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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-27 - Minutes - Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission Minutes January 27, 2025 Fayetteville Town Center Commissioners: Commissioners Absent: Staff: Chrissy Sanderson, Chair, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Katherine Kinney, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Todd Martin, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Elvis Moya, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Andrew Prysby, Commissioner at-large Mike Wiederkehr, City Council Representative Sarah Bunch, City Council Representative Jennifer Walker, Interim CEO I. Call to order at 2:00 p.m. II. Old Business Agenda A. Review and approval of meeting minutes from December 9th, January 9th and January 16th. Chair Sanderson asked for any additions or corrections to the three sets of minutes. Commissioner Martin noted that the January 9th minutes were incomplete and did not fully reflect his concerns. He requested that they be revised to include additional details. There was a motion from Commissioner Martin and Commissioner Moya to approve the December 9th and January 16th minutes. It was noted that January 9th minutes would be presented again in February. III. New Business A. Vote. Appointment of a commission chairperson. In accordance with our by-laws, a chairperson must be voted on by the active commissioners at the first meeting of every year. The chair serves a one-year term. Commissioner Martin nominated Commissioner Moya and it was seconded by Commissioner Kinney. It was approved unanimously with a roll call vote. Commissioners Moya and Sanderson traded places so that Moya could chair the remainder of the meeting. Outgoing Chair Sanderson received numerous accolades for her service. B. CEO Report. Jennifer Walker. An executive overview of the previous month. Interim CEO Walker shared that the Experience Fayetteville office renovations were going well, we are almost finished, and we plan to be moved in end of March or beginning of April as furniture delivery and installation will take longer. She stated that we were prepared to present the Master Destination Plan at this meeting and acknowledged both Chair Moya and VP Tyler Wilson for their leadership in the plan. She updated the commissioners that the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on Tourism is February 23-25th and that the chair may want to consider rescheduling the February 24th meeting to allow staff participation in the conference. Initial planning with Winner Partners, the search firm selected to conduct the CEO search has occurred. Commissioner Martin raised concerns about one of the staff members with Winner Partners and asked what was planned to remediate the issue. Walker shared that she spoke with Tina Winner, a managing partner of Winner Partners, regarding the concerns. She stated that Ms. Winner would be very involved in leading the search and explained that a family commitment had prevented her from attending the discovery visit scheduled to begin that afternoon. Commissioner Martin noted that he reserved the right to make a motion to rescind the commission’s contract with Winner Partners. Walker continued with introducing our newest staff member, Gretchen Hunt, who will be serving in the role of Accounting Specialist. Walker then shared marketing updates including several press releases that have been sent, an updated trails map, an updated banner plan and a contract to present today for a new Visitors Guide. In sales, Walker presented that we will be presenting a contract with USA Cycling for the 2025 Cyclocross National Championships at the February meeting. Additionally, we signed a contract with Ozark Foundation to help support the 2025 Arkansas Enduro Series. She also shared that occupancy rates looked great for 2024 with a YTD occupancy rate of 64.5%, up 5% from 2023 and an increased ADR as well. Visitor Center attendance numbers are down for December, mainly due to heavy construction which closed the VC for a few days. FTC had a great holiday season, hosting 17 events. Walker ended by stating that next month the commission would get an update on Downtown Fayetteville Coalition’s plans for the year. With no questions, Chair Moya asked for the financial report. C. Financial Report. Jennifer Walker, Interim CEO | Vice President of Finance Walker stated that the packet included unaudited financials for 2024. We ended the year with 106% of projected revenue and our spending was 9% below budget. Our net operating income is $910,640 year to date and December HMR collections are 5% above the seasonally adjusted budget. You’ll also see that there is already $166,000 in unearned revenue for FTC for 2025 events. Finally, Walker shared that the commission would see a contract in February from Forvis for our 2024 audit. We have worked with Forvis the last several years and we use the same auditor as the city of Fayetteville as our numbers roll up into that audit. There were no questions on the financial report. D. Master Destination Plan Presentation. Sara Meaney, Managing Partner, Coraggio Group Jennifer Walker presented Sara Meaney, a managing partner with Coraggio Group and thanked the lead team who worked in depth on this plan. Sarah Meaney introduced herself and her role, noting that Coraggio Group is celebrating their 25th year this year. She began by explaining the process which includes three big phases, Get Clear, Get Focused and Get Moving. She explained that Coraggio is a part of Miles Partnership, and that Coraggio also worked with several other organizations such as Longwoods International to conduct and review several surveys and data sets. She explained the rigorous data analysis they undertook to best understand Fayetteville’s assets and position. Meaney also explained the stakeholder process of stakeholder sessions, which included one on one interviews, focus groups and surveys in addition to a large resident survey. She reviewed Situation Assessment themes and Stakeholder Sessions. She then shared the following plan elements with the group: Vision, Mission, Position, Imperatives, Objectives, and Initiatives. With that, Meaney closed her presentation and thanked the commissioners for their time and asked if there were any questions. Interim CEO Walker stated that we already had a lot of action plans begun and hoped that this tool would be helpful for the next CEO to come in and base their strategic plan on. Commissioner Wiederkehr commended Coraggio Group for the emphasis they took to include resident sentiment as that’s very important to us. Commissioners provided positive feedback. Commissioners shared that they would like to see the situational assessment and wanted time to digest the plan. Chair Moya said we’d hear back from commissioners at the next meeting and that staff would send out the situational assessment to commissioners. E. Vote. Contract renewal for Outright. Staff recommends the commission authorize the interim CEO to enter an agreement for Agency of Record services with Outright in the amount of $234,000 and to amend the end date of the MSA to 12/31/2025. Memo, Change Order and Agreement (SOW) attached. VP Sarah King presented this item virtually and as her microphone was not working well, Walker recapped the request, including the extension the end date of the MSA to match the SOW. Moya asked for any questions. Commissioner Wiederkehr asked if we would see another SOW for next year and Walker stated yes, at end of this year to approve 2026’s work. Chair Moya asked for a motion which Commissioner Kinney gave with Commissioner Prysby seconded. A roll call vote was unanimously approved. F. Vote. Agreement with Arrivalist. Staff recommends the commission authorize the Interim CEO to enter into an agreement with Arrivalist, LLC in the amount of $52,250. Memo and Agreement attached. Walker presented this stating that this was a renewal of an agreement we already had in place and adding a new module, Media attribution. This tool is one of the tools we will use to measure one of objectives in the master destination plan. We will continue to point out when we are voting on tools that will help propel the plan’s work. Commissioner Prysby stating that this was an excellent tool to add, stating several key indicators this could assist with and he made the motion to authorize the agreement with Commissioner Kinney seconded it and it was approved unanimously. G. Vote Agreement with Archetype for Visitors Guide. Staff recommends that the commission authorize the Interim CEO to enter into an agreement with Archetype in the amount of $46,800 for a printed Visitors Guide. Memo and Agreement attached. Walker shared that this visitors guide is a key component of our first imperative, “Drive Visitation.” We requested proposals last fall and want to recommend Archetype, which is a local company who works with local clients such as Arsagas and Slim Chickens. King is most excited about the community involvement piece of this project. It was noted that Will Collins from Archetype was attending the meeting if there were questions. Prysby asked Will if we would be able to repurpose assets from Archetype and Mr. Collins said we would be able to do so. Chair Moya asked if there was a motion and Commissioner Sanderson made the motion which was seconded by Martin. A roll call vote was approved unanimously. H. Vote. Memorandum of Understanding with Bishop Racing, LLC. Staff recommends that the commission authorize Interim CEO to enter into an agreement with Bishop Racing, LLC in the amount of $23,000 for the development of an adventure biking documentary with an appropriation of $23,000 from the Cycling Legacy Fund. Memo, Project Summary and MOU attached. Moya introduced this item and the staff recommendation. Interim CEO Walker stated that this was a very exciting opportunity that came to us and is a good example of an appropriate usage of legacy cyclocross funds. She talked about the popularity of this series and mentioned that we would be able to keep the assets developed by Bishop Racing. They will come out this May to film and it will be released in fall with us hosting an activation to celebrate its release. A motion was made by Commissioner Martin and seconded by Commissioner Sanderson with a roll call vote approving it unanimously. I. Vote. Updating Bank Account Authorized Signers. Staff recommends, in accordance with the commission’s financial policies, a vote to authorize the following individuals as signers with full authority on all four accounts: the 2025 chairperson and Amy Stockton, Director of Operations. Memo Attached. Chair Moya presented this item with Commissioner Martin asked if we needed to make this into two votes. Interim CEO Walker said that no, it didn’t have to be in two votes, as long as it was clear what the vote concerned, i.e. confirming the two signers on all 4 accounts moving forward and removing any other signers from the accounts. This includes three operating accounts at First Security Bank and one operating account at Arvest. Chair Moya asked for a motion to authorize the following two individuals as signers with full authority on all four accounts: the chairperson of the commission, Chair Elvis Moya and Amy Stockton, the Director of Operations for Experience Fayetteville and also removing all current signers on all four accounts. Commissioner Kinney made the motion and Commissioner Martin seconded it. It was approved unanimously with a roll call vote. J. Vote. Removing Bank Account Authorized Signers. Staff recommends a vote to authorize the removal of individuals listed as signers not included in the updated list. Memo Attached This item was combined with the item above. K. Vote. Alcohol Permit Holder – Change of Manager. With Molly Rawn’s departure, staff recommends appointing staff member Tyler Wilson as the new alcohol permit manager. Memo Attached. Walker introduced this and Commissioner Wiederkehr made the motion to appoint Tyler Wilson, Executive Director of the Fayetteville Town Center as the new alcohol permit manager with Commissioner Martin seconding it. Chair Moya called for a roll call vote and it was approved unanimously. L. Additions to the agenda may be added upon request from a majority of the commissioners. Commissioner Martin asked how we will handle the two open commission seats. Walker outlined the possible process included in the agenda and stated that the process could be changed to suit what the commission wanted. It was decided the commission wanted to follow the process outlined in the agenda, i.e. a selection committee would interview the applicants and make a recommendation to the commission to be voted on at the February meeting to be approved at a future city council meeting. Concerning the tourism and hospitality seat, Commissioner Martin asked if we needed to clarify if the owner needed to be active. It was stated that the bylaws didn’t clarify any qualifiers, just that the commissioner be an owner or a manager. Discussion was had concerning which commissioner would be on the selection process and it was decided that Commissioner Sanderson, who had been serving on the CEO search committee would serve on the commission selection process, and Chair Moya would serve on the CEO search firm committee. Finally, it was decided that we would move our February meeting to Tuesday, February 18th to 2pm to not interfere with the Arkansas Governor’s Conference on tourism. IV. Adjourn There was a motion to adjourn at 3:29pm by Commissioner Martin with a second by Commissioner Sanderson. Minutes submitted by Amy Stockton, Director of Operations