HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-18 - Minutes -
Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission
Minutes February 18, 2025
Virtual Meeting
Commissioners:
Commissioners
Absent:
Staff:
Elvis Moya, Chair, Tourism & Hospitality Representative
Katherine Kinney, Tourism & Hospitality Representative
Todd Martin, Tourism & Hospitality Representative
Chrissy Sanderson, Tourism & Hospitality Representative
Andrew Prysby, Commissioner at-large
Mike Wiederkehr, City Council Representative
Sarah Bunch, City Council Representative
N/A
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 January 9th and January 27th.
Commissioner Martin moved to accept both the January 9th and January 27th
meeting minutes, with a second received from Commissioner Sanderson. They
were approved with a roll call vote.
III. New Business
A. CEO Report, Jennifer Walker. An executive overview of the previous month.
Walker shared a CEO report including that we are waiting on a sink to be delivered
and installed to complete our Experience Fayetteville office renovation. Many of the
team will be going to the governor’s conference on tourism next week, which is why
we moved the commission meeting up a week. Our Annual Report is complete and
we will be sharing a link in the Zoom; it’s also on our website.
She gave an update on House Bill 1445, which is a bill to prohibit certain
restrictions on the regulation of short-term rentals. It did pass committee and is
going to the house.
The EF sales team is off to a busy start. We will be a co-host for the 2026 Congress
for the New Urbanism Conference with up to 1,500 attendees in NWA. TougeCon
car event is coming back this fall with a Friday Night underground event.
We do not have lodging occupancy and ADR data to share with the commission as
we had moved the meeting up a week. She also shared that we are not including
financial statements as we did not have HMR data back in time to prepare them but
we can send out via email.
Commissioner Bunch asked what the New Urbanism Conference dates were and
Walker said she didn’t know the date but would get that out to Commissioner
Bunch.
With no further questions, Walker turned it over to the marketing report with our VP
of Marketing introducing Anne Davis with Outright, our agency of record.
B. Marketing Report
This marketing report served to recap 2024 and also outline plans for 2025.
Davis shared in the recap that part of the strategy for 2024 with key cities was budget.
She shared again that there’s about a 90-day waiting period between when a traveler
learns about a destination and when an actual trip occurs.
Our 4 key markets for 2024 were Colorado, Chicago, DFW and a 4-hour drive radius.
Looking at the campaign by the numbers – campaign impression goals were
exceeded by 9.7 million.
She further added that 20% of total website traffic was attributed directly to ads.
The average length of stay increased from 2023, and we are able to measure this by
the Arrivalist data we receive.
We also secured a 10% increase in impressions.
Davis spoke about the earned media coverage we earned in 2024, listing several
publications that included Fayetteville.
She then shared 2025 goals which are three broad buckets:
1) Marketing Outdoor Recreation experiences
2) Increase average length of stay in Fayetteville and
3) balance broad awareness with lead generation for measurable impact
She further outlined and specified target markets, target audiences and what type of
media mix they would be focusing on.
She shared that they would be refreshing the current ads. She called out new
initiatives for 2025 such as showing up strong in the new NWA visitors guide by
securing the back cover of it.
Summing it all up, they are taking what worked in 2024 and expanding upon that
strategy to include more geos, feature the outdoors and incorporating Connected TV
advertising. There will be a focus on digital channels, with selective investment in print.
Chair Moya asked about the non-digital portion of the budget and Sarah King and
Anne Davis both spoke about that.
With no more questions, Chair Moya turned to the next agenda item.
C. Presentation from Kelly Rich, Downtown Fayetteville Coalition Executive Director
Rich announced that they are excited to roll out a new season of a similar format to
First Thursdays but doing it on Sunday afternoons. This program, called Sundays
on the Square will start March 30th. Programming on Sundays is more
advantageous to downtown businesses, and we have found that programming on
Thursday afternoons can be disruptive to downtown businesses.
Doing Sunday afternoon programming has been highly successful in the past. She
shared the Sunday dates and talked about the significance of them such as
September 14th being the opening of Music Cities festival. She is presenting this as a
balanced calendar for our downtown. She pointed out that there is already a rain
date proposed on the calendar, November 2nd.
The Sundays on the Square dates are March 30th, April 27th, August 24th and
September 14th.
Rich also shared the Lights of the Ozarks schedule with Light Night being Friday,
November 21st and the Lights of the Ozarks Parade being Thursday, December 4th.
She ended with sharing the downtown Fayetteville coalition events including
Phantasma in the Ramble, the Fayetteville Strawberry Festival, which will be two
days in 2025 with a street dance on Saturday night and also Fayetteville
Falltoberfest.
Rich asked for questions and Chair Moya added that a “Taste of Fayetteville” event
could be considered. Commissioner Martin suggested the name “Fayetteville Food
Fight” which could be inclusive of many different types of food. He also
complimented Rich on the successful festivals.
D. Vote. MOU with Fans First Entertainment. Interim CEO Jennifer Walker
Walker presented the MOU concerning the Party Animals visiting Baum Stadium
on August 15-16.
She shared that the MOU includes items we want such as attendance, marketing
and expectations of each party. This MOU includes $25,000 to Fans First. The
Party Animals will be playing the Texas Tailgaters, and it mentioned we have a
local player, Blake Vinson, who will be playing.
With no questions, Commissioners Wiederkehr made a motion to vote to authorize
Interim CEO Jennifer Walker to execute the MOU with Fans First Entertainment
LLC and approve the $25,000 payment as outlined in the agreement.
With Commissioner Bunch seconding the motion, it was approved unanimously via
a roll call vote.
E. Vote. Engagement Letter with Forvis, LLP for 2024 audit services.
Interim CEO Jennifer Walker
Walker then introduced a vote to engage with Forvis LLP for 2024 audit
services. We use the audit firm that the city of Fayetteville uses as our
financial information rolls up into the city audit. It was noted that the city is
in a 3rd year of a 5-year contract with Forvis.
With no questions, Chair Moya asked for a motion. Chair Sanderson
made the motion to authorize Interim CEO Jennifer Walker to execute the
2024 audit engagement letter with Forvis, LLP for an estimated fee of
$31,500. with Commissioner Wiederkehr seconding. It passed
unanimously via a roll call vote.
F. Vote. Adoption of Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan. Tyler Wilson, VP of
Strategic Initiatives and Executive Director, Fayetteville Town Center
Wilson presented a 5-year capital improvement plan that the staff has worked on for
quite some time. He shared that there’s a different sheet for each of the three
properties and that they each lay out the capital improvements we anticipate for the
next 5 years. He pointed out that this is a living document that can be changed as
needed as sometimes items change in priority.
He presented the EF items and asked if anyone had any questions. He then shared
the town center 5-year plan including items for 2026. He stressed that this plan was
not a financial commitment that the commissioners were making, but rather a guide
based on projected improvement needs.
Chair Moya asked about the FTC elevators on the plan as it listed that elevator
expense would be a city expense. Wilson expressed that he has received a verbal
commitment from city staff that elevator maintenance would be provided by the City
but he has not received written confirmation that elevator repairs would be paid by
the City.
Commissioner Sanderson suggested that when a new dishwasher was needed,
that they consider looking to rent the dishwasher.
Wilson ended with the Walker Stone House plan and stressed that the repair list
was smaller, but the items tended to have a larger ticket price.
Walker interjected that approving this plan is stating “yes, we understand there is a
road map of recommended repairs” and it is not an approval of appropriating
financial resources. Those items would still be brought to the commission for
approval.
Commissioner Martin asked if we were approving the plan today and Chair Moya
said yes. Commissioner Martin said he would like to table the plan until the next
meeting so that the commissioners can digest the information, specifically with the
potential investment to Walker Stone House.
Commissioner Martin moved to table the item until the March meeting and
Commissioner Sanderson seconded the motion. Walker stated that there is not an
urgency to approve this plan with the exception that it was noted during the budget
meeting that we needed a capital improvement plan and that we are about to
present some capital expenses and wanted a plan to accompany that.
The motion to table the Adoption of the 5-year Capital Improvement Plan was
approved unanimously via roll call vote.
G. Vote. Experience Fayetteville CEO Job Description and Salary Range.
Jennifer Walker, Interim CEO and Chair Elvis Moya
Walker presented a CEO job description and salary range. She stated that Winner
Partners presented the initial draft, and it incorporates items they heard during their
discovery sessions. The search committee members reviewed and added items to
the job description.
She presented the various sections of the description. She listed the preferred
qualifications and also the salary range of $165,000-$200,000 which she stated we
would discuss more in depth in a few minutes. With no specific questions about the
job description, a conversation about salary began. Walker shared salary
comparisons including both Arkansas tourism organizations and nationwide tourism
organizations. She pointed out items such as budget size and size of city and staff.
She stated that the initial salary range from Winner Partners was $165-185,000 and
that the search committee requested a higher amount to allow for someone at the
CEO level.
Commissioner Martin stated that he thought the salary range was too high when
compared to the other two large DMOs in Arkansas. He suggested a lower salary
range of $150-180,000 and there was a general consensus that this range was
appropriate.
Walker also shared NWA not for profit CEO salary ranges from 2023 990s which
ranged from $125K to 197,000.
Walker asked if the commission was interested in considering additional bonuses
and or car allowance. Commissioner Sanderson asked for clarification on these
items and Walker stated that there was not bonus and the car allowance was
reduced from $5,000 to $3,500 for 2025. There was not further movement on these
items but there was discussion from Commissioner Martin that any proposed bonus
structure would need to be based on very tangible objectives.
Commissioner Martin asked what level of seasoned professional the commission is
looking for. Commissioners stated they wanted a seasoned professional that can
walk in and doesn’t need a lot of lead time. Walker further clarified that Winner
Partners would help candidates understand where their expertise fell in the salary
range, i.e. if the range topped out at $200,000, they would ensure that it was
reserved for a top candidate.
Commissioner Martin stated that perhaps he was out of touch with salary ranges and
a wider range could be a good idea.
Walker also asked the commission if we would have a residency requirement as
Winner Partners has asked us this question. Discussion ensured with
commissioners stating appropriateness of the CEO living within the city of
Fayetteville.
Commissioner Martin made a motion to approve the job description as provided with
a salary range of $150-195,000 and become a resident of the city of Fayetteville.
There was not a mandatory time period for the residency requirement included but it
was noted that it would be discussed with the candidate. Commissioner Bunch
seconded it.
A roll call vote approved it unanimously with the exception of Commissioner Kinney
who had departed the meeting.
H. Discussion. Scheduling CEO finalist interviews with Commission. Jennifer
Walker, Interim CEO and Chair Elvis Moya.
Walker then presented the potential schedule for interviewing and selecting the
finalist. If we go with the proposed schedule, it includes Sunday, March 30th and a
March 31 interview and selection date. It would need to be completed by the 31st in
order for the current commissioners to be included in the process.
Discussion ensued with commissioners being in favor of doing the interviews in April
to involve the new commissioners and also to ensure there’s enough time.
I. Vote. Commission Seat Recommendations, Commissioner Chrissy Sanderson
Commissioner Sanderson presented the commission selection committee’s
recommendation for both the At Large and Tourism and Hospitality positions.
Sterling Hamilton is being recommended for the At Large position and Chef Elliot
Hunt is being recommended for the Tourism and Hospitality position. Chair Moya
asked for a motion for this which Commissioner Martin gave and Commissioner
Bunch seconded. It passed unanimously with a roll call vote with the exception of
Commissioner Kinney who had departed the meeting.
J. Additions to the agenda may be added upon request from a majority of the
commissioners. Chair Moya He wanted to add a motion to add the
Destination Master Plan follow up to the agenda to capture any discussion
or concerns. This motion was made by Commissioner Sanderson and
seconded by Commissioner Martin and it was approved to add the
agenda item.
Chair Moya stated that he knew the commission had been sent the
situational assessment and also a copy of the Destination Master Plan.
He wanted to know if there were any discussion needed, questions or
concerns about the plan.
Walker stated the team is available for any questions that may come up
and that it is a living document, and she is hoping it is plan that the new
CEO can take it and move forward with.
IV. Adjourn
There was a motion to adjourn at 4:31pm by Commissioner Sanderson
with a second by Commissioner Wiederkehr.
Minutes submitted by Amy Stockton, Director of Operations