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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-11 - Minutes• ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING July. 11, 2011 Commissioners Present: Bill Lyle, Bob Davis, Lioneld Jordan, Hannah Mills, Maudie Schmitt and Justin Tennant. Commissioners Absent: Brandon Karn Staff Present: Marilyn Heifner, Sandra Bennett, Shelly Walters CALL TO.ORDER Maudie Schmitt called the regular monthly meeting of the Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission to order on July 11, 2011, at the Fayetteville Town Center at 2:00 p.m. MINUTES Minutes of the June 13 meeting should read "Update from the City Attorney - Collections from the City Prosecutors office of $310 for the month (not year)." Moved by Davis, second by Tennant to approve the minutes of the June meeting as corrected. Motion carried. FINANCIAL REPORT • HMR Revenue - Collections for the month of June were $205,700, an 11.57% increase. Year to date increase is 4.61%, with a total of $1,088,501. Financials- Keith Glass reviewed May financials. All expenses are in line with budgets. Davis moved to accept financials, second by Tennant. Motion carried. Update from the City Attorney - Kit Williams reported that City Prosecutor collected $7,725.13 in overdue HMR taxes in June. He pointed out that cases on the list which had no delinquent balance were those the Prosecutor was seeking fines owed for delinquent taxes. CLINTON HOUSE MUSEUM Activities of the Clinton House Museum were varied and brought an increase in the number of visitors seeing the house. The house was used as a pre -event party site for Wal-Mart Shareholders meeting. America in Bloom judges had breakfast and toured the house. Central's Center for Children brought a large group of elementary aged children for a scavenger hunt. CONVENTION VISITORS BUREAU We mailed out 399 visitors guides -in response to inquiries for June. This number is down but May was more than double previous months due to a large batch on May 27. The Visitors Center had over $6300 in sales and 1463 visitors. The spending per visitor is • up to $4.32 year to date from $2.25 last year. • The Hawg Showcase produced 1,251 room nights for Fayetteville the week of June 9-12. The week of June 19-25 was very busy for downtown. We had 1500 coaches in town for Coaches Clinic and the All-Star games as well as 300 teachers meeting at the Town Center for the UA Literacy Symposium. Julie helped host a motor coach FAM trip the last week of June with 38 tour operators from Oklahoma. She has booked two tours for 2012 already from the trip. I will be attending the ASAE conference next week in Branson. The CVB has 15,166 Facebook fans and 807 followers on Twitter. TOWN CENTER Sales (returned contracts) were up 108% over last year June. Collections were up 99% ($28,863.76) same month. Average sales per event were up 108% as well. Town Center staff has reached 45% of the yearly goal. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT, Marilyn presented a 6 month status update for commissioners. (See attached) has been working with Griffon, the army publication that goes to all soldiers. Fayetteville will be featured in the July issue. All military read this publication, so we expect to get some soldiers here on leave after their overseas tour. The roof at the CVB was replaced and insurance covered most of the replacement cost.. It was damaged by the hail. Marilyn and the CVB will work with a Video promotions course for short YouTube videos to put on our website. We currently have 4 interns from the • Advertising and P. R. curriculum. Travel writer Suzanne Corbett's article on the Civil War in NWA will appear in Southern Traveler in September. A Veteran's Day parade has been scheduled for Nov. 11 around the Fayetteville square. A car show will be held at the same time. The Fayetteville Farmer's Market has been nominated for one of American's favorite Farmer's Markets. Voting will continue from June 1 until August 31. ADVERTISING AGENCY Mike Sells reported that the Fayetteville Guide would arrive Thursday. He reviewed snapshots of traffic on our websites. June visits on experiencefayetteville.com website were up 54% and year to date visits are up 28%. OLD BUSINESS BONDS FOR WALTON ARTS CENTER PROJECT - Tennant started discussion indicating that it was an important time for the entertainment district and it was advantageous for us a partnership with the University. Fayetteville has a proven commitment to the arts and he felt that it was time to send the bond proposal to • the council for debate. Ultimately, the decision will rest in the hands of the voters. He said he had received enough information to send the proposal to the council. • Davis wanted to wait for the Schuler report (60-90 days away). He said he thought the Schuler report would tell us what WAC wants and needs. He wanted to be up front with everything we have. When the original proposal was given to the WAC, the A &.P Commission had never seen it. • The Mayor said he thought it was okay to wait for the Schuler report and reconsider this at the September meeting. Schmitt said if we are going to give it our stamp of approval, we need all the information then we stand a better chance of sending it to the public. Lyle said he supports WAC but wants it to be successful and needs more information. Mills said she was personally struggling with the idea, but was okay with it going through for a public vote. The Mayor will place it on the agenda when the Schuler report comes in. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Marilyn Heifner Executive Director CLINTON HOUSE MUSEUM Attendance -148% increase over 2010 Increased inventory and revenue in gift shop Exclusive dealer of law school tee shirts Increased revenue from events and private parties Bus tours - 300% increase Property improvements trim and windows painted installation of gutters and painting of Carriage House Iron handrails installed for ADA Flag pole installed Joined American Museum Association and attended Arkansas Museum Association meeting Redesigned Museum brochure to include President's visit New Historic Register brochure Signage added reflecting street name change • First Ladies Garden - expanded to west side of house, sprinkler system