G’day, compliments of Vail Resorts
Greetings to Down Under.
Steve Jacobs, the weatherman for the Today Show Australia, will be broadcasting live from each of Vail Resorts Inc.’s four Colorado ski areas this week. It’s a coup for Vail Resort’s new Australian public relations rep, who was hired recently to drum up new business there.
“He’s the Al Roker of Australia,” said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Kelly Ladyga. “The advertising value of an opportunity like this is really immeasurable.”
And since it’s the height of summer Down Under, Vail Resorts hopes that shots of Colorado’s snowy slopes will spur more Aussies to book winter vacations here.
“It’s one of our top five international markets and with the dollar being so weak, it is really affordable for Australians to travel here right now,” Ladyga said.
Love trumps aces at bridge tourney
A pair of young lovebirds trumped the experts at the recent North American Bridge Championships in Denver. The event, attended by nearly 5,000 members of the American Contract Bridge League, ended Nov. 27 at the Adam’s Mark Hotel.
Jenny Ryman, 20, and Gavin Wolpert, 23, are the youngest winners of one of the most prestigious events in the game – the Blue Ribbon Pairs. They also are engaged to be married.
It was no easy feat: Players have to have won regional championships to qualify. Both Ryman and Wolpert also represented their home countries (Sweden and Canada, respectively) in recent world championships.
“This is No.1 for sure,” Wol pert said in a news release when asked how the win compared with other victories. “Not just because of the event but because I won with Jenny.”
Mood lighting – a bright office idea
Mood lighting may influence more than one’s romantic mindset; it can impact an employee’s creative quotient as well, a new survey suggests.
The Creative Group, a staffing service with offices in Denver, hired an independent research firm to survey 250 marketing and advertising executives. The survey found that 55 percent of those polled said office environments – including lighting, layout and decor – affected on-the-job innovation. Another 38 percent reported that the workplace impacted staff creativity at least somewhat.
Suggestions to improve office creativity included more natural light, rotating meeting rooms and “sanctuary” areas where employees could decompress in private.
Wind propels Jabs’ plans for a turbine
If Jake Jabs had any doubts about using a wind turbine to provide a portion of the power for his new store in Firestone, they were eliminated Wednesday.
Jabs, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse, and Firestone town officials endured gusting winds during what was to be a ceremonial groundbreaking and news conference at the site of the company’s 11th store, at I-25 and Firestone Boulevard. The winds forced the group to hurry through the traditional shovel turning and move the rest of the event indoors to an office building down the street. The site was originally intended to host a reception following the event.
But Jabs saw the wind as a good omen.
“The wind assured us we are definitely putting up the wind turbine,” he said.
RiNo neighbors charging ahead
LoDo. NoDo. It’s time to add another kitschy name to your list of Denver neighborhoods.
This time it’s RiNo – short for River North.
A group of artists, photographers and other creative types have banded together to create the River North Art District and maybe lend a little cache to their ‘hood in the process. The name River North is frequently used by neighborhood residents and workers to describe the area generally bordered by I-70, York Street, Park Avenue West and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railroad tracks.
The mission of the 18-member River North Art District group, which uses a rhinoceros as its mascot, is to host at least four events each year, including progressive parties and studio tours to bring attention to the neighborhood’s burgeoning arts community.
Freshies about to take a bow in filmdom
Freshies Food Corp. is about to make its Hollywood debut.
The Denver-based drink-mix maker has inked a marketing partnership with Sony Tri-Star Pictures to provide bloody mary mix at 75 premiere parties for the upcoming film “Underworld: Evolution.”
The movie, starring Kate Beckinsale, is a follow-up to the 2003 release “Underworld” and continues the vampires versus werewolves storyline.
Freshies will promote the film on its bottles and website, and the company is giving away a mountain vacation and tour of haunted Colorado history.
In addition to having Freshies Bloody Mary Mix – combined with Vampyre Vodka which has also struck a promotion deal with Sony – served at all the hot parties, signs advertising Freshies will be visible at all the events.
Company officials will be making the rounds at the Jan. 20 premiere and afterparty in Los Angeles, said Steve Barton, chairman of the executive committee and vice president of sales for Freshies.
“It’s one of those things that two years ago I would have never thought would be possible,” Barton said of the company’s upcoming brush with fame, which he hopes will created demand for the product in new markets.
Freshies, which has built a name for using fresh and natural ingredients in its drink mixes, is on track to double its revenue this year and has grown from a staff of four to 13.
