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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee 03/24/2015PALM DESERT ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, March 24, 2015 — 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room 1. CALL TO ORDER Rolf Hoehn called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Arlene Amick Emily Bird-Hrivnak Franchesca Forrer Sara O'Flynn Kerry Graves Rolf Hoehn, Chair Theresa Maggio, Vice -Chair Bruce Nation Jeffrey Norman Ray Rodriguez Diane Williams Staff /Others Present: Van Tanner, Councilmember Jan Harnik, Councilmember Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager Rudy Acosta, Assistant City Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Mahasti Islami, The Gardens on El Paseo & El Paseo Village III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Rolf Hoehn welcomed Mahasti Islami, who is observing today. She is the new Marketing Director at The Gardens on El Paseo and El Paseo Village. She moved here from Salt Lake City and has been in this position for about 2 months, and is looking forward to getting involved with the Marketing Committee. APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MARCH 24, 2015 IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 2015. Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the February 17, 2015, meeting as presented. The motion was seconded by Bruce Nation and carried by 8-0-3 vote. (AYES: Amick, Graves, Maggio, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, Williams, and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Bird-Hrivnak, Forrer and O'Flynn.) V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. PRESENTATION OF PRELIMINARY MARKETING BUDGET AND RELATED WHITE PAPERS Referring to the budget included in the agenda packet, Donna Gomez noted that it is very similar to last year. Some categories have changed a little, such as Collateral Development and Printing. She is asking for approval today of the Preliminary Budget and white papers as a package. Because there are no specific line item increase requests, the white papers are for items that this Committee has endorsed in the past to strengthen the marketing program moving forward. City Council will review the department budgets at an April 24t" Study Session and will approve the City's final budget in June. Ms. Gomez is hoping they will consider the white papers and endorse the projects, as it would be a substantial increase to the marketing budget. At its high point, the marketing budget was $1.5M and has been cut over the last several years. As previously mentioned, at mid -year the City Council approved an additional $200k for co-op opportunities. To clarify substantial changes, Ms. Gomez stated an RFP for the marketing services contract has been released. The Professional -Other line item has been increased in anticipation of possible increased monthly retainers for the professional agencies. There are more reductions than increases, such as Conferences and Seminars. Photography & Videography has been increased as there are more needs in that area. New photos are necessary to keep the video library fresh for marketing materials and for the calendar. 2 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MARCH 24, 2015 Councilmember Harnik said she supports going to conferences and seminars and that if something came up, Council would review the request. Ms. Gomez responded that she attends several events yearly within California. At this point in the meeting Franchesca Forrer arrived. Ray Rodriguez added that the request for increases is timely, coming at a good time. Ms. Gomez said all the marketing efforts are supported in the Strategic Plan and the goals are moving forward from a tourism and marketing standpoint. At the end of the fiscal year the Committee will review goals that have been achieved within the Strategic Plan. Mr. Hoehn asked if the funding for the white paper items is in addition to the budget and if all the funds for this year will be spent. Ms. Gomez responded by saying that a portion of the BrightSide was paid from recycling funds, about $11,000. The amount spent will be very close to the budgeted amounts. In addition, if the Council approves the funds they will be for specific white paper programs and there will be some flexibility within the budget to accomplish them. Regarding First Weekend, as part of the co-op advertising program the City is partnering with the Art Museum this year, and El Paseo is also contributing funding to First Weekend advertising. For the first few years the goal is to increase participation within the community to make it a substantial event and then we can justify asking additional partners for financial backing. Theresa Maggio commented that visual videography coming out of this valley is impressive and exciting to see how much it has grown. Palm Springs and the CVB are making a great effort, but Palm Desert is lacking representation. She is happy to share footage of Bighorn and hopes all present would also share theirs. She also supports a PR program. Mr. Rodriguez said he believes in marketing by excellence in execution. He is fully supportive of Palm Desert having a louder voice in the marketplace and firmly believes the City will see the returns and gains. Ray Rodriguez moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the Proposed Marketing Budget and Related White Papers as presented. Motion was seconded by Bruce Nation and carried by 9-0-2 vote. (AYES: Amick, Forrer, Graves, Maggio, Nation, Norman, Rodriguez, Williams, and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Bird-Hrivnak and O'Flynn.) 3 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MARCH 24, 2015 B. UPDATE ON COOPERATIVE ADVERTISING PROGRAMS Ms. Gomez reported that funding in Media Buys is set aside each year to reach out to community partners for co-op advertising. The CVB is supporting a summer promotion with KTLA. For $25,000 entities can participate to have a strong showing in the Los Angeles market. KTLA will produce a 60-second spot that will run on the morning news over 50 times. The CVB will produce a 30-second spot that will run on the morning news over 200 times in the May and June timeframe. Ms. Gomez reached out to the JW Marriott as they are looking to build their summer business from the southern California market. They will co-op with the City, each contributing $12,500. Because the CVB is underwriting the program at the $100,000 level it will have a strong branding message. The El Paseo Board approved participation in this program as well, so -two of the available opportunities will be from Palm Desert properties. KTLA will send a crew out to film the first or second week in April, as the timeline is short. As part of the mid -year budget the City Council approved additional funding specifically identified for co-op programs with hotel properties. The first funding request came from the JW Marriott for a proposal that will bring 5,000 room nights in November for a group that cancelled their conference in Phoenix. To get out of their contract they needed funding of $25,000, which the City will provide. Projected revenue from the 5,000 room nights is $945,000 of which TOT would be $85,050. Participants will be looking beyond the hotel property for meals and entertainment. The additional funds in the budget allow the City to respond fairly quickly when opportunities such as this arise. The City Manager has the authority to approve up to a $40,000 expenditure for marketing. With Committee concurrence, the Update on Cooperative Advertising Programs was received and filed. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None. VIII. OLD BUSINESS None. 4 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS MARCH 24, 2015 Councilmember Tanner asked about the mention of a Sunday brunch at Desert Willow in the February meeting minutes. Bruce Nation responded that the chef stopped the Sunday buffet for one week but found that having one helps out the kitchen staff and so it was brought back. Councilmember Harnik said that Fashion Week has been packed and is getting a lot of press coverage. Jeffrey Norman stated there has not been an impact at The McCallum Theatre as the events were already sold out prior to Fashion Week. Franchesca Forrer noted that there was additional traffic at Macys, and Westfield will be hosting an after -party on Thursday. Stuft Pizza invested in advertising for Fashion Week and their sales show it. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Mr. Hoehn reported that the just -completed BNP Paribas Tournament set an attendance record with 456,674 attendees. There were five new sponsors this year helping to create a great experience — Lavazza Italian coffee, Audi, Moet champagne, Barracuda Networks and RumChata. The sponsors are at the premium level and project the image desired for the event. The presence of Serena Williams helped with ticket sales. Hotels in the valley sold out and visitors had to go to Banning and Beaumont for rooms. One of the sponsors, Emerites Airline, is a huge ambassador for the tournament because their representatives are transported to El Paseo in the evenings and they spread the word throughout the world with their friends and colleagues. The building of a third stadium has not yet been confirmed. It would include a tennis museum, permanent build -outs for stores, and would replace the temporary stadium 3 with 4,500 seats. The Indian Wells Art Festival starts April 3rd and the jazz concert will be on May 2nd. B. Committee Members Diane Williams reported that home sales are 30% off January to February comparable to last year. A big issue for buyers is lending. A 6.8% increase is projected for this year, but Ms. Williams does not think we will see that. She explained that some communities are seeing increased sales and prices and others are stagnant. '•7 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MARCH 24, 2015 Bruce Nation reported that March is looking strong and there were some good days during the tennis tournament. The car show in partnership with El Paseo Cruise Night is this Saturday. One of Desert Willow's golf professionals, Brett Shoopman, will have his 3`d annual fundraising golf tournament April 4th with proceeds going for melanoma screening at the Luci Curci Center. Music and dining events are selling out. Arlene Amick noted that attendance for the museum, film series, and First Friday events is increasing. A local artist, Lincoln Jesser, performed for the First Friday in March. School tours will continue through May. Yoga in the sculpture garden on Wednesdays is up to 60 people. The first Saturday in April will be an Earth Day celebration in partnership with Whole Foods. The museum is participating in the Manifest Destiny Billboard Project put on by LAND (Los Angeles Nomadic Division). The project is a series of artist -produced billboards along 1-10 from Florida to California through spring 2015. Artist Zoe Crosher will have her work featured on ten billboards from Indio to Beaumont. Her work will be installed at the Earth Day celebration for which she has produced a floral work that degrades over time. The April First Friday will feature Scott Benzel, composer from Los Angeles doing a composition in relation to the billboard project. They expect to see some southern California drive market visitors in conjunction with this project. Guest Mahasti Islami was happy to report that the foot traffic at The Gardens and El Paseo Village has been increasing. Stores and restaurants are benefiting from Fashion Week. This season's 12-week concert series is doing well and runs through April 18th. Throughout the series' 17 years over $1 M has been raised for local charities. Theresa Maggio of Bighorn remarked that the Bighorn BAM gala and launch party occurred last Saturday. Something different this year was FG Creative produced social media during the event. The Pendleton Foundation received $150,000 and Eisenhower received $700,000. On Saturday there was a wedding at Bighorn that included an elephant. Also on Saturday evening Bighorn received 6 Addy awards; 2 for their magazine. She noted several other upcoming events at Bighorn. Jeffrey Norman conveyed that the McCallum has gone over 110% of its projected revenue, and there are still 15 days to the end of the season. Just finished were five nights of the Ten Tenors, which all sold out. The theatre's new website will launch on April 7. Open Call will be April 16-18. A APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE MARCH 24, 2015 Franchesca Forrer pointed out that there is a lot under development at the mall, including six new retailers. One is a 20,000 square foot store going in near JC Penney. The center will be getting new furniture in partnership with Modernism Week. Historical pieces and artifacts from the 1950's and 1960's will change regularly. A small digital contest called "Festival Fashion" has been on social media for 2-1/2 weeks and already has over 2,000 unique entries. H&M also has a contest to win two tickets to Coachella and a shopping spree. Entries are done inside the store and traffic has increased enormously. In the spirit of festival season there will be a free event called "Kids Fest" on April 4in, which will include kid's bands, face painting, temporary tattoos and hair chalk. Macy's will have a spring fashion show on April 11tn with Susan Stein from Palm Springs Life. Ray Rodriguez reported that the Palm Desert Youth Sports opening day included a zip line sponsored by Las Casuelas Cafe. They have had the best February ever at the Cork Tree and heading to the best March as well. A new restaurant will be opening next to the cafe in the long -vacated building. Hopefully improvements will start in the summer at the cafe. Kerry Graves noted that The Living Desert had a record year last year; the best in its 45-year history, and is already 20% up over last year. The dinosaur exhibit is doing well. Preparations are being done for the 2-day Easter Eggstravaganza — 10,000 eggs per day. Brew at the Zoo already has 50 vendors and will be on May 2nd. Ms. Forrer noted that in six years this event has grown from very small to an amazing event. C. Staff Rudy Acosta said there is currently an opening in the Economic Development Department for an administrative assistant. Donna will be able to use a lot of that person's time to assist with marketing activities. Ms. Gomez reiterated that the RFP for marketing services went out today. It will be advertised in The Desert Sun for 10 days with proposals due on April 14tn. This Committee will review the final candidates in May. Also, City Council will discuss the Visitor Center lease in closed session on April 9th. The next evening farmer's market will be on April 1st. The American Documentary Film Festival, which has always been a Palm Springs event, will be showing some films this year at the Oliphant Theater at the CSU Palm Desert campus. Palm Desert was a entry level sponsor this year to help the event moving here. The festival starts on March 30tn David Hermann noted that the State of the City luncheon will be on April 16 at Desert Willow. 7 APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report MARCH 24, 2015 Referring to the report, Ms. Gomez remarked that she and Barbara Blythe discussed the drop in visitors for February and could not come up with an explanation. Ms. Forrer added that the same thing happened at the end of February in the mall, but now traffic is back up. With Committee concurrence, the Visitor Center Report was received and filed. B. Update on Hotel Development Rudy Acosta provided a verbal update on three hotel projects: The Larkspur Hotel project is moving forward. The architecture may change, but the original project could be before City Council for approval by the end of the year. The Quicksilver project will be called Quicksilver Palm Desert, which is a huge marketing plus for the City. Their representatives will be meeting with staff this Friday to discuss dollar figures and incentive opportunities. The project is on schedule with respect to the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement that was entered last fall with the City. Their ideas are very exciting for Palm Desert and the entire Coachella Valley. The Rosewood Hotel project is in re -design again and there is nothing solid to report on that project. The Economic Development Department is working on a specific marketing campaign for hotels targeting four strategic areas within the city: the 1-10 corridor, the Desert Willow Resort pads, Highway 111, and El Paseo sites. The first draft of a brochure has been prepared and Mr. Acosta will share it when it has been printed. Responding to question, Mr. Acosta said the 1-10 corridor is between Monterey and Washington Street, where there are sites that would lend themselves to travel hotels. Additionally, Council will be reviewing a potential development between Portola Avenue and Cook Street north of Gerald Ford Drive. The 170 acres that would have been a second golf course adjacent to Frank Sinatra Drive is being looked at to complement and support the developments in and around the area in the context of the current General Plan Update. The consultant team for the Update will be coming back with a proposal of a master plan and zoning for that area. The property would then be marketed to developers. APPROVED MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE XII. NEXT MEETING DATE — APRIL 21, 2015 XIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:25 p.m. MARCH 24, 2015 Ja�e Stanley, Re ording Secretary 9