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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarktng Cmte - 06/08/2013 � �° � � I'ALM Q ES E[ZT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, June 18, 2013 — 2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Theresa Maggio called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Theresa Maggio, Vice-Chair Sara O'Flynn, Chair Arlene Amick Tim Snyder Emily Bird-Hrivnak Rolf Hoehn Stephanie Loog Jeffrey Norman Nyla Patzner Diane Williams Marlane Wolf Staff/Others Present: Jan Harnik, Mayor Robert Spiegel, Council Member Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager Martin Alvarez, Economic Deve/opment Director Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Bruce Nation, Desert Willow Marketing Michael Mathews, Palm Springs Life CITY COiTNCILACTION Susan Stein, Palm Springs Life APPROVED �--�-- DE1v�ED RE�C�IVED�,�.'�c u� OTHER III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS �vrrrTt C DATE - D None AVTS: � k NOF,S: IV. CONSENT CALENDAR �I;srNT: A13STAIN: VE[t1FIC�;� I3Y: � C)ri�inal on I�ile with City Clc►' ' Oftice APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MAY 21, 2013. Rolf Hoehn moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the May 21, 2013, meeting as presented. Motion was seconded by Marlane Wolf and carried 7-0-4, with Emily Bird-Hrivnak, Nyla Patzner, Sara O'Flynn, and Tim Snyder absent. V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None VI. NEW BUSINESS A. FASHION WEEK WRAP-UP Michael Mathews, Palm Springs Life magazine, distributed 2013 Fashion Week EI Paseo and Food + Wine Festival recap summaries. He noted that he had checked the Fashion Week 2013 website and found it is still active. At this point in the meeting Emily Bird-Hrivnak and Nyla Patzner arrived. Mr. Mathews described the improvements that were made for the 2013 event to increase the customer experience: enhanced lighting, draped ceiling, lengthened runway, and repositioning of the large control booth. The garden area was expanded, and the ticket area was air conditioned. Better-quality lighting allowed for changing the mood and for better photography. Total marketing value was over $2M, which was multi-platform, utilizing every available asset. Numerous magazines were partners. Prior to the event unique visitors to the Palm Springs Life website averaged 78,000 per month. During February and March the average was over 200,000 per month. Currently the average is 141,000 unique visitors per month, with 80% from outside the Valley. For the charitable contribution portion of the event, any viable valley charity was given the opportunity to purchase blocks of tickets at half- price. Through the Style and Beauty Bash $80,000 was given to local charities. Mr. Mathews highlighted some statistics from the Fashion Week report: • Attendance was up 16%. • The Gardens reported a 27% increase in sales for the week. • There were 22 sponsors and 26 partners. • 19 Charities were benefited. • 47% of the attendees were from out-of-market. • There were 350 separate in-store events on EI Paseo. 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 • 75 Stores participated in the Shopping Passport. • People from 125 countries viewed the website. The 2014 event will have more improvements and enhancements, and the event location will be the same. Ruth Ann Moore reminded the Committee that City Council approved a 3- year sponsorship for Fashion Week. 2014 will be the second year. The City is currently in negotiations with a hotel developer for the event site. It is likely that the hotel project will move forward with an opening the fall of 2015. Staff is actively looking for another location for Fashion Week. Mr. Mathews continued by saying that the Food + Wine Festival attracts a different type of customer. There was a dip in attendance of about 500 people. This may have been because it was very cramped and crowded in 2012 and people may not have wanted to return. 65% of the attendees were from out-of-market. Most food and wine events have only a few celebrity chefs; ours had 26 chefs. Wine seminars were a ticket add-on, which generated a lot of interest and positive feedback. Also as a comparison to other events, ours featured premium wines, which are all accessible in the Valley. Booths were positioned in such a way as to offer food and wine pairings. A PR service, PRweb, was engaged to disseminate press releases and media alerts. All in all, both events were very successful. Ms. Gomez commented that Palm Desert's tourism website was the second highest source for Food + Wine and fourth for Fashion Week. Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to receive and file the 2013 Fashion Week Reports. Motion was seconded by Rolf Hoehn and carried 9-0-2, with Sara O'Flynn and Tim Snyder absent. B. PRESENTATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN Ruth Ann Moore reminded the Committee that they were one of the original focus groups in the development of the EDSP. Besides 5 focus groups and individual stakeholders, the primary economic infrastructure was reviewed to determine Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT). From the SWOT list, 6 considerations were created that were kept in mind while forming the Goals and Actions. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 Existing economic drivers are listed in the EDSP. Ms. Moore was surprised that cultural tourism is one of them. Ms. Gomez spoke with the Editor of Los Ange/es magazine who stated that an event around art and culture or food and wine will drive people when they book vacations. Mr. Hoehn found it interesting that the art education aspect does not get enough exposure. Many communities have the offering of seminars and classes as one of their elements of success. Mr. Norman agreed and said the McCallum is currently having an education week with 150 teachers in attendance to learn about programs they will incorporate in their classrooms. The visitors stay somewhere, eat, and shop. Ms. Gomez added that some teachers from Palm Desert's Sister Cities, Xtapa-Zihuatanejo and Gisborne, are here for the education week at the McCallum. Ms. Moore went on to say that the arts have not been embraced as an economic driver. Mayor Harnik agreed and said that the arts have not been leveraged enough. Ms. Moore continued by stating that some other economic drivers for consideration in the future are medical, energy sector, and housing. Six goals were developed with actions to meet the goals. The EDSP is a 5-year plan and will be reviewed with City Council every 12-18 months. The City is now developing a 20-year Strategic Plan for the entire city on all levels and with all departments. Economic development will be one of the elements of that Strategic Plan. The next section is a listing of all funding sources. Since RDA was eliminated by the State, the hope is that other opportunities will become available through legislation. Stephanie Loog commented that the report is excellent. Responding to her question, Ms. Moore said the largest Valley city is Indio, then Palm Springs, and Palm Desert is third. Ms. Loog then mentioned that supporting COD is not listed in the strategy for Guiding Principle #5 — Support the City's education institutions as an important factor in the continued and diversified economic growth of Palm Desert and the Coachella Valley. 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKE7ING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 Responding to Mr. Hoehn's question, Ms. Moore said that the City does not have any land in the existing enterprise zone and Governor Brown wants to eliminate them anyway. Palm Desert has a little land that is zoned light industrial. Palm Springs is working on expanding their foreign trade zone within the Valley that will include Palm Desert's industrial area. Ms. Maggio volunteered to assist with plein air events since she has run the La Quinta Arts Festival and started their plein air festival. Ms. Moore concluded by saying various departments have assignments associated with the Goals and Actions. Arlene Amick moved, by Minute Motion, to receive and file the Economic Development Strategic Plan. Motion was seconded by Diane Williams and carried 9-0-2, with Sara O'Flynn and Tim Snyder absent. C. PRESENTATION OF "FIRST WEEKEND" CONCEPT Ruth Ann Moore described the concept, which is mentioned in the EDSP and is still in the planning stage. The idea is to package and promote events that are already happening the first weekend of each month during the season, November through May. A core group of people has already been identified. In the beginning the promotion would be local. Staff would gather information and Ms. Gomez would do the marketing through social media and a small ad buy. Ms. Amick has agreed to coordinate the Art Walk with the galleries on EI Paseo. Docent tours will move to the first weekend. Cruise Night is already the first Friday of the month. The long-term goal is to have hotels promote the "First Weekend" as a package. Responding to question, Ms. Amick stated that Art Walk needed some changes. Participating galleries will no longer pay to be a part of it and are only requested to be open from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Restaurants will be asked to participate and stores would be encouraged to stay open longer. The request and this committee's recommendation will be going to City Council on June 27th. Ms. Moore will provide updates to the Committee. Rolf Hoehn moved, by Minute Motion, to support the concept of "First Weekend" and support a $15,000 funding request of City Council. Motion was seconded by Diane Williams and carried 9-0-2, with Sara O'Flynn and Tim Snyder absent. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 D. CONSIDERATION OF SUMMER SCHEDULE Ms. Gomez stated that the Committee historically goes "dark" in August. As of now, she does not have any agenda items for July or August. All the major projects have been addressed this year. Marlane Wolf moved, by Minute Motion, to cancel the August 2013 Marketing Committee meeting. Motion was seconded by Emily Bird-Hrivnak and carried 9-0-2, with Sara O'Flynn and Tim Snyder absent. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS Councilmember Robert Spiegel reported that the Marketing budget was approved at the last City Council meeting. He was happy to see The Living Desert working together with the Galen. The $20,000 funding request for the Marriott to host Tony Robbins was not approved by City Council. Mayor Jan Harnik said the Economic Development Strategic Plan is very exciting. She is currently working on the 20-Year Strategic Plan in conjunction with numerous community volunteers. Mayor Harnik likes the "First Weekend" concept. Everyone working together will help to dilute the advertising costs. Highway 111 will be under construction for 2 months this summer for resurfacing. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Theresa Maggio reported that Bighorn had a good sales year. Three properties sold last week, bringing the yearly total to 24. B. Committee Members Arlene Amick stated that the museum is currently closed in preparation for re-opening this Saturday for the next exhibition - Across Dimensions: Graphics and Sculpture From the Permanent Collection. The kid's 6 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 summer camp is almost sold out. She is busy planning for next season and is pushing for more community events. Diane Williams pointed out that there aren't property comps to support the growth in housing costs and it will be this way for about a year. The housing market is healing quickly and will see more growth in 2014. Stephanie Loog was happy to report her business had a great season, and they have had to turn business away. Toscana will have production homes in 2014 that will include solar. Emily Bird-Hrivnak mentioned that the Rancho Las Palmas Resort was purchased by Omni. Nyla Patzner indicated that The Living Desert is operating its summer hours, 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Zoo Chill numbers are up for this year and ZooCamp sessions will run through August 3�a Jeffrey Norman repeated that teachers are attending the professional development summer session this week. This summer he will be evaluating the McCallum's marketing program. Some shows have been added to the current line-up with tickets going on sale August 1St. October 13th will be the second Family Fun Day, featuring the World Famous Popovich Comedy Pet Theater. The first 2 weeks of November will be the 1S' International Palm Desert Dance Festival, which will incorporate the 16- year Choreography Competition. The aspiration is that this festival will become a signature event for Palm Desert. Ms. Williams commented that the Open Call event is a very popular community event. Rolf Hoehn stated that the ongoing stadium construction is on schedule. He also really likes the concept of"First Weekend." C. Staff Bruce Nation, Desert Willow Marketing, reported that activity has slowed down. Junior Golf Summer Camp Sessions will run through August 22"d and are generally sold out. The restaurant is closed Monday-Wednesday. They will host a Monday Night Football event the first 5 weeks of the fall. Ruth Ann Moore said construction is underway in several locations. Westfield Mall is preparing for among others, Dick's Sporting Goods, which is scheduled for a November opening. One-Eleven Town Center is getting ready for Whole Foods and Nordstrom Rack. The former Toys `R' Us location will be a Wal-mart Neighborhood Store. Total Wines and More opened last week in the Desert Crossing Shopping Center. 7 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE JUNE 18, 2013 Ms. Gomez reported that the City Council approved the media and marketing plans at their last meeting. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Ms. Gomez stated that the numbers are staying flat. Now that the Visitor Center has been closed on Sundays for one year it will possible to compare "apples to apples." XII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:28 p.m. � Ja Stanley, Recordin Secretary 8