Empire Does The Meeting
by: Brian Schroy
Most people hear the word meeting and cringe; however, The Meeting hosted by Aspen/Snowmass is anything but boring. The snow sports industry gathers for a weekend of information, movie premieres, and awesome after parties. It is an amazing opportunity to meet your favorite athletes and catch a first glimpse of all the up coming flicks of the season.
The event kicked off Thursday night with the 9th annual NEPSA Awards. The NEPSA Awards challenge athletes and local filmmakers to create movies, and compete for the chance to win $3,500. Each film team must incorporate one or more assigned themes. This year’s themes were the Muppets, Environmentalism and Secrets of Aspen. The awards were immediately followed by a fashion show of winter outerwear at the Belly Up.
Friday, it was time for business. The first meeting was on freeskiing and snowboarding’s role in the Olympics. We discussed the meaning of the Olympic dream in contrast with other top-level competitions. We also discussed how organizations such as the AFP (Association of Freeskiing Professionals) and TTR (Ticket to Ride) match up against FIS (International Ski Federation) and the IOC (International Olympic Committee). The second meeting was a humorous presentation about going green on the mountain, hosted by Aspen Ski Company’s Director of Sustainability, Auden Schendler. The meetings ended with a fantastic conference regarding the value of social media.
Movies began shortly after the conferences ended, with Poor Boyz Production’s The Grand Bizarre and Level 1’s After Dark. Then the boys from Brain Farm Digital Cinema unveiled their masterpiece, The Art of Flight. That was a good introduction to the night, but the real party started on the other side of the Silver Queen Gondola. The top of the mountain awaited us with a huge bonfire as well as a private showing of the Voleurz movie, That’s Fine. TGR ended the night with One For The Road. However, the dance party kept going until the early morning.
Saturday was filled with less business and more pleasure. Guests of The Meeting 7 were invited to a professional go cart track to test out their driving skills. The engines were roaring and a series of fierce competitions ensued. It is rumored that Aspen’s own, David Amirault, took home the first place trophy in the driving series. The premieres resumed again in the nighttime. The snowboarders took over the first half with Giving Snowboarding’s One and TB20, Standard Films 20th movie. Then, 1242 Productions presented Ordinary Skier and Matchstick Productions showed Attack of La Niña. The night ended back at the Belly Up with the premiere of Videograss’ Retrospect and Bottom Line by Pirate Movie Productions.
Aspen outdid themselves again at this years Meeting. The premieres were more impressive, the parties were wilder and the meetings were more informative. The Meeting offers such a unique experience for all the people who attend it. It is amazing hearing about each movie from the perspective of the athletes, as well as the filmmakers. If you were not able to attend this year make sure to mark your calendar for The Meeting 8. See you all there next year.
