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Whistler's goals for festivals and events has evolved

Long before cross (BC) — either the ski or snowboard variety — appeared, indeed before snowboards were first seen; before terrain parks; before big mountain freeskiing; before the backcountry became covered in moguls; before snowmobiles m
opinion_editorial1

Long before cross (BC) — either the ski or snowboard variety — appeared, indeed before snowboards were first seen; before terrain parks; before big mountain freeskiing; before the backcountry became covered in moguls; before snowmobiles made distant peaks accessible; when skis were skinny and the ability to carve a turn on the damn things was a mixture of skill, balance and technique that was as easy to acquire as a PhD, and took just about as long; back then, the kings and queens of the mountains were the ski racers.

Certainly, in many ski racers' minds they were. But also in the minds of most Whistlerites. That was one reason Whistler made repeated attempts, starting in the 1970s, to host World Cup ski races. There weren't many forms of ski competition in those days — freestyle skiing being in decline following a number of disastrous accidents/law suits on the U.S. professional circuit — and so the best skier was easy to determine: he or she was the fastest.

It was a stroke of good timing that the Crazy Canucks — Read, Irwin, Pod and Murr — began to challenge the best in the world at about the same time the fledgling resort of Whistler was trying to make its mark internationally.

In 1982, on its third attempt, Whistler successfully pulled off a World Cup downhill race. The race finished just above the new village, for the first and last time. The course was panned by most as being too flat, but the race itself was a huge success, particularly as Podborski and Irwin finished second and third. Everyone in town — and many, many people came to town that week — was focused on the race. Umberto Menghi got so wrapped up in the festivities he tried to ski with the Italian team... and wound up breaking his leg.

CBC broadcast the race across Canada and provided the feed to European broadcasters, which was one of the first steps in letting the world know about Whistler. And because these were simpler times (BC), much of the skiing world paid attention.

But it wasn't just the world of snow sliding that was simpler; television, too was infinitely narrower than it is today. There were far fewer channels and no specialty channels focused solely on sports or news or weather or movies. You couldn't download a program to your TV and there was no online streaming of events to your computer, assuming you owned one.

In short, everyone in Whistler was focused on the World Cup when it came to town for one week in 1982, and a lot of people outside of Whistler were drawn to the World Cup. Sure, Whistler was a smaller town then, but it was — relatively speaking — a smaller world then, too.

It's far different in 2013. And consequently, Whistler today is looking for far different things from festivals and events. Rather than generating exposure or awareness of Whistler, as the first World Cup races were intended to do, the mandate for festivals and events today is to put heads in beds. That's not just Whistler's mandate, it's what the province demands in return for RMI funding.

A little sidebar on RMI, or Resort Municipality Initiative, funding: Last week, one-quarter of the way into the year, Whistler got word that it would receive $7 million in RMI funding for 2013. The money is distributed, in the form of a grant, to resort municipalities based on hotel occupancy the previous year. As such it follows the long-standing Canadian model whereby senior levels of government do most of the revenue collecting and then pass down to lower levels of government what they can afford. It is hardly another "financial tool" that municipalities can adjust the way they tweak the mil rate to increase (or decrease) revenue. And grants from senior governments are only as stable as the senior government in power.

Nevertheless, Whistler has a five-year agreement (2012-2016) with the province for RMI funding. That allows Whistler to make long-term plans for what has become a significant part of the municipality's budget. Some of the money must be used for tourism infrastructure; $2.84 million this year will go towards festivals, events and animation.

With corporate sponsorships today about as common as World Cup ski races at Whistler, RMI funding has become a significant carrot to event producers. And Whistler is in the position of picking and choosing which events receive RMI funds. Which takes us back to what Whistler is looking for from events.

Today, heads in beds are worth more than "exposure" for the resort. And some of the biggest generators of heads in beds are the participatory events, like Tough Mudder, the half marathon and, for at least the next four years, the Ironman Canada triathlon.

But participatory events can also include conferences like TEDx, which is coming to Whistler next spring, or Austin, Texas's South by Southwest festival, which now has three branches: music, interactive and film. As the New York Times reported last weekend: "But while conferences and festivals like SXSW, Aspen Ideas Festival, WebVisions, TED and dozens of others have been career enhancers for years, they are also a terrific and overlooked leisure travel option — particularly if you're vacationing alone.

"Think about it: the locations (like Austin, Aspen and New York) are tourist destinations in their own right; there's built-in entertainment (food crawls, walking tours, cocktail hours); and — most important — they draw people attached to a common theme."

http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/travel/professional-conferences-double-as-vacation-venues.html?hpw&_r=0

Once upon a time the common theme that drew people to Whistler was skiing. There may still be a common theme, but it's much more complex and diverse than in the BC days. The festivals and events that receive RMI funding in 2013 are a reflection of that diversity and the current need to put heads in beds.