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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-09-10 - Minutes• ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING September 10, 2007 Commissioners Present: Neal Crawford, Bob Davis, Pat Gazzola, David McGeady, and Maudie Schmitt. Commissioners Absent: Dan Coody and Robert Rhoads Staff Present: Marilyn Heifner, Allyson Twiggs, and Willistine Smith, and Brittany Shell Chairman Pat Gazzola called the regular monthly meeting of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission to order on September 10, 2007 at the Fayetteville Town Center at 2:00 p.m. MINUTES Moved by Davis, second by Crawford to approve the minutes of the August regular meeting. Motion carried. HMR COLLECTIONS Total collections of HMR tax in August (July sales) were $160,560, almost exact collections for last August. Year to date decline in HMR revenues is -2.35% • Hotel revenue collected in August was up 1.49%. Hotel revenue year to date is almost equal with last year .O1 %. Restaurant revenue is down year to date -5.60%. However collections in August were down -10.08% for restaurants. FINANCIAL REPORT John McKinney from William P. Cook and Assoc. presented the July financial statements. Moved by Crawford, second by Davis to approve the financial statements. Motion carried. CITY ATTORNEY Marilyn reported for Kit Williams that the City Prosecutor's office collected $1,960.84 last month in overdue HMR taxes. Many of the delinquent restaurant collectors have paid in full or paid current taxes collected. Year to date the City Prosecutor has collected a total of $403466.15. Commissioners questioned why several of the restaurants on the monthly collections list haven't paid in 2 months. DIRECTOR'S REPORT Marilyn Heifner reported that written inquiries are down 27% year to date, however, almost 1,000 Visitor's Guides are being distributed at the airport. Brian will report on the internet statistics. • • Significant activities include 1) Entertaining a NATO assembly delegation from Liberia 2) Meeting with planners of a Fulbright College UA Ceramics Symposium 3) Meeting with First Night representatives regarding Hog Drop 4) Meeting wit Steve Gray regarding Barbara Fairchild Veteran's Day event 5) RFQ's for Advertising agencies were sent out and received 6) Investigation of medical coverage options 7) Parking lease for spaces at Visitor's Bureau CONVENTION VISITORS BUREAU Allyson Twiggs reported that the CVB was handling BBBQ reservations for the fairgrounds. They have booked 103 rooms this month for BBBQ on Travel Hero, their highest room bookings. The AAO Sports festival had good attendance. Shelly is organizing a meeting planners showcase with the Town Center staff for UA meeting planners on September 26. The wall map at the Visitor Center Store will be unveiled on Tuesday and the Store will be open next week. TOWN CENTER Willistine Smith reported that collections were up 39% in August and sales were up 2%. Year to date sales and collections are down. CLINTON HOUSE MUSEUM • Brittany Starr said the Museum had had a lot of media coverage during the month. The road work on Clifornia Drive is complete. She had hosted several groups. The monthly revenue represents a 190% increase over last year. A lot of visitors came to the Museum before the first Razorback football game. AGENCY REPORT Brian Clark reported that KTHV, the CBS affiliate in Little Rock, had done a live broadcast from Fayetteville prior to the first Fayetteville game. It is part of a series called Amazed by Arkansas. The production featured the Clinton House Museum, the Arkansas Air Museum, Farmer's Market, the Fine Arts Festival and the Sports Festival. Jade Hart presented the print creative from the Agency showing new photography of the entertainment district and the outdoors creative. She said the fall campaign had been launched. Allison Leigh presented the web stats and talked about the e -newsletter and its results. NEW BUSINESS A. Employee Health Insurance Joe Harriman from Walker Brothers discussed the option of choosing a new medical insurance company. After looking at 5 different potential plans, the one that most closely resembles our present plan is the United 4AD with H9. A' 0 • The estimated premium on that plan based solely on number of people covered is $2,324.19 versus $4,572.41 with our present plan. He said that employee information had been sent to the company for rate information based on our employees. The maximum they can go up on the original estimate is 66%. Even with that number our premiums will decrease significantly. The recommendation is that the program begin October 1. Marilyn has asked him to also investigate dental insurance premiums. They have not been received yet. Moved by Crawford, second by Schmitt to give Marilyn Heifner the authority to complete paperwork and make decisions of switching plans if savings can be made. B. DMAI Accreditation DMAI (Destination Marketing Association International) is a national organization which provides accreditation to CVB's or tourism organizations. Marilyn recommended that the Fayetteville A & P Commission start a self-assessment for the accreditation. The self- assessment will be good for the organization and will make the A & P Commission a better working operation. The Commission can then decide if they want to apply for accreditation. C. Commission By -Laws By-laws were presented by Marilyn Heifner. Moved by Bob Davis, second by Crawford to approve the by-laws with the following correction: CHANGES TO THE BY-LAWS, Section 2. "With ten (10) days notice, a special meeting can be called if the written amendment has been given to all Commissioners." Motion carried. • D. Emnlovee Handbook Marilyn presented the employee handbook and asked for Commissioners to look over the handbook and give her any corrections that they felt should be made to it. She has asked the City Human Resources office to review it as well. David McGeady will send his from the hotel. OLD BUSINESS A. Advertising Agency RFO's RFQ's were received from Butterfield Ad Group, The C3Group, Sells Clark and Taylor Mack Advertising. After discussion, it was moved by David McGeady and second by Neal Crawford to bring in all four groups at the next meeting for a 10 minute presentation with 5 minutes held for discussion. Motion carried. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Heifner • Executive Director