Club Med fully Sponsors uber-cool SA Blogger group at its brand new Ski Resort in Val Thorens, France
By Michael Renzon – Chief Executive Officer/ Founding Partner
Tomorrow night I head off on a dream holiday to Club Med’s brand-spanking-new Ski Resort in Val Thorens, France as part of an uber-cool group of SA Bloggers and Social Media influencers fully sponsored by Club Med. Rewind! So how the Hell did I get here? with my 115 Twitter followers and 216 Facebook friends I’m not exactly trending. ‘Apparently I have LinkedIn pull over 2,000 people between my personal and company LinkedIn profiles who I managed to convince Club Med that a) I actually know and b) can afford the trip to their dream ski resort.
The story as to how I got here is far more interesting than the LinkedIn/Twitter divide. It started in March 2014 when I gatecrashed a bachelor party ski week. Not as sinister as the Wedding Crasher because I was un-officially invited by Mark who wanted to avoid being the lone-skier. You see Mark, like me, lives in Middle Earth between the Yuppies and the Hipsters but will never earn their true respect because like me Mark is a skier and not a boarder – and any Hipster worth his cred knows that his man-beard only matches with a rad snowboard.
This will be my 3rd ski trip to the incomprehensively beautiful Val Thorens but this time it is very different. Club Med Val Thorens takes the ski holiday concept to a new level. It is a complete departure from the functional accommodation typically experienced in European ski resorts by taking it to a level that makes the Club Med experience as exciting as the skiing itself! The resort has a contemporary spirit, designed by Sophie Jacqmin and Studio Arch set for maximum benefit from the mountain panorama. Nothing has been spared to ensure a perfect ski and après-ski experience from the Club Med Spa by CARITA, in-house ski and snowboarding lessons and the 10-metre climbing wall in the centre of the Resort!
What I learnt from my new hipster crew is that they see the world very differently. Following our 2014 trip Spillly (with 3 ‘L’s) and Gabbi from Urban Espresso PR took the concept of Social Media marketing to Club Med who loved the idea that South Africa’s most prolific bloggers and Social Media influencers could do more to market the Club Med Val Thorens than conventional advertising and agreed to sponsor our trip this year – Nice!
While this week’s focus is the skiing/boarding the narrative is far more layered. A group of South Africa’s brightest social media, digital marketing and technology entrepreneurs coming together from diverse backgrounds brings out a fascinating storyline that develops as the week progresses. Kind of like Davos but muuuuch cooler!
This year I’ve shopped at SuperDry, will have 3 day stubble by the time we hit the slopes and learnt my lessons from last year – it’s Rad and Dude(never Awesome or Guy). So while I’ll never be quite the Hipster I’m fascinated by what lives at the other side i.e. the other side of 40!
To follow my Blog ‘11 Hipsters and a Yuppie – a Social (Media) Experiment’ this week follow me @MichaelRenzon and check out #SnowClub15
