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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Marketing Committee 02/15/2005PALM DESERT APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 - 2:00 P.M. ADMINISTRATIVE CONFERENCE ROOM I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Norine Bowen called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. 11. ROLL CALL Members Present: Emily Bird Norine Bowen, Chair Rick Darius Ric Mandelbaum Ray Rodriguez Michael Shimer Staff/Others Present: Sheila Gilligan Kristy Kneiding Donna Gomez Piper Close Mike Osgood, Desert Willow Gary Sherwin, CVA Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary 111. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JANUARY 18, 2005. Mr. Rodriguez moved to approve the minutes of the January 18, 2005 meeting. Motion was seconded by Ric Mandelbaum and carried by unanimous vote. APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 V. NEW BUSINESS A. ORAL PRESENTATION BY FRANK JONES OF PALM SPRINGS LIFE/PALM DESERT MAGAZINE FRANK JONES of Palm Springs Life and Palm Desert Magazine gave a presentation to the Committee that included an update on the progress of Palm Desert Magazine. Included in Mr. Jones' presentation were the steps of distribution for the magazine. These steps were as follows: ■ The first targeted audience would be high -income households of Palm Desert and Indian Wells. The demographic was $350,000 household income and above. ■ The second targeted audience would be hotels. The magazine would be placed in hotel rooms in Palm Desert and Indian Wells. There are currently 3,200 rooms on that list and would constantly change. ■ The third area of distribution was newsstands (local, regional, and national). Mr. Jones circulated a map of the United States that displayed the current market coverage of Palm Desert Magazine. ■ The fourth element of distribution was their website. He said that each year 300 to 500 copies of Palm Springs Life Magazine were sold via the website. He believed Palm Desert Magazine would surpass that number in the future. He circulated a chart that showed the number of visitors, per year, that their website was receiving. He noted that it was important to see where the traffic was coming from; some was local and some regional, but it was predominately national and international (Japan and Germany). Mr. Jones announced that an idea was brought to him to publish stories that originally ran in the Desert Magazine in 30s and 40s, and he thought the idea was brilliant. The stories from that era would be written with a contemporary flare to bring them up to date. Ms. Gilligan commented that the Historical Society brought the Desert Magazine stories forward. She said Mr. Jones met with Mayor Crites and the Historical Society to discuss the proposition of running stories of the past, and there seems to be an interest in reading about things that happened many years ago. She noted that the Historical Society purchased overruns of Palm Desert Magazine and would be sending them to prospective members. 2 APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 Ms. Kneiding noted that it was fascinating to read those stories and see how much they parallel with today. She said the writer had incredible knowledge as well. Mr. Jones announced that the March issue of the magazine would basically be the same size, template, and paper stock as February. There would always be feature stories on art and a personality profile. The breakdown of content would be as follows: • In the Know, Focus on the New — people and events that were totally new to the City. • Cameos — people with a distinct philosophy. • Accents — home architecture design, and landscaping, etc. • Style —fashion • Art & Culture — events and art shows • Business Profiles • Epicurean Section — restaurants and food. He noted that one of Palm Desert's native foods restaurants was nominated as one of the Top 10 restaurants nationally. That story would be in the March issue of Palm Desert Magazine. • Home — each month a different home would be featured. Mr. Jones circulated boards that showed how the various sections would look. There would also be a section called, "Palm Desert Live." This section would be in the back of the magazine after features and would include a calendar of events, restaurant reviews, and all necessary information that is part of a city regional publication. Mr. Darius asked why they decided to make the magazine oversized. Mr. Jones said there were a lot of reasons, although the decision was not made easily: First, it costs more; secondly, it is not compatible with anything else they do; thirdly, there are a number of things they wanted to do with the Palm Desert product that would make it more difficult with an oversized publication. However, they decided they wanted the magazine to have greater visibility, and size was one of the most important factors in getting the Palm Desert Magazine recognized on the newsstands. 3 APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 Mr. Rodriguez inquired about the distribution to newsstands in the Chicago market. Mr. Jones said it was an area of the country they have not been able to get into as yet, as the distribution market in the United States has become a very difficult proposition, especially for magazines. No action was taken on this item. B. PALM DESERT SENIOR CUP TENNIS TOURNAMENT Ms. Gilligan gave a brief history of the City's sponsorship of the Palm Desert Senior Cup. She noted that the City's three-year commitment to the tournament had been exceeded, and Mr. Anich was requesting sponsorship of the 2006 tournament. Mr. George Anich, Executive Director for the Palm Desert Senior Cup, gave a presentation to the Committee. He stated that for the last three years the City had been sponsoring the tournament, and those funds were used for the awards presented to the players. He displayed the award chosen for this year's tournament at a cost of $57 each. He added that this year he would be presenting 160 awards. There were seven hotels that would be utilized during the tournament this year, including the Marriott, Residence Inn, Comfort Suites, Fairfield Inn, Best Western, and the Holiday Inn. The tournament's opening dinner was moved from Del Webb Sun City to the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort due to space requirements. The closing dinner will also be held at the Esmeralda. There will be eleven tournament sites that include nine in Palm Desert, one in Rancho Mirage, and one at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. The finals will be played at the Marriott Desert Springs Resort. Mr. Anich said he advertises in two publications: Inside Tennis, with a distribution of 125,000 in Southern California; and Inside Tennis' Annual Magazine with a distribution of 250,000 that encompasses the United States Tennis Association's tennis players throughout California. Ms. Gilligan asked Mr. Anich if he considered having the closing dinner at the Marriott. Mr. Anich said Del Webb charged $25 per person, the Marriott charged $65 per person, and the Esmeralda charged $45 per person and he could not afford the $65 dinner price. Ms. Gomez inquired about whether the City could provide items, from the Visitor Center, to be put in the player's welcome bags. Mr. Anich responded that the players would be very appreciative. 4 APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 Ms. Bowen asked if there was time to get items to him for this year's tournament. Mr. Anich said there was still time, and either he or Ms. Kneiding could pick the items up. Ms. Bowen asked about the dates for the 2006 tournament. Mr. Anich said he had not scheduled the dates yet, but it would be in March. He said he scheduled the tournament around the Frank Sinatra Golf Tournament so he could get a better rate from the hotels. Ms. Bowen asked if the City of Palm Desert is listed as a sponsor in any of the materials. Mr. Rodriguez said the booklet for the tournament is entitled, "The City of Palm Desert presents the 11th Annual Palm Desert Senior Cup." Mr. Anich also noted that there was a letter from the Mayor on pages 1 and 2 of the booklet. Gary Sherwin asked Mr. Anich if he ever considered moving the tournament to April or early May to take advantage of an even bigger break in hotel rates. Mr. Anich responded that many of the players are coming from Northern California, Wisconsin, Chicago, and Australia, and March is a very attractive time of year for them to come to the desert. He added that some of the players are teachers and spend their vacations here to play in the tournament. Mr. Rodriguez asked about the names of the teams. Mr. Anich said there are some funny team names, and at the end of the tournament they have a contest to pick the best team name. Ms. Gomez asked how many people were expected to attend the tournament this year. Mr. Anich said he would not have an exact count until he received all of the applications, but there should be around 800. He said there were a couple of things working against him this year — the fact that the entrance fee was increased by $25, and participants are having to travel on Easter. Mr. Rodriguez thought this might be a good story for the Palm Desert Magazine. Mr. Mandelbaum moved to approve staffs recommendation to fund the Palm Desert Senior Cup Tennis Tournament in the amount of $4,000. Motion was seconded by Mr. Darius and carried by unanimous vote. C. VIRTUAL TOUR VIDEO Piper Close reported that, in conjunction with the creation of the new Vacation Planner and Visitor Guide, she and Ms. Kneiding discussed the video that is currently in use. This discussion led to the idea of the video 5 APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 being a virtual tour wherein you would see Palm Desert and the surrounding Valley, similar to the photos in the Table Top Book. Ms. Close sent proposals to bid and received three responses. The following is the breakdown of those responses: Circle Take Media $22,725 — all- inclusive; Oliphant Productions $38,135 — plus (fly over photos were an additional $16,500); Originamics $19,000 - not inclusive. She recommended Circle Take Media to complete the video project Ms. Bowen inquired as to when the last video was updated and Ms. Close responded that is was three years ago. Ms. Kneiding said they put the video on a credit card size CD, and the Vacation Planner had a dye cut so the CDs could be placed inside. She and Ms. Close felt that a DVD of the video was the best production choice this time around. Ms. Bowen asked if the video could be sold at the Visitor Center, and Ms. Close responded that it could. Ms. Kneiding added that the five -to -ten minute version of the video could be played in the new Visitor Center theatre. Ms. Close said it would be a good pictorial of the visitor's vacation. Mr. Mandelbaum asked if the video could be used on the website. Ms. Kneiding said the current video is on the website. She added that the new video could be edited down for the website. She noted that the number of visitors who download the video from the website was amazing. Ms. Kneiding reported that there was money in the Marketing budget for the project. Mr. Mandelbaum moved to direct staff to proceed with the Virtual Tour video project. Motion was seconded by Mr. Shimer and carried by unanimous vote. VI. OLD BUSINESS None VII. REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION (S) Councilman Spiegel reported on the presentation from the College of the Desert. The items discussed were as follows: 1. Nursing Program 2. School of Police Training 3. Daycare Program 4. Swimming Pool 6 APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 Councilman Spiegel commented on the dedication ceremony for the new auditorium at the University of San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus, where Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy gave a speech on "Democracy Through Education." He said it was a very empowering speech. He also reported on the presentation by the Agua Caliente Indians regarding their proposal for a 14-story hotel and retail center. He had concerns about the approval of this structure and its impact on the Valley. Ms. Gilligan noted that Mayor Crites sent correspondence detailing the City's concerns about the project. Councilman Spiegel said the City Council would be reviewing the budget for FY 2005/06 at the February 24th City Council meeting. VIII. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair None B. Committee Members Ms. Bird reported on the new Art Program at the Marriott Desert Springs Resort. Contracted for the next year are 15 new sculptures outside and 40 new pieces inside the resort. A reception for the unveiling of the artwork will be held March 16th at 5:00 p.m., and formal invitations will be mailed next week. C. Staff Ms. Gilligan reported that the City Council approved the recommendation from staff to conduct the Request for Proposal process with regard to advertising services for the City. Ms. Kneiding said there would be presentations to the Committee on the proposals submitted. Ms. Gilligan announced that she is scheduled to meet with Warren Smith from BIGHORN regarding the 2006 Samsung Golf Tournament. The proposal for financial support of that Tournament would come before the Marketing Committee again this year. She also will be meeting with Earl Greenberg from the Palm Springs Film Festival to discuss the event and the outcome of Palm Desert's sponsorship. Ms. Gilligan added that the only condition not met on the agreement between the Palm Springs Film Festival and the City were the 7 APPROVED MINUTES MARKETING COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 15, 2005 showing of two films, at no charge to the residents of Palm Desert, at the McCallum or the Cinemas Palme d'Or. Ms. Kneiding reported that the City Council approved the Marketing Committee's recommendation to sponsor the Desert Nature Festival in the amount of $5,000. Ms. Gomez announced that the Graeme Baxter Desert Willow Limited Edition and Open Edition prints were available for purchase at the Visitor Center. Ms. Kneiding announced that free Riverside County Fair and National Date Festival tickets were available for interested Committee members. IX. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS 1. New York Times article, "36 Hours in Palm Desert, CA." Ms. Kneiding showed the Committee the original newspaper article by the New York Times regarding Palm Desert. 2. CVA — Pursue Some Happiness Ms. Kneiding said the Pursue Some Happiness pamphlet was distributed last month. 3. Visitors Information Center Activity Report Ms. Gomez commented that sales increased in January due to the Table Top Book and the Graeme Baxter prints. X. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. Lori Wimbish, Recording Secretary 8