Okaloosa County BOCC — February 18, 2014 — 2014 Burning Up the Beaches signed application — reading text

NORTHWEST FLORIDA’S EMERALD COAST DESTIN | FT. WALTON BEACH | OKALOOSA ISLAND Special Event and Sponsorship Funding Application BUSINESS/ORGANIZATION SUBMITTING APPLICATION: Business/Organization Name: _ Horizons of Okaloosa County Contact Person: LA Woodall Title: Director of Community Development Phone: 850-259-4142 Alt Phone: 850-863-1530 Contact Email: _lawoodallhorizons@gmail.com Fax: 850-862-4589 Web Address: _www.burningupthebeaches.com Street Address: 123 Truxton Avenue City/ST/Zip: Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32547 FESTIVAL, EVENT, MEETING OR CONVENTION (“EVENT”) INFORMATION: Event Name: __ Burning Up the Beaches Event Description: Burning Up the Beaches is a car show and cruising event. Car collectors from our drive in markets are solicited to travel with their cars and families to spend three days going to pre-determined, sponsored locations throughout the Emerald Coast. Free time is also factored into the schedule of events, where participants are encouraged to “explore the emerald coast” and given local maps, info, and coupons to do so. At each sponsored stop they are entertained and have the chance to win prizes. As an added incentive, registrants who participate at every stop are entered into a special drawing for cash or a future weekend stay to bring them back to our area. The weekend event is anchored by a car show with judging, awards, live music, a BMX stunt demonstration, food, vendors, and other free family activities. The car show is staged at the Boardwalk on Okaloosa Island, where parties are held all three nights to add to their fun. In 2013 we had over 900 locals attend and interact at the car show which is another reason our participants like to return here each year. Our participants eat, play, stay, and drive all over our county for three days, and ultimately become return visitors by way of the annual car show and other family vacations. Event Dates — From: May 1, 2014 To: May 4, 2014 Event Location (include all locations in Okaloosa County where events will occur): Staging Area: The Boardwalk/Okaloosa Island, Stops: Emerald Grande, Helenback FWB, Helenback Niceville, North Light Yacht Club, Mango’s, Destin Commons, Armament Museum, CCCB Bank, Gary Smith Ford, S&S Automotive, Hooters Parties are: Fudpuckers, Howl At The Moon, and the Swamp. 1 Have locations been secured? YES X NO If not, when will location be confirmed? Amount of Funding Requested: $ 20,000 Has your business/organization received Special Event or Sponsorship Funding from Okaloosa County in the past? Yes If YES, what was the amount and when was it received?_2011 $24,000, 2012 $24,000, 2013 $0 (Did not apply-- used a one-time BP award in lieu of TDC $). How many times have you received funding from Okaloosa County? We have received funding on two occasions Explain the resources/supporthistory you have in place to ensure that this event will successfully attract visitors to the Emerald Coast. Horizons Foundation has invested three years of funding and personnel (both employees and volunteer recruitment) into the success of this event. We have secured an event domain name (www.burningupthebeaches.com), complete with online registration forms, links to local hotels, attractions, etc., and have embedded video and photo galleries to increase our success rate on Google search engines. We also have set up separate social media pages in order to interact with and promote among car enthusiasts and clubs from all over the world. Last year, we invested $90,000 in long term marketing tools (event flags, banners, etc.), travel, branding efforts, and extensive advertising throughout every media spectrum—radio, TV, e-mail, news and magazine print, electronic impressions, etc. Along with that advertising investment, Petermann Advertising provided detailed reports on the best use of advertising funds for use in 2014. In order to better compete with other car show events, local vendor S&S Custom has committed to a $5000 sponsorship to be used as prize money incentives, and will use their extensive client base to help solicit participation. We have also added Gary Smith FORD as our Title Sponsor. The Boardwalk and The Swamp facilities (Saturday night party location) are sponsored in kind by George Golematis (Bonezzi Enterprises). All 2013 stops and sponsors have recommitted for 2014, which results in $10,000 in sponsorships. We also now have four local car clubs that are in support of the event (to help host, plan, and engage in the show) for 2014. Our partnerships with local accommodations have also grown, picking up new partners every year, and these hotels and condos are designated with event flags throughout the weekend for added exposure to our bed tax collectors. After three years of continued growth, we are counting on this year’s event to secure our positioning on the annual car show circuit, while also pursuing hundreds of new car enthusiasts entering the circuit each year. * If additional space is required, attach separate sheets as needed. EVENT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE: If applicant has no prior event management experience, please complete the information about this event in the first row and proceed to the next section. Limited or lack of prior event management experience will NOT disqualify the applicant for funding consideration. However, extensive event management experience may weigh in the applicant's favor. Events created/managed Size of Event by applicant Location: Year Most Recent (i.e. number of City/State Created Year Held participants) Burning Up the Beaches Emerald Coast 2010 2013 226 registered cars Area: Host from with over 1000 people Fort Walton attending our events Beach, FL Casino Lights Fort Walton Beach | 2009 2013 128 and Destin, FL Big One Poker Run Emerald Coast: 1993 2013 800 people and 135 Host area Fort boats Walton Beach and Destin FL PRE-EVENT ADVERTISING/MARKETING EXPENSES REQUESTED FOR FUNDING: Any of the following items may be disqualified individually without impacting other items listed below in the event that the Director does not feel that the related expense is being spent for the purposes intended for this funding program. Brief Description of pre-event marketing/advertising expenses Quantities @Unit Costs | =Total or This is a direct sales call on car shows throughout our drive-in market-reach. Fliers are hand distributed at other car show events and club gatherings with car club officers and planning leaders. In 2013 $90,000 (BP Award) was invested in tools for advertising in all formats. The Petermann Agency reported the highest return on registrations was from this direct marketing effort. 5000 fliers (paid for) have already been printed and are currently being distributed with the TDC logo. Additionally Tashik provides our digital media effort such as our web page, Facebook, and constant contact e-mail marketing. @ 4% |0. mi ce el et cae Describe how the proposed pre-event advertising and marketing investments will increase awareness of the Emerald Coast as a tourist destination and generate increased occupancy for Okaloosa County lodging facilities during the event. Provide at least one example. This marketing plan is specific to the car show participants who do not know our area. It directly markets that target demographic. This group has only been scratched in terms of announcing the Emerald Coast and its attributes. This market, which travels 8-10 times per year for shows, has not been coming here because we did not offer their primary interest. Now we do! Mothers Car Show which airs on FOX Sports featured us during our 2011 show and it provided a great view of what our area is and offers. Lisa Jo Spencer, Chairperson of the FWB Chamber was interviewed behind the Boardwalk on our sugar white beaches sharing what we offer. This show has a viewership of 795K and aired four times that year. In 2013 the Lokar series featured us in their weekly show airing October 2 at 1:00pm on the Velocity/Discovery network. This has a viewership of over 500k and will run four times. This is a destination event. The only reason a car show enthusiast goes anywhere is to show and drive their car. By providing that venue to them with our rich amenities the draw is inevitable. They are almost exclusively out of area and require housing, food, and fuel. Lodging info was polled at registration last year. This showed 201 were from out of area. This runs conclusive with car show experts that 85-90% of your cars will be out of area attendees using the cruisin format. This year we intend to include an exit survey to determine best practices for 2014, how far they came, will they return, and find out where they stayed. A completed exit survey will provide a discount for their 2014 entry. Describe the audience that this event will attract — i.e. families, professionals, youth plus other demographic information as available. Media research by Classic Car Trader shows this demographic: Male, Average Age 52, Range 34-64, Median HSHLD Income $75,000, 1/2 are retired or semi-retired, 70% are married, 81% have some level of higher education. More than 70% spend time on their cars weekly. Many bring friends or additional family to enjoy the weekend. The Car collector is a drive to destination group. They travel 8-10 times per year to car shows. Our show which is in its fourth year will continue to grow through their word of mouth advertising. The more we show the more we grow. They respond to someone looking them in the eye and INVITING them to the Emerald Coast while handing them the flier. Last year we met a gentleman from Ocala FL during our visit to a show in Orlando. After convincing him to attend 2012 he went home and organized one of two cruisin in groups to attend 2013. He brought 18 cars with him from Central Florida. This year he expects double that number from his groups * If additional space is required, attach separate sheets as needed. Describe the distribution plan for pre-event promotional items and collateral. Please outline media plans, including social media, for out of market advertising and communications. ur goal is to attend 60 plus car shows within our market reach handing out fliers and incentives to attend our event. Early registration discounts, T-Shirts, etc. This face to face invitation is without question the best way to gain additional attendance. Last year our hand-outs included fliers and brochures for many attractions on the Emerald Coast. PROJECTED ECONOMIC IMPACTS TO THE EMERALD COAST AREA: Please list the event’s lodging and non-lodging partners: Lodging Partners Non-Lodging Partners Ramada TDC Southern Resorts The Boardwalk Breakers Helenback Emerald Grande Gary Smith Ford Resort Quest Hooters Destin Commons Smith Ford How do event participants make reservations at Okaloosa County lodging facilities? _ Participants may register though our web site with ou lodging partners, T his year we will also offer package purchasing whereby the participant may get room, registration, parking, and area discounts for one price. How do you obtain follow-up information about room nights actually booked for your event from lodging partners? We are now using both a registration survéy and an exit survey to determine our guests usage... Approximately, how many out-of-town visitors will come to this event? 750 Out-of-town Visitors Approximately, how many lodging rooms will be booked for this event on peak night? 330 Lodging Rooms On average, how many nights do you project these visitors to remain in town? 3.5 Nights per visitor How many total room nights do you estimate this event will generate for Okaloosa County? (Number of rooms anticipated per night x number of event nights): 900 Upon completing this application in its entirety, please read the following statement and affix your signature accordingly. | have read, fully understand and agree to be bound by Okaloosa