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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM060915 Tourism Coordinating Council – Jefferson County Minutes of the Monthly Meeting of the Board of Directors June 9, 2015 (DRAFT) The June 9, 2015 meeting of the Tourism Coordinating Council (TCC) for Jefferson CALL TO ORDER County, was called to order at 10:00am by Chair Bill Roney, noting a quorum present. Voting Members present were: Bill Roney, Bonnie Story Allison Willing, Debbie Wardrop, Kyle Forgey, Joy Baisch, Marsha Massey, Bud Schindler Friends present were: County Commissioner Kathleen Kler, Christina Pivarnik, Teresa Verraes TCC Marketing Coordinator present: Steve Shively Minutes from previous meeting were reviewed. Clarification noted that Chris Smith APPROVAL OF is a tour operator, not travel writer. On motion by Joy Baisch, and seconded by, MINUTES Bonnie Story, TCC unanimously approved corrected minutes from the meeting conducted on May 12, 2015. Steve reviewed the year-to-date June 2015 financials with TCC. Noting the on-APPROVAL OF going, positive, trend in lodging revenue. TCC FINANCIALS On motion by Allison Willing, seconded by Debbie Wardrop, the TCC financials YTD June, 2015 were accepted as received. Motion carried. Much discussion over the poor lodging representation of the lodging matrix in the new issue of PT Leader’s “Getaway Guide”. In the past, TCC and the City of PT have paid to place the full matrix in the Guide. This year the Leader tripled the ad cost and the two organizations decided it was out of our price range. Debbie recommended the two entities work with the Leader on, the editorial content and matrix pricing with an eye to better meet the needs of our visitors. Teresa noted that a complete lodging matrix is in the OPTC produced Travel Planner. Steve walked TCC through the three draft supplemental budget request worksheet TCC scenarios under consideration. Emphasis on one of these three programs: SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET a)Digital Lodging promotion leveraging ExperienceWA leads DISCUSSIONS b)Upgrading EnjoyOlympicPeninsula website for hosting real-time lodging availability from any of a number of solution providers (requires lodging program participation and on-going investment in shared solution subscription) c)I-5 southern corridor “Endless Summer” (August & September) campaign with SAGA City Media’s Portland Monthly and Seattle Met digital platforms. After discussion TCC agreement was to omit program emphasis scenario B, and to remove proposed meeting equipment costs. Thereby submittinga supplement budget “D” which is a hybrid of options A& C. (See final supplemental budget request – Attached). TCC discussed and recommended that LTAC consider investing banked lodging revenues to explore vault toilets as alternative visitor rest stop solution to the current Porta Potties at Gateway Visitors Center. Bill acknowledged that high season volumes arrived with Sequim Irrigation Fest this season. He’ll talk with Goodman Sanitation regarding customer satisfaction reports. Sustainable parking lot maintenance, comfort station and security impacts are all on-going operations costs faced by Gateway VIC. TCC COORSPONDENSE Bill reported that Jefferson Co. BOCC appointed Kyle Forgey to replace Walter Kochansky as TCC West end rep. Kyle has recently taken over the Kalaloch Lodge GM position as Walt transferred to another Delaware North property in Shenandoah National Park. TCC welcomes Kyle. Bill also contacted Bryan Hagerman, WA State Parks, manager Fort Worden and now Fort Flagler, about a replacement for past manager Mike Zimmerman; no action can be taken until Bryan finds out if he will get an assistant, this TCC seat is on hold. Bill also reported that he and Steve served up a welcome and a brief briefing during a meeting with Kyle. They covered a full spectrum of tourism partners and projects Kalaloch intersects with. Kathleen noted that the LTAC meeting to review supplemental budget requests will COMMISSIONER’S th be held on June 30. UPDATE June 20 will be a dedication of a monument on the Upper Hoh to the first recorded shipwreck along the Washington coast, the Russian brig St. Nicholas. County Parks & Rec already has 100 pre-registrations for August 22 nd half-marathon in Gardiner Dry weather fire concerns have fire district officials contemplating complete fireworks ban. Debbie recommended including ban on Japanese floating lanterns. Port Ludlow timber harvests and the end of moratorium on recreational marijuana are current topics keeping Jefferson BOCC busy. Marsha updated TCC on a number of on-going activities of interest to Jefferson County tourism, including: OPVB / OPTC Preliminary Dean Runyun 2014 travel report is out. Marsha will be REPORT disseminating reports through OPTC as new methodologies get refined. Just returned from IPW (Formally International PowWow). 6,500 attendees representing 70+ countries. Great PacNW collaboration within trade show booth and facilitating the 50+ scheduled appointments. Steve reviewed the supplied Marketing Coordinators report, highlighting results from our joint OPTC participation in recent UK Sales Mission. Resurrection of National Parks Trip Media’s MyOlympic Park site. And the overall “win” we have all experienced thanks to Outside Magazine’s “Best Towns” 2015 Port Angeles vote. TCC MARKETING COORDINATORS Area Updates: REPORTS a)Port Ludlow –Debbie–Touring & TastingMagazine has a great Port Ludlow story. Popular GolfSchool packages being launched. Totem pole renovation will th have July 4AM tribal potlatch dedication ceremony at 10AM. Newly acquired Nautilusenables offering of sailing charters three-times each week throughout AREA UPDATES summer season. “Ready” lodging package is new. Chef Dan’s farm dinners are so popular, and their special events calendar is so full,that only oneFarm dinner on Sept. 4will be scheduled this season. “Cider & Sliders” every Wednesday! b)Quilcene Museum –Bonnie –Shared the seasonal poster that’s now out. Looking ahead to Oyster Run. Exploring runner “passport” to link all area runs. Over $7K raised from community plant sale. Worthington House is working on matching grant funding application. c)North Hood Canal Chamber–SuccessfulShrimpfest with 1,200 pounds of Hood Canal Spotted Shrimp sold. Approximately 4K attendees. Busyneighboring WA State Parks.Area lodging and vacation rentals are all up. d)Marrowstone –Allison –Tractor Dayssuccessin Norland. Friends of Fort Flagler contact made, still looking for more information from new area management coverage over Flagler. e)Port Townsend –Christina –Race to Alaska is underway! Great social media reach of 28.5K thanks to Smithsonian Magazineaward. Successful consolidation of various Fort Worden Facebook pages into one, averaging 70-80 nd year Fort Worden PDA open house celebration June 13. new Likes / week. 2 Good Artisan Foodfestevent. f)WTA –Christina –WTA seeking $1M bridge funding. Amount is in the Senate budget but no WTA bridge funding is in current House budget. g)Jefferson County Chamber –Teresa –VIC open house this Thursday. The VIC “Center” is an exciting hub of activity. Traditional Fourth of July at Fort Worden will be grand! Still shy of sponsorship funding goal.Champion Tug-O-War! H) West End –Kyle –Kalaloch will be center for June 27-28 Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary “Get Into Your Sanctuary” celebration. No meeting of TCC scheduled for July, Next TCC meeting August 11,10AMat Port Ludlow Inn. There being no further business, the TCC meeting was adjourned at 12:10 pm. Adjourn