Thin Air Park City Announces 2018 Festival Line-Up

Thin Air Innovation Festival returns to Park City, Utah April 5-7, 2018with a line-up featuring entertainers, entrepreneurs, leaders and athletes – as well as get-out-on-the-snow action. From Thursday's Opening Night with comedian Sarah Colonna to Friday's breakout sessions, Olympic Homecoming Parade and Citizen Cope concert to Saturday's skiing, riding and après…the festival delivers a program designed to spark ideas and connect innovators of all stripes.

Thin Air 2018's Opening Night event at Park City Live (April 5) sets the fun-meets-innovation tone as thinkers and doers from the worlds of tech, snowsports, finance, healthcare, outdoor recreation, retail and beyond gather – and enjoy sizzling entertainment. The evening's featured guests include: Lonnie Mayne of Red Shoes Living; Courtney Banghart, head women's basketball coach at Princeton University; Vipe Desai, entrepreneur and philanthropist; Tom Kelly of US Ski & Snowboard Association; and several Olympians from PyeongChang 2018, including silver medalist (and first American to ever medal in Luge) Mark Mazdzer and multi-Games medalist Ted Ligety.

Comedian, New York Times bestselling author and star in the upcoming Netflix series (2018) "Insatiable," Sarah Colonna, will close the Thursday night program, bringing Thin Air back down to earth with her hilarious and honest take on success, careers and life. The after-party kicks off with live music performance from country/soul singer – and former college opera performer – Zach Coffey.

On Friday, April 6, the Thin Air Breakout Sessions nurture insights, fire imaginations and deliver knowledge across industries. The sessions run from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Jim Santy Auditorium in the Park City Library followed by a full-throttle, Park City celebration on Main Street. The day's highlights include:    

From Geek to Great: How Comic Con revolutionized the entertainment industry (8:30 a.m.). This session explores how from humble beginnings Comic-Con has mutated into an electrifying, exhausting galaxy of movies, TV, video games, art, fashion, toys, merchandise, and buzz and ended up at the center of the 21st century entertainment universe. Participants include Bryan Brandenberg of FanX and Brian Stephenson of ReedPOP.

How Shift is revolutionizing the used car buying experience…and what it means for the future of retail (9:20 a.m.).  An "audience back-and-forth" conversation with George Arison (founder and CEO of Shift, the online marketplace disrupting the $1.2T used car industry), exploring how millennial consumers buy experiences - not items - and have different expectations when it comes to engaging with retailers.

This is personal: how tech is driving the shift to personalized service in healthcare (10:15 a.m.). Nickolas Mark, Director of Intermountain Ventures, leads a panel discussion with Isaac Ro of Goldman Sachs, Josh Kellar of Boston Consulting Group, and Ambar Bhattacharyya of Maverick Ventures on the emerging trends and technologies that are bringing together entrepreneurs, technology firms, providers, payers and patients in new ways and are transforming the healthcare system into a more consumer-focused and personalized model.

Attacking the Participation Issue in Snowsports: a design thinking workshop (1:30 p.m.). Led by design powerhouse IDEO, this SIA Springfest session will be a workshop experience that explores how the snowsports industry players can join forces and generate new ways to grow participation in winter sports, with the aim of incubating these ideas in Utah and later sharing them across the country.

Park City Nation Olympic & Paralympic Homecoming Parade (5 p.m.). In partnership with the Youth Sports Alliance, Thin Air Park City welcomes home our town's Olympians and Paralympians from the 2018 PyeongChang Games and celebrates Park City's Olympic legacy with a Parade down Main Street. Dozens of athletes who competed in PyeongChang and past Olympic Games will be honored in the parade; fans can congregate at the Thin Air stage following the parade for a meet and greet and opportunities for pictures and autographs.

Thin Air Concert on Main featuring Citizen Cope (7 p.m.). Thin Air 2018 unleashes the festival's community-embracing, party side with a free open-air concert on historic Main Street, featuring Citizen Cope (a.k.a. Clarence Greenwood). Cope's music is an eclectic mix of rock, blues, hip-hop, and folk influences that fuse together to form a unique, soulful sound. For Thin Air 2018, he's bringing along an ensemble of musicians for an amazing night of acoustic-driven rock.

Saturday, April 7, is all about getting on the hills for skiing and riding at the town's two mountain resorts: Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort. Attendees can hit the slopes on their own or sign up for some one-off Thin Air Experiences, such as "Ski and Ride with Olympians" and a sunrise ski mountaineering group. After a full day of ripping it up, attendees head to the Thin Air Lounge for an après program of music, libations, panel discussions and chairlift chats (one-on-one interviews with Thin Air special guests).

The big news for Thin Air 2018 is the partnership with Snowsports Industries America (SIA), the trade group of winter sport manufacturers and retailers, which is launching the SIA Spring Fest at Thin Air. The annual event brings together its industry's leaders for three days of discussing and exploring future strategies, alongside innovators and thought leaders from other industries at Thin Air.

"By partnering with Thin Air, we're looking to expose our industry players to an array of new thinkers and discussions in hopes of inspiring greater innovation within our industry," says SIA president Nick Sargent. "We also want to make this event inclusive as opposed to exclusive; to build a much larger gathering."

Tickets to the 2018 Thin Air Festival are available at www.thinairparkcity.com. The All-In pass provides access to the entire festival, including the Opening Event, all breakout sessions and admission to the Thin Air Lounge and is priced at $300, with early bird pricing at $250 through March 18. The Citizen Cope concert on Main Street is free to the public, thanks to the generous sponsorship of Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort.

Program and ticket information for the 2018 Thin Air Innovation Festival are available at www.thinairparkcity.com. Discounts are available for groups. Contact info@thinairparkcity.com for more information.