What is the Group Exchange?
The Group Exchange provides ski service suppliers and tour operators with the opportunity to meet one-on-one with ski club and council decision makers from across the country in a pre-scheduled appointment format.

When is the Group Exchange?
Dates TBD.

Who are the buyers?
The buyers in the Group Exchange are trip decision-makers from ski clubs and councils from across the country. They often hold positions such as President, Vice President, or Trip Chairman in their organizations. To participate in the Group Exchange as buyers they must meet the criteria of booking, on their own, at least one 5-7 day trip yearly with a minimum of 20 people to a North American resort.

Who are the suppliers?
The suppliers in the Group Exchange are both ski service suppliers and tour operators or wholesalers desiring to sell ski vacation components to the ski club and council leaders. Ski service suppliers consist of ski resorts, hotels, lodging properties, property management companies, tourism bureaus and organizations, car rental companies, ground transportation providers, ski rental companies, activity operators, travel insurance companies, as well as other sellers of mountain vacation products.

What is the format of the Group Exchange?
The Group Exchange format consists of the ski club and council leaders sitting in booths and the suppliers/tour operators rotating from booth to booth to meet with the ski club or council leaders.

How does the registration for the Group Exchange work?
To participate in the Group Exchange and the pre-scheduling of appointments you must be registered and fully paid for the Group Exchange and have paid prior to the registration deadline.  Attendees who register after the registration deadline will not have pre-scheduled appointments but will have the opportunity to schedule their appointments during manual and open scheduling sessions if registration for the Group Exchange is still open. The Group Exchange has been sold out the past several years and registering early is strongly recommended if you wish to participate.

Each company participating in the Group Exchange will receive one set of appointments.  All individuals wishing to participate in the Group Exchange or wanting to “get on the floor” MUST BE REGISTERED to attend the Group Exchange. Registrations are not exchangeable or transferable during the event. NO EXCEPTIONS.  If there are multiple delegates from the same company you will be requested to designate a lead contact to whom all correspondence will be directed.

How do the ski club or council leaders know that my company is participating in the Group Exchange?       
Each company participating will be required to complete a profile.  This profile will be posted in an online Group Exchange directory which will be viewed by ski club and council leaders wishing to meet with you. The directory will also enable you to review the profiles of all participating group leaders for the purpose of selecting your appointment requests. Note: only the lead contact from a company with multiple delegates will be able edit the profile submitted.

How does the appointment process work?
Profile review and appointment selection: Each company participating (both buyer and supplier) will submit a list of appointment requests. Using the online Group Exchange directory you will be able to review profiles of participating companies and submit your appointment request list. ALL requests must be submitted prior to the request submission deadline to be included in the pre-scheduling of appointments. Note: only the lead contact from a company with multiple delegates will be able to submit appointment requests for a company.

Scheduling process: The scheduling is based on 1) ski club requests and 2) supplier/tour operator requests. MTS makes no guarantees regarding the number of appointments received. It is the responsibility of the attendees to market themselves to the companies with whom they would like to meet.

Appointment schedules: Approximately one week prior to the event, you can login to Profiles & Appointments section and view the list of companies with whom you will be meeting.

What is "open scheduling" and how does it work?
Open scheduling refers to the block of time before the Group Exchange in which attendees are given the opportunity to add appointments to their existing schedules. Essentially, Open Scheduling is a way for both buyers and suppliers to seek out companies they want to meet with but currently do not have appointments with. In addition, attendees can also reschedule or remove any existing appointments on their schedules.
 
During open scheduling, a 2-way appointment scheduling is implemented. The first half consists of the buyers going from booth to booth seeking supplier companies they want to meet with. The same thing occurs during the latter half but with roles reversed, i.e., the buyers are situated while suppliers go from booth to booth.