@skibar, Gerry was involved in running the SCGB somehow? Blimey. Do tell, because there seems to be a correlation between somebody who clearly has the PR skills of a Donald Trump twitter account and an apparent decline in membership numbers. Of course this could be pure chance but it certainly won't help the situation.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
@Digger the dinosaur,
I don't think he was running the ski club, tiling the bathroom from memory.
No doubt he will be along later to call me a liar, and he supervised an Eastern European.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
I recall a couple of times he got elected to the Council (i.e. the Club's ruling body: often thought to be largely self-selecting, as are many such bodies in the UK as hardly anyone really knows who the candidates are or much cares) and had some sort of particular responsibility for technology or the website - something like that, but I don't maintain detailed records of all his 'triumphs'.
You are correct though. Even the diminished entity that is the scgb's website has featured complaints about him.
Norrin Radd is perhaps on the right track in hinting that the dear love should have stayed on his building site.
Perhaps a sensible simple question to ask, after all these years ... and with the SCGB apparently about to re-launch its website and relocate itself. It's certainly a very very different animal to that conceived in 1903.
On this slide (vintage unknown) there's a reference to the Club being a "brand". I guess that could open up a whole discussion!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
SCGB social media update
Gotoma86 on 18 Dec 2012 wrote:
Wow, Ski Club of Great Britain have re-launched their chat forum and it looks good. Simple sign-up, you don't need to become a member plus they seem to have introduced profiles as well. Well this will be fun, who's going to jump ship and start using the Tea Club forum then?[/url]
SCGB chat forum on 31 May 2017 records that the (claimed) 29,000 members of the Club have not contributed a single post to the chat forum since 20 May - 11 days ago.
Perhaps the 29,000 members should be hooked up to a lightning conductor in a Frankenstein-style exercise to liven things up a bit.
SCGB chat forum on 31 May 2017 records that the (claimed) 29,000 members of the Club have not contributed a single post to the chat forum since 20 May - 11 days ago.
And that post was by Gerry in response to a thread I'd started the previous day about Swiss season passes.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
FRANK McCUSKER
As reported elsewhere ... initially by the Ski Club of Great Britain itself on Monday ... the Club's chief executive Frank McCusker died of a heart attack last Sunday while cycling with friends. He had worked for the organisation since 2 July 2012, and was therefore one week short of marking 5 years as CEO.
It went unreported at the time, but a SCGB source confirmed (at that time) that Frank suffered an earlier heart failure in the first year of the job. It's said that he jokingly told a ski journalist shortly after the incident - which was notified to SCGB staff - that he'd "just seen the Club's accounts". This was characteristic of a friendly man who had the ability to see the funny side of things ... perhaps because he was a Scot running an Englishmen's organisation, and perhaps because of the extraordinary eccentricities he was having to negotiate.
The legal affair of British ski leaders and instructors operating in France mushroomed during his period of office, and remains unresolved. There have been suggestions of fresh behind-the-scenes attempts to reinstate the operations of SCGB reps/leaders in French resorts, which were possibly led by Frank McCusker himself, embracing other British ski organisations. It remains to be seen whether these ideas go any further.
On a broader level, Frank McCusker's work focused on reviving the membership demographics (including the launch of a student media site Line-S), developing a digital and social media strategy, continuing the Club's magazine with new editorial and design, and giving the Club a platform within the complex world of ski organisations within the UK. As a virtual 'unkown' in 2012, the tributes expressed to him in recent days show that he'd shaken many hands.
Of various ski media, PlanetSki has reported Frank McCusker's ski life in the greatest detail, and accumulated many Facebook tributes. PlanetSki's editor James Cove is a former SCGB rep and director and clearly got to know him quite well ...
SCGB chairman Rob Crowder issued an email to the Club's commercial and ski community contacts yesterday Tuesday ...
Quote:
It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the sudden and unexpected death of our Chief Executive, Frank McCusker, at the age of 55.
Frank suffered a heart attack on Sunday 25th June whilst on the return leg of a two day cycling trip with friends.
Whilst we are all in shock at the sudden loss of a valued friend and colleague our thoughts go out to his family and especially his wife Stephanie and children Archie and Mollie.
We understand that there will be a post-mortem and until this is completed we will not know the families plans for funeral arrangements. I will follow up with further information as soon as we know.
Yours,
Rob
Rob Crowder | Chairman
Ski Club of Great Britain Limited
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Colin Nicholson, editor of the SCGB's magazine 'Ski+Board' has now posted an obituary to Frank McCusker ...
The future of the Club can now be pondered on the basis of his legacy against the background of what he inherited and the changes he's made since 2012. In essence, though, the SCGB's policies and key strategies are guided by its elected Council (board of directors). Taking 8 areas of activity ...
1. MEMBERSHIP
Quoting Colin Nicholson:
"So he overhauled the Ski Club’s insurance policies, managing to offer market-leading prices while nonetheless catering to older skiers and those with existing health conditions. The result was a huge increase in demand and income for the club.
With the new Platinum level of membership, which included insurance, he also brought lapsed and new members into the fold, raising membership levels for the first time in years."
So, what membership numbers did Frank McCusker find, when starting work on 2 July 2012? Numbers published by the Club in preceding months (in various press releases etc.) had varied from "30,000" to "around 34,000".
The SCGB's annual reports, over the past decade, have stated membership figures of ...
2012: 30,457 (paying units not disclosed)
2013: 30,110 (paying units not disclosed)
2014: 28,990 (paying units not disclosed)
2015: 28,597 (paying units not disclosed)
2016: 27,822 (paying units not disclosed)
More recently, during 2017, the Club has been reporting "over 28,000" members as a headline figure. The 2017 annual report will appear this autumn.
2. PACKAGED INSURANCE
As above, Frank McCusker's key innovation - the one that's perhaps most likely to continue - has been the launch of 'platinum' membership rates that include multi-trip European travel insurance. That's discussed on a separate thread ...
http://snowheads.com/ski-forum/viewtopic.php?t=132382
... so no point in repeating the content here. The key annual rates for that level of membership are £75 (for age 18-34), £130 (for age 35-69) and £190 (for age 70-75).
3. SCGB 'LEADERS' / REPRESENTATIVES IN RESORTS
As Colin Nicholson notes:
"After a Ski Club Leader was arrested in France in 2014, he set up the Instructor-led Guiding programme to ensure members could still ski together, while challenging the arrest in the French courts.
The most recent word from the Ski Club is that this legal work continues. The amount of money that the Club continues to invest in its 'repping' service, against the numbers of members served by it (and the numbers of new members recruited in ski resorts) will continue to be statistics to watch.
4. STUDENT MEMBERSHIP
Since setting up its 'Line S' 'student brand' and website in 2015 - www.line-s.co.uk - the Club has reported (March 2016) that it had "secured 15,000 new student members" ...
http://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?news_id=2021339&c=setreg®ion=2
... but these numbers were apparently not included in the Club's 2016 annual report as members. In that report Frank McCusker reported:
"A partnership has been established with Mainstage Travel, who take more than 5,000 24-35 year olds to Avoriaz in March for the Snowboxx music festival. We’ll be helping to organise and run skiing/boarding lessons in the resort alongside our partner EVO2. Those booking lessons will have standard Ski Club membership offered as part of the lesson price."
The net value of 'rejuvenating' the SCGB via this student targeting remains to be seen. How many of these students have converted to paying a regular full subscription once their studies are completed?
5. THE NEXT SCGB HEADQUARTERS
As Colin Nicholson points out ...
"He was sometimes referred to as a ‘force of nature’ in the office, coming in like a typhoon and turning everything upside down, even selling its Wimbledon headquarters, the White House."
While there is ongoing intrigue as to the ownership of the company (Caligula Ltd) which purchased the Wimbledon building and is now presumably renting it to the Club, the key question is where the SCGB will next locate?
6. ELECTRONIC MEDIA: THE WEBSITE
Within 24 hours of the funeral of Frank McCusker, one element of his legacy became very clear: a complete re-design of the Club's website. Its content and objectives appear to be a 'work in progress'.
7. ELECTRONIC MEDIA: SOCIAL
Plans for the SCGB 'chat forum', which continues on an extremely subdued basis (for an organisation claiming over 28,000 members), are not known. The Club launched various Facebook groups for skiers using specific resorts, last winter.
8. PRINT MEDIA
The SCGB magazine 'Ski+Board', which goes to its membership households (15,663, according to the 2017 ABC audit certificate), continues. Of all SCGB activities, magazines (and yearbooks, if one goes far back in history) are the longest-running.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I always thought journalism was about letting people know the answers to the key questions on an issue and publishing a succinct analysis so people could understand what was going on.
I guess I'm just missing the point of the last post from Davina.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
olderscot wrote:
I always thought journalism was about letting people know the answers to the key questions on an issue and publishing a succinct analysis so people could understand what was going on.
I guess I'm just missing the point of the last post from Davina.
Is there any point to any of the drivel he posts?
Really though, the guy died, he didn't leave, he wasn't fired, he died. Have some bloody decorum.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
sethpistol wrote:
Have some bloody decorum.
Exactly.
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
As a general comment can we have a bit more decorum in the forum please.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Alastair Pink wrote:
As a general comment can we have a bit more decorum in the forum please.
+1
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
olderscot wrote:
I always thought journalism was about letting people know the answers to the key questions on an issue and publishing a succinct analysis so people could understand what was going on.
Maybe it is about raising issues in the first place and then tenaciously drawing the facts out?
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:
Maybe it is about raising issues in the first place and then tenaciously drawing the facts out?
I'd probably call the first bit of that campaigning. But I'm sure you realise I was making a point about the insensitive piece of drivel posted by Davina Goldsmith rather than looking to debate the various aspects of journalism.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Campaigning ? Journalism ?
I am not sure who first mentioned journalism in regards to DG's post.
DG, as you are no doubt aware, has an ongoing quest to uncover more information about the SCGB.
I note from the obituary that Mr. McCusker was a 'Celtic fan'.
He was also a rugby player.
I would have thought a Glasgow 'Rangers fan' might be a more likely fit with SCGB.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
olderscot wrote:
I always thought journalism was about letting people know the answers to the key questions on an issue and publishing a succinct analysis so people could understand what was going on.
Excellent point. I'll discuss that with Jeremy Paxman etc., the (very) late Joseph Pulitzer, Boris Journalist Johnson, Piers Morgan, Alastair 'one-time porn scribbler' Campbell, and any other distinguished journalists available (not sure if Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein are currently on call) ... and get back to you.
olderscot wrote:
I guess I'm just missing the point of the last post from Davina.
Another good (missing) point. The point that is missing is point 9 ...
9. FRESHTRACKS (AND MOUNTAIN TRACKS) HOLIDAYS
Clearly the SCGB's most intensive (and labour-intensive) commercial operation is its tour operating arm. Because the Club has now (apparently*) removed all traces of its annual reports - which were readily accessible via the old SCGB website - it's difficult to summarise the trend of the numbers of Freshtracks holidays it has sold in recent years. If anyone (perhaps with copies of SCGB annual reports) can input some journalism on that front it would be warmly welcomed.
Freshtracks was a company purchased from its shareholders when Caroline Stuart-Taylor (Freshtracks founder) became the Club's CEO in 1996. So a key function of the SCGB CEOs since that time has been to oversee and direct this tour operator.
The SCGB recently acquired a second holiday company Mountain Tracks, and some hereabouts have speculated that the club is actually morphing itself into a corporate concern rather than a members' organisation. It's worth emphasising that the Ski Club of Great Britain was founded in 1903 as a strictly non-commercial member-owned independent society. It strictly excluded those with ski business interests. Idealism gone mad?
Anyway, it would be good to know why all those annual reports have suddenly vanished from the public domain.
[* edit 17 July: the 2011-16 reports have reappeared. Here: https://www.skiclub.co.uk/about-the-ski-club/annual-reports ]
Alastair Pink wrote:
As a general comment can we have a bit more decorum in the forum please.
I don't personally have any problem with that. It could also be a little more decorative.
George Jones wrote:
I note from the obituary that Mr. McCusker was a 'Celtic fan'.
He was also a rugby player.
I would have thought a Glasgow 'Rangers fan' might be a more likely fit with SCGB.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Goldsmith isn't a journalist, he's a propagandist, a liar and a fraud.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Gerry wrote:
Goldsmith isn't a journalist, he's a propagandist, a liar and a fraud.
Accusations of fraud might be a breach of forum decorum (See below); and other things.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Gerry wrote:
sethpistol wrote:
Have some bloody decorum.
Exactly.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
ALQ wrote:
Gerry wrote:
Goldsmith isn't a journalist, he's a propagandist, a liar and a fraud.
Accusations of fraud might be a breach of forum decorum (See below); and other things.
....and a coward. I forgot that 'attribute'.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
Thank you for all the recent contributions. Given the accusations of "liar" and "mendacious" ... which go back some 10 years on this channel* ... it's obviously time for failings to be acknowledged and standards to be raised.
With that in mind, I propose to start the 'snowHeads School of Journalism'. This will educate students of this forum in the proper application and use of research, impartiality, concise analysis and - of course - quality writing on subjects of burning interest (e.g. 'Ski Club of Great Britain').
The university I recently attended - City - has a highly regarded journalism department, and I'd encourage journalism critics on this forum to enrol on a course there, perhaps starting this autumn ... until the sHSoJ is up and running ...
Good luck with your studies !
And perhaps take a leaf out of the journalistic book of James Cove - ex-BBC newsman, PlanetSki editor, biographer of BASI, and writer of this report "What's a Snowhead?" (June 2009) ...
----------------------------------------------
7 July 2007:
* "... the impressions you clearly intend to give are utterly mendacious."
"... you posted your mendacious rubbish in the members only forum of the SCGB"
... with the ongoing situation in France having reduced that from over 30 resorts including France. The current information for that country is "Ski Club members can book to ski with an Instructor in French resorts this season."
Maybe that will continue to apply to the 2017-8 season. Anyone have an update on that?
Of course, Ski Club Leaders get to accompany the SCGB Freshtracks holidays ... which is presumably regarded as a great gig. My guess is that prospective Leaders are very much calculating the cost of doing the Zermatt course against the possibilities on that Freshtracks front: lots of skiing and a lot less admin/paperwork/snow reporting/responsibility etc.
However, I guess the official position is best summed up by "What's expected of a Ski Club Leader" ... which stresses the duty-based aspect of the work ... when repping in a resort, rather than tagging onto a professionally-led ski holiday with maybe a bit of PR/liaison responsibility ...
https://www.skiclub.co.uk/ski-club-leaders/become-a-ski-club-leader
@Davina Goldballs, .. but no mention (that I could see) of price. Anyone know the cost this year?
Just your normal pish poor attention to detail whenever you attempt journalism then, because the price it clearly stated as £TBC. Maybe you could get a refund from Shittty College?
I think the cost last year was c. 3.3k. It should be noted that this was the cost price to the Club.
Quote:
Course price includes:
Return coach transfers to/from Geneva or Zurich Airport
4* half-board accommodation – twin share basis
Performance clinic – three half days skiing/snowboarding technique instruction by BASI instructors
Further training by mountain guides and BASI instructors
Leaders’ uniform – blue Ski Club jacket (Eider)
Lift pass for duration of course
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Of course TBC in SCGB land are numbers, not letters. Writing TBC I guess is a mention of the cost, as in unknown.
@Davina Goldballs, .. but no mention (that I could see) of price. Anyone know the cost this year?
Just your normal pish poor attention to detail whenever you attempt journalism then, because the price it clearly stated as £TBC. Maybe you could get a refund from Shittty College?
I think the cost last year was c. 3.3k.
Not according to the SCGB itself - the price is clearly archived on the Club's website, and a Planetski report, as £2899.
Gerry wrote:
I think the cost last year was c. 3.3k ... It should be noted that this was the cost price to the Club.
Clearly not, since the price was £2899. Who says that £2899 (or "c. 3.3k") was the "cost price" anyway? Did you just make that up?
Digger the dinosaur wrote:
Of course TBC in SCGB land are numbers, not letters. Writing TBC I guess is a mention of the cost, as in unknown.
I believe it means "To be confirmed" ... or in the words of William Shakespeare "To be, or not to be, confirmed? That is the cost." [Hamlet, Act III, Scene I]
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Davina Goldballs wrote:
Gerry wrote:
Quote:
@Davina Goldballs, .. but no mention (that I could see) of price. Anyone know the cost this year?
Just your normal pish poor attention to detail whenever you attempt journalism then, because the price it clearly stated as £TBC. Maybe you could get a refund from Shittty College?
I think the cost last year was c. 3.3k.
Not according to the SCGB itself - the price is clearly archived on the Club's website, and a Planetski report, as £2899.
Gerry wrote:
I think the cost last year was c. 3.3k ... It should be noted that this was the cost price to the Club.
Clearly not, since the price was £2899. Who says that £2899 (or "c. 3.3k") was the "cost price" anyway? Did you just make that up?
Well, I wasn't sure which is why I said 'I think' and 'c.', even then I think they offered a package for 3.3k that included flights and a couple of warmup days before the course started, so that is probably what I was thinking of. Finally, I definitely remember that the Club were charging cost price in 2015. Why do you care if it's cost price or not anyway? This should only be of concern to members and people thinking of doing the course.
After all it is free
After all it is free
Davina Goldballs wrote:
... with the ongoing situation in France having reduced that from over 30 resorts including France. The current information for that country is "Ski Club members can book to ski with an Instructor in French resorts this season."
Maybe that will continue to apply to the 2017-8 season. Anyone have an update on that?
by 2018/19 I doubt you will even be able to ski with a BASI instructor in France
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
SCGB REPS (LEADERS) COURSE PRICES, OVER THE YEARS ...
It seems unlikely that the latter three can be 'cost prices'. 2015 and 2016 are the same amount (and well over double the 2012 price). The 2017 price is £1 under £3000. The 2017 price vanished from the SCGB website page in recent days, but remained in the archived brochure, linked below.
Has the SCGB claimed that either of these prices is a 'cost price'?
Gerry wrote:
Why do you care if it's cost price or not anyway?
Purely because you, as a uniformed representative of the SCGB and rabid journalism critic, said (as a fact) it was "cost price". So it seemed worth exploring. I had no prior interest in the matter.
by 2018/19 I doubt you will even be able to ski with a BASI instructor in France
But the last we heard from the SCGB was that they would continue the legal fight to have unqualified reps/leaders on the French slopes. Certainly if Brexit reduces the prospects for non-qualifying (in French eyes) BASI instructors teaching in France, then the prospects for SCGB reps would seem to be zilch in the extreme.
How much money has been spent by the Ski Club of GB on these hopeless French court cases?
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Ski the Net with snowHeads
Davina Goldballs wrote:
Gerry wrote:
Why do you care if it's cost price or not anyway?
Purely because you, as a uniformed representative of the SCGB and rabid journalism critic, said (as a fact) it was "cost price". So it seemed worth exploring. I had no prior interest in the matter.
£1300 is what I paid in 2003, so the Natives figures are wrong for the quoted year. The Leaders course and the refresher courses were cost price in 2015 and probably still are going by those prices.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
