HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-12-2014 PCC Agenda PacketAny writings or documents provided to a majority of the Promotional Coordinating Committee regarding
any item on this agenda will be made available for public inspection in the Administration office of the City
of San Luis Obispo at 990 Palm Street during normal business hours.
Agenda
Promotional Coordinating Committee
City of San Luis Obispo
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
5:30 p.m. Regular Meeting Council Hearing Room
The goals of the City of San Luis Obispo Promotional Coordinating Committee are to (1) improve the
quality of life available to all residents of and visitors to San Luis Obispo and (2) promote, in a manner
consistent with long-range community goals, the development of San Luis Obispo as a regional and
tourist center.
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Jill LeMieux
PUBLIC COMMENT: Each speaker is limited to three minutes of public comment.
At this time, you may address the Committee on items that are not on the agenda but are of interest to
the public and within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Promotional Coordinating Committee. The
Committee may not discuss or take action on issues that are not on the agenda other than to briefly
respond to statements made or questions raised, or ask staff to follow up on such issues.
CONSENT ITEMS
C.1 Minutes of the Meeting on January 8, 2014
C.2 Community Promotions Budget Report
C.3 Public Relations Report
C.4 Grants-in-Aid Support Report
C.5 Visitors Center Report
C.6 SLO Happenings – Campaign Report
C.7 TOT Report
Promotional Coordination Committee
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. 2014 SLO HAPPENINGS PROGRAM APP 30 mins
Verdin will present the promotional collateral for the 2014 SLO Happenings program for the
committee’s review and approval.
2. 2014-15 PROGRAM CONSIDERATION & PROGRAM BUDGET 30 mins
The committee will review the current goals and function of the PCC for consideration and
the outlined budget for 2014-15. The committee will provide direction to the overall program
as well input to the contractors for the upcoming contract proposals.
3. 2014-15 GIA FUNDING ALLOCATION 10 mins
The committee will allocate the funding amount for 2014-15 GIA program for the direction of
the GIA Task Force.
PCC LIAISON REPORTS & COMMUNICATION
At this time Committee members make announcements, report on activities, refer to staff issues for study and
report back to the Committee at a subsequent meeting.
1. GIA UPDATE – LIAISON REPORT
2. TBID BOARD REPORT – TBID Minutes from January 8, 2014 Regular Meeting & January 16,
2014 Special Meeting
3. TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE
Style Guide update, Visit SLO County Sustainable Funding Taskforce, Tradeshow Updates, and
Visit California Outlook Forum update.
ADJOURN.
POSTING STATEMENT: I, Molly Cano, Tourism Manager, do hereby certify that on February 7,
2014, by 5:00 p.m., a true and correct copy of this agenda was posted on the bulletin board outside
City Hall. Internet access to agendas and related material is available at www.slocity.org.
Promotional Coordinating Committee
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
5:30 pm
City Hall - Council Hearing Room
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Jill LeMieux
PRESENT: Pearce, Fidler, Cox, LeMieux, Rizzo, Franciskovich, Palazzo
STAFF PRESENT: Molly Cano, Tourism Manager; Lee Johnson, Economic Development Manager
Chair Jill LeMieux called meeting to order at: 5:30pm
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Moved by Cox/Pearce to approve the consent agenda with an edit to the minutes
reflecting Cox abstention from SLO Concours event funding discussion.
Motion carried 6:0
Commissioner Palazzo arrived to meeting.
PRESENTATIONS
1. MEASURE Y PRESENTATION
Michael Codron, Assistant City Manager, presented the City’s outreach efforts about the uses and future
of the City’s half cent sales tax and the efforts to accomplish the City’s Fiscal Health Major City Goal,
which includes possible renewal of Measure Y or an alternative revenue measure that gives the City the
resources it needs to protect and maintain San Luis Obispo’s quality of life. Committee members asked
questions to Codron pertaining to the funding of positions and programs created through Measure Y
funding.
2. WAYFINDING SIGN PROGRAM UPDATE
Daryl Grigsby, Public Works Director, presented a status update of the City’s wayfinding sign program
including the nine signs that are currently in fabrication. These signs will be delivered mid-February
through the end of March and concurrently the City is developing an installation plan to contract with an
agency to install the signs. Based on the outcome of the initial sign review period, the next phase of the
sign project would commence. This next phase would include a presentation to the PCC in the late
spring to review the list of the next 20 additional signs. The next phase is expected to go before City
Council in June. Based on this schedule, the full project would be complete in FY 15/16. Grigsby offered
to provide the PCC the list of the initial nine signs, locations, and sizes as well as the phased approach
timeline for the committees’ knowledge.
3. QUARTERLY REPORT BY CONTRACTOR
Ermina Karim and Lynne Biddinger of the SLO Chamber of Commerce presented the quarterly activity
report for the Visitor Center, public relations, and GIA contracts. Within the GIA contract, 24 of the 26
DRAFT
C.1-1
Promotional Coordinating Committee Minutes
Page 2
organizations have been served to date. Lynne shared with the committee the proactive PR efforts and
pitches that had been pursed over the second quarter. Ermina addressed the tracking issues with
MyMediaInfo and explained to the committee that the contract for this service was being canceled and
an alternate service was being researched. Lynne then shared the visitor center statistics including a
20% increase in walk in traffic to the center over the same quarter in the previous year.
Verdin presented the 2013 year-end SLO Happenings brochure report. During the final quarter of the
contract, the digital brochure on slocity.org/events received 1,976 reads and 5,463 impressions. In
addition, the total likes on facebook increased 13% over the previous quarter, from 11,129 to 12,630.
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. 2014 SLO HAPPENINGS PROGRAM APP
Verdin presented the final design for the 2014 SLO Happenings app for the committee’s approval as well
as the launch plan to partner with the SLO Film Festival to roll the app out locally. The committee
discussed the app design and commented on how the color adjustments and icon adjustments
exemplified what was requested during the December meeting. The committee did request that the
icon design for outdoor/recreation (sun) would be edited to look more similar to a sun and less abstract.
ACTION: Moved by Rizzo/Palazzo to approve the design based on the committees’ suggested
edits to the sun icon.
Motion carried 7:0
2. 2014-15 GIA APPLICATION REVIEW
The committee reviewed the final 2014-15 GIA application for any changes. The committee noted a few
small changes to be made.
ACTION: Moved by Fidler/Franciskovich to approve the 2014-15 GIA application for release on
February 1, 2014.
Motion carried 7:0
COMMITTEE COMMUNICATION
Commissioner Fidler updated the committee on the Bioneers and explained that they were discouraged
by ticket sales results this year and were working on plans to enhance the events reach and appeal in
the future.
Commissioner Pearce reviewed the TBID actions and noted that the details were included in the TBID
minutes attached to the agenda.
Molly Cano gave the committee the tourism program update.
- Style Guide Update
- Business cards ordering system is now available to all employees
- The style guide files are being finalized with IT and are expected to go live to the employees by
the end of the month
Visit CA UK: California In A Box
C.1-2
Promotional Coordinating Committee Minutes
Page 3
- January can be a really tough month on the UK trade – long hours and post-Christmas blues and
the weather in the UK is pretty grey and bleak.
- sending each agency a fantastic laminated California map with lots of useful selling tools and
information on the reverse, along with all the goodies and information from our partners
- luxury version for key travel lifestyle publications. This will include the main travel magazines
(Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, Lonely Planet Traveller, Nat Geo
Traveller, escapism, Wanderlust) and the national newspaper travel desks based in London – in
total 20 boxes
- SLO sent one-pagers and chapstick
VSLOC Sustainable Funding Taskforce:
- Special Meeting for the TBID held for Thursday 1/16 at 1pm at the Courtyard by Marriott to
review this topic
- Board members are requested to contact their liaison lists to invite them to attended the
meeting- this is a very important matter to our tourism industry and participation is strongly
encouraged
Tourism Vision Workshop on Friday 1/17 at the PAC 1-5 pm
Tradeshows:
- Preparing for the tradeshows
- Partners have been confirmed and final travel details are being finalized
- Shows: Bay Area: 1/25-26 & LA: 2/8-9
Meeting adjourned at 7:15 pm
C.1-3
Community Promotions Budget 2013-14
Budget 2012-13 Amount
Budget 386,500$
Total Budget 386,500$
Expenditure Last Updated 2/3/2014
Expenditure Committed Contracts Other Expenditures
Available
Balance Contractor
Grants-in-Aid Program*116,203$ 25,000$ 90,004$ 199$ City Administration
Events & Activities 81,000$ 33,000$ 43,785$ 4,215$ City Administration
Visitors Center 95,000$ 95,000$ -$ Chamber of Commerce
PR Contract 60,000$ 60,000$ -$ Chamber of Commerce
Downtown Maps 7,500$ 7,500$ Chamber of Commerce
Beautification 4,000$ 4,000$
Support Cost 4,996$ 4,996$ City Administration
Administration 20,000$
Total 388,699$ 220,500$ 133,789$ 13,410$
Remaining Balance 13,409.54$
* Returned funds from 2010-11 GIA = $1198.54
C.2-1
Report to City of SLO- PCC Committee
Public Relations Contract
January 2014
Media Releases:
Jewish Film Festival – Wrote and sent release to all local/regional media outlets
Restaurant Month – Wrote and sent release to all local media outlets.
Nature Corps –Sent release about Volunteer & Wine Tasting Weekend to
regional media
Seven Sisters Quilt Show – Editing press release with organizers
Media/Community Relations:
1. KCOY – Worked with Leah Matsuda from KCOY on a story about
Restaurant month featuring Luna Red.
2. KSBY – Worked with Olivia from KSBY coordinating a story about the
Jewish Film Festival and securing an interview with the Lifetime
Achievement Award winner Peter Riegert.
C.3-1
3. Coordinated with Mark Duffus from Drive STI, SLO city official Robert
Horch and Jennifer Jo Berman at Granada Bistro to secure parking
spaces for a national roll out of new KIA vehicles. KIA, (the car company),
drove a caravan of their newest high-end luxury model from Santa
Barbara to SLO -- about 10-12 cars total. Once here, they pared the cars
on Morro St. outside of the Granada Hotel and Bistro and hosted media
from all major Road Publications.
4. Met with advertising staff and connected with San Francisco Chronicle
Deputy Managing Editor Allen Matthews for a special section featuring
San Luis Obispo.
5. Coordinated with and provided photos to Sarah Thien in Alumni
Relations at Cal Poly for alumni communications.
6. Coordinated with and provided photos to Donovan Aird, in Athletics
Communications office at Cal Poly, for communications materials.
Photos included general SLO shots as well as:
- SLO International Film Festival
- Pismo Pier and/or Avila Beach at sunset
- Hearst Castle
- Morro Rock
7. Coordinated with Heather Hellman, of Get Off The Couch Potato Sports
Productions to provide contact info for Kia Automotive to possibly sponsor
SLO Marathon.
8. Coordinated with GIA recipients to collect promotional materials which
will be delivered to all local hotels in early February.
9. Coordinated with David Wilson of “A Quick Bite” and “Grape
Encounters” to discuss future restaurants and wineries to feature on his
radio show.
10. Worked with Molly Cano and Jeanne Sullivan of Billeci Sullivan Says
PR (Reps Visit CA, CA Wine Institute, Visit San Luis Obispo County, San
Jose CVB) to pitch a feature story about San Luis Obispo to writer Spud
Hilton of the San Francisco Chronicle.
11. Coordinated with event coordinator Denise Lavaroni to discuss bringing
“Kids Adventure Race” Event to San Luis Obispo. (Denise formerly
brought the “Jeep, King of the Mountain” event to the Madonna Inn).
12. Responded to a query for Valentine's Travel Getaways with The Nature
Corp’s special getaway weekend: “Morro Bay & Hearst Castle
Valentines Volunteer and Wine Tasting Weekend.”
C.3-2
13. Worked with Sarika Chawla, Managing Editor for Peter Greenberg
Worldwide to feature San Luis Obispo as one of his destination picks
for 2014 on his Saturday Morning CBS show. Provided Sarika with
photos and information highlighting SLO’s area vineyards, agritourism, the
city itself, and other photos that showcase the area.
14. Worked with MyMedia representatives to try and get better media
reporting. Researched other media companies including Cision, Vocus,
PR Web.
15. Continued to work with the City and Rosetta on overall marketing
campaign.
Media Relations/Placement
1. San Francisco Chronicle: Circulation 380,000
San Francisco Chronicle “Slow is the Way to Go”
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/San-Luis-Obispo-attractions-Slow-is-
the-way-to-go-5112057.php
San Francisco Chronicle “San Luis Obispo Built on Grizzlies Turf”
http://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/article/Mission-San-Luis-Obispo-built-on-
grizzlies-turf-5112060.php
San Francisco Chronicle: Central Coast Wineries Well Worth a Visit
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Central-Coast-wineries-well-worth-a-
visit-5112052.php
San Francisco Chronicle: San Luis Obispo Serves up Contrasts
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/San-Luis-Obispo-serves-up-contrasts-
5112059.php
San Francisco Chronicle: Where to eat in San Luis Obispo
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Where-to-eat-in-San-Luis-Obispo-
5112058.php#page-2
C.3-3
San Francisco Chronicle: Bassetti Family Homestead Has a Bounty
of the Best
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/Bassetti-family-homestead-has-a-
bounty-of-the-best-5112056.php#photo-5659777
San Francisco Chronicle: Calendar of Events
http://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/San-Luis-Obispo-calendar-of-events-
5112070.php
C.3-4
2. KSBY: Viewership: 22,683
Jewish Community Film Festival
http://www.ksby.com/player/?video_id=29129
http://www.ksby.com/news/actor-peter-riegert-honored-at-san-luis-obispo-
jewish-film-festival/
San Luis ObispoTribune: Circulation: 33,104
Jewish Community Film Festival
C.3-5
New Times: Circulation: 10,000
Jewish Film Festival
3. KSBY: Viewership: 22,683
Restaurant Month
C.3-6
4. Examiner.com: Daily visitors: 644,640
Holiday Inn—Pet Friendly
http://www.examiner.com/article/dog-friendly-holiday-inn-express-san-luis-
obispo-treating-your-dog-like-royalty?cid=db_articles
C.3-7
5. CBS This Morning: Saturday
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/what-are-the-best-places-to-visit-in-2014/
C.3-8
6. Fodor’s: Daily Visitors: 71,109
Higuera Street--Best Main Street In America
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2014/01/13/2874953/higuera-americas-
best-main-street.html
C.3-9
7. Via Magazine: Circulation: 2,450,000
San Luis Obispo—5 Things We Love
http://www.viamagazine.com/destinations/
san-luis-obispo-5-things-we-love
C.3-10
8. Huffington Post: Daily visitors: 4,376,879
10 Places Every American Should See
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/budget-travel/10-places-every-
american_b_4661100.html?utm_hp_ref=travel&ir=Travel
C.3-11
9. San Luis ObispoTribune: Circulation: 33,104
Kia Debuts New Vehicle in Downtown SLO:
Upscale, unstuffy SLO charms Kia
C.3-12
Grants- in-Aid Marketing Support- Aug 2013 Report
Organization Event VC PR SM EC EL MTG ST PC
San Luis Obispo Downtown Association Farmers Market 30th Anniversary X X X X X X
San Luis Obispo Vocal Arts Ensemble 2013 CA International Choral Festival
Senior Volunteer Services/RSVP 5th Annual Giveaway Fundraising Raffle X X X X X X X
San Luis Obispo Soccer Club Summer Classic Tournament X X X X X
Cal Poly Corporation: Cal Poly Arts La Guitarra Festival X X X X X X
Cuesta College Community Programs: Central
Coast Writers' Conference Central Coast Writers' Conference X X X X X X
Cal Poly Corporation on behalf of Central Coast
Center for Arts Education Passport to the Arts X X X X X X
Cuesta College Community Programs: City to the
Sea Half Marathon
City to the Sea Half Marathon, 5K & Kids Fun
Run X X X X X X X
Ecologistics, Inc.Central Coast Bioneers Conference X X X X X X
Foundation for the Performing Arts Center Bravo SLO X X X X X X
Opera of San Luis Obispo The Carmen Project X X X X X X
Ballet Theatre San Luis Obispo 2013-14 Season X X X X X
Civic Ballet 2013 Nutcracker Ballet X X X
San Luis Obispo Symphony New Year's Eve Anniversary Concert X X X X X X
Jewish Community Center of San Luis Obispo
(JCCSLO)Jewish Film Festival X X X X X X
San Luis Obispo International Film Festival 2014 Festival X X X
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art SLO Mini Maker Faire
United Way of San Luis Obispo County Flavor of SLO
Almond Country Quilt Guild Seven Sisters Quilt Show X X X
C.4-1
Cal Poly Corporation: University Arts Gallery Exhibition Season
Central Coast Children's Choir Annual Concerts- 20th Anniversary X
Cuesta College Fine Arts Division Art Gallery Exhibitions X X
History Center of San Luis Obispo County Exhibit Opening Event X X
San Luis Obispo Children's Museum Science After Dark X X X X X
San Luis Obispo Little Theatre 2013-14 Season X X X X
San Luis Obispo Wind Ensemble 2013-14 Season X X X X X X
Black is current month, gray is past work, P is for pending work, D is for Did not workout
26 Total; 16 served to date or in progress
VC- Dropped off materials for display in Visitor Center; brochures, posters, etc.
PR- Sent out Press Release to local media list
SM- Ran event through Social Media outlets
EC- Included in Event Calendar one-sheet sent out to local hoteliers, wineries, etc.
EL- Included in Event Listings sent to local media highlighting upcoming local events
MTG- Meet with Groups in person to offer public relations advice and support
ST- Sell Tickets for events through the Visitor Center
PC- In place of in person meeting, had phone call with group to discuss details.
Notes from the month:
C.4-2
Visitor Services Contract Report
January 2014
Highlights from January in the Visitor Center:
Visitor Center was closed for New Year’s Day
Sold Tickets for SLO Jazz Festival-Flash Mob
Sold Tickets for annual SLO Morning Kiwanis Crab Feed
Sold Tickets for Monday Club’s Sip, Sample & Taste
SLO events promoted through Visitor Center:
SLO Little Theatre's Pinocchio
The Literacy Council SLO County Tutor Training
SLO Children Museum Moonlight Hours
Hospice Volunteer Training
The SLO Blues Society presents Carolyn Wonderland in Concert
Veterans Outreach Kayaking
Cal Poly presents Bach in the Mission
SLO Brewing presents John Corbett
SLO Film Festival SLO County on the Silver Screen
SLO High School Color Blast Run
Cal Poly presents Jerry Seinfeld
SLOCOG Open House
YMCA Open House
Cal Poly Athletics-Basketball Televised in ESPN
Transitions-Mental Health’s Journey of Hope
Monthly Visitor Center Interactions:
January 2014 December 2013 January 2013
Visitors in center: 4,875 5,289 4,713
Phone calls: 416 627 623
Emails: 108 119 124
Calendar of Events:
Events entered into calendar this month: 52
Events in the January calendar: 86
Promotional Product Sales:
Visitor Guides: 38
City Maps: 61
C5-1
SLO HAPPENINGS EVENT BROCHURE
DATE: FEBRUARY 12, 2014
APP SUMMARY
January was a month of progress for app development, beginning with the
approval of the app designs at this year’s first PCC meeting. Minor modifications
to the designs included replacing the geometric pattern on the app’s opening
page to match the “jean” texture of the actual icon, and changing the icon for the
Social & Recreation category to an image of a sun to represent all outdoor
activities. To match the app design and SLO Happenings’ freshened look, we also
created flyer templates that highlight each month’s events. These flyers can be
easily updated and distributed by the SLO Chamber.
In addition to the app design, GFL Systems continued the app programming based on the previously
approved wireframe. For the launch of the app, we finalized a promotions plan that includes online
marketing, printed materials and PR coordination. We also solidified a valuable partnership with the
SLO Film Festival, which will allows us to launch the app at a screening event and drastically increase
awareness among both visitors and residents.
SOCIAL MEDIA
We continued to post upcoming events and information on the Facebook page 3-5 times per week and
maintained an interactive strategy, which has been successful at increasing engagement of the page.
During the month of January we gained 311 additional likes, which brought our total likes to 12,943.
Our average weekly reach, which is the number of unique people who saw any content from our page,
was 3,902.
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Likes
C.6-1
TOT Comparision
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Change +/-2012-13 2013-14 Change +/-2012-13 2013-14 Change +/-
July 565,386$ 565,637$ 508,195$ 541,806$ 591,184$ 636,778$ 699,845$ 9.9%83.4 86.8 4.2 127.70$ 132.62$ 4.2
August 573,057$ 609,452$ 511,564$ 542,194$ 574,395$ 623,655$ 674,244$ 8.1%81.5 82.9 2 127.75$ 133.26$ 4.6
September 465,179$ 416,859$ 400,023$ 437,543$ 490,524$ 508,583$ 505,954$ -0.5%73 73.9 1.3 119.34$ 121.10$ 1.5
October 418,474$ 416,905$ 414,870$ 442,586$ 437,805$ 469,977$ 509,435$ 8.4%68.8 70.6 2.6 114.95$ 119.51$ 4.0
November 375,287$ 354,737$ 280,913$ 330,924$ 347,437$ 359,163$ 425,769$ 18.5%56.6 62.8 10.9 $107.59 113.79$ 5.8
December 312,510$ 274,871$ 246,684$ 274,417$ 314,784$ 319,451$ 355,315$ 11.2%50.9 54.9 9.2 $100.40 107.23 6.9
January 287,474$ 258,316$ 230,279$ 256,351$ 276,165$ 302,153$ 52.2 97.96$
February 342,220$ 292,343$ 273,373$ 302,246$ 323,359$ 344,160$ 60.8 $105.25
March 386,458$ 289,506$ 326,099$ 333,783$ 392,266$ 426,879$ 68.1 106.61$
April 388,911$ 391,891$ 423,158$ 451,133$ 475,913$ 486,850$ 71.7 118.03$
May 435,516$ 393,431$ 372,997$ 433,874$ 447,116$ 489,862$ 69.5 118.35$
June 513,631$ 456,098$ 490,326$ 512,543$ 578,234$ 610,948$ 79.5 130.32$
Total/Average 5,064,103$ 4,720,046$ 4,478,481$ 4,859,400$ 5,249,181$ 5,578,460$ 68.00 114.52$
Occupancy ADR
Figures from Smith Travel Research report
C.7-1
Promotional Coordinating Committee
GOALS
The Goals of the City of San Luis Obispo Promotional Coordinating Committee are:
1. Improve the quality of life available to all residents of and visitors to San Luis Obispo
2. Promote, in a manner consistent with long-range community goals, the development of San Luis
Obispo as a regional and tourist center
FUNCTIONS
1. Planning a comprehensive, long-range program to promote tourism in the City.
2. Preparing an annual program consistent with the long-range program.
3. Developing City advertising and promotional programs and projects.
4. Hearing requests from cultural and promotional groups seeking City grants; recommending groups to
the Council for funding.
5. Initiating and supporting community cultural activities that are meaningful to residents and visitors
alike.
6. Providing a liaison between City committees and civic organizations outside of government that
work to promote the quality of life for residents and visitors of the City of San Luis Obispo.
B.2-1
Tourism Business Improvement District
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
10 am
Hampton Inn
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Clint Pearce
PRESENT: Pearce, Wilkins, Patel, Patranella, Walker
STAFF PRESENT: Molly Cano, Tourism Manager; Lee Johnson, Economic Development Manager
Call to Order at 10:08 am
CONSENT AGENDA
ACTION: Moved by Patel/Wilkins to approve the consent agenda.
Motion carried 5:0
PRESENTATIONS
1. MEASURE Y PRESENTATION
Michael Codron, Assistant City Manager, presented the City’s outreach efforts about the uses and future
of the City’s half cent sales tax and the efforts to accomplish the City’s Fiscal Health Major City Goal,
which includes possible renewal of Measure Y or an alternative revenue measure that gives the City the
resources it needs to protect and maintain San Luis Obispo’s quality of life. The Board asked about the
fiscal impact if the measure does not pass, and Codron explained that the City is currently working on a
contingency plan to address that situation.
2. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE QUARTERLY REPORT
Grace Allen from the Chamber of Commerce presented the quarterly contractor report. Grace shared
with the Board the tremendous increase in Visitor Center traffic during the quarter, which was up 20%.
Grace also shared how the Visitor Center staff was working with Cal Poly to promote to parents through
the events taking place during the quarter. For the phone line, the number received 98 calls during the
quarter in comparison to only 22 in the prior year for the same quarter. Hotel referral traffic was up by
21% in comparison to the prior year as well. Grace also shared that they had begun tracking impacted
weekends for the hotels as well.
3. SLO WINE COUNTRY PARTNERSHIP UPDATE
Heather Muran of SLO Wine Country presented an update on the accomplishments of the partnership
to-date and discussed future opportunities that are being targeted. Web traffic to SLOWine.com is up
overall with nearly 70% being new visitors. Heather shared examples the TBID’s ads and listing within
the site. She also mentioned upcoming partnership opportunities like media and wine trade FAM trips.
DRAFT
LRC.2.a-1
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. EVENTS PROMOTION
The Board continued the review from the December Board meeting of the recommendations from the
November event promotions subcommittee meeting including funding request for SLO Concours in June
2014.
ACTION: Moved by Patel/ Wilkins to sponsor SLO Concours event in June 2014 at the $10,000
level.
Motion carried 4:0
Abstained: Pearce
2. HELIUM RESERVATION SYSTEM
The Board discussed questions regarding the proposal from Chad McNeill on the Helium reservation
system, a locally developed custom online reservation software. Chad informed the Board that Helium
would continue to perform the updates on the software throughout the 5 year contract and at the end
of the 5 years the TBID would have a lifetime perpetual license. The Board discussed the next steps for
the consideration of purchasing the software for integration onto the SanLuisObispoVacations.com
website. Overall the Board decided to request that Rosette review the software for recommendation to
the Board and perform a competitive analysis of other booking solutions for comparison of technology.
The Board also requested that each Board member reach out to their liaison properties to gauge the
interest of the properties in the TBID’s consideration of investment into a booking tool.
COMMITTEE COMMUNICATION
HOTELIER UPDATE
Rachel informed that Board that The GM of Hampton inn would be leaving the property at the end of
the week to move out of the area.
TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE
Molly Cano presented the Tourism Program update:
Brochure Update:
- Reached out to the hotels for updated info
- Designers are working on the updates to new brochure
- Certified Folder- contracted with Certified for the blow out; picked up the first ½ of the
inventory this morning for the blow out and will ship the remaining boxes early next week
Visit CA UK: California In A Box
- January can be a really tough month on the UK trade – long hours and post-Christmas blues and
the weather in the UK is pretty grey and bleak.
- sending each agency a fantastic laminated California map with lots of useful selling tools and
information on the reverse, along with all the goodies and information from our partners
- get destination information in front of travel agents across the UK & Ireland.
- luxury version for key travel lifestyle publications. This will include the main travel magazines
(Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, Lonely Planet Traveller, Nat Geo
Traveller, escapism, Wanderlust) and the national newspaper travel desks based in London – in
total 20 boxes
- SLO provided them one-pagers and chapstick
Weekend Sherpa Media Visit:
LRC.2.a-2
- January 10-12
Marketing RFP:
- The RFP was released on 12/16
- Key Dates:
o Taskforce: Call tomorrow Thursday at 11am with interested agencies
o January 31 they are due by 3pm and will be opened in the council hearing room by
myself and finance at that day
o Monday Feb. 3rd you will receive a packet with all the proposals & Eval sheet
o Eval sheet for all proposals must be submitted to me by EOD Monday 2/10 – gives you
each one week to review
o During the Feb. 12 Board meeting we will be reviewing the outcome of the evals and
making the decision for contractor interviews
o Mark your calendar for March 3-7 for the contractor interviews, we will need at
minimum 1 day to interview based on the number of contractors invited back (30 mins
in length for each interview)
VSLOC Sustainable Funding Taskforce:
- Special Meeting date held for Thursday 1/16 at 1pm at the Courtyard by Marriott
- Special Meeting agenda will be posted tomorrow to notice the meeting
- Board members are requested to contact their liaison lists to invite them to attended the
meeting- this is a very important matter to our tourism industry and participation is strongly
encouraged
Tourism Vision Workshop on Friday 1/17 at the PAC 1-5 pm
Tradeshows:
- Preparing for the tradeshows
- Partners have been confirmed and final travel details are being finalized
- Shows: Bay Area: 1/25-26 & LA: 2/8-9
Meeting adjourned at 11:55 am
LRC.2.a-3
Tourism Business Improvement District
Special Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 16, 2014
1:00 pm
Courtyard by Marriott
CALL TO ORDER: Chair Clint Pearce
PRESENT: Pearce, Wilkins, Patel, Patranella, Westrope
STAFF PRESENT: Molly Cano, Tourism Manager; Lee Johnson, Economic Development Manager
Call to order at 1:06 pm
Due to the conflict of interest with Visit San Luis Obispo County, Chair Pearce turned the meeting over
to Commissioner Patel and departed the meeting.
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. VISIT SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY COUNTYWIDE BID
The Board received a presentation from Stacie Jacob of Visit San Luis Obispo County and John Lambeth
of Civitas, on the countywide initiative for the exploration of the formation of a countywide tourism
marketing district (TMD). The formation of this district would be in addition to the current TBID already
in place is San Luis Obispo. Jacob explained that this would not continue to be the same VCB but instead
form the countywide TMD to establish the new marketing identity. If the district was to move forward,
additional funding based on the taxable rents formula would not be sought from the individual BIDs or
jurisdictions. John Lambeth explained that the district would be under the 1994 BID law. There would be
a 5 year term for the TMD and after the 5 years the district would expire and a new district would have
to be formed again at the will of the assessed businesses. John presented the case study of Napa which
created their TMD on 2010. The proposed TMD in SLO County would encompass all the cities and the
unincorporated area of the county and the programs would be implemented by Visit SLO County. The
steps in the process are: 1. Plan, 2. Petition, 3. City approval, 4. County approval. The governance of the
TMD would be by a new board and the formation of a marketing subcommittee made up of TBID
agencies and tourism managers. The Board asked about the consideration of 1% or the 1.25%. Jacob
explained that was still under discussion. Members of the Board did feel that the 1% was a more
comfortable collection figure to make the lower impact on the guest. Members of the Board also
expressed that because it was all lodging collection that the Board should only be made up of
representatives paying into the assessment.
Public Comment:
John Connor expressed the opinion that the Board should only be made up of hoteliers who are paying
into the assessment. He also reflected on the need to collect 2/3 of the support from local hotels to
being the SLO TBID and encouraged that to be part of this process as well. He also asked about the
membership component and if other TMDs have membership on top of the TMD assessed businesses.
DRAFT
LRC.2.b-1
Pragna Patel expressed that the mix of hoteliers and non-hoteliers was the governance structure in the
CBID destination boards but that it was a better model of the Board to be all hoteliers. She also
expressed concern over additional assessment on the smaller properties and encouraged the Board to
consider alternate ways to support the countywide TMD though the current TBID collection.
Commissioner Patel brought the discussion back to the Board. The Board expressed appointing another
TBID Board member to the taskforce and asked staff to reach out to the absent Board members for their
interest. Commissioner Patel would serve if Walker or Hutton was unavailable to fill the role. The Board
also requested monthly updates at the Board meetings from Visit SLO County so they could weigh in on
the considerations. The Board is to reach out their liaison lists to inform them of this topic and bring
back points of interest for discussion.
Meeting adjourned at 2:21 pm
LRC.2.b-2