The last few years have not been kind to sledders. We are caught in pressure traps from regulators wanting to close riding areas, environmentalists who say that our sport is dirty, and other backcountry user groups who call our sport "dangerous", not to mention those individuals who do not belong to any of these groups but who hate our sport just because they've never tried it. Public policy is swayed by public opinion. Public opinion is swayed by media.
The last few years have seen declines in sleds sales, and overall, sled sales have been in a general decline since about the mid-90's. Whether or not we like it, our sport is in danger. Some people are hoping for the complete collapse, and we need to stand up to them.
Media take stabs at us all the time, apart from the very rare good news story, we only seem to garner the bad press. They report what they have, and if we only give them positive PR, they'll have a hard time reporting on the negative. I personally have invited reporters out to come sledding and see what sledding is actually all about, I've always recieved a decline to the invite..... These are the same reporters who slammed us in news articles days before. Funny that they can write such an article with bias and never have even participated in the sport they supposedly know so much about.
I'm starting this thread to generate some ideas and discussion on what we can do as a user group to change our image. This needs to come from us, internally, no one else is going to do it for us. Up until now the majority seem to have buried their heads in the sand, and kept the attitude that if we don't say something, it will all blow over and everything will be fine. That's a chickensh!t attitude and it needs to stop. If you want to have an area to ride in 15 yrs, you better start fighting for them now, otherwise by the time you wake up and smell the coffee, they will be long gone.
There are those that are fighting to keep areas open, but they cannot do it alone or without financial support. Sledders spend thousands annually on toys/fuel/trips/ etc, and we can't contribute $100 a year to an organization that will ensure the future of our sport?
There are already 2 governing bodies in the west that are fighting for riding areas, however there is no cohesive voice that responds to media attacks. These organizations have struggled to do this on their own it seems, due to lack of structure, formal training, lack of manpower, whatever etc. I am in no way condemning any of the work they have done. Sledders as a group, need to help them out to accomplish this. They also need to work together to provide the unified voice.
This is more what I'm referencing when I say PR - an actual person that stands up on the evening news and says all the good things that snowmobilers do, not just a press release onto a website that can be ignored by the mainstream media. A voice and a face staring at the camera is a much stronger presence.
To achieve this, IMO several things are needed:
1) Funding - This can come in multiple forms, however I do think there is a need for a user pay system. People might not want to hear it, but there it is. $15,000 for a new sled? I think you can spare $100/year, because after all, what good is a new sled without anywhere to ride it? I cannot speculate on what it costs, I think that as sledders we could do much of the leg work (discussed later) and just feed that information to someone trained to talk to the camera. Grants etc are available as well I'm sure.
2) Spokesperson - Obviously we need someone to actually BE a spokesperson. This person could be hired from an external firm and obviously needs PR/media relations training. This person should not be an industry "insider" (i.e. someone from one of the big 4 manufacturers or an aftermarket company) as the optics just look like they would be trying to sway public opinion to reduce financial loss (or increase it). IMO, this spokesperson should not be affiliated with either the BCSF or ABSnow. Facts and figures (I'm sure a lot have already been collected over the years) from both these organizations or generated from sledders, could be funnelled to the PR firm, instead of 2 smaller voices, we'd have one unified voice.
3) Facts - This is the "leg work" that is discussed above. We need something tangible to discuss and support our argument that its not as bad the "Negative Nancy's" of the world will have "joe public" believe. The manufacturers have increased the fuel mileage and lowered the emissions, its not as dirty as it was in the late 1960's. We need to conduct polls to determine how many hrs the average sledder rides a year, multiply that by the # of sledders on the hills on any given weekend and demonstrate that comparatively by the exposure hours, sleddings is a safe sport. While I'm sure that everyone is aware....obviously like anything, sledding as a recreation, is not without it's risks.
That exposure to risk is where sledders can generate the facts to save our sport. How many sledders go out on a given weekend and ride, without incident? Just like highway stats, the more hours of exposure to any given set of hazards, the higher the likelihood of an incident. Without hard data and facts to present - the fight is useless. There will always be tragedies because the exposure to risk is greater, especially in the mountains, and there isn't one of us who wants to see any sledder die in the mountains.
4) Support - This is going to be needed from the manufacturers, aftermarket, local businesses and establishments that sledders support. We as a group, contribute huge amounts of $$$ to these individuals and organizations, and it's time they starting supporting us, in reciprocation. That support does not have to be financial, although the majority of it probably can/will be, it can simply be the restaurant waitress that overhears comments by patrons and makes a comment that "not all sledders are loud mouth jerks", even if a table of loud mouth jerk sledders just left the restaurant, because she does know that we are not all like that and that we leave big tips The manufacturers spend tons of $$$ driving around on demo tours, hocking new sleds, how much more would a donation to a local charity and quick mention to the radio station cost them while they are in town? It would advertise their cause and support the sledders that support them.
The aftermarket guys selling safety gear (like SOS, BCA, etc) have sales figures from 10 yrs ago compared to now, and could lend us support by releasing thost and demonstrating that while the # of sled sales has decreased, safety gear purchases have increased, contributing to the facts that we, as a group, are heightening our awareness of safety.
There are 100's of ways that we could be supported by these people, we need to let them know and get them involved. The more they realize they are part of the team and the success or failure of the sport, the more they will realize just how much they have at stake if we don't succeed. Camoplast is not going to be selling a whole lot of tracks if our sport fails.....
5) Internally - I've said it before and it needs to be said again - we as sledders need to respect others and they will respect us. Keep up with the trucker mouths in family restaurants, disrespect in the hotels, etc and these individuals will choose to specifically not support us, and without that support, we are going it alone. You ever tried to roll a rock uphill? Trying to get good PR is going to be twice as tough unless sledders clean up their act a little. Having a PR person say good things is totally negated when the local newspaper editor writes an editorial article condemning sledding.
This is an idea that I have had in the preliminary stages for a long time. It's time to act on it now. There are many ways we can make this happen, and I know that we have dealers and manufacturers reps on this site who can help us. I know they are watching. Feel free to add thoughts and comments or PM me, but if there are any negative posts then they'll just be reported and asked to be deleted by the Mods. We don't need another "My sled is better than your sled" thread. If we spent as much time fighting for our sport as we do arguing about who's got the most HP, we'd be riding on the moon by now. If you know where some of the these facts discussed above are kept or have been generated already (so we are not re-inventing the wheel), please link them, if you know someone or if you work at a PR firm, please let me know, this is designed be the start of many good ideas. Keeping sledding alive is the point of discussion here, any thoughts outside that can be kept to yourself. I realize the "plan" is not perfect, but we need start somewhere. Pointing out loopholes in the "plan" is only a reactive measure, not a proactive solution.
You can show your support by positively contributing to this thread, which will hopefully improve sledding and the education of others. We'll see where it goes and how much sledders really want to save their sport.
The last few years have seen declines in sleds sales, and overall, sled sales have been in a general decline since about the mid-90's. Whether or not we like it, our sport is in danger. Some people are hoping for the complete collapse, and we need to stand up to them.
Media take stabs at us all the time, apart from the very rare good news story, we only seem to garner the bad press. They report what they have, and if we only give them positive PR, they'll have a hard time reporting on the negative. I personally have invited reporters out to come sledding and see what sledding is actually all about, I've always recieved a decline to the invite..... These are the same reporters who slammed us in news articles days before. Funny that they can write such an article with bias and never have even participated in the sport they supposedly know so much about.
I'm starting this thread to generate some ideas and discussion on what we can do as a user group to change our image. This needs to come from us, internally, no one else is going to do it for us. Up until now the majority seem to have buried their heads in the sand, and kept the attitude that if we don't say something, it will all blow over and everything will be fine. That's a chickensh!t attitude and it needs to stop. If you want to have an area to ride in 15 yrs, you better start fighting for them now, otherwise by the time you wake up and smell the coffee, they will be long gone.
There are those that are fighting to keep areas open, but they cannot do it alone or without financial support. Sledders spend thousands annually on toys/fuel/trips/ etc, and we can't contribute $100 a year to an organization that will ensure the future of our sport?
There are already 2 governing bodies in the west that are fighting for riding areas, however there is no cohesive voice that responds to media attacks. These organizations have struggled to do this on their own it seems, due to lack of structure, formal training, lack of manpower, whatever etc. I am in no way condemning any of the work they have done. Sledders as a group, need to help them out to accomplish this. They also need to work together to provide the unified voice.
This is more what I'm referencing when I say PR - an actual person that stands up on the evening news and says all the good things that snowmobilers do, not just a press release onto a website that can be ignored by the mainstream media. A voice and a face staring at the camera is a much stronger presence.
To achieve this, IMO several things are needed:
1) Funding - This can come in multiple forms, however I do think there is a need for a user pay system. People might not want to hear it, but there it is. $15,000 for a new sled? I think you can spare $100/year, because after all, what good is a new sled without anywhere to ride it? I cannot speculate on what it costs, I think that as sledders we could do much of the leg work (discussed later) and just feed that information to someone trained to talk to the camera. Grants etc are available as well I'm sure.
2) Spokesperson - Obviously we need someone to actually BE a spokesperson. This person could be hired from an external firm and obviously needs PR/media relations training. This person should not be an industry "insider" (i.e. someone from one of the big 4 manufacturers or an aftermarket company) as the optics just look like they would be trying to sway public opinion to reduce financial loss (or increase it). IMO, this spokesperson should not be affiliated with either the BCSF or ABSnow. Facts and figures (I'm sure a lot have already been collected over the years) from both these organizations or generated from sledders, could be funnelled to the PR firm, instead of 2 smaller voices, we'd have one unified voice.
3) Facts - This is the "leg work" that is discussed above. We need something tangible to discuss and support our argument that its not as bad the "Negative Nancy's" of the world will have "joe public" believe. The manufacturers have increased the fuel mileage and lowered the emissions, its not as dirty as it was in the late 1960's. We need to conduct polls to determine how many hrs the average sledder rides a year, multiply that by the # of sledders on the hills on any given weekend and demonstrate that comparatively by the exposure hours, sleddings is a safe sport. While I'm sure that everyone is aware....obviously like anything, sledding as a recreation, is not without it's risks.
That exposure to risk is where sledders can generate the facts to save our sport. How many sledders go out on a given weekend and ride, without incident? Just like highway stats, the more hours of exposure to any given set of hazards, the higher the likelihood of an incident. Without hard data and facts to present - the fight is useless. There will always be tragedies because the exposure to risk is greater, especially in the mountains, and there isn't one of us who wants to see any sledder die in the mountains.
4) Support - This is going to be needed from the manufacturers, aftermarket, local businesses and establishments that sledders support. We as a group, contribute huge amounts of $$$ to these individuals and organizations, and it's time they starting supporting us, in reciprocation. That support does not have to be financial, although the majority of it probably can/will be, it can simply be the restaurant waitress that overhears comments by patrons and makes a comment that "not all sledders are loud mouth jerks", even if a table of loud mouth jerk sledders just left the restaurant, because she does know that we are not all like that and that we leave big tips The manufacturers spend tons of $$$ driving around on demo tours, hocking new sleds, how much more would a donation to a local charity and quick mention to the radio station cost them while they are in town? It would advertise their cause and support the sledders that support them.
The aftermarket guys selling safety gear (like SOS, BCA, etc) have sales figures from 10 yrs ago compared to now, and could lend us support by releasing thost and demonstrating that while the # of sled sales has decreased, safety gear purchases have increased, contributing to the facts that we, as a group, are heightening our awareness of safety.
There are 100's of ways that we could be supported by these people, we need to let them know and get them involved. The more they realize they are part of the team and the success or failure of the sport, the more they will realize just how much they have at stake if we don't succeed. Camoplast is not going to be selling a whole lot of tracks if our sport fails.....
5) Internally - I've said it before and it needs to be said again - we as sledders need to respect others and they will respect us. Keep up with the trucker mouths in family restaurants, disrespect in the hotels, etc and these individuals will choose to specifically not support us, and without that support, we are going it alone. You ever tried to roll a rock uphill? Trying to get good PR is going to be twice as tough unless sledders clean up their act a little. Having a PR person say good things is totally negated when the local newspaper editor writes an editorial article condemning sledding.
This is an idea that I have had in the preliminary stages for a long time. It's time to act on it now. There are many ways we can make this happen, and I know that we have dealers and manufacturers reps on this site who can help us. I know they are watching. Feel free to add thoughts and comments or PM me, but if there are any negative posts then they'll just be reported and asked to be deleted by the Mods. We don't need another "My sled is better than your sled" thread. If we spent as much time fighting for our sport as we do arguing about who's got the most HP, we'd be riding on the moon by now. If you know where some of the these facts discussed above are kept or have been generated already (so we are not re-inventing the wheel), please link them, if you know someone or if you work at a PR firm, please let me know, this is designed be the start of many good ideas. Keeping sledding alive is the point of discussion here, any thoughts outside that can be kept to yourself. I realize the "plan" is not perfect, but we need start somewhere. Pointing out loopholes in the "plan" is only a reactive measure, not a proactive solution.
You can show your support by positively contributing to this thread, which will hopefully improve sledding and the education of others. We'll see where it goes and how much sledders really want to save their sport.
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