1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Hey everyone, Welcome to the Restless Ones. I'm Jonathan Strickland. 2 00:00:07,280 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: As always, my focus is on exploring the intersection of 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: technology and business by having conversations with the most forward 4 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:19,160 Speaker 1: thinking leaders. Throughout my career, I've covered everything from massive 5 00:00:19,239 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: parallel processing to advanced robotics, but what truly inspires me 6 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: are the stories of innovation and transformation Today. Our guest 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,240 Speaker 1: is Tim April, executive vice president and Chief Information Officer 8 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: of Veil Resorts. Tim has spent more than two decades 9 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: working with Veil Resorts, starting with running a PeopleSoft implementation 10 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: and now serving as CIO of the entire company. Veil 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: Resorts is a world leader in luxury destination based travel, 12 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: and while cutting edge technology might not be front of 13 00:00:55,360 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: mind when you're skiing down a mountain, it absolutely is 14 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,480 Speaker 1: a fundamental part of the strategy. From creating a helpful, 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: informative and interactive guest experience designed to make your stay 16 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: a memorable one, to using data to improve operations across 17 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: multiple resort properties, Vail Resorts leverages tech in general and 18 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: connectivity in particular to great effect. The company and its 19 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: subsidiaries operate numerous resorts, which presents an interesting challenge when 20 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: it comes to rolling out new initiatives across different company properties. 21 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: But Tim loves a challenge. Before I dive into some 22 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: fresh powder, I mean Tim's experience as CIO, I wanted 23 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: to get to know him a bit more. Tim, Welcome 24 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: to the Restless Ones. I'm really jazzed to have you 25 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: on the show. I'm excited to have this conversation. 26 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks for having me. Super excited to have this 27 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 2: conversation with you today and looking forward to it. 28 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, me too. And I always like to get started 29 00:01:56,840 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: on this show getting to know a little bit more 30 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: about my guest. I'm curious is how did you first 31 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: get interested in technology? 32 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 2: So just a quick background for me, I grew up 33 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 2: in Saint Louis, Missouri, pretty big family, but I would 34 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 2: say not on the forefront of technology as far as 35 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 2: how I was growing up, and so I would say 36 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 2: pre college a little bit of an insecurity for me 37 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 2: that I felt like other people were probably further along 38 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 2: than I was. That transition for me was I went 39 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 2: to Notre Dame and was trying to figure out a degree, 40 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 2: and I was really good at math, kind of like science. 41 00:02:29,280 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 2: So I went into engineering and that was really driven 42 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 2: by the fact that I just like solving problems. That 43 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 2: is something that's interesting to me, and that's really what 44 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 2: engineering is all about. I picked chemical engineering not really 45 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 2: knowing what jobs would be in chemical engineering, but it 46 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,919 Speaker 2: just sounded like an interesting degree and kind of fit 47 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 2: this challenge, something new to me, hard to do, but 48 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 2: really complex problems to like breakdown and solve. As I 49 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 2: went through my undergraduate degree, I started realizing if I 50 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 2: wanted to do like big innovative things in chemical engineering, 51 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 2: that would really require getting a PhD to get that 52 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 2: kind of flexibility and latitude. And what worked out for 53 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 2: me was Anderson Consulting was the world's largest technology consulting 54 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:14,359 Speaker 2: company at the time, and they had a huge office 55 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:16,359 Speaker 2: in Chicago, which is only a couple hours drive from 56 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,920 Speaker 2: Notre Dame. And what they love to do is hire 57 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:22,120 Speaker 2: engineers and then they would train them on whatever the 58 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 2: consulting gig was that they needed to do. And that 59 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 2: was a perfect transition for me. So I was able 60 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 2: to use my engineering degree and go work for a 61 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,960 Speaker 2: big consulting company not really even knowing what I was 62 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 2: going to be focused on, and funny enough, they threw 63 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,400 Speaker 2: me right into technology consulting in my first role, and 64 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 2: that really got me on this journey that I've been 65 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 2: on for quite some time now. 66 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: Wow, it's funny because our backgrounds have a lot of 67 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: parallels in them. I grew up in rural Georgia and 68 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,720 Speaker 1: was interested in technology, but the resources weren't really there 69 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,240 Speaker 1: for me to dive into it, certainly not when I 70 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: was going to school. And I also worked for a 71 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: consulting firm. It's just funny to hear those little steps 72 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: because I kind of have an inkling into your experience 73 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: and I love speaking with engineers. So can you talk 74 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,400 Speaker 1: a bit about coming to Veil Resorts and how your 75 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: career there got started and sort of your journey throughout 76 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: the organization. 77 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 2: Yeah. So the transition for me out of consulting to 78 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 2: being in a ski resort town was an interesting one. 79 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 2: We were on vacation over New Year's Even nineteen ninety 80 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 2: nine actually, and my brother and I decided while we 81 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 2: were on vacation that we could work for ourselves and 82 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 2: buy a three bedroom condo, turn our third bedroom into 83 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 2: an office, and we could ski as much as we 84 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,799 Speaker 2: wanted and just figure out how to make a living 85 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 2: in the ski resort. So I literally flew back to Boston, 86 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,520 Speaker 2: quit my consulting job, and drove from Boston to Breckenridge 87 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 2: and started living in Breckenridge, Colorado, and I wanted to 88 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,680 Speaker 2: get really involved in the local community there, so I 89 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 2: did all kinds of things that I never would have 90 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 2: guessed that I would do. I tutored for competitive high 91 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 2: school ski racers for Team Summit. Jeffrey Lyons was the 92 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,159 Speaker 2: host of a pretty big film festival, the Breckenridge Festival 93 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 2: Film at the time. I got really involved in that. 94 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 2: I think I read one hundred and fifty screenplays in 95 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 2: about eight weeks everyone that got submitted, and then helped 96 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 2: the judges pick the winners. So I was doing all 97 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 2: kinds of things, which is what you do when you 98 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 2: live in these resort communities. But there was a disconnect 99 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 2: because I had no affiliation with the resort. So I 100 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,720 Speaker 2: actually went up to the HR office at the resort, 101 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:28,360 Speaker 2: which was like half a mile from my condo, took 102 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,359 Speaker 2: up my resume, and ironically Fail Resorts was doing a 103 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 2: PeopleSoft implementation and they needed the exact expertise that I 104 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 2: had done at Anderson Consulting and knew how to help 105 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 2: them wow. 106 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: Well, first of all, Tim, I have to say, the 107 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: description of your career decision there I think more than 108 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: merits your inclusion in the restless ones. I don't think 109 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: I've heard a more restless description in all the episodes 110 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: that I have hosted so far. So clearly you did 111 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,160 Speaker 1: end up saying with Veil Resorts, you ended up being 112 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,360 Speaker 1: an integral part of that team. And I'm curious if 113 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: you are at like a party and someone says, so, 114 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: what do you do for a living, how do you 115 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:13,000 Speaker 1: actually describe your job in a way that makes sense 116 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:13,400 Speaker 1: to them. 117 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 2: There are two parts of that answer. One is everybody 118 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,360 Speaker 2: loves to talk about fail Resorts and their experiences as 119 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,080 Speaker 2: gears or snowboarders and want to share all the great 120 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 2: things that they did and any feedback that they might have. 121 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 2: So it's always a lot of fun actually to talk 122 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 2: about my job because people are so interested and they 123 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 2: want to engage, and they really want to share the 124 00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 2: experiences that they've had at our resort. On the it side, 125 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 2: I think it's always interesting. It's kind of surprising me, 126 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:42,240 Speaker 2: but I still get a lot of conversations that view 127 00:06:42,279 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 2: it as sort of an order taker back office type 128 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,720 Speaker 2: of function, and it couldn't be further from the truth. Nowadays, 129 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 2: pretty much any business strategy that's being implemented, whether it's 130 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 2: a corporate function or an operational line of business, has 131 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 2: a technology foundation underneath that is critical to actually achieving 132 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,239 Speaker 2: the business outcomes that those groups are trying to achieve. 133 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:08,279 Speaker 2: So the interesting part about my job and my team's 134 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 2: job is we get to work on everything. We get 135 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 2: to work with every function, every operation, and we get 136 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:17,600 Speaker 2: to be a part of developing the strategy and implementing 137 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 2: the strategy, both on the technology enablement side, and it's 138 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,880 Speaker 2: full partnership and what we're trying to do. So yeah, 139 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:25,960 Speaker 2: I still think there's a misconception out there that I 140 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 2: get a lot as far as what it actually does 141 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 2: versus what the modern sort of role is of an 142 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 2: IT organization. 143 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the issue I encounter is that most 144 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:37,800 Speaker 1: people's experience with it is when they have to put 145 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 1: in a ticket because something has gone wrong with whatever 146 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: system they're working on, and so they start to view 147 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: it as being reactive and don't realize how proactive it is. 148 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:50,080 Speaker 1: I think that's a great way to kind of segue 149 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:54,840 Speaker 1: into talking about technology over at Veil Resorts. On this show, obviously, 150 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,600 Speaker 1: we love to talk about connectivity, and I was fascinated 151 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: to start reading about some of the connectivity the based 152 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: features at Veil Resorts. Can you talk a bit about 153 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:10,120 Speaker 1: how that connectivity feature ends up providing opportunities to delight visitors. 154 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it starts with a few things. For us, 155 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 2: As you probably have seen, we grew through acquisition of 156 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 2: a lot of resorts over a relatively short period of time. 157 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 2: I think one of the most important decisions we made 158 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 2: early on for the North American resorts was to do 159 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,880 Speaker 2: full integrations. So once we acquired a resort, we put 160 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 2: them on all of our systems and processes as quickly 161 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 2: as we could without being disruptive. And that puts us 162 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,960 Speaker 2: in a position now where when we deploy something new 163 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:37,840 Speaker 2: or drive and innovation, everybody gets the benefit of it, 164 00:08:37,880 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 2: and all of our integrated resorts, which is really powerful. 165 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 2: Ski resorts are complex trips to plan and there's just 166 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 2: a lot that goes into it. Takes a lot of 167 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 2: time and effort. For us, we're always trying to help 168 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 2: our guests do as much in advance as they possibly can, 169 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 2: you know, select their pass or lift ticket, book their rentals, 170 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 2: book their ski school, think about the F and B 171 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 2: experiences that they want to have. So the more that 172 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 2: we can get them to do before they show up 173 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 2: at the resort, the better experience that they're going to 174 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 2: have in resort. However, once they get in resort, there's 175 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 2: still a lot of complexity. It could be on mountain 176 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,800 Speaker 2: weather conditions, it could be what got groomed that night, 177 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,280 Speaker 2: it could be what trails are open. There are all 178 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 2: kinds of real time pieces of information that are going 179 00:09:16,200 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 2: to help the guest. And if they also didn't do 180 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,960 Speaker 2: some things in advance, now they're in a situation where 181 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 2: they have to do transactional things in the resort that 182 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,360 Speaker 2: maybe takes longer for them to actually get on the mountain, 183 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 2: which is what the experiences that they came for. So 184 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 2: for us, the transition to mobile and thinking about the 185 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 2: role mobile can play is really once that guest leaves 186 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 2: their hotel room, our ability to interact with them and 187 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 2: communicate with them is on their mobile device, and that's 188 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 2: how we need to make sure that we're getting them 189 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 2: all the information they need to have the best experience 190 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:48,400 Speaker 2: they possibly can and then figure out even if they're 191 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 2: making those decisions kind of late in the process. How 192 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 2: can they self serve or get support through their mobile 193 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 2: device as quickly as possible to remove any friction points 194 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 2: in their experience. And the Integrated Network of Resorts allows 195 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 2: us to deploy that everywhere across North America, all at once, 196 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 2: which is great. 197 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's brilliant. On the backside, where we've 198 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: got all these different data points coming in, I'm curious 199 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: how is Veil Resorts taking advantage of that technology on 200 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: that side. 201 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:18,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, we've been on this journey of being a data 202 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 2: driven company for a long time and I think that 203 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 2: is also back to the integrated Network of Resorts is 204 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 2: super powerful because we can get input and data from 205 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 2: all the different experiences that our guests are having because 206 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:30,719 Speaker 2: they don't just go to one resort, they go to 207 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 2: multiple resorts. So for us to be able to aggregate 208 00:10:33,480 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 2: that data, it does a couple things. One, it gives 209 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 2: us more insight into our guest preferences and what works 210 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 2: for them to allow us to communicate with them in 211 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 2: a more personalized way that's relevant to them. So that's 212 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:48,079 Speaker 2: incredibly powerful. On the operational side, though, we spend a 213 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 2: lot of time on how do we make our operations 214 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 2: more efficient? And what this has allowed us to do 215 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,040 Speaker 2: is we now have enough resorts that we can aggregate 216 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 2: data but then also build benchmarking us how one resort's 217 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,040 Speaker 2: doing something versus how another resort's doing something, all within 218 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 2: our company. I would say early on in the company's history, 219 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 2: there was still a little bit of competitiveness between resorts. 220 00:11:09,679 --> 00:11:12,160 Speaker 2: They were competing for guests, and we worked really hard 221 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,440 Speaker 2: to get past that, and now we have a culture 222 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 2: that's focused on sharing best practices and building benchmarks. Building 223 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 2: KPIs learning from each other, and that spans across every 224 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 2: operation we have. That could be snowmaking, it could be grooming, 225 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 2: it could be working through the parking and arrival process 226 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:30,679 Speaker 2: when guests are showing up our resort, what's the most 227 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 2: efficient way to actually manage that flow of traffic. So 228 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 2: they are all these different opportunities, but I think the 229 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 2: power has been the combination of the data and then 230 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 2: being able to share that across the resorts to learn 231 00:11:41,679 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 2: what's the optimal way or best way to do something. 232 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: To me the ability to collect and analyze data at 233 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,199 Speaker 1: the scale that we're capable of now. When I first 234 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: started talking about big data, you couldn't really analyze all 235 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: that information. It's a totally different world now where we're 236 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:59,480 Speaker 1: able to analyze data at scale and start drawing conclusions 237 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,480 Speaker 1: are more rapidly than I could have envisioned ten years ago. 238 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, and one of the challenges of the business that 239 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 2: we're in is our primary revenue generating season is about 240 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,480 Speaker 2: a four month period in the winter. So to your 241 00:12:12,520 --> 00:12:15,880 Speaker 2: point on the ability to aggregate data, analyze it quickly, 242 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 2: drive insights, implement them. We're not a typical company that 243 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 2: just has quarter after quarter to make improvements. We have 244 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 2: a very small operating window, so it is really important 245 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,360 Speaker 2: that we can learn quickly and implement changes and iterate, 246 00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,240 Speaker 2: be like very agile in our thinking throughout our winter season. 247 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: We talk a lot about high speed connectivity on this show, 248 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,319 Speaker 1: where we talk about things like five G implementation or 249 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 1: Wi Fi six, this ability to have high through put, 250 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:56,959 Speaker 1: low latency connections. I'm curious is Veil Resorts exploring that 251 00:12:57,040 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: and if so, in what sort of implementations. 252 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 2: Yeah. If you think about our operating footprint, we're also 253 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,640 Speaker 2: unique in that we have some resorts that are absolutely massive. 254 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 2: I mean some of our biggest resorts. You're talking about 255 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 2: thousands and thousands of acres without a ton of infrastructure 256 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,160 Speaker 2: in it. So the entire twenty plus years that I've 257 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 2: been here, we've been talking about cellular coverage, getting our 258 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,079 Speaker 2: network actually out to remote locations where we can use 259 00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 2: Wi Fi as a benefit. So we are literally every 260 00:13:24,440 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 2: single year analyzing cellular coverage and advancements in cellular and 261 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 2: working with all the major providers and other partners so 262 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,959 Speaker 2: that we can extend as much coverage as we can 263 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 2: to all the skiable train at all of our resorts. 264 00:13:37,120 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 2: So that's an ongoing process and ongoing investment because it 265 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 2: just enhances the experience. We look for Wi Fi and 266 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:45,640 Speaker 2: areas where maybe there's a benefit to doing that, which 267 00:13:45,679 --> 00:13:47,679 Speaker 2: may be a base area or something where people are 268 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:50,600 Speaker 2: doing things on their phone that may require connectivity. And 269 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:52,199 Speaker 2: then I think the other part for us that's really 270 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 2: important is when we think about mobile app design, we 271 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 2: have to think about the fact that you may not 272 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,320 Speaker 2: have great coverage everywhere you are on the mountain on 273 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 2: some of our really big mountains, and so we have 274 00:14:02,679 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 2: to consider that in app design. So what can you 275 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,559 Speaker 2: do offline versus what do you need connectivity to do 276 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 2: and so we really do emphasize and focus on downloading 277 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 2: the app, downloading the critical pieces of data that you need. 278 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 2: So it's our goal to get as much connectivity as 279 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 2: we can across the board and as much bandwidth as 280 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 2: we possibly can for our guests, and also design around 281 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 2: the fact that we're going to have gaps. 282 00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: And also on the behind the scene side, I imagine 283 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,640 Speaker 1: that there's a lot of value in being able to 284 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,560 Speaker 1: collect those different data points about things like mountain conditions 285 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: so that you can proactively make those decisions that will 286 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: have the minimum impact on guest experience. And that's where 287 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: I start seeing really interesting possibilities. Whether you're talking about 288 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: Internet of Things implementations or you're talking about a simple 289 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,680 Speaker 1: camera setup that is by located with like a cell tower, 290 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 1: these are things that come to mind when I start 291 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,280 Speaker 1: thinking about ways of integrating this connective technology. 292 00:14:57,960 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think part of that is our network 293 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 2: extended throughout our resorts so that we can actually be 294 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 2: connected to the things that you're talking about, like webcams, snowcams, 295 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 2: like the snowmaking system or the grooming system, things like that. 296 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:12,360 Speaker 2: So that's a big part of it. The first challenge 297 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 2: is how do we get the data and have the 298 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,720 Speaker 2: real time information? The second is how do we communicate 299 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 2: that effectively in a real time manner to our guests 300 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,840 Speaker 2: in a way that works for them. And that's where 301 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,040 Speaker 2: our big focus is on the new mobile app that 302 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,960 Speaker 2: we're developing is really having our guests understand there's one 303 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 2: place to go. And then the data on guest preferences 304 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 2: is important as well, because there's a ton of information, 305 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 2: a ton of real time data. So how do we 306 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 2: provide something that's relevant to you, that you care about 307 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:40,800 Speaker 2: and is real time? How do we know that about 308 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 2: you versus all the information that we could be sending 309 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 2: out to all of our guests. 310 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, Tim, you made an excellent point. Access to information 311 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 1: is one thing. How do you communicate it effectively is, 312 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: as we all know, a huge challenge. So that to 313 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 1: me is really exciting because having the experience of feeling 314 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,560 Speaker 1: like your visit has has been tailor made to you, 315 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,880 Speaker 1: there's no way to put a value on that. So 316 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: I think that that's one of those things that this 317 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: technology can really enable to that end. I'm also curious 318 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: I read a little bit about the AI assistant Emma 319 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: can you talk a bit more about that and what 320 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: Emma's role is in all of this. 321 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:19,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, you know it fits actually in the conversation we 322 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 2: were just having. We have a lot of folks in 323 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 2: our base areas that are walking and on mountain that 324 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 2: are answering guest questions all the time. Right It's like 325 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 2: where do I drop my kids off at ski school? 326 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 2: What's groomed today? Where should I go skiing? All of 327 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,440 Speaker 2: those types of things. So, right now, it's more of 328 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 2: a human interface once the guests are in resort, and 329 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:39,200 Speaker 2: so the idea is, well, how do we use that 330 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 2: mobile device, that smartphone to allow the guests to self serve, 331 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,240 Speaker 2: which in many cases they want to do, and if 332 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,040 Speaker 2: they need to contact an agent, that we make it 333 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 2: really really simple for them to get in touch with 334 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,480 Speaker 2: somebody that has those answers. Emma was also an early 335 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 2: adoption of sort of natural language processing machine learning AI capabilities, 336 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 2: and we used a text based interface to do it 337 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:02,960 Speaker 2: because we felt that the guests could be comfortable just 338 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 2: reaching out via text, not having to worry about an app, 339 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,080 Speaker 2: and we could answer their questions for them. So we 340 00:17:08,160 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 2: learned a ton through that experience, both on how the 341 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 2: technology works and what kinds of questions our guests were 342 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,399 Speaker 2: asking and how we could service them going forward. The 343 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 2: plan going forward within the my Apic app is back 344 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,880 Speaker 2: to the same thing, not sending our guests multiple places, 345 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:24,879 Speaker 2: but saying, Okay, if you want that information, we have 346 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,720 Speaker 2: a mobile app for you that has all of these 347 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 2: different features and communication methods and a support feature. So 348 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,280 Speaker 2: I think a little bit more of an integrated approach 349 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 2: that ties into this mobile strategy of one place to 350 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 2: go for our guests. 351 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: Wow, fascinating. I'm curious also if you can maybe tell 352 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: us a story. I realized that real life stories don't 353 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: typically have the neat beginning, middle, and end, but perhaps 354 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: kind of walk us through a project as an engineer 355 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:55,000 Speaker 1: that goes from perhaps the earliest stages of ideation into 356 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 1: the planning and development all the way to implementation and 357 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:00,680 Speaker 1: what that looks like at resorts. 358 00:18:01,520 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 2: Yeah, again, back on the innovation side. One of the 359 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 2: areas that we're always looking at our where friction points 360 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 2: in the guest experience or where are there lines that 361 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,360 Speaker 2: people have to wait into and what can we do 362 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 2: to mitigate that. One of the projects that I think 363 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:17,400 Speaker 2: fits into this category of kind of ideation to resolution. 364 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,200 Speaker 2: That was interesting because I wouldn't have predicted the outcome 365 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 2: when we started it. The problem statement was for some 366 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,680 Speaker 2: of our peak days and peak times, we can have 367 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 2: line weights that people don't want to wait in at 368 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 2: our ticket windows or pass offices. And one of the 369 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,360 Speaker 2: constraints that we have that are similar to other ski 370 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,760 Speaker 2: resorts is they're physical building constraints. So you have a 371 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,280 Speaker 2: capacity limit on how many point of sales can you 372 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:41,640 Speaker 2: have open, how many people can you have working at 373 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 2: that specific base area. And so we said, okay, well 374 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 2: that's an interesting problem to solve because we're probably not 375 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 2: going to build more buildings by next season. So in 376 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:52,959 Speaker 2: the absence of that, what can we do? And so 377 00:18:53,359 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 2: we use data. So what we did is we said, 378 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 2: we're going to analyze all the data and all the transactions. 379 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,399 Speaker 2: We're going to look at how the wait times vary 380 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 2: across different locations and resorts. We're going to understand the 381 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 2: different transaction types that occur, and which ones are complex 382 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,399 Speaker 2: and which ones are simple. And then we have to 383 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 2: think creatively about how would you burst capacity because you 384 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:15,439 Speaker 2: don't need to burst it all the time, they're just 385 00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 2: certain days and for a couple hours where you need 386 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:19,800 Speaker 2: to do it. And we also compared it to our 387 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:22,639 Speaker 2: GX data, because we know who our guests are that 388 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 2: fill out our GX surveys and we know what their 389 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 2: experience was at our ticket window or pass office, so 390 00:19:27,640 --> 00:19:30,840 Speaker 2: we could correlate the GX data and see how impactful 391 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 2: that was to the experience. And where we landed was 392 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:38,160 Speaker 2: the easiest quickest way to resolve this is to actually 393 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 2: focus on the simplest transactions. So what are the simplest 394 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:43,719 Speaker 2: things that we're doing at these locations, and could we 395 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 2: create a mobile solution that you could do that same 396 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:49,399 Speaker 2: transaction with a mobile device, which would give you the 397 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 2: ability to burst your capacity and do it in a 398 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,159 Speaker 2: way that's so simple for our employees to understand. You 399 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 2: could actually have employees from other departments come over work 400 00:19:58,080 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 2: a one to two hour shift and take a ton 401 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 2: of relief and reduce the wait times for everybody, right. 402 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 2: And what we landed on was we have a ton 403 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,199 Speaker 2: of people that buy lift tickets in advance, and what 404 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:10,840 Speaker 2: we're really doing in those transactions is just looking up 405 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 2: an order and loading it to an RFID card and 406 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 2: sending them on their way. And we were able to 407 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:18,919 Speaker 2: very quickly design a solution where you could use a 408 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,880 Speaker 2: credit card or a phone number to find an order, 409 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:26,159 Speaker 2: verify it with the guests, and quickly load their tickets 410 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,480 Speaker 2: or passes on to that hard card and get them 411 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 2: on the slopes. And it was so simple to use. 412 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,159 Speaker 2: It took ten minutes of training for employees to come 413 00:20:33,160 --> 00:20:35,400 Speaker 2: over and work those shifts, but it had a massive 414 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 2: impact on the ticket windows as well. The GX score 415 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,800 Speaker 2: results that we saw across all of our resorts was 416 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 2: amazing year over year of just that simple impact, and 417 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 2: back to the integrated network. The nice thing was we 418 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 2: were able to deploy it everywhere and each resort could 419 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,840 Speaker 2: tailor it based on what they needed to do for 420 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 2: their guests. So that was just a really interesting one 421 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,600 Speaker 2: where I think we probably started out with some ideas, 422 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 2: we knew a very specific business problem we were trying 423 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:00,600 Speaker 2: to solve, and we let data sort of guide us 424 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 2: to what the actual best resolution would be for that 425 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 2: next season. So that one felt like a great example 426 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 2: of sort of an engineering approach to thinking about a 427 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:10,879 Speaker 2: problem and getting to the right solution. 428 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: I love that that solution is one that has multiple impacts. 429 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously it impacts customer satisfaction, but it also 430 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: impacts employee satisfaction and morale. I think it's a huge 431 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: benefit both for the customer who's visiting and for the 432 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,320 Speaker 1: people who are working there. And often that last part 433 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:32,919 Speaker 1: gets left out of conversations when we're looking at this 434 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,320 Speaker 1: because we're thinking of it in the terms of someone 435 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:38,160 Speaker 1: who's a consumer as opposed to someone who's working behind 436 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:38,720 Speaker 1: those lines. 437 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, and two additional points on that. I think you 438 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,040 Speaker 2: mentioned the employee experience, which is something we're very focused on. 439 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 2: I think the thing that was surprising to me was 440 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,840 Speaker 2: how thrilled the people from other departments were to be 441 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 2: able to help out, and it was a simple enough 442 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,440 Speaker 2: training experience for them, and the guests were super surprised, 443 00:21:56,440 --> 00:21:59,440 Speaker 2: delighted that it was such a simple, fast transaction for them, 444 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 2: actually a great experience that they could help out a 445 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 2: fellow group. Our entire company is so focused on the 446 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 2: guest experience, so anything that we can do to improve 447 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,919 Speaker 2: that's great. And then the sort of surprise and delight 448 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,200 Speaker 2: of the guest was just a very rewarding experience as 449 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:15,359 Speaker 2: they went through it. And then the second point is 450 00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,359 Speaker 2: this is kind of the impetus for us introducing mobile 451 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:20,880 Speaker 2: pass and mobile lift ticket and kind of going back 452 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 2: to using your mobile phone. That is one of the 453 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 2: things our guests need to do right now is get 454 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 2: a physical piece of media and RFID card for a 455 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 2: passer lift ticket. And this next season we're introducing a 456 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,480 Speaker 2: mobile capability that you do it all on your phone 457 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 2: and that eliminates that step that you don't actually even 458 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:36,840 Speaker 2: need to go get a piece of media if you 459 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:37,280 Speaker 2: don't want to. 460 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: I'm curious about your perspective about what sort of approach 461 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: does it take in order to secure buy in from 462 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: other leaders when you are looking at solutions to business 463 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:50,600 Speaker 1: challenges on a tech level. 464 00:22:51,160 --> 00:22:52,400 Speaker 2: I think there are a few things that we've really 465 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 2: focused on. I think one is just our organizational model 466 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,119 Speaker 2: that I think is a little bit unique. I'm not 467 00:22:57,119 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 2: sure all IT departments are structured this way, but my 468 00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,919 Speaker 2: leaders on my team are actually fully embedded leaders on 469 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:07,320 Speaker 2: the business groups that their senior leadership teams that they support. 470 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 2: So my finance director sits on the finance SLT, my 471 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,439 Speaker 2: marketing technology vice president sits on the marketing SLT, and 472 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 2: we have this orientation and one of our mantras that 473 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:20,679 Speaker 2: we use in it. And this a big part of our 474 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 2: culture is we're business leaders first, so we're going to 475 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 2: focus on partnering with our different business functions to determine 476 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 2: what business goals are we trying to drive, what outcomes 477 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,400 Speaker 2: are we trying to drive, and then we can think 478 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 2: about how technology enables it. So I think how you 479 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 2: get that buy in is to make sure you understand 480 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 2: the business strategy and the business outcomes first before you 481 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:43,639 Speaker 2: just go run off and start implementing technology. Because then 482 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 2: we're aligned on what our success criteria is and how 483 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 2: we're going to measure it. For me and my role, again, 484 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:50,520 Speaker 2: this is like the best part of my job is 485 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 2: I get to work with all my ecpers on all 486 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 2: their different strategic initiatives, and that relationship and that partnership 487 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,000 Speaker 2: that starts with trust and credibility and ownership and accountability 488 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:03,280 Speaker 2: is super important and we spend a lot of time 489 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 2: on that. Then the last thing I would say that 490 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 2: is critical is early in my career when I thought 491 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,080 Speaker 2: about technology innovation, we were just focused on the technology 492 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,399 Speaker 2: development and deployment, and we would deploy the technology and 493 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 2: whatever happened happened, But we felt good about ourselves because 494 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 2: we deployed the technology and that doesn't work. So now 495 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,440 Speaker 2: we take a totally different approach. We take a very 496 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:29,199 Speaker 2: cross functional approach. That are more programs that we're working on, 497 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 2: but they include marketing, HR, finance, operations, guest services, IT 498 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,360 Speaker 2: and we all work together as one team to take 499 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:43,399 Speaker 2: full ownership and accountability of holistically what we're trying to accomplish. 500 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:45,520 Speaker 2: So I think some of those cultural things that we've 501 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 2: built in and structural things that we've built in, getting 502 00:24:48,080 --> 00:24:50,480 Speaker 2: buy in is not really a topic or an issue 503 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 2: because we're partnering from the very beginning on what we're 504 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,359 Speaker 2: trying to accomplish, and then we have joint ownership and 505 00:24:55,359 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 2: accountability all the way through implementation. 506 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: Tim, you've hit on stuff that I'm very passionate about 507 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: because to me, that underlying core of communication is absolutely 508 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: key to a successful enterprise. Well, we're getting toward the 509 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:12,080 Speaker 1: end of our conversation here. I am curious, are there 510 00:25:12,119 --> 00:25:16,800 Speaker 1: any technologies that you're looking forward to implementing at Veil Resorts. 511 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,440 Speaker 2: The most exciting transformational thing that I think we're doing 512 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,000 Speaker 2: is related to my epic Gear. It's a big transformational 513 00:25:24,040 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 2: rental program and it's also going to be built into 514 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,320 Speaker 2: the mobile app, so you can do everything within that app. 515 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 2: But we really pushed ourselves on this one, which was 516 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:34,199 Speaker 2: not to take our existing business and make it a 517 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:36,800 Speaker 2: little bit better, try to like really step back and 518 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 2: think about what would a totally different experience be, and 519 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 2: then how can we facilitate that with technology. And this 520 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 2: is an amazing assortment of the best brands of skis 521 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 2: and snowboards, guaranteed for the season if that's what you want, 522 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,520 Speaker 2: or you can try different ones every single day, free delivery, 523 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 2: slope side pickup, so drop off and pickup to where 524 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,400 Speaker 2: you don't have to bring your skis on the airplane, 525 00:25:58,440 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 2: or you don't have to lug them through the village 526 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 2: from your hotel. So like, over all, these different things 527 00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 2: are going to create something that's just a totally different 528 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,320 Speaker 2: experience for both an owner and a current renter. And 529 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:10,320 Speaker 2: so I'm really excited to see how that's going to 530 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 2: evolve and how technology is going to enable it. We're 531 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 2: doing a pilot this year at four of our Colorado resorts. 532 00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,120 Speaker 2: When we do innovation with technology, we do a lot 533 00:26:18,119 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 2: of employee pilots and proofs of concept because we have 534 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 2: so many employees on the mountain and they want to 535 00:26:22,359 --> 00:26:23,880 Speaker 2: be a part of it, and they want to give 536 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 2: feedback as part of the experience, and we'll use our 537 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,639 Speaker 2: employees to refine it before we're ready to deploy it 538 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:31,639 Speaker 2: to guests. This one's so interesting and compelling. We're doing 539 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 2: a guest pilot, so we're actually going to bring guests 540 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,880 Speaker 2: into the pilot process over this next season and get 541 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 2: real guest feedback before we do a full deployment next season. 542 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,719 Speaker 2: So that, to me is really exciting and new for us. 543 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 2: I think this level of sort of visibility and transparency 544 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,119 Speaker 2: with guests going through this experience and us trying to 545 00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 2: learn from them so that we can make it even 546 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:53,280 Speaker 2: better for the following season. 547 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,600 Speaker 1: Before I could let Tim go, I had to ask 548 00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 1: him one more thing. What is the best piece of 549 00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: advice you've ever received? 550 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 2: Yeah? I've shared this one a lot actually with people 551 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 2: both internally and externally, because it's something I still work 552 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 2: on every day. But it ties into this culture and 553 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,399 Speaker 2: sort of business leaders first mentality that I talked about. 554 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 2: I've been with a company for about twenty two years, 555 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 2: in the ciole for about five and when I was 556 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 2: promoted into this role. Our CEO at the time told me, 557 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 2: think about your role on the executive committee and imagine 558 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 2: an external observer came in and sat in the meeting 559 00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 2: and at the end of the meeting they walked out 560 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,199 Speaker 2: and they couldn't tell that you were the CIO, and 561 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,159 Speaker 2: the message there was the expectation for you as an 562 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 2: executive of this company is to help lead the company, 563 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 2: not be a functional expert. So of course you have 564 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 2: to lead technology and lead the technology team, but your 565 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,200 Speaker 2: role needs to be thinking about the business and helping 566 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,119 Speaker 2: to drive the business, which means you need to engage 567 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 2: in all kinds of topics and things that maybe are 568 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,880 Speaker 2: outside of your primary domain expertise. And I think about 569 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:10,400 Speaker 2: that regularly and I think it's something that I'm always 570 00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,399 Speaker 2: working on. Am I living up to that standard? And 571 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,720 Speaker 2: would somebody actually walk out and be like, well, clearly 572 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:17,800 Speaker 2: that was the CIO because he was fully engaged in 573 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:21,199 Speaker 2: the technology conversations but wasn't contributing in other areas. And 574 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 2: I think that applies to my leaders, and I talked 575 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 2: about them sitting on business leadership teams too. If somebody 576 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,359 Speaker 2: watched you and walked out, would they know that you 577 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 2: were the technology person, or would they just see you 578 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,399 Speaker 2: are a strong leader, fully engaged in the conversations in 579 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:33,920 Speaker 2: the room. 580 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: Excellent answer. Well, Tim, I have to tell you this 581 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: Georgia boy who's never strapped a pair of skis on 582 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: in his life, has already said they're daydreaming about a 583 00:28:42,720 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: ski vacation. So maybe someday you're going to see me, 584 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,600 Speaker 1: probably face down on the slopes, but on the slopes, 585 00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: and if you do, you'll wave. I might not see, 586 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 1: depending on how face deep I am in the snow, 587 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 1: but I'm going to be enjoying myself. 588 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, well let me know for sure. We'll get you 589 00:28:57,280 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 2: set up. 590 00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:00,720 Speaker 1: That sounds amazing. Thank you for joining the show. I 591 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: greatly appreciate this has been a great conversation. 592 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:04,920 Speaker 2: Thanks for the time. I really appreciate it. Look forward 593 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:05,800 Speaker 2: to talking again sometime. 594 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,960 Speaker 1: Thanks again to Tim April of Veil Resorts for joining 595 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: the show. I loved having him on to talk about 596 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: how Veil Resorts is leveraging technology in innovative and practical 597 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:24,960 Speaker 1: ways to improve guest experiences. It's very easy for me 598 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:28,360 Speaker 1: to see the value of those initiatives from a consumer perspective, 599 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: but beyond that. I think Tim's approach to leadership is 600 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:36,000 Speaker 1: really inspirational. Valuing each department at Veil Resorts and working 601 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: with them to identify and then pursue goals that benefit 602 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,960 Speaker 1: the business overall is something that's clearly valuable on the surface, 603 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: but often it's extremely difficult to actually pull off, considering 604 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: the breadth of Veil Resorts and the number and nature 605 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: of different properties. I imagine creating that culture and nurturing 606 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,480 Speaker 1: it is something that will always require work, but the 607 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 1: benefits are undeniable. I'm also eager to learn more about 608 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: the program's Veil Resorts will debut this coming season. I 609 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: think it's such a clever approach to take advantage of 610 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: smartphone technology, and I'm excited to hear about how the 611 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: rollout progresses. I really hope one day to try it 612 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 1: out for myself. I just need to learn how to 613 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: ski first. Thanks again to Tim, and thank you for 614 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,400 Speaker 1: listening to the Restless Ones. Don't forget we have a 615 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:30,920 Speaker 1: great catalog of interviews with tech leaders across all sectors 616 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: of business that you can explore, and be sure to 617 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: check out future episodes where we'll have more conversations with 618 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: leaders at the intersection of tech and business. Until next time, 619 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:42,320 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Strickland.