Barbara Tomkey, Smugglers’ Notch Resort Public Relations Director

Barbara Thomke is the Smugglers’ Notch Resort public Relations Director. Barbara has a degree in Education and German from Middlebury College, but her love of skiing took her down another path. She got her start in the ski industry working as an organizer for the homeowners’ associations at Smuggs. As time went on, she transitioned to public relations. In her public relations job she publishes a weekly print newsletter to employees. She also sends events emails and press releases. Sometimes she skis with writers and television reporters. She uses Vocous – a PR software tool for lists of publications they have worked with in the past. This automatically sends the information out.
The most memorable project that she has worked on is conducting interviews with homeowners to find out how they learned about Smuggs, and what makes Smuggs special for them. A special time for her was when she met Superman, actor Christopher Reeves. He was a homeowner at Smuggs and spent the day hanging with the staff. She also enjoys meeting top notch journalists through her job at Smuggs. Barbara really enjoys working with people who like to ski. There is no part of her job that is not enjoyable, yet Barbara said that meetings are sometimes a little grueling. For the future of public relations in the ski industry, she says that social networking is the most important technology to keep up with. During my interview with Barbara I asked about awards Smuggs has received while she has been the PR officer. The list of awards is lengthy and impressive, check it out for yourself at http://www.smuggs.com/pages/universal/press/awards.php.
Barbara says that the best way for people to get a PR position at a resort is to work at the resort for a few years, get to really know the place, then transition to the PR department. That way you know the resort from the inside out. Barbara has worked as the Public Relations Director at Smuggs for 20 years. At the end of the ski season she will be retiring and passing the reigns to her assistant. No doubt, she leaves big (snow)shoes to fill, or would that be ski boots?