Community Events Committee creates valley-wide partnership

Events crucial for community

Business owners routinely call out during public meetings for more events to fill out the shoulder months, and bringing more events to town in general. It’s no secret that events are the bread and butter of the “entertainment” component of the local economy, and can make a real difference for local businesses.

Created in response to the growing importance of events in the county, the Gunnison County Community Events Committee is focused on driving valley-wide community collaboration on events, which ideally will result in additional visitors and revenue. Most of the committee’s time will be spent on brainstorming destination events that draw visitors from outside of town. The committee was recently formed through the Tourism Association and is primarily comprised of its board members and advisory board members. An introductory public meeting was held on August 24 to invite the public’s feedback on the committee and events in the valley, as well as invite them to participate in the process.
The Crested Butte/Mt. Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce helped facilitate the creation of the committee, and director Richard Bond kicked off the meeting. Other board members include Dave Wiens, Laci Wright, Chris Ladoulis, Andrea Greene, Rachel Gardner, David O’Reilly and Daren Cole.
“The origin of this came from conversations at the TA and its advisory board,” Bond explained. He said the driving question was, “Are there ways in which we can identify new events, and bring more revenue to our businesses?”
Bond said the goal is “to bring together the community, and identify opportunities where we would benefit from additional events. What kind of events would they be, and how as a community would we come together to pull them off and turn them into long-term successes?” he proposed.
Several target events were listed, including the Quiznos Pro Bike challenge, 50th Anniversary of Skiing at Crested Butte Mountain, Military Winter Appreciation Week, College Ski Weeks, Ride the Rockies and the Bicycle Tour of Colorado.
 Aaron Huckstep and Dave Ochs are co-chairs of the Pro Challenge organizational committee, and spoke to the significance of the event at the meeting. Announced three weeks ago by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter and cycling star Lance Armstrong, the tour of Colorado is expected to draw the world’s top cyclists after they complete the Tour de France. The hope is that the Upper Gunnison Valley will be chosen to host a stage of the race.
“We do have a really excellent chance to bring thousands of people here for the bike race,” Ochs said. “Right now we’re getting the most important things together to get a bid. [Colorado is] a cycling Mecca; it’s really good to see it come back to this area. Quiznos seems to be in it for the long haul.” The local Quiznos committee has formed an LLC and is working on an RFP (request for proposal) due September 10. Ochs informed the crowd that if Crested Butte does get the event, the town would need upwards of the entire town to volunteer before and during the event.
“We should know for the 2011 race by mid-October; the race itself would happen this week in 2011,” said Huckstep. “If we’re not selected this year, we’ll come back next year with the same proposal. It’s not if, but when in Crested Butte.”
Winter-focused events were discussed as well, in particular events that would fill out January. Daren Cole, CBMR’s vice president for sales and marketing, spoke to CBMR’s 50th anniversary plans, which included theme weeks focused on the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s and a kickoff party at the beginning of the season.
A Military Appreciation Week is in the works for January 12-19, 2011, with the potential to draw 150 to 500 people. College ski weeks are being investigated for January 3, January 10, and January 17 and would feature pub crawls, concerts, fun races, and the need for conversations about late-night transportation. Cole said CBMR is working on having ambassadors for the ski area at a variety of colleges, from Oklahoma State to New Mexico State.
CBMR is targeting 370,000 skier days for this coming season, according to Cole. “How do we get to 425,000 to 450,000 skier days, which is more sustainable for the whole community?” Cole posed. He believes events will play a big role in reaching that goal.
Doug Hudson asked Cole, “Is Gay Ski Week still happening?”
“Yes, their arrival is scheduled around March 20,” Cole responded. He said they are expecting 250 to 400 people for the event. And the following week Outboard is expected to draw 250 to 300 people. “We’ll be distributing information on some of these groups coming.
“We’re up about 40 percent with groups over last year up at CBMR,” Cole added. “July for us on the mountain was the busiest on record.”
As the meeting drew toward conclusion, Bond asked if there were any ideas for events “that we’re not doing, but should be.”
John Wirsing proposed a spring multisport event, based on his idea of “spring being the best time of year here, for me anyhow,” he said. “There’s a huge window of skiing opportunity, the biking is getting going and the boating is great. The weather is kind of iffy—bring all your toys because you don’t know what you’re going to get.” Wirsing emphasized that March, April and May are Crested Butte’s biggest months for snowfall and people should take advantage of it.
Cole and Bond lauded the idea and said board member Dave Wiens had proposed a similar idea.
“Does ‘free ski’ garner any discussion at CBMR?” Doug Hudson asked. He pointed out that he wasn’t talking about free tickets tied to lodging, but actual “free ski,” where people simply come and get lift tickets for free.  
“That one’s tough for us to execute,” Cole responded.
Live music events will continue to play a significant role in drawing people to the valley, and capturing those events is a priority for the committee. “Music is a huge catalyst for what we’re working on,” said Cole. “These are events that are definitely on our hit list.”
The committee members closed by saying they’d follow up with the attendees, start developing sub-committees, and be in touch to schedule the next meeting.