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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-28 - MinutesFayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission Minutes from March 28, 2022 Meeting Fayetteville City Hall Commissioners Todd Martin, Chair, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Present: Elvis Moya, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Andrew Prysby, Commissioner at -large Sarah Bunch, City Council Representative Mark Kinion, City Council Representative Commissioners Katherine Kinney, Chrissy Sanderson Absent Molly Rawn, CEO; Jennifer Walker, Vice President of Staff: Finance; Hazel Hernandez, Vice President of Marketing and Communications Chair Martin called the meeting to order at 2:00 pm. Old Business A. Commissioner Martin asked if there were any revisions or additions to the February 2022 minutes. Hearing none, he said the minutes were approved. III. New Business A. CEO Report. Rawn began by updating the agenda today by saying that Steve Smith with the Clinton House Museum would not be presenting today but may present another month. She then updated the commissioners on the commission's open seat, currently held by Commissioner Moya. With 4 applications received, we determined that one did not live in city limits, and one did not fit the qualification of being in the Tourism and Hospitality industry. Of the two qualified applicants, Commissioner Moya being one, the commissioners unanimously recommended that we interview Commissioner Moya for the open seat. Rawn thanked the commissioners for participating in the Governor's conference on Tourism and thanked the team for a job well done in hosting the event. It has been more than 14 years since Fayetteville has hosted the event and it provided more than 520 room nights for Fayetteville. She discussed the new Huddle Up tool, the Sports Index Scout, which is software that matches our Sales team with organizers of sporting events and should be able to pay for itself with presenting options that are normally found by traveling to a trade show. The Visitors Center attendance was up in February, compared to January and we saw almost $4,000 in sales of the limited Cyclo-cross poster. In giving an update on Community Engagement, she announced we will have a full slate of First Thursdays this season — the first time since 2019 add and we also want to congratulate Chloe Bell who has been asked to serve on a leadership council for CACHE. In Cycling news, US Pro Cup will be back April 21-24 and Experience Fayetteville serves as a sponsor. The full Cyclo-Cross report will be presented at the April commission meeting. The Fayetteville Town Center updates include a busy schedule of events, ongoing repairs to the plaza and several other capital improvements that were listed in the agenda as requested at the February meeting. Rawn updated the commission on HMR numbers. Our HRM collections were down overall although lodging collections for February 2022, representing January's activities, shows an increase of 124%. It represented the best January in HMR lodging activity that Rawn could identify. Restaurant collections were down for January compared to our budget. Chair Martin offered a side note that the snow event in January closed some restaurants for up to 5 days; additionally January was a month of high numbers of Omicron infections. Rawn gave an update on Walker Stone House which included hosting a meeting on March 81" with Hugh Kincaid, the former owner of the house; Ethel Goodstein, the Associate Dean of the Fay Jones School of Architect; Maylon Rice, representing the Washington County Historical Society; Britain Bostick, Long Range Planner with City of Fayetteville; Vince Chadick, the A&P's legal counsel; Steve Clark, Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Arkansas Archeological Survey. She shared a letter from the Washington County Historical Society that stated they recommend the hiring of a consultant to assist in finding a good purpose for the future of the Walker Stone House. Rawn said she would be, with Britain Bostick's help, crafting an RFP to hire a consultant and would have an update for the April meeting. Rawn also referenced an additional letter in the agenda packet from Bass Trumbo and Hugh Kincaid that recommended we work to preserve the home, referencing the Curran Hall in Little Rock as an example. Rawn believes that the commission is really aligned with both the Historical Society and the former owners of the home and by working with a consultant we can come up with a plan to address many of the factors brought forth. Several commissioners offered support in seeing an RFP at the April meeting and they were in favor of working with a consultant. Chair Martin invited Maylon Rice to speak and Rice reiterated that the number one goal of the Historical Society would be to preserve the building and that they are in favor of A&P hiring a consultant and the society is happy to help however they can. e. Vote. A vote to recommend an eligible applicant to fill the open tourism and hospitality representative commission seat. This recommendation will go to the city council for approval. Chair Martin stated that the commission would like to bring forth Commissioner Moya to fill this position, one he has occupied since being voted to fill a partial term in January 2021 and asked if anyone had any questions for Commissioner Moya. With there being none, Commissioner Kinion made a motion which Commissioner Bunch seconded of Commissioner Moya being appointed to the open position. Chair Martin asked each commissioner with the exception of Commissioner Moya to vote and it was unanimously approved to recommend Commissioner Moya. C. Financial Report. Jennifer Walker, Vice President of Finance Walker stated that the full set of financial statements are in the packet. At the end of February, our typical target for both expenses and revenue is 17% and we are at 13% with revenue and 12% with expenditures. We ended February with a net operating income of approximately $70,000. The balance sheet shows cash and investments at approximately $4.9 million with more than $140,000 in future booking, or unearned revenue, at the Fayetteville Town Center. CEO Rawn asked Walker to confirm where on the balance sheet the money for the improvements for the town center would come from, if approved. Walker directed people to the unreserved fund balance which is at almost $5.3 million and the capital reserve is at $1 million. The additional funds would be appropriated from the unreserved fund balance. Rawn stated that now would be a good time to invest in the Fayetteville Town Center as the facility hasn't seen many capital improvements in its life span. At one time, the Town Center was almost the sole place to have events, that is no longer the case and we want to continue to remain competitive. Rawn said it is her recommendation to move $1 million from the unreserved balance to the capital reserve fund. Projects over $20,000 will still be brought to the commission. Chair Martin asked if there was a motion to move $1 million dollars from the unreserved fund balance to the capital reserve balance. Commissioner Bunch moved to make this motion with Commissioner Moya seconding it. It was unanimously approved by a roll call vote. Commissioner Moya said CEO Rawn referenced that the Town Center used to be the place to hold events and he asked what some of the needs were to making the Town Center "the place" to once again hold events. Rawn mentioned she'd like to confirm with General Manager Tyler Wilson and his team, but some items like a signage package, new chairs and tables would be included. Rawn also mentioned that some of the capital improvements already identified are also going to make this facility an even more appealing facility. Commissioner Prysby asked if we could look at a "have to have" and a "nice to have" list so that we could see if some of the "nice to have" items can be folded into some of the "have to have." Signage for the town center was also considered. Commissioner Moya asked if we could see what items are being offered by our top 3 competitors that we could consider if we need to be offering. D. Vote. Engagement letter for 2021 audit. Staff is recommending signing the engagement letter with BKD for the 2021 audit and filing the Clinton House Museum's 990 for a budgetary impact of $24,850. Memo attached. CEO Rawn stated we have worked with BKD for the last three years and VP of Finance Walker told the group that BKD would be assigning the same staff to our audit as the City of Fayetteville which would be beneficial for reporting. Commissioner Moya asked Walker if she thought the audit schedule was sufficient for this and Walker stated yes, BKD has been a great firm to work with. Commissioner Kinion asked if we could have a schedule of fees and Walker said she could ask for one. Commissioner Moya made a motion which Commissioner Prysby seconded to approve the engagement letter which passed unanimously via a roll call vote. E. Marketing Report. Hazel Hernandez, Vice President of Marketing and Communication Hernandez shared with the group that we had a website refresh last week with some of our permanent attractions becoming static while still including blogs, which helps with our SEO content. The site is more user friendly and includes a calendar which allows for organizations to submit events. Rawn mentioned that we've made our A&P collection data easier to locate on the site. Hernandez talked about Fayettevan, our mobile visitors center van and how we will be introducing it to the community this spring. Hernandez showed some pictures of the van getting wrapped and also Fayettevan merchandise. Chair Martin asked how the van would travel back to Fayetteville and she shared that Ashely Cane, our Marketing Manager, and Hernandez will be driving it back to Fayetteville and be stopping at many visitors center and other destinations, talking about how Fayetteville is a great place to include in a road trip. Commissioner Prysby asked if Fayettevan would have its own social media and Hernandez said it would be on Experience Fayetteville's social media with the hashtag #Fayettevan. Hernandez thanked the Sells Agency for all their help with this process. Rawn stated that with all the Razorback sports doing so well, we cannot underestimate the economic driver Razorback athletics are. Chair Martin once again congratulated Commissioner Moya for being re-elected to another term. With no further items, Chair Martin adjourned the meeting at 2:58 pm. Minutes submitted by Amy Stockton, Director of Operations, Experience Fayetteville.