HomeMy WebLinkAboutLRC3_April 4 2016 minutesTourism Business Improvement District
Marketing Subcommittee
Meeting Minutes
April 4, 2016 – 10:30 am
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Patel; Hutton
STAFF PRESENT: Molly Cano, Tourism Manager; Maddie Kuber, Tourism Intern
BUSINESS ITEMS
1. Cow Parade Selection
Staff presented the recommendation to commission graffiti artist Man One to paint one of the two
SLO TBID cows for the SLO County Cow Parade event. Staff reviewed with the committee the
previous work of the artist and the vision for the concept. If commissioned, Man One would paint
the cow onsite during the Round Up event at the Madonna Meadows on September 17, 2016. In
addition to the live painting at the event, the kick-off media FAM would potentially be
coordinated during hat same period to maximize the reach potential. Following the event, the
Man One painted cow would be located outside Just Looking Gallery in Downtown for the
duration of the Cow Parade until auction.
Approval: The Committee approved the concept and gave the agency and staff direction to being
arranging the details.
2. Bacon & Barrels San Diego Additional Expenses
As follow up from the February committee meeting, staff presented the proposed travel &
activation budget for the Bacon & Barrels San Diego event happening May 20-22. The budget of
$5,000 will cover the expenses of four representatives of the TBID including travel, lodging,
food, a rental car, and booth and marketing collateral. Additionally, on the evening of Friday,
May 20th a San Diego based media dinner event has been coordinated for about 15-20 journalists
to pitch story ideas for San Luis Obispo, SLO Craft Beer Week, and the Bacon & Barrels events.
There was discussion on the distribution at the event of the SAVOR bags or designing new craft
beer bags. It was decided that using the SAVOR bags would be the best option based on cost and
turn-around time, contingent on the approval from the event producer.
Recommendation: The Marketing Committee recommended allocating $5000 to cover the travel
and booth expenses for the Bacon & Barrels San Diego event.
3. 2017 SLO Marathon Date Change Consideration
Staff presented to request for consideration from the SLO Marathon to change the date of the
2017 event to the third week in May. After comparing and discussing the May and April
historical occupancy and ADR figures, the Marketing Committee was not in support of the
change. The feeling was that not only did this have a lesser value impact for the hotels since it’s
already an impacted weekend on its own and existing business would be displaced, but they were
also concerned that it would create lodging challenges in terms of availability and rate for race
participants and spectators. Additionally, the committee expressed that the initial partnership for
the Marathon weekend was based on the proposition to create a mutually beneficial partnership
for the TBID and Get Off The Couch and April had been selected initially to establish a world
class active event that would create demand during a slower lodging period. Unfortunately, they
don’t think this goal is achieved with the May date. The committee proposed to push the date up
to March or back to the first weekend in June. Staff will contact the SLO Marathon and propose
those two dates options for the event producer’s consideration.
4. 2016-17 Annual Event Promotion Application
The 2016-17 Annual Event Promotion Application was reviewed by the committee with no
changes.
Recommendation: The Marketing Committee recommended the approval and release of the
2016-17 Annual Event Promotion Application.
5. 2016-17 Marketing Plan Development
Representatives from BCA and Studio Good reviewed an outline of the proposed concepts for the
development of the 2016-17 Marketing Plan with the committee. Each topic was covered and
additional time was spent on discussing the enhancement of swag that is distributed throughout
the year. Studio Good discussed the website functions and bringing SEO in house as well the
need for more user touchpoints and content marketing. The committee was supportive of the
proposed concepts outlined and presented. At the May committee meeting the marketing agencies
will present the draft of the 2016-17 Marketing Plan for the committee’s input. The final draft
will be presented at the June TBID Board meeting.
6. New Business
New members of the committee will be assigned at the next board meeting, therefore the next
meeting was not scheduled.