. "The personality of the festival was built on three pillars – art, music and sports," explains Perry. "And the magic really started to happen when these three pillars fused together to create an ambiance that truly reflected the modern mountain lifestyle."

Magic indeed. The quintessential outside-the-box thinker – and a man with skiing connections around the world – Perry’s stroke of genius was to continuously challenge the best in the business to come up with new events and new ideas for his festival. Nothing ever remained the same from year-to-year. Nothing ever got old or stale. "I wanted to keep the suspense high," he says. " I wanted to surprise festival-goers each April with something that was totally unexpected..."

Which is exactly what he did. If the goal was to put on a new-school skiing event, Perry would assemble an advisory board made up of the best young skiers in the sport. If the event had to do with photography, he would approach the best shooters in the business for their counsel. No idea was too outrageous. No concept was out-of-bounds. The attitude was "Why not?" instead of "No way."

And it worked. Suddenly Whistler was the place where everybody congregated at the end of the season to celebrate mountain culture under all its various guises and personalities. Sure – it helped that snow conditions here in April kick ass. And that late spring in Whistler highlights all that is unique and special about Coast Mountain life. But it was the festival spotlight that drew people here in the first place. It was the unconventional work of Perry and his cohorts that attracted all the media attention.

Consider the case of the Vancouver Sun. Ten years ago, Whistler stories rarely appeared in that paper past December. "Nobody wants to hear about skiing once Christmas has come and gone," I remember one local editor telling me. But the WSSF soon had them re-thinking their position. This past April, the Sun had a full editorial team camped out at Whistler for the duration of the festival – with articles appearing in the paper on a daily basis. Talk about a turnaround…

But then, the festival has done some amazing growing up in the last 10 years too. The 2006 festival, for example, had over 600 artists involved in one way or another during its 10-day run. That’s right – 600 artists! Before the WSSF, that would have been virtually inconceivable. "On-hill events can only attract so many people," says Perry. "That’s why we decided to branch out and explore other forms of mountain culture. And once we started down that path, we realized just how much entertainment potential there was there." From photography to filmmaking, from painting to storytelling, the WSSF managed to bring it all together under one conceptual roof. And the world beat a path to Whistler’s door to partake in this great cultural feast.

Think I’m exaggerating again? Think again. Over its decade-long run, the festival’s business revenues increased by an average of 37 per cent a year. That means growing more than a third bigger each year for 10 years! Last April’s event delivered a total of $7.5 million in measured media exposure. Perry’s company, W1, even produced a four-part miniseries on the WSSF that was distributed to 122 different countries. Talk about penetration. Talk about effective advertising…

So what happened? How could such an apparently successful partnership – Perry owned 25 per cent, W-B owned 50 per cent and Tourism Whistler controlled the rest – be torn apart so fast? What were they thinking?

While the press release that came out last week sheds very little light on the matter – other than to say that Perry had agreed to sell his interests to his erstwhile partners – insiders point to the "respect" issue again. It was ultimately all about control, they say. It was about who had it and who aspired to it. Rumour has it that W-B was also unhappy with Perry’s increasing focus on off-hill programming. "Cultural events don’t sell lift tickets," is an oft-heard mantra there. But then, that comment begs the question: has on-hill programming at W-B ever really sold lift tickets? Think of the World Snowboarding Championships back in 2005…

Still, the nub of the issue seemed to reside in the growing acrimony within the partnership. But did it really have to end this way? Like his brother, Doug was looking for a sign that he was wanted (and needed) by his partners. He didn’t get it. So he too decided to move on. Will the WSSF survive the break-up? Who knows? Will it continue to attract the kind of media attention that Whistler businesses so badly need right now? Good question. One thing is for sure though: Perry isn’t bemoaning his fate.

Although he admits he’s still a bit raw from the negotiation process, Doug is surprisingly sanguine about the whole deal. "I hope they do well with the festival," he says. "And I wish my former partners all the best with it. But I’m not going to dwell on ‘what ifs’. For the last 13 years, I’ve been completely immersed in the event business at Whistler. Now it’s time for me to apply some of the stuff I learned to a bigger stage. And frankly, I’m really excited about the possibilities."

He stops talking for a moment. Smiles like the proverbial canary-eating cat. "I’m already working on some exciting new concepts," he says. "I can’t wait to unveil them." He stops again. Giggles like a little kid. "They are going to blow people’s minds…"

And somehow I know that this isn’t just bluster.

Next week: Doug Perry offers a few observations and provides some suggestions on how to "fix" Whistler’s perpetually struggling events scene.