A Letter to Locals

Solitude Locals,

I would like to acknowledge that I screwed up. On June 22, during our annual public Town Hall, I shared a presentation that included a slide from a resort SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) in which we placed “locals” in the threat category.

This slide was shared via social media, outside of the full context of the Town Hall presentation, and was perceived as an insult, or a jab at our local audience. It was never my intent to imply that the presence and/or proclivity of locals threatens our business, and I apologize deeply for my offense.

It could help to understand that in a SWOT analysis, we define a threat as an external factor that can cause harm to the business if not addressed. We (and I) fully appreciate the importance of local skiers and riders to our business and expend no small amount of effort to understand our locals’ wants and needs and how to address them. Unfortunately, I did not think through the intent of what I was trying to convey, or the wording used in conveying it. And quite honestly, it was never on my radar that individual slides would be shared beyond the scope of the full presentation. But I should have been more aware. The Town Hall is my opportunity to tell Solitude’s story, and I clearly need to fine-tune my approach. Opening our business decisions to public scrutiny is scary, but I believe it is the right thing to do.

If you care to better understand what I was trying to achieve in my presentation (there are 25 other slides besides the SWOT), I welcome you to watch the Zoom recording on Solitude’s YouTube channel. The Town Hall is important to me as it allows Solitude/myself and our community to come together in dialogue. It’s a frank conversation, and I remain committed to sharing with you the things we do well, those that we don’t do well, where we fall short, and offering a level of insight into the decisions we make as we navigate our five-year focus.

I’d like us to move forward together, and in doing so, I encourage you to reach out to me anytime at a.broadaway@solitudemountain.com or 801.536.5776. I truly hope more of you will attend and engage with me in next year’s Town Hall, where we can discuss your concerns in real-time. I find it’s a much better forum for meaningful conversation than social media.

Humbly,

Amber