Getting on Oprah

[mollmeister]

Maybe we could get on Oprah or Ellen-- diverse skiing women meet on the slopes!

I jest, but an online mom's group I belong to used to talk about petitioning Oprah or Ellen to have us all on, to meet in person and talk about why the Internet seemed like a cool place for a bunch of ladies with one shared interest to hang out.

 

[ski diva]

Maybe we could get on Oprah or Ellen-- diverse skiing women meet on the slopes!

I LOVE this idea!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Maybe we could get on Oprah or Ellen-- diverse skiing women meet on the slopes!

I jest

Jest not. It's a serious possibility. Oprah loves this kind of stuff. My mind's racing! (if not my ski legs)

 

[mollmeister]

Jest not. It's a serious possibility. Oprah loves this kind of stuff. My mind's racing! (if not my ski legs)

Today Show would be another good bet. It's got the right audience (like my mom. . . and lots of young mothers at home with their kids) and they love to do travel features and health and fitness series.

*We* (because of course it's not really *we. . .* Certainly not me. I just miss mental stimulation and adult interaction, which is clearly evident on this site, lol. It's the DIVA herself, not *we.*) clearly have an angle of sorts:


In an era when people are having a harder time getting up off of the sofa and heading outside, it's refreshing to hear of a group of women who are united by their love of a push-your-limits, work-hard-for-rewards sport. Skiing.

The Ski Diva.com is an online community that was founded to generate camaraderie and support for women who love skiing, and it's grown to more than 750 divas. Similar websites have long existed for a more testosterone-fueled sector of the ski and snowboard community, but women's voices were often less evident, or drowned out by bro-bra humor and insults.

A wide range of female voices are represented at The Ski Diva.com-- young (and older), risk-taking, hard-charging women skiers; women just starting to ski in their late middle age; moms and working women who wish they had more time to get outside; older moms whose kids are grown, and who have found themselves back at the hill, re-engaging in a sport they've always loved.

It's a diverse group, scattered all over the world, with widely ranging abilities and widely ranging ski terrain at their disposal. But the Divas all love skiing, ski equipment, and ski clothes. And many of them spend a surprising amount of time at the computer (when not on the slopes) sharing advice, encouragement, enthusiasm and experience.

Given the growing membership and the friendships that have formed on the site, The Ski Diva.com now sponsors gatherings of women skiers, and more and more denizens of the site are starting to meet face to face. In 2009, they are planning a get-together in Colorado, where many women who have only met online (and have little real-world sense of each others' abilities, strengths, and limitations) will join together on the mountain and do what they love to do. Ski.


OK, that's all the adult discourse I have in me for the day. And I really don't know where I was going with it?. Bad case of momnesia, here. Pitching Oprah, if she'll listen? Back to blocks, bathtime. . . and packing for the ski trip, of course. . . .

 

[snowbunny1976]

Sounds like a good press release if you ask me!!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Addition: emphasize the diversity of membership: geographically (we are world-wide at this point), ethnic background, age, life-status.

Not to mention the fact that it really has evolved beyond skiing at this point, although it's our anchor-point. Example: the emergency contact network. This evolved after some extreme weather on I-70 west of Denver.

And there are some real friendships evolving here as well.

For the "appearance" fly in some of our distant members, like shellski Down Under, astrid in Norway, then a rep from every corner of the US, including Alaska. Have a mega-urban rep and a super-rural rep. The youngest member, the oldest member. (Oprah can afford this, no problem)

And "let the fun begin!"

Is this fun or what? :D

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Hey. Just one comment. About that "older moms whose kids are grown" part?

 

[vanhoskier]

Oprah loves positive things that have changed people's lives. Although we all can attest to the positive effects of belonging to this site, has it really changed any members' lives for the better? I'd bet it has. We probably don't know some of those stories.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Oprah loves positive things that have changed people's lives. Although we all can attest to the positive effects of belonging to this site, has it really changed any members' lives for the better? I'd bet it has. We probably don't know some of those stories.

Who better to ask than Ski Diva? Her basis for starting this forum was to meet more women to ski with. Read her blog (upper right hand corner, link). At this juncture, I think she can easily say she got more than she bargained for!!

Let's also not forget, it's all of 18 months young. (mods, am I correct re this timeline?) I think a lot of very good friendships are either already in place or forming.

I, for one, am so happy to have other women/divas to chat with about skiing - serious stuff, silly stuff, all of it. The response time to questions and concerns is extremely fast here. Any question. Or even a rant. We're here, we'll listen. We'll encourage. It's the support thing. And you get to know people, and their lives happen: good stuff, bad stuff. We share it. I cried at Native Vail Gal's wedding. Online.

My friends don't get it. They don't ski. Not the females. I have male skiing friends. They're great. It's not the same.

 

[num]

I walk past Harpo studios on a regular basis. I can make an attempt to get chummy with/hand deliver to an assistant if you guys are serious about trying to get Oprah behind us

As for next year, I fear skiing with the Divas maybe be unlucky for me. I think my trip westward would be heading back to Utah for a rematch!

 

[ski diva]

Well, I did it -- I sent an email to Oprah to see if she'd be interested. It's a real long shot; her show probably gets thousands of these proposals a day. But nothing happens if you don't try.

Now I'll just wait for the phone to ring.....

 

[SueNJ]

Ski Diva, you seem to have a knack for getting people's attention, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if there's an interest. After all, you've (either directly or indirectly) gotten the attention of, as of right now, 771 Divas! Plus your letter in Ski mag. And I'm sure there's other examples. Keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Kano]

Oprah loves positive things that have changed people's lives. Although we all can attest to the positive effects of belonging to this site, has it really changed any members' lives for the better? I'd bet it has. We probably don't know some of those stories.

Well, okay, so it's possible that things would have been different anyway, but I'm skiing like WAY better than ever since I found the forum! And I've learned more of the things there are to know about skiing than I could have imagined there was to learn about skiing too!

I think what we take away from this forum affects the rest of our lives as well as our skiing. Things learned here have inspired confidence and increased my adventurous spirit. I'm tackling all kinds of new territory on the mountain, and am looking forward to continuing the trend when the snow melts!

Dang, what am I doing cleaning bathrooms and washing clothes today? I should have been skiing!

Kano

 

[Jilly]

Dang, what am I doing cleaning bathrooms and washing clothes today? I should have been skiing!

I can't get out of my driveway. So yeah, I've got a clean house too.

Seriously, I found this forum a year ago in September, not long after Ski Diva started it. It's been a source of inspiration during bad times and hopefully I've help others during their sad times. We've seen weddings and deaths. And we've been there for each other through those times. May the good times prevail, but we all know they don't. The Ski Diva's is a virtual community that really connects.

 

[cyn]

I think Oprah might be most interested in the more personal angle of Wendy's story, because it fits with her "empowerment of women" theme. She regularly features women who followed their passions and became successful.

Wendy followed hers, and started something really great - a network of women of all ages and many parts of North America (and the world) who share a love of skiing, and, being women, support each other in many other aspects of their lives.

I have this fantasy of her bringing us all together so we could finally meet in person - maybe even on a ski mountain somewhere!

 

[Native Vail Gal]

I think Oprah might be most interested in the more personal angle of Wendy's story, because it fits with her "empowerment of women" theme. She regularly features women who followed their passions and became successful.

Wendy followed hers, and started something really great - a network of women of all ages and many parts of North America (and the world) who share a love of skiing, and, being women, support each other in many other aspects of their lives.

I have this fantasy of her bringing us all together so we could finally meet in person - maybe even on a ski mountain somewhere!

She's our little Angel Network....in and of herself!

And she DID bring many together on here....last week in Utah....and now next year in Colorado! I love this idea! Oprah or Ellen or the Today Show will be all over this!.....So might Katie Couric with her Assignment America! Those are always happy stories! :cheer:

 

[SuperMoe]

Book idea

I belong to another board...been on it for 5 years...and it's an all women board (OK, I'll fess up...we all got involved because we thought a certain news anchor was HOT ) But the fact is, it became just a huge community of friends and it's been going for 5 years.

I always wanted to write a book (loosely based on it) Maybe Mr Diva can step in here. LOL The basic idea just follows a group of women as they navigate through their lives, some, never having met. I've been through deaths, marriages, births, divorces, etc with these women. We had some big chats early on with 19 women participating. Actually did a book send around (like with the Fear book) But, just like here, we celebrate successes and we try to pick people up after their problems. And, you sometimes find that some people don't really fit in with your group...how do you handle that? (Ban their IP!?!)

This group mirrors the other group that I'm involved in, which is why I keep coming back here. Really good information, but I can see that a network of friends has evolved. Also, it takes a really good woman to organize and keep the group going, which is why Ski Diva is such a gem.

So, yeah, Oprah is a cool idea...it does sound like something up her alley. Maybe you can convince her that all on-stage participants needs new skis or something.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

This group mirrors the other group that I'm involved in, which is why I keep coming back here. Really good information, but I can see that a network of friends has evolved. Also, it takes a really good woman to organize and keep the group going, which is why Ski Diva is such a gem.

Amen!

 

[Kiragirl]

So, yeah, Oprah is a cool idea...it does sound like something up her alley. Maybe you can convince her that all on-stage participants needs new skis or something.

YES on new skis! Also---I'll bet a ski company would be into getting the free advertising in trade for the skis. They could feature some skiing video of some divas on the show, and discuss other important diva interests as well, sporty and/or volunteer work (?)/who are instructors, etc. / how it all began with the Ski Diva.

I live 1.5 hrs from NYC, I'll be there, and I'll pay for my own transportation, haha.

 

[ski diva]

Just found this thread again.

Ah, silly pipe dream! Would've been nice, though....