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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMarketing Cmte - 08-19-2014 �- -�� � � f' � ['ALM DESERT PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE APPROVED MINUTES Tuesday, August 19, 2014 —2 p.m. Administrative Conference Room I. CALL TO ORDER Rolf Hoehn called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Arlene Amick Kerry Graves Emily Bird-Hrivnak �TyCOiJNCILACTION Franchesca Forrer APPROVED DFN�ED,..r.,..,..__ Rolf Hoehn, Chair RECEIVED OTHER ~ Theresa Maggio, Vice-Chair � ���� �y Bruce Nation MEETINGDATE ►Z-�l-'4 Jeffrey Norman � arn.�K. .r�n�-r '_"""'.'_"""'...'__...... Sara O'FI nn AYE5.�1 �n.5p,�e���Tw:,���w�,�� y NOF.S: -�b� �..�..�.�._.. Ray Rodriguez Ai3SENT: __�10►� Diane Williams At35TAIlv: �10� � ...�._._ . VF,RiFIED BY: Q K jrt►v1 ��i�+ Staff/Others Present: Original on File with City Clerk's Oftice Jan Harnik, Council Member Rudy Acosta, Assistant City Manager Donna Gomez, Tourism & Marketing Manager Ruth Ann Moore, Economic Development Manager David Hermann, Management Analyst Jane Stanley, Recording Secretary Lisa Vossler Smith, Executive Director, Modernism Week Chris Mobley, Chairman, Modernism Week The Committee congratulated Emily Bird-Hrivnak on the impending birth of her first child, a boy. She will be on maternity leave and will be back in November. III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE AUGUST 19, 2014 IV. CONSENT CALENDAR A. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MAY 20, 2014. Jeffrey Norman moved, by Minute Motion, to approve the minutes of the May 20, 2014, meeting as presented. Motion was seconded by Emily Bird-Hrivnak and carried by 10-0- 1 vote. (AYES: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Forrer, Maggio, Nation, Norman, O'Flynn, Rodriguez, Williams, and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Graves.) V. CONSENT ITEMS HELD OVER None. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. CONSIDERATION OF REQUEST FOR FUNDING OF 2015 MODERNISM WEEK Donna Gomez noted that the City has supported this event for the last few years. Requests had been made to fund individual events within the City, but the City decided to fund the overall event. Funding of $2,500 is in the Marketing budget. If the Committee would like to recommend a higher level of sponsorship, the request would go before the City Council for their consideration. She said that over the years it has been a very successful program and staff is happy with what they have seen and how the Palm Desert community is incorporated into the overall event. Modernism Week Executive Director Lisa Vossler Smith and event Chairman Chris Mobley were in attendance to discuss the funding request for 2015 Modernism Week. Ms. Smith stated that Modernism Week is a mid-century architecture and design festival, which includes 180 events over a 10-day period in February. The event is volunteer run and is a 501c3 non-profit organization. She is the onfy paid staff member. Their strategic plan includes quarterly events. 2015 marks the 10th anniversary of Modernism Week. Ms. Smith presented a video that will be used at a national level to secure sponsors. It will be shortened to 30 seconds to be used as a television commercial. She noted that the video is missing photos of locations outside of Palm Springs. Marrakesh Country Club and Sandpiper took last year off, but will participate even stronger in 2015. Events in Palm Desert will also include a walking tour at COD and a double-decker bus architectural tour. 2 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE AUGUST 19, 2014 Attendance in 2010 was 16,400; in 2014 it was 45,500. It is anticipated that attendance will be 50,000 for 2015. To accommodate the demand, the number and frequency of programs offered will be expanded. Economic impact in 2014 was $17,065,000. Attendees came from 12 different countries. The highest number of attendees came from Palm Springs, second was Los Angeles, and third was a tie between Palm Desert and San Francisco. 16% of the total came from the Coachella Valley. They hired a PR agency 2 years ago, who expanded the social media program. There were 106,200 unique website visitors. 90% of the profits flowed through to Coachella Valley non-profit organizations. Neighborhood organizations such as Sandpiper and Marrakesh keep a portion of their ticket sales, which are used for neighborhood improvements. For 2015, there will be more frequent student bus tours and after dark events each night. One evening event will be at the Galen. There will also be numerous free community events. Ms. Smith then distributed the 2014 magazine program. Dates of the 2015 event are February 12 - 22, 2015, and the fall preview is October 10-13. Responding to Franchesca Forrer's question regarding how Palm Desert retail would be incorporated, Ms. Smith said they are open to any ideas. Jeffrey Norman noted that the McCallum Theatre will be doing "Guys and Dolls" from February 13-15 and would tie in to the mid-century theme. Ms. Smith offered to follow up with Mr. Norman regarding cross-promotion. Theresa Maggio asked how many people will go on the Sandpiper and Marrakesh tours. Ms. Smith anticipates about 1,000 people. An underlying goal is to increase home sales. Attendees want to know what properties are available. Arlene Amick added that because the program at Sandpiper was so successful, they have offered to sponsor one of the Museum's programs. Ms. Smith stated that a higher sponsorship level would include increased ad size and the logo in local ads. Additionally, more event tickets would be provided to the sponsor. Ms. Maggio asked if there would be a satellite office in Palm Desert. Ms. Smith said there is not currently one. Ms. Gomez offered the Visitor Center location as a ticket outlet. In answer to Rolf Hoehn's question, Ms. Gomez said she highly recommends a $5,000 level of sponsorship given their level of success and growth and interest in including Palm Desert. Because of the statistics and feedback from the participants, Sara O'Flynn agreed that the $5,000 level of sponsorship is acceptable. 3 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE AUGUST 19, 2014 Ms. Smith stated that the sponsorship levels have increased over the years, and the categories have not capped out yet. A lot of local businesses participate in the $2,500 - $15,000 level. Theresa Maggio moved, by Minute Motion, to approve a sponsorship in the amount of $5,000 for 2015 Modernism Week. Motion was seconded by Arlene Amick and carried by 10-0-1 vote. (AYES: Amick, Bird-Hrivnak, Forrer, Maggio, Nation, Norman, O'Flynn, Rodriguez, Williams, and Hoehn; NOES: None; ABSENT: Graves.) Ms. Gomez reiterated that the additional sponsorship request will go before the City Council for their consideration. VII. CONTINUED BUSINESS None VIII. OLD BUSINESS None IX. REPORTS FROM CITY COUNCIL LIAISONS Councilmember Harnik stated that it hasn't slowed down this summer and there are a lot of exciting things happening in Palm Desert. X. REPORTS AND REMARKS A. Chair Mr. Hoehn reported that the series ticket package pre-sales at the Tennis Garden are ahead in all categories. This has created an issue as there is not enough hotel capacity for the demand, especially in the 4-star category. The fire at the Fairfield Inn has hurt because most of the rooms were taken by a category of attendees like tournament officials. The basketball game will not happen this year, but will hopefully happen next year. The CVB has been working on expanding and developing demand for shoulder season programs as more incentive to hotel developers. The airport is continuing to experience year-over-year increases. B. Committee Members Ray Rodriguez brought up the subject of the philosophy and guidelines for sponsorships. After Committee discussion, he suggested that there be measuring sticks for success. Ms. Gomez stated that she developed a questionnaire to be completed by those requesting funding for a new event. She offered to have the Committee review the application. Mr. 4 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE AUGUST 19, 2014 Rodriguez said that perhaps the questionnaire should be completed yearly for ongoing events as well. Franchesca Forrer noted that there are several remodels and openings at the mall. Stuft Pizza is now open and is doing really well. Traffic is up 28%; a lot of that is attributed to H&M, which is doing better than expected. She wanted to thank Councilmember Harnik for her gracious hosting of the mall's 3 days of back to school events. Theresa Maggio stated that the Bighorn BAM Miracle on EI Paseo is scheduled for Saturday, November ZZnd, and it will include new and exciting attributes. Diane Williams said there has been no down time this summer; it has been a busy and big season. Sara O'Flynn reported dates for several upcoming events. The season will kick off with the Desert Sampler in October. Paint EI Paseo Pink will be on October 11th, Martha's Village 5K Walk will begin at The Gardens on Thanksgiving Day, and a holiday event called "Celebrate Holiday Happiness at The Gardens" will on December 6th. Emily Bird-Hrivnak remarked that the Marriott is focused on 2015. The hotel has a new Food & Beverage Director and Executive Chef. The 2016 group bookings appear to have dropped off. Bruce Nation was happy to report that fiscal year 2014 ending in June was a great year. Desert Willow was $500k ahead of last year. There will be more music and dining events next season as they all sold out last season. There are summer family golf events and specials, and they are looking into soccer golf. Desert Willow will be offering 50 annual passes for sale; 4 have already sold. The Platinum Card is also for sale. It's Desert Willow's frequent player card, with about 910 sold last year. Derek White has been appointed as the new GM. He has been with Desert Willow for 8 years. Jeffrey Norman noted that the fall season brochure is at the printer with about a dozen shows added since the earlier version. The season will start on October 19th with the 3`d Annual Family Fun Day. The annual Gala is scheduled for December 4th and will feature Audra McDonald along with Martin Short. He thanked the City for supporting the 2"d Annual Palm Desert International Dance Festival and 17th Annual Choreography Festival, which occur in November. 5 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMITTEE AUGUST 19, 2014 C. Staff Ruth Ann Moore mentioned some new businesses that will be opening, including a second location in Palm Desert of Pueblo Viejo Grill that will be at the old TGI Friday's location. Whole Foods will open on September 24t" The City is starting to sell its land, starting with the EI Paseo Hotel at the Fashion Week location. Fashion Week will be at this location for one more year. Rudy Acosta added that the City has entered into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with a developer for 45 acres at Desert Willow. One aspect of the project is that a 30% reduction in water use compared to current golf course water usage is projected. XI. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS A. Visitor Center Report Ms. Gomez noted the FY 2014 and July 2014 reports. The trend shows that people are using technology more and more for acquiring information. On another subject, the Visitor Center lease will come up for a 5-year renewal beginning November 2015. She will be investigating options and preparing a report, and will ask the City Manager if he would like a recommendation from this Committee. A decision does not need to be made for about a year. With Committee concurrence, the Visitor Center Report was received and filed. B. Taxi Cab Drivers Training Program Ms. Gomez reported that the CVB, working with SunLine Regulatory Administration, have begun a program of mandatory monthly training for taxi drivers. They will be learning information about current tourism and events. Taxi drivers will also be required to wear branded polo shirts. C. Website Visitors From China OMA provided information from a request at the previous meeting. The numbers are fairly low: 33 website visitors for 3`d quarter of 2013 and 46 visitors in the 1 St quarter of 2014. 6 APPROVED MINUTES PALM DESERT MARKETING COMMiTTEE AUGUST 19, 2014 D. Future Programming Ms. Gomez will be doing research for funding of programs in the event of a possible budget increase from the TOT ballot measure. Over the next few months she will be researching 8 topics: PR, radio/Pandora, video, billboards, City app, higher City presence at local events, social media, and increased print ad size. If the tax is approved, the Committee will be asked to prioritize the items that have not been done with the current limited budget. Ms. Forrer agreed that social media is an inexpensive way to reach people. XII. NEXT MEETING DATE — SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 Ms. Gomez added that Michael Mathews from Palm Springs Life will make a presentation at the September meeting regarding future Fashion Week events. The dates for the 2015 events are March 22 — 28. XIII. ADJOURNMENT With Committee concurrence, the meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m. , � Ja e Stanley, Record' g Secretary 7