HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-22 - Minutes -Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission
Minutes April 22, 2024
Fayetteville Town Center
Commissioners
Present:
Commissioners
Absent:
Staff:
Chair Chrissy Sanderson, Tourism & Hospitality Representative
Mike Wiederkehr, City Council Representative
Katherine Kinney, Tourism & Hospitality Representative
Sarah Bunch, City Council Representative
Andrew Prysby, Commissioner at-large
Todd Martin, Elvis Moya
Molly Rawn, CEO (absent) Jennifer Walker, VP of Finance, Sarah King, VP
of Marketing and Communications
I. Chair Sanderson called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm and declared a quorum.
II. Old Business
A. Chair Sanderson presented the March minutes for approval and
Commissioner Kinney made a motion which was seconded by Mike
Wiederkehr to approve the minutes as presented.
B. Roll call attendance reflected that Commissioners Martin and Moya are
absent. VP Walker stood in the place of CEO Rawn who was absent.
III. New Business
A. CEO Report
VP Walker presented this report, highlighting a few of the items. She
stated that we are planning to bring a budget revision to the May
commission meeting to reflect personnel changes and to show a decrease
in spending in some areas to reflect a lower than budgeted HMR revenue
to date.
On the Master Tourism Plan, we are winding down the first section called
Get Clear and will begin the next phase, “Get Moving.” This phase is more
internally focused, but please know work is continuing. She pointed out all
of the events we were involved in during the weekend of April 5-6 including
the US Pro Cup at Centennial Park, a press tour for international travel
journalists, the NCAA Gymnastics Regionals, Razorback baseball, NCAA
track tournament and many more including the opening weekend of the
Farmers Market on the square.
Additionally, we distributed 10,000 eclipse glasses through hotels and
attractions such as the Botanical Gardens and through our Visitors Center.
We are updating some of our marketing collateral items and also we have
some new light pole banners in production. Additionally, we have a new
Hootboard in the Visitors Center- it is a digital visitors kiosk.
The town center has hosted 29 meetings since the commission last met
and the roof repair is almost complete with solar panels to come next.
We’ve also done some repair work on gutters at Walker Stone House.
She pointed out the long list of events we’ve funded so far this year in the
enclosed Community Event Incentives report. We’ve allocated $51,000
thus far in 2024.
To close, she stated that upcoming events included the Downtown
Fayetteville Coalition Annual Meeting next Monday April 29th, the return of
First Thursday on May 2nd, UA Graduation Saturday, May 11th, the
inaugural Strawberry Festival on Sunday May 19th and Walmart
Shareholders June 5-7.
B. Financials
VP Walker stated that the March financials were in the agenda packets.
The target budget for expenses and revenue for March is 25%. With total
revenue YTD $1,285,727, we are 4% below our target. Total expenses are
at $1,240,007 or 22%, we are 3% under budget.
With HMR tax collections 3% below the seasonally adjusted budget, we are
projecting to come to the May commission meeting with a budget revision
to address this current decrease.
The balance sheet for March shows $4.9 million dollars in cash and
investments and the unearned revenue for the town center is $371,000.
C. Vote. Fayetteville Town Center Chair Purchase
VP Walker presented this voting item of 1,200 chairs from Mity Lite
with a quote of$141,228.50 which includes all taxes, freight and fees.
This expense comes from our capital budget and was included in the
2024 budget.
Commissioner Wiederkehr asked what our life expectancy on chairs
are and Tyler Wilson stated that we’ve had the current chairs for 20
years. A benefit to this purchase is that we can order replacement
parts to repair any of the Mity Lite chairs when needed.
Commissioner Bunch asked what we would do with the old chairs
and Wilson said we’d keep 50 for outdoor use and we will then
contact local agencies to donate the remainder.
Commissioner Katherine made the motion to accept the quote from
Mity Lite for the replacement of event chairs and authorize the CEO
to spend up to $155,351.35, which represents the cost of the quote
plus a 10% contingency. Commissioner Prysby seconded the
motion which was approved unanimously.
D. Marketing Updates
Director of Brand Strategy Ashley Cane introduced Anne Davis with
Outright Media. Anne then shared highlights and strategies behind their
first advertising campaign they are launching for Experience Fayetteville.
The primary goal of this campaign is to increase awareness of Fayetteville
as an attractive long weekend travel destination. This campaign will run
from April through December and is built on the themes of outdoor
recreation, food & drink and arts and culture and are targeting geographic
areas with nonstop flights to NWA, including Colorado, Chicago, Dallas/Ft
Worth and also road trippers.
Outright was able to secure 10% in added-value impressions with
media partners, allowing us to stretch the campaign budget further
to maximize visibility and impact.
The campaign concept is “Day and Night” to reflect the various
experiences you can have in Fayetteville, sunrise to starlight. The
campaign is adaptable and will be flexible for the longer time we will
be running it.
Anne pointed out that the standard display features “Favoriteville”
and that about high impact display ads are more interactive – the
expandable banner ads were demonstrated. She then shared the
reactive ads which change as you scroll through them. She then
shared the online video example. They are planning a video shoot
in May to get video for these specific ads and other uses.
The report was appreciated, especially the interactive display ads and
Commissioner Prysby asked specifics of the marketing plan. It was stated
that we are looking forward to future months’ reporting so we can see the
impact of this campaign.
E. Downtown Fayetteville Coalition Presentation
Kelly Rich, Director of Downton Initiatives began by inviting all the
commissioners to attend the annual meeting which is next Monday
the 29th at the town center. You will learn more about our strategic
plan and that process at the meeting. She stated they will also be
adding two more board members to the current nine at the annual
meeting.
She then gave an update on the organization’s goals and
accomplishments. These included creating a strategic plan, securing
additional staff, hosting several activations such as Open Streets during
Lights of the Ozarks and Phantasma in the lower ramble and festivals.
Additionally, Rich shared that they were also working on projects to
beautify downtown such as repairing light pole banner hardware and will be
launching a façade enhancing program with a 50% match to help business
owners do updates to the exterior of their property such as signage,
awning etc.
The commissioners were complementary of the progress and appreciative
of the update.
F. Adjourn
Commissioner Sanderson asked if there were any additions or
announcements.
With no further business, Chair Sanderson adjourned the meeting.
Minutes submitted by Amy Stockton, Director of Operations, Experience Fayetteville