Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/19/1997, C-5 - CHANGES TO WORK SCOPE FOR THE 1997-99 VISITORS AND CONFERENCE BUREAU CONTRACT council Mdi�°W j ac,Enaa REpoRt CS CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO ' FROM: Ken Hampian,Assistant City Administrative Office Prepared By: Wendy George,Assistant to the City Administrative Officer SUBJECT: Changes to Work Scope for the 1997-99 Visitors and Conference Bureau Contract CAO RECOMMENDATION Approve the Promotional Coordinating Committee's proposed changes to the work scope of the 1997-99 Visitors and Conference Bureau Contract. DISCUSSION: Background At the July 1, 1997, meeting, the City Council approved a contract with the Visitors and Conference Bureau (VCB) for the 1997-99 fiscal years. Included as part of that contract was a work scope which spelled out activities the City wished the VCB to undertake during the life of the contract. The work scope was based on input from the Promotional Coordinating Committee (PCC)and excerpts from the proposal initially made by the VCB to the PCC. One off the issues which was decided by the Council at the July 1'meeting was the amount of the VCB's contract. The VCB had initially requested $91,700 for each fiscal year and had based its proposal on that funding level. The PCC's recommendation was to pay the VCB $84,100 for 1997- 98 and $87,500 for 1998-99. Ultimately, the Council decided to fund the VCB at the staff recommended levels of$58,700 and$60,400. After the Council's funding decision was made, staff was informed by the VCB director, Jonni Biaggini, that, because of the reduced funding level approved, the VCB would be unable to perform some of the duties spelled out in the work scope of the contract. Additionally, Ms. Biaggini expressed some concerns with the specific language of several of the duty statements. Staff met with Ms. Biaggini to discuss her concerns and to develop some potential compromising language. That language was then taken to the PCC for its formal recommendation to the Council. The PCC met on July 9, 1997, and reviewed the modified language of the work scope. The PCC was understanding of the VCB's concern about the impact of reduced funding on its ability to fulfill the original work scope. On a unanimous vote, the PCC supported recommending the new language to the City Council. Substance of the Chances 1. When the VCB initially presented its proposal to the PCC it discussed developing a new, focused program which would target corporate and incentive groups and encourage them to use San Luis Obispo County as a location for their business awards programs. This type of business tends to impact communities as much or more than most conference groups. As a result of the City's reduced funding, the VCB feels that it can no longer develop a special C s'� Council Agenda Report-Change to VCB Work Scope Page 2 focused marketing program for these groups. However, it will continue to target these types of groups as part of its regular group marketing program. 2. The PCC was very concerned that the VCB was not expending enough effort on marketing the Performing Arts Center, and included a particular emphasis on doing so in the work scope. The VCB pointed out that as a county-wide agency it could not agree to promote one facility above other locations. A compromise was reached to maintain language which speaks to including the use of the Performing Arts Center as a potential conference site in the work scope,but to delete the language`with particular emphasis on". 3. As part of its original proposal to the PCC, the VCB spoke of creating a new off-season advertising campaign for the months of winter which would encompass ideas such as special discounted visitors' packages. This campaign was included as part of the contract work scope. Again, because of the reduced funding from the City, the VCB feels that it does not have the staff to create a new advertising campaign. However, the VCB was willing to accept language which includes a work focus on trying to fill rooms during the months of September through March. 4. The PCC had requested that the VCB provide it with monthly reports similar to those provided by the Chamber of Commerce and Barnett, Cox & Associates. Additionally, the PCC had requested that those reports be broken down to show data specific to the City, as well as presenting county-wide information. The VCB's regular reporting system is set up on a county-wide basis, so the City data must be manually extracted, which is time consuming. The VCB has requested that it be allowed to report county-wide information monthly, and specific City data only on a quarterly basis. A legislative draft of the previously approved Scope of Work indicates the changes requested by the VCB. (See attachment.) FISCAL IMPACT There is no direct fiscal impact to the requested changes. With the revised work scope in place, the level of service from the VCB remains about what it has been in the past. However, the changes do constitute some reduction in service over what was originally approved by the Council, which could potentially reduce growth in the City's transient occupancy tax (TOT). It is very difficult to quantifv what that impact might be. Attachments Legislative draft of proposed changes PCC minutes of July 9, 1997 C S oG' Scope of Work 1. Contractor will maintain an office suitable for the conduct of a visitors and conference bureau. This office shall be open during normal business hours to facilitate contact with conference representatives. 2. Contractor shall employ personnel qualified in visitors and conference bureau administration. 3. Contractor shall conduct a visitors and conference bureau on behalf of City as outlined below or as may be modified from time to time by mutual agreement between the City and the contractor. 4. The program to be conducted by the Contractor shall include,but not be limited to,the following: a) Developing direct sales efforts to attract group business and conferences. Major markets would include Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, Bakersfield and Fresno:.—Aiww4eewrwiRincludina targeting corporate and incentive groups. b) Attending and representing San Luis Obispo County at those major travel and sales shows that directly impact our targeted market areas during the contract time period. c) Coordinating scheduling for potential conferences with individual properties in San Luis Obispo County, includina the use of the Performing Arts Center. d) Developing new, coordinated countywide sales materials and brochures to be used in the marketing program,with care being taken not to duplicate materials developed by the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce or the City's advertising firm. e) Creating and implementing a coordinated and planned marketing campaign, stressing the benefits of the San Luis Obispo area as a destination for visitors, I including a mew-focus for the months of'`'~••••- bar T....,,.. be and i hHay. September through March. f) Submitting monthly reports on the progress of the VCB to the City's Project manager and the Promotional Coordinating Committee(PCC). Reports will contain information on countywide activities and,on a quarterly basis, a breakdown indicating those items which specifically benefit the City of San Luis Obispo. �-s-3 g) Assuring the 966cess of the World Association of,Syinphonic Bands and Ensembles(WASBg) conference in 1999 without additional.fihancial support from the City.. h) Acting.as the county Film Commission'to attract film business-to the area. ,I changes in the economy and how much by promotion, for example. Ken then presented a worksheet which demonstrated how many additional motel/hotel rooms would need to be filled and how much purchasing must take place to provide TOT and sales tax revenue equal to an annual increase of$35,000. (See attached worksheet.) After answering a number of different questions from the PCC on City revenue sources and how his worksheet was developed, Ken excused himself and left. 6. SCOPE OF SERVICE FOR VCB CONTRACT Staff explained that after Council had approved the Scope of Service for the VCB contract Jonni Biaggini had indicated that the VCB would have difficulty with some of the items in the scope. Staff met with Jonni and developed some possible compromise language which was presented to the PCC. After staff explained the reasons for the changes requested by Jonni,the PCC voted to accept them. On a motion by Bill Pyper, seconded by Sandy Baer, the PCC unanimously approved recommending the proposed changes to the Scope of Service to the Council. 7. REPORT ON HIGHWAY 101 SIGNS Staff reported that the project manager is waiting for the contractor to submit all his insurance information so the contract can be signed and the prejob conference can be scheduled. He believes that should be happening within the week. The PCC's staff member will be invited to sit in on the prejob conference. 8. REPORT FROM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Jennifer Best distributed the Chamber's report at the meeting. She passed around a letter which had been received from a boy requesting information on San Luis Obispo which she thought the PCC would enjoy reading. Jennifer reported that new media sources are beginning to respond to some of the information she has sent out. For example, she has been contacted by a writer for Jewish publications who will be coming to San Luis Obispo in August. On June 27"' information about the SLO and EZ Access Guide was included on the MSNBC web site. The Chamber is getting good responses on the Guide. Jennifer passed copies out to the PCC. She will promote it in specialty magazines. Jennifer also distributed a copy of"Merging Times"which has a very nice article about the Guide. 9. REPORT ON MARKETING Maggie Cox reported that the ad in the LA Times which contained the listing of hotels/motels has generated over 700 responses. Maggie met with the sales representative from Via Magazine (formerly Motorland) and is hoping that the City might be able to participate in a co-op ad in the magazine in the future. She talked about the direction she received from the marketing subcommittee to explore vertical marketing partners like Amtrak or the airlines. She will also be working on outreach to people who have responded to other City ads in the past. She also showed the transit rack card which has been developed by the Tourism Council and indicated that she hopes to use it as part of the fulfillment package. Finally, she briefly explained the billing format used by BCBA so that the PCC will be better able to understand her bills. 10. REPORT FROM VCB Lynn Latronica reported in the absence of Jonni Biaggini. She went over the VCB's sales activity for the year. 74% of all conferences booked this year were in San Luis Obispo. The VCB has already gotten responses to the OWAC event. Articles mentioned the City even though they mostly talked about coastal locations. The VCB will be doing a golf writers tour soon. Lynn believes that golf should be a good off-season market for people from cold weather states. 2 CS-S