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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/07/1998, C-10 - USE OF PROMOTIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE (PCC) ENHANCED PROMOTIONAL FUNDS council '4�_�s j acEnc)a RepoiA CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM: Ken Hampian,Assistant City Administrative Officer Prepared By: Wendy George, Assistant to the City Administrative Officer SUBJECT: USE OF PROMOTIONAL COORDINATING COMMITTEE (PCC) ENHANCED PROMOTIONAL FUNDS CAO RECOMMENDATION Approve the PCC's recommendation to allocate $10,000 of Enhanced Promotional Funds to the San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee (SLOWOC) to partially fund the registration brochure for the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) Conference scheduled for July, 1999. DISCUSSION Background Several years ago, in conjunction with an increase in the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) from 9% to 10%, the City created an Enhanced Promotional Fund to be used to finance innovative promotional ideas and provide seed money for new special events. Annually, the PCC makes recommendations to the City Council on how this fund should be spent. At its last meeting the PCC was presented with a request for fimding from the San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee(SLOWOC)to partially fund the WASBE Conference brochure. The WASBE Conference As its name implies, the WASBE organization has an international membership made up of individuals, institutions and industries interested in symphonic bands and wind ensembles as serious and distinctive mediums of musical expression and cultural heritage. The organization holds an international conference every two years. In 1995, at the urging of then-WASBE President, Bill Johnson, Director of Bands at Cal Poly, the San Luis Obispo County Visitor's and Conference Bureau (VCB) bid on holding the WASBE Conference in the City of San Luis Obispo in 1999. The bid was accepted and the Conference is currently scheduled for July 5-11, 1999. It is estimated that there will be as many as 1,500 attendees from more than 45 countries who will visit the City over the seven days of the conference. They will bring with them their varying international backgrounds and will join together for meetings, exhibitions and performances, all located at the Performing Arts Center. In order to handle the funding and organization for the- conference, the VCB created an organizing committee, the San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee or SLOWOC, made up of representatives from Cal Poly, local businesses, the arts community, the Chamber of Commerce and the City. Council Agenda Report—Use of Enhanced Promotional Funds Page 2 The SLOWOC Funding Request After putting together its business plan, SLOWOC realized that it was about $30,000 short of its funding needs. This shortfall is particularly critical because much of the conference expense occurs up front, while the income from the conference that eventually comes to SLOWOC will not be available until the conference is over. As a result, SLOWOC has asked the City, the County and Cal Poly, the three agencies which will be most positively impacted by the conference, to contribute $10,000 each toward conference funding. Specifically, SLOWOC has asked that the City contribution be used to partially fund the final registration brochure which will be mailed to 10,000 people worldwide. In addition,the Cal Poly Foundation has been asked to handle cash flow issues related to facilities costs without charging SLOWOC any interest. At this point, no response has been received from the County, but Cal Poly officials have indicated that they are receptive to the request. The PCC's Recommendation The PCC carefully considered many aspects of the SLOWOC request before deciding to recommend funding it. While it was very clear to the PCC that the WASBE Conference will have many economic and cultural benefits for the City, the PCC was concerned as to whether or not the request was an appropriate use of Enhanced Promotional Funds. The following considerations led the PCC to believe that it would be proper to use Enhanced Promotional Funds for this purpose. • While the WASBE conference is not being held off-season, the VCB was able to schedule it starting immediately after the 4th of July weekend. This week is usually the slowest in the month of July. Furthermore, WASBE Conference attendees will stay an average of 5 nights, mostly mid-week as opposed to the usual average of 2-3 nights mostly on weekends. • The WASBE registration brochure, which will be an extended version of the initial brochure (Attachment 2), can be viewed as a significant advertising piece for the City. It clearly highlights the attractiveness of San Luis Obispo as a destination and will be mailed out to 10,000 individuals worldwide. SLOWOC has also agreed that the PCC will have an opportunity for input into the brochure design. • The WASBE conference is not a onetime "special event". Rather, it is the prototype for future conferences of this sort. By showing that the Performing Arts Center can be utilized for such a conference, and that the VCB can handle the logistics, SLOWOC will have created a strong on-going marketing piece. Therefore, the PCC funding can legitimately be considered"seed money" for a new marketing program. Finally, the PCC addressed the fact that when the concept of the WASBE Conference was originally presented to the City, the VCB clearly stated that SLOWOC would assume responsibility for all fundraising. The City's role would be strictly ceremonial. Since that time, based on an earlier PCC recommendation,the Council has already authorized spending $4,000 to pay for the preliminary conference brochure. � io-a Council Agenda Report—Use of Enhanced Promotional Funds Page 3 The PCC expressed its disappointment that SLOWOC was not able to meet its full funding responsibility, and was very concerned that a pattern might develop of seeing Enhanced Promotional Funds as "bailout" funds. At the same time, the PCC felt that it was critical that this conference be "a model, not a case study". Given the commitments that have been made by SLOWOC and the VCB, and the fact that a poorly run conference would reflect badly on the City in the eyes of the attendees (many of the foreign conferences are government supported and attendees are likely to assume this one is, too), the PCC believes the City has a vested interest in assuring the success of the conference. FISCAL EMPACT The current Enhanced Promotional Fund was established in the amount of$50,000, to be used over the two years of the 1997-99 Financial Plan. Expenditures, actual and proposed, are as follows: Enhanced Promotional Fund $50,000 BIA Funding Request ( 8,400) Proposed SLOWOC Request ( 10,000) Remaining Funds $31,600 ALTERNATIVES . The Council could choose to fund a lesser amount than the $10,000 requested or provide no funding at all. If SLOWOC is unable to make up the anticipated $30,000 deficit, one of the first things what will be eliminated will likely be the availability of simultaneous language translation at all sessions. This cost-cutting step was taken at the last conference and resulted in unhappiness on the part of the attendees. SLOWOC feels that it has already reduced the budget as much as possible, and that the only remaining cuts would have to be significant ones like translation services. ATTACE31ENTS SLOWOC Request Preliminary WASBE brochure(actual brochures available in the Council Office) PCC minutes for 3/11/98 WASBE Conference Business Plan is available in the Council Reading File San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee - The Ninth WASBE International Conference •July 5-11, 1999 March 2, 1998 Ms. Sandy Baer,Chairperson Promotional Coordinating Committee City of San Luis Obispo Administration 990 Palm Street San Luis Obispo,CA 93401-3249 Dear Sandy: The San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee is respectfully requesting$10,000 from the City's Enhanced Promotional Funds to assist in the production of the final registration brochure for this one- time event. We are also requesting support from the County and Cal Poly for other projects relating to this conference, and are pursuing corporate sponsorships and a variety of other revenue sources as well. In July of 1999, San Luis Obispo will play host to a world-class event that will benefit the City financially, culturally and educationally. It is the 9'International World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles Conference,(WASBE)which will bring up to 2,000 people from 40 different countries for one week. There are many compelling benefits to this community accrued through the presence of WASBE: Financial Benefits: ► Increased TOT revenues collected ► Increased sales tax collected ► Increased business in tourism related businesses Cultural Benefits: ► 15 concerts in 7 days, including the world-class U.S.Air Force Band ► A proving ground for multi-use of the Performing Arts Center Educational Benefits: ► 10 clinics and 5 workshops with premier conductors,brass and wind soloists ► Coaching for Cuesta and Cal Poly music students as well as local high school musicians Organizing Committee In order to plan and stage an event of this magnitude,the VCB assembled a community-wide group of business leaders who combine an interest in music and cultural tourism with the necessary managerial skills to plan the city's largest international event to date. The San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee(SLOWOC)has the responsibility of carrying out the conditions as set forth in the "Letter of Agreement." The signing of this document sealed the relationship between the WASBE Council and SLOWOC,detailing the services that are required to host the conference in San Luis Obispo. These services include conference registration and housing,facility and equipment rentals, simultaneous 1037 Mill Street,San Luis Obispo,California 93401 Tel.-805-541-8000 F=805-543-9498 www.SwiLuisOb4oCowuy.com ATTACHMENT 1 -/,o language translation,and transportation of delegates during the conference. Key committee members are as follows: ► William V.Johnson,Conference Co-Chair,Cal Poly Music Department ► Jonni Biaggini,Co-Chair,SLO County VCB ► Ron Regier,Performing Arts Center ► Sandi Sigurdson, SLO Symphony ► Cate Norton, SLO Mozart Festival ► Dave Garth, SLO Chamber of Commerce ► Barbara Roche, SLO County Arts Council ► Dee Neilson Simoes,Cal Poly Conference Housing ► Kathy Bach,Embassy Suites ► Peter Wilt,Cal Poly Theater ► Amy Kardel,Global Accent Translation Service ► Gordon Jackson,Holiday Inn Express Financial Requirements Staging an event of this magnitude requires substantial financial resources over the next 18 months. Due to the requirements of the "Letter of Agreement,"projected expenses to produce the event are estimated at$255,000. Revenues are expected to come from a combination of sources. Approximately 30%of the revenues will be derived from delegate registration and exhibitor fees. Another 20%will come from ticket sales to the 15 concerts that will occur during the week. The remaining revenues will come from corporate sponsorships,advertising opportunities,grants,merchandise sales,and special fund raising events. A majority of the revenues will materialize just prior to or during the conference,yet 30%of the expenses will occur one year to 18 months in advance of the event. Benefits to the City Financial ► Current average length of stay in SLO County is 2-3 nights. The WASBE Conference will have an average room night stay of 5 nights,guaranteeing 100%occupancy in the City of SLO. WASBE will generate higher sales tax revenues as visitors in multi-night stays will dine out for breakfast,lunch,dinner,shop for souvenirs and attend local events. ► San Luis Obispo can expect an increase in TOT due to increased room occupancy. Further,while an inexperienced person might assume that the week following the July 4m holiday is a peak travel period and already at 100%occupancy,seasoned lodging professionals recognize a traditional,predictable and lamentable dip in occupancy rates just prior to and immediately following major holidays. WASBE fills the gap. ► The 1999 WASBE Conference will attract up to 2,000 visitors from 40 different countries to San Luis Obispo. With an average WASBE roomnight stay of 5 nights,at $92 per person per day,tourism expenditures from this conference alone should total $920,000. Much of this money will be spent in our restaurants and retail establishments. ► In reviewing the WASBE budget,please note that$255,000 will be spent directly with local services and products. The overwhelming majority of these dollars are OUTSIDE dollars infused into our local San Luis Obispo economy. -2- r• . Cultural ► 15 concerts in 7 days will be the highlight of the conference. Ensembles featured will. come from 9 different countries including Switzerland,Brazil,Argentina, Sweden,and Asia. The United States will be represented by the United States Air Force Band as well as other professional and collegiate ensembles. All of these concerts will be open to the public and tickets will be sold at an affordable rate to ensure broad-based participation from our community as well as a well-defined target market. ► In order to maintain affordable rental rates for San Luis Obispo non-profit performance groups,the PAC must be utilized to its full potential. The WASBE Conference will effectively demonstrate the versatility and viability of the Performing Arts Center as a convention site. Having established a successful track record with WASBE,local convention planners and elected representatives will confidently promote and attract additional conferences to San Luis Obispo. ► Having made a$32 million community investment in the Performing Arts Center, our community is poised to reap the cultural and educational benefits of our world-class Hall. WASBE will showcase the Performing Arts Center before a discriminating international music association and bring the San Luis Obispo Performing Arts Center into the patois of presenters across the globe. Educational ► In addition to outstanding concerts featuring world-class ensembles,WASBE will offer 10 clinics and 5 workshops throughout the 7-day conference. The chance to be coached by the premier wind players of the world offers unparalleled educational opportunities to our local musicians. In 1996,the SLO Symphony offered a day-long Brass Symposium and was inundated with applications from musicians from the San Fernando Valley to King City. ► One thousand WASBE members in 40 countries around the world and 10,000 educators and musical professionals on the WASBE mailing list will receive the promotional packet on SLO WASBE'99. The high quality of the marketing pieces and the desirable demographics of WASBE members will gamer international exposure for San Luis Obispo as a premier travel destination. ► The California Office of Tourism and the California Arts Council are currently forming a task force to examine the role of the.arts in destination tourism. Clearly,industry leaders and government officials foresee a profitable union between the arts and commerce. In aggressively supporting WASBE, San Luis Obispo will once again prove to be a cutting edge leader. -3- 1• .r Grant Request Activity SLOWOC's request of$10,000 from the City will be used for the following purpose: Final registration brochure,to be mailed to 10,000 people worldwide. Due date:August, 1998. Total brochure cost: $15,000 PCC Grants-in-aid request $10,000 (See complete budget attached) The City of San Luis Obispo would be considered a major conference sponsor and the City's logo and notation of sponsorship would appear in all appropriate promotional material, including the fmal registration brochure. Committee Contact Person: Ron Regier,Performing Arts Center 756-6557 Sincerely, San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee -4- _ a e—IQ- 7 WASBE '99 Budget ncor�7 9 9 8 9 - �990OQeffir! oEmil IIj Delegate Registration @ 50%, 40,000 40,000 500 x$160.12 late reg.@$20 9xhibitor Booths @ 80°/, 38,400 38,400 40 x$1,200'4/5 •oncert Tickets @ 100% 56,000 56,000 14 concerts x$10.400seats Corporate Sponsorship 40,000 40,000 Program Advertisers 10,000 10,000 20,000 Registration Brochure Advertisers 5,000 0 5,000 Eventsffund-raisers 5,000 1 5,000 Souvenirs/CD sales,etc. 5,000 5,000 Income from housing(Gullivers) 5,000 5,000 Other(VCB Annual Dinners) 1,800 4,500 6,300 Grants: City of SLO PCC 4,000 10,000 0 0 14,000 Cal Poly 10,000 0 0 10,000 SLO County 10,000 0 0 10,000 0 0 Total Income $5,800 $34,500 $15,000 $199,400 $254,700 Promotional Brochure 4,000 4,000 Exhibit/Booth Registration 0 Program Advertising 0 Travel Expenses 1,350 1,350 Mayor's Reception 3,450 3,450 Mid-West Band Conference 1,050 1,050 2,100 WASBE Council mtg 7/98 7,500 7,500 Registration Brochure 1 15,000 15,000 Facility Administration Fee 5,000 5,000 facility Expenses' $35,501 35,501 Exhibitors exp/Vets Hall 2,500 2,500 VCB Administrative Exp. 3,000 3,000 Operations&Development Staff 20,000 20,000 25,000 65,000 Language Translation 15,000 15,000 Transportation 5,000 5,000 Gala Dinner 5,000 5,000 Speaker's Fees 5,000 5,000 WASBE Youth Band 3,000 3,000 Concert Marketing 5,000 6,000 11,000 WASBE Council 20,000 20,000 Percussion Equipment 3,000 3,000 Program Printing 20,000 20,000 Contingency 23,140 23,140 10.000)6 Total Expenses $4,000 $25,850 $48,550 $176,141 $254,541 Net $159 - Pertonning Arts Center Rental 8,000 7 days Staff 8,000 Ticketing 11,585 $75.14+$105'7+400'14'1.75 Cal Poly Theatre Rental 3,486 Techs incl. 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N - .. �•, � J a '� r i L Ile `..T _ l t L 'JI, it -- - . .. - Excerpt from 3 _/98 PCC Minutes She has also been working with the writer of a guidebook called The 100 Most Desirable Towns in America. San Luis Obispo has been chosen as one of those towns. She has provided information on attractions, restaurants, lodging and business names and addresses to the writer. She said she has received many media contacts based on the press releases she has sent out concerning events in San Luis Obispo. Christine Bragg then reported that she has completed a business-size card which contains the Chamber's web site address and "They are going like hotcakes" She distributed a copy of the card to the PCC members. She also pointed out that on the February Visitor's Center report the number of visitors are down compared to this time last year. The decrease is based on two factors: (1)the weather, which was sunny last year and very rainy this year, and (2)the closure of Highway 1. She was pleased to note that the number of evening visitors has remained constant. 10. REPORT FROM BARNETT COX&ASSOCIATES Maggie Cox reported that everything is going very well with the radio promotion in San Jose. The disc jockey arrives this weekend and he is delighted to be coming. She will have a cassette of his reports back to the radio station which she will be able to play for the PCC at its next meeting. She also reported that the LA Times banner began its run this week. She will be receiving daily reports on the number of hits it receives. She has a draft of the TOT newsletter,which is almost completed and anticipates mailing it shortly. She has also been working with Dave Eddy of the Telegram-Tribune who is coordinating the editorial content of Outlook'98,the special economic forecast edition slated for release in late March. She was talking to him about placing a tourist story in the edition. 11. REQUEST FOR WASBE FUNDING FROM WASBE ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Bill Johnson provided a brief description of the WASBE organization. He stated that the last time it met in the United States was in 1987. This is only the second time that it has come to the United States. WASBE represents musicians, conductors, composers, and instrument manufacturers from as many as 50 countries. By holding the conference in the United States in 1999, WASBE hopes to draw more United States members than usually attend. It is an opportunity for members to hear performances and exchange ideas. U.S.bands will be very well represented as performers. Ron Regier then provided the history of how the City of San Luis Obispo brought the conference to the city. Since last summer,the SLOWAC (San Luis Obispo WASBE Organizing Committee) has been meeting more frequently. The committee has developed a business plan which deals with the administrative and financial requirements of the conference. SLOWOC will get 50 percent of the conference fees, 80 percent of the exhibitors'fees and 100 percent of concert tickets sold to non-conference attendees. When the budget finally came together,the committee realized it was about$30,000 short in funding. SLOWOC does not feel the budget can be cut any further without diminishing the effectiveness of the conference, so they are looking for other sources of funding. The committee has approached the City, Cal Poly and the County because these three agencies have a vested interest in the event being successful. Specifically, the committee is asking the City to provide cash support for the conference brochure. The committee wants this conference to be a model, not a case study. They do not want to jeopardize the City's ability to attract future conferences by doing a poor job. Staff then provided a summary of the history of the Enhanced Promotional fund and outlined the criteria for its use. Sandy Baer stated that one ongoing advantage of this conference is that it will show ways of using the Performing Arts Center as other than just a concert hall in the future. George Newland asked what would happen if the committee is not successful in getting funding from the other two agencies. Ron Regier replied that the committee would have to cut back on such things as simultaneous translation at all times, which is a cost item of$15,000. He indicated ATTACHMENT 3 that translation was cut at the last conference and there were many complaints about it. George asked what the highest need was out of the$30,000 shortfall. Ron replied that of all of the priorities, the brochure is second priority. Carol Ann Lockary agreed strongly with Ron's statement that the conference should not be a case study, it should be a model. Pati Brown pointed out that this conference is a sales piece for future conferences. In particular, the brochure is a marketing device that will be distributed to 10,000 people. Although, she requested that the PCC have input on what goes into the design of the brochure if we are going to fund it. She wants to make sure that it would function not only as a conference enrollment document but as a marketing piece for the City. Denis Rizzo pointed out that the City should get as much"bang for the buck"as possible and asked if the City could have a copy of the brochure mailing list for future use. Jonni Biaggini pointed out that WASBE has its own web site linked to the VCB. The PCC asked that it be linked to the Chamber's web site also. A discussion followed among the PCC members as to whether or not the SLOWOC request fit the Enhanced Promotional funding requirement. The feeling was that it is a seed event, seeding the prototype of a large conference. It is not a special event. It is expanding the use of the Performing Arts Center and it showcases the possibility for this use in the future. Concern was expressed about the fact that the conference will be held in July. Jonni Biaggini stated that the SLOWOC had no choice on when the conference would be held; it had to be held in the month of July. However, they did select the slowest week in July,which is the week following July 4'". It will be impacting the TOT mid-week in the slowest week of the month. The PCC felt that it should not pass up this opportunity to market San Luis Obispo and the Performing Arts Center to a vast international audience. On a motion by Bill Pyper,seconded by Carol Ann Lockary, the PCC unanimously voted to provide the SLOWOC committee with $10,000 to fund the brochure. 12. REPORT FROM THE VCB Jonni Biaggini reported that thanks to the addition of funding from Pismo Beach, the VCB was able to do a special spring advertising campaign in the Seattle and Portland areas. They are offering golf packages, starting as low as $68. The advertising will alternate between the two cities. The concept of advertising in the Pacific Northwest is a new market and pushing golf is also new to the VCB. March 12'"will be the VCB's Meeting Expo Forum. The Expo will be an opportunity to showcase local meeting sites so that meeting planners will not go out-of-county looking for venues. The next trade show Jonni will be attending will be the Consumers'Show in Sacramento. Sarah Moore then reported that she had sent out 4,600 flyers as a result of the EI Nino promotion. She has also set up a two-week radio promotion in Visalia with five giveaway packages. Package #5 is almost strictly activities in San Luis Obispo. The radio station says that it has received about 30 calls each time an ad for the promotion is run. Sarah also reported that the president of the WASBE organization will be in San Luis Obispo next month to conduct a concert. She will be setting up a press conference with him when he arrives. The LA Times recently did a co-0p promotion which features pictures of various visitor's guides. Readers are asked to cut out the picture of the guide they would like to receive and send it in as a request. San Luis Obispo County's guide received 450 requests, second only to San Diego and ahead of San Francisco and others. Based on this success, Maggie is going to look at possibly participating in the future. Jonni also reported that Mark Plotkin has contracted with Amtrak to write a monthly periodical called'The Coast Starlight Tourist". There is an opportunity for co-op advertising with San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and perhaps other locations within the county. Jonni will be looking to put together a co-op package to utilize this terrific opportunity.