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Home My WebLink About2022-07-25 - Minutes -Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission Minutes July 25, 2022 Fayetteville Town Center Commissioners Todd Martin, Chair, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Present: Elvis Moya, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Chrissy Sanderson, Tourism & Hospitality Representative Andrew Prysby, Commissioner at -large Sarah Bunch, City Council Representative Mark Kinion, City Council Representative Commissioners Absent: Katherine Kinney Staff: Molly Rawn, CEO; Jennifer Walker, Vice President of Finance; Hazel Hernandez, Vice President of Marketing and Communications Chair Martin called the meeting to order at 2:02 pm. Old Business A. Chair Martin asked commissioners to review the June minutes and asked if there were any additions or revisions. Hearing no additions or revisions, he stated that the minutes stood approved as presented and Commissioner Sanderson moved to approve them with Commissioner Prysby giving a second. III. New Business A. CEO Report. An executive overview of the previous month's activity, issues and opportunities facing the organization. Complete memo attached. In August, we will be issuing a couple of Request for Proposals, one for our IT provider and one for our Advertising Agency of Record. We will also unveil our process for distributing tourism incentives. We will also in this next quarter, be hearing an update from Theatre Squared. Rawn highlighted the motorcycling promotional work EF Sales is doing to promote motorcycling in our area with the numerous trails and gravel road rides. Destinations International conference was in Toronto last week and three team members attended: Molly Rawn, Tina Archer -Cope and Hazel Hernandez. We are doing some finishing work on Vanny such as wrapping tables and games. Marketing is also attending the Hog Walk Symposium this week to learn more about this option to see if there are potential influencer marketing opportunities for EF. We are excited for Fayetteville to host another UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup this October and will be partnering with Arkansas Children's Hospital as the charity to benefit. The June First Thursday was well executed and well received with an attendance of approximately 1,500, even with the high temperatures and the Gulley Park concert. Rawn stated that that we've had a conversation with the city's Parks and Recreation office to discuss future years scheduling to perhaps avoid a Gulley Park concert on the night of a First Thursday event. Also, Chloe Bell is working on Lights of the Ozarks elements; we'll be hearing more about that soon and we will be hosting Dog Daze, our most popular First Thursday theme, next week. The Fayetteville Town Center has hosted 10 events since our last meeting. They continue to work closely with Food Loops on waste diversion goals and will be implementing a new score card for events. By including this practice, it will help highlight the sustainability organizers can achieve when booking their event with the town center. The town center team also reported good results from the Christmas in July promotion of 22% off a holiday party rental. HMR and Lodging. Our occupancy rate in June was 75%, which is 13% higher than June of 2021. Year to date we see an occupancy rate of 63%, which is 15% higher than last year. We are also seeing our ADR, Average Daily Rate, increase. We are seeing a 17% increase in lodging collections from last month and a 67% increase in lodging collections compared to last year. June restaurant collections were down compared to May's, but if you'll recall, May collections are April activities which included the Pro Cup cycling event, Garth Brooks concert and other activities. Year to date, we've had a 19% increase in HMR tax collections over the same period in 2021. Commissioner Martin asked how we marketed First Thursday. Hernandez responded that we created a Facebook event and several other advertising items, including some bilingual advertising. A discussion of advertising options for First Thursday occurred with ideas such as a text reminder system or a partnership with an organization such as TheaterSquared or the Library where we could have a reminder in their communications. B. Financial Report. Jennifer Walker, Vice President of Finance June financial statements are included in the commission packet and they show revenue projections are 50% and we are ahead with 54% in actual revenue and expense projections at 50% and we are currently at 42% actual expenses. These financial statements reflect the revised budget that the commission approved during June's meeting. Our net operating income at the end of June was $545,983. The balance sheet shows cash and investments totals of approximately $4.6 million and the town center's unearned revenue is $147,000, reflecting upcoming events at the town center. C. Marketing Report. Hazel Hernandez, Vice President of Marketing and Communications We've officially rolled out our new branding campaign, "Authentic Fayetteville," showing a very high energy campaign. Hernandez showed two commercials featuring Coach Nolan Richardson as the voice over talent and bilingual media. Our social media continues to grow with our page reach on Facebook up 600%, with First Thursday and Pride being the main drivers of that reach. Hernandez also shared Buxton data on Pride Weekend, showing us peak times for attendance, household characteristics and age demographics. Mike Sells began his presentation by stating that our DMO marketing team was the most outstanding DMO marketing team in the state. He gave a review of our new campaign launch which has been received very well with two weeks of data. He also shared Longwoods travel sentiment survey which shared that rising gas prices is the largest factor impacting travel plans. He also pointed out that other factors related to expenses are beginning to factor into trip planning. Chair Martin asked if we could have the new commercials in a downloadable format so establishments could loop them. Commissioner Prysby also recommended that we include "Voice of Coach Richardson" both as text in the commercial and the YouTube videos. E. Presentation of the 2021 Audit Cynthia Burns with FORVIS, LLP gave an overview of the audit, starting with the management letter which stated that we do our bookkeeping on the regulatory basis of accounting which is allowed by Arkansas state law. The letter has two opinions issued in it. It has an Unmodified Opinion on regulatory basis of accounting which she stated is the best opinion an organization can get and an adverse opinion on GAAP as we do not follow GAAP accounting procedures. In the management letter she pointed out that it is the A&P's management's responsibility to evaluate if there are any conditions or events that would raise any concerns and that it is the auditor's responsibility to also identify if there are any conditions or events that show a concern and she reported that neither party found any issues. In discussing the report on Internal Control, the document included at the end of the audit report, she stated that it was also an Unmodified Opinion and there were no material weaknesses or significant deficiencies to report. The rest of the report is consistent with the prior year's audit report. The only note Burns wanted to point out is Note 7 which is the Paycheck Protection Program, (PPP) Loan which the commission had not had before. On the second page of the management letter, Burns pointed out there were no audit adjustments to be recommended, no disagreements or difficulties encountered with performing the audit and no significant issues discussed with management. With no questions, Jennifer Walker stated that she appreciated working with Forvis this year. It was clarified that the audit did not need a vote to be accepted. F. With no further agenda items, Chair Martin called for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Kinion made the motion with Commissioner Sanderson seconding it and the meeting was adjourned at 3 pm. Minutes submitted by Amy Stockton, Director of Operations, Experience Fayetteville