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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-09-2015 TBID Minutes Minutes Tourism Business Improvement District Board Wednesday, September 9, 2015 Regular Meeting of the Tourism Business Improvement District Board CALL TO ORDER A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Tourism Business Improvement District Board was called to order on Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 10:04 a.m. in the Council Hearing Room, located at 990 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, by Chair Patel. ROLL CALL Present: Committee Members Dean Hutton, Kevin Phipps, Matthew Wilkins, and Chair Nipool Patel Absent: Committee Members Kimberly Walker, LeBren Young-Harris, and Vice-Chair Clint Pearce Staff Present: Tourism Manager Molly Cano and Recording Secretary Kevin Christian PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS Tom Halen, Managing Partner of the town of Harmony, introduced the “Cow Parade Art Exhibit” concept and discussed various charities that the exhibit benefits. He requested to be agenized in a future meeting to do a full presentation as they are b ringing this exhibit to the area in 2016. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PHIPPS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, CARRIED 4-0, to approve Consent Calendar Items C1 thru C6. PRESENTATION ITEMS 1. MARKETING AGENCY MONTHLY REPORT Representatives of BCA + StudioGood presented a report on the marketing activities over the past month with the following highlights: 1) Interactive painting activity at the booth during the SAVOR event, 2) Video review – PNG Films is working to provide materials in time to coordinate release with the new website, 3) Event Worksheets have been created to help document and track event goals and expectations, and 4) the Visitors Brochure will debut at SAVOR. A metrics overview was presented showing increases since September 2014, with the exception of GOSLO mobile being down. It was noted Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes of September 9, 2015 Page 2 City of San Luis Obispo, Title, Subtitle that #ShareSLO is making progress in use. Twitter ads are no longer being run. They may be used in the future, to be decided on a case by case basis. BUSINESS ITEMS 1. TOURISM WEBSITE REDESIGN TBID Marketing Committee and StudioGood, presented the final website design, discussing usability and content on both desktop and mobile platforms. Integration to #ShareSLO was specifically noted, along with multiple ways to link to the booking tool. The “All Things To Do” feature was highlighted and a description on how it will work on the mobile interface was provided, along with a demonstration of how users can sort by categories. The committee gave input on how to rank what items should display at the top of the interface in the “Things To Do” category. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER PHIPPS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HUTTON, CARRIED 4-0, to approve the design as presented. 2. 2014-15 TBID ANNUAL REPORT Tourism Manager Cano reviewed the draft annual report, noting that it is necessary as part of the TBID bylaws and will be presented to City Council on October 20, 2015. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER HUTTON, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER WILKINS, CARRIED 4-0, to approve the report as presented. 3. TOURISM BROCHURE PRINTING BUDGET Tourism Manager Cano reviewed the tourism brochure print budget and noted that there is a need for additional pages in the brochure as well as additional quantity, resulting in a higher than budgeted cost. Advised that the original budget was for 35,000 copies of a 30 page brochure for a total budget of $12,500. Presented a variety of quantity options for the Board’s consideration, recommending a year’s supply of 40,000 copies of a 46-page brochure. The Board discussed concerns about the perishable nature of the content and their understanding of the demand for the product. MOTION BY BOARD MEMBER WILK INS, SECOND BY BOARD MEMBER HUTTON, CARRIED 4-0, to approve the additional expenditure for a quantity of 45,000 brochures, an expenditure increase of $7,102, with funding coming from the TBID unallocated program budget. TBID LIAISON REPORTS AND COMMUNICATION 1. HOTELIER UPDATE Tourism Business Improvement District Board Minutes of September 9, 2015 Page 3 City of San Luis Obispo, Title, Subtitle John Lozano, Director of Sales at the Courtyard Marriot, was introduced by Tourism Manager Cano. 2. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE UPDATE Board Member Wilkins commented on the “punch list” items being worked on for the launch of Helium and the need to complete them quickly. Tourism Manager Cano noted that once these are done, “Milestone 4” will return to the committee for approval. The completion of “Milestone 4” signifies that booking tool is launch ready. 3. MARKETING COMMITTEE Referred to the presentation given earlier. 4. PCC UPDATE Tourism Manager Cano reviewed the Promotional Coordinating Committee meeting minutes of August 12, 2015. 5. VISIT SLO COUNTY UPDATE Board Member Phipps noted that Visit SLO County’s Board seats are filled, with the exception of Pismo Beach, and its bylaws have been updated. Noted that there was concern about continuing with SAVOR’s “Opening Night” in the future due to a lack of sales, but also noted the concept of it being paired with San Luis Obispo’s Thursday night Farmers Market as a cost saving effort. Tourism Manager Cano advised that if the County Tourism Marketing District’s (TMD) “prism” study, which profiles visitors to San Luis Obispo County, goes live that hotels will be approached for consumer data. It was noted that a presentation to the Visit SLO County Board would occur in the future to vote on the study. 6. TOURISM PROGRAM UPDATE Tourism Manager Cano advised that an intern is still being sought and indicated that it should be someone who can work 15-20 hours per week. It was noted that the Central Coast Tourism Council (CCTC) will have a mixer and marketing workshop at the Madonna Inn. The mixer will be held on October 15th and it isn’t necessary to be a CCTC member. The workshop will be held on October 16th and is for members only. Tourism Manager Cano reminded the Board that the presentation of the Annual Report to City Council will be on October 20, 2015, and the Public Hearing will be held November 3, 2015. Other important dates reviewed were the Marketing Committee meeting to be held on October 1, 2015 and the Management Committee meeting to be held on September 22, 2015. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 11:09 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Kevin Christian Recording Secretary