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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVPCMinutes_2009_01_081 Promotions Committee Meeting Minutes – January 8th 2009 City Hall Present: Chris Daugaard, Tom Jones, Bob Johnson, Tyler Luckhurst, Amy Einspahr, Matthew Nelson, Didem Koroglu, Jerry Miller, Al Heuton, Bridgit Burghardt, Deb Garbers, Jan Brockel, Sarah French, Jeff Weldon, and Tom Richter. •Chairman Blatchford called the meeting to order at 2:09, welcomed new member Matthew Nelson, and called for any agenda changes. Burghardt requested to add an advertising opportunity from KSFY, as well as election of 2009 Officers. The advertising opportunity will be handled after the branding discussion, and the election of officers will be handled after the convention report. Daugaard motioned to approve the agenda, Luckhurst seconded. Motion carries. • November 24th Minutes: Jones motion to approve, Luckhurst seconded. Motion carries. • Financials: Burghardt informed the committee that two events have opted not to receive their 25% payments. The Dakota Schoolers filled their tournament with the first payment of 75%, and due to the streetscape project, the Harvest Festival did not happen as planned, and they opted not to take the remaining funds. The committee reviewed the 2009 budget and allocations. We need to look at the events with the highest impact and the greatest return. There have been a couple of organizations that have questioned the decrease in amount funded. Daugaard mentioned that when he started on the committee, the main focus was on events, and we were doing very little marketing. Through the planning session, we have identified conventions and tournaments as high impact. We left the quality of life events in there, even though they are not as high of an impact. Question into if there needs to be a statement about the change in focus to Conventions and Tournaments, as well as the branding? Discussions regarding sending a letter to the applicants letting them know the focus on Conventions and Tournaments. We are undertaking the branding, which is a huge project, and a large amount of the funds will need to be designated to the project. Daugaard motioned to have staff draft a letter to be reviewed at the January meeting Einspahr seconded. Motion Carries. Miller moved to approve the financials, Johnson seconded. Motion Carries. •Branding Discussion: Burghardt gave a recap of the branding project. The sub-committee reviewed the returned Request for Qualifications and narrowed the proposals down with interviews of two companies. The interviews took place on December 22nd, with David and Associates from Nebraska in the morning, and North Star Destination Strategies in the afternoon. Additional information was requested from North Star, after receiving the information, the sub-committee meet to review the additional information. Koroglu added it is the recommendation of the subcommittee to contract with North Star. North Stars presentation was better, felt David and Associates maybe learning during the process. Both companies would be fine, but feel we would benefit from North Stars experience. Feel they understand the difference between branding and marketing. North Star made it clear they are not a creative firm. They will provide us with the plans, but after that, it is all ours. An estimated cost for the project is $102,000. Question into reimbursable expenses? Through negotiations, North Star has agreed to drop travel and data expenses. Question into who will hold the contract? Miller motioned to accept the recommendation of the subcommittee to enter into negotiations with North Star, Johnson seconded. Motion Carried. Question into what roll the committee will have in the project? The taskforce will be a sounding board. After the brand strategy is set, we will need to discuss the brand manager and budget funds out of the 2010 budget to market the brand. We do not want to go through the branding process, and then have it end up on the shelf. The question was presented to North Star, regarding who is better to manage, and North Star said if it was started there, then Visitor Promotions. French added Downtown Brookings is looking into banners, and questioned when to apply for funds? Apply in late 2009, if not into 2010. There are other companies looking for the brand, we will push as fast as we can. French requested they be kept informed of the process. Question into if DBI should continue researching banners? Suggest continue with the research, but would hold off on purchasing. We should not stop all advertising during this process, just no big purchases. •Advertising Opportunity on KSFY: Burghardt presented the committee with an advertising opportunity during the SDSU vs. NDSU basketball games in January. We only have so much money to spend, and we don’t have a brand yet. Einspahr motioned not to advertise during the SDSU basketball games, Blatchford seconded. Motion Carries. • Convention Report: Garbers provided the committee with a convention report, reported on the upcoming tournaments. The money allocated in 2008, was available later in the year, so there is carryover from 2008. Would recommend the committee move $10,500 of the convention money into event services to balance the accounts out. Right now, there is a run on tournaments and they are using up more funding. We are currently in the process of updating the convention files. Question into if one of the accounts should be bigger than the other? It is hard to tell; right now there are a number of opportunities for tournaments. Daugaard motioned to transfer funds out of the convention account into tournaments, Johnson seconded. Motion Carries. •Election of 2009 Officers: Jones nominated Blatchford for Chair, Koroglu seconded. Blatchford added will only accept the nomination if the committee provides feedback as we go through the process. Jones nominated Einspahr for Vice Chair, Luckhurst seconded. Motion Carries. •Miller motion to adjourn, Daugaard seconded. Motion Carries. Meeting adjourns at 3:01.