Vail Resorts, EpicMix and the social networkification of skiing

Vail Resorts announced their new location based social networking app that turns any person with an Epic Pass into a trackable entity thanks to RFID chips and scanners placed around the mountain thus creating the first ever social network fully integrated into the infrastructure of skiing.

For the last few years, ski resort marketers have been experimenting with ways to engage customers both in the real and digital environments with varying success. We’ve been using Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and Gowalla to get users to engage with the location and engage with others about the location. But there was always something missing… something that EpicMix nailed. EpicMix is a service that is a value add to the season pass you buy for any Vail Resort. GarminConnect, nike+, Google Tracks, and other free or paid apps, let you use your phone or GPS to log your activities and view, analyze and store the data. They also let you share it socially and interact with it. But these services require you to purchase a specific gadget and remember to activate it every time you want to use it. EpicMix, on the other hand, doesn’t require an additional piece of equipment, and is activated automatically when you come across checkpoints at chairlifts and points of interest on the mountain. You can’t forget to turn it on. You can’t forget to turn it off. You can still forget your pass at home though. The one thing I worry about is that the lack of a need to take action to use EpicMix could lead to a lack of engagement with it on the users part. The mobile apps will help keep people engaged, acting as a social networking filter that shows your friends Facebook and Twitter activity while they are on the mountain. We are still not 100% sure how that’s going to work. The app also incorporates the real life game layer that apps like Foursquare and Gowalla slap on the world. Is that awesome? Some say yes, some say no. Will it become the Farmville of winter? I say yes. In that EpicMix will be configurable so that you can share updates or not, and if you do, and i don’t want to see them, I’ll be able to hide them on my side. At least on Facebook. Which brings me to what i think is the smartest thing about EpicMix. It has something for everyone. Personally, i don’t care for the game component. But plenty of people, and kids, do. What I care about is the ability to track runs, elevation, days skied, etc. According to Mike Slone, Interactive Director @ Vail Resorts, Vail will start out tracking your lift rides, and expand to tracking other areas like runs, terrain parks, lodges, etc. These two functionalities engage different customer profiles in different ways while letting each communicate what they are doing to their social networks. It remains to be seen how granular the controls will be, but I assume they’ve thought of content volume concerns. Can’t wait for opening day @ Keystone Resort in Colorado on November 5th! If you want to spend some time with Rob Katz, Robert Urwlier and Mike Slone from Vail Resorts as well as Josh Williams from Gowalla, who advised the project, check out Tahoe Snowcial in January 2010. -Mike ]]>