Okaloosa County BOCC — March 26, 2015 — Minutes — reading text

Tourist Development Council 1540 Miracle Strip Parkway Fort Walton Beach, FL 32548 Regular Meeting www.EmeraldCoastFL.com ~ Minutes Amended ~ Thursday, March 26, 2015 2:00 PM Emerald Coast Convention Center Council Members & Staff Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Departed Dale E. Peterson Chairman, Dale E. Peterson Vacations Present - - Thomas Rice Vice-Chairman, Magnolia Grill Present - - Rachel Joyce Hampton Inn FWB Absent - - Martin Owen ResortQuest by Wyndham Present - - Thom Gossom Best Gurl, Inc. Present - - Joe Guidry Ramada Plaza Resort Present - - Honorable Tuffy Dixon City of Destin Councilman Present - - Honorable Mike Anderson City of Fort Walton Beach Mayor Present - - Honorable Carolyn Ketchel Commissioner, District 2 Absent - - Ed Schroeder Director, Tourist Development Department Present - - Lynn Hoshihara TDD Attorney Present - - Pledge of Allegiance and Welcome (Dale Peterson - Chairman) Chairman Peterson called the meeting to order at 2:00pm with the Pledge of Allegiance. Public Comments Related to Current Agenda (3 minutes each) No public comments. Councilmember’s Minute Mr. Guidry thanked Charlotte Dunworth for her great job, as the Events Application Training meeting was a success. Mayor Anderson stated his office is planning for the Billy Bowlegs Festival in June. The Festival organizers may apply for event funding next year, as many attendees are also out-of-town visitors. Mr. Owen spoke with Ted Corcoran at the FWB Chamber about the Bowlegs Festival and its need to tracking lodging nights, adding that Bowlegs has the potential to be a huge tourism event. Mr. Peterson commented the event was designed to attract tourists. Mr. Guidry asked Mayor Anderson if the military could be recognized on the Bowlegs coin. Mr. Rice thanked Sherry Rushing for bringing the WWII Rangers to the Emerald Coast. Mr. Dixon said the Bowlegs Festival and Seafood Festival are both important events. He added the Sheriff’s Department is doing a great job, but said he would like Marketing to look at the recent issues in Bay County. Mr. Peterson commented that professional management companies for the area hotels are doing a great job of policing themselves. I. Items for TDC Approval/Recommendation a. February 26, 2015 TDC Meeting Minutes (Dale Peterson) Motion: To Approve February 26, 2015 TDC Meeting Minutes RESULT: MOTION APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Dixon SECONDER: Rice AYES: Peterson, Owen, Gossom, Guidry, Anderson Tourist Development Council Page 1  b. Financial Update (Charlotte Dunworth) Ms. Dunworth reported the cash balances have been entered into the system, with total revenues increasing by $6M to $41.4M and beach restoration reserves now totaling $8.6M. Motion: To Approve Financial Update RESULT: MOTION APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Dixon SECONDER: Rice AYES: Peterson, Owen, Gossom, Guidry, Anderson c. FY 2015-16 Proposed Media Plan Allocation (Shantelle Dedicke) Ms. Dedicke requested the Council’s guidance in directing the ad agency for the next fiscal year’s media allocations. Mr. Owen asked what the “Other” component is in the pie chart on page 19. Ms. Dedicke replied “other” is billboards, etc. without a definitive definition since this is the first time the TDD consulted with DMAI for their trends. Mr. Guidry asked if this is rubber stamping the ad agency’s target audience market. Mr. Gossom responded this direction would close the gap between the 6% Print U.S. Adult Weekly Media Consumption, and the 25% Print Emerald Coast Leisure Marketing Allocation. Mr. Anderson inquired about the cost impact of shifting the allocation. Mr. Schroeder clarified the question is whether the TDC wants to move to how the U.S. is doing media. Motion: To Recommend Moving More Toward the Way America Consumes Media. RESULT: MOTION APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Dixon SECONDER: Guidry AYES: Peterson, Owen, Rice, Gossom, Anderson d. Aramark Contract Extension (Ed Schroeder) Mr. Schroeder stated the current contracts ends June 2015, with 3 one-year extensions. He asked the TDC to allow extending the contract by 7 months to January 2016. Mr. Guidry said he is receiving good feedback about Aramark following an event, but the contract should go out for bid as they are not working with the customer prior to an event. Motion: To Approve the Aramark Contract Extension to January 2016 RESULT: MOTION APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Rice SECONDER: Guidry AYES: Peterson, Owen, Gossom, Dixon, Anderson II. Items for Information Purposes Only – (Speaker) e. Reconciliation of Promotional Reserves Funds (Charlotte Dunworth) Ms. Dunworth noted Promotional Reserves in the amount of $19,530 remain available for appropriation. f. Marketing Update (Shantelle Dedicke) Ms. Dedicke provided an update on the Mommy Blogger and Meeting Planner FAM Tours. Michelle Clarke from Peter Mayer provided a marketing update. Mr. Owen suggested using PLANYOURESCAPE.COM on the billboards, as the EMERALDCOASTING.COM/SPRING address is not memorable. Ms. Clarke responded our consumers already have an affinity for the emeraldcoasting.com URL, so its use represents the best value this time. Mr. Guidry asked why the partner event is scheduled for April 23, the same day as the TDC Council meeting. Ms. Dedicke said a breakfast event is planned for the morning, followed by the afternoon TDC meeting and guest bloggers will be writing about local events. Mayor Anderson asked what “eat like a local” means in the July press release topics list. Ms. Dedicke answered that millennials want to know how locals experience the area. Tourist Development Council Page 2 March 26, 2015  g. FWC FY15-16 Artificial Reef Construction Grant Application (Jim Trifilio) Mayor Anderson asked if there is a long range artificial reef plan. Mr. Trifilio responded the TDD took over the reef program 18 months ago and he is talking to a coastal engineer about updating the plan from a few years ago. The TDD is planning to construct snorkel reefs, and is looking for a large boat to sink. He would like to have the largest collection of near shore snorkel reefs to market. III. Items for Information Purposes Only – (No Speaker) h. Forbes Article – Tourism Impact Mr. Schroeder said the Forbes article, page 47, gives new light to tourism advertising. A North Dakota study found destination marketing changes the perception of your destination, adding we now have a new set of metrics to follow. Mr. Gossom said if it influences perception, we should make sure our messages reflect that and need to look at the economic aspects. Mr. Owen added at one time the EDC said they didn’t do tourism, but now they do. Ed added the TDD and EDC collaborate now. i. Okaloosa Tax Collector Report Mr. Schroeder noted the TDT report, page 52, shows tax collection percentages increasing this year. February is going to be up 15% according to the Tax Collector. j. Expenditure Transaction Report Chairman Peterson asked if TDC Council members had any questions about the remaining topics listed in Item III of the agenda. k. Group Sales Marketing Update l. ECCC Sales Marketing Update Mayor Anderson said military functions are saying it is too costly to come to the Convention Center, stating he is curious about the Center’s policies. Mr. Schroeder responded Convention Center rates have not increased since its opening. Mayor Anderson asked where events are going instead of the Convention Center. Mr. Guidry gave an example of a $12K event at the Convention Center where Aramark charged $16/gallon for water. He added Aramark has to be able to negotiate from a sales standpoint, and has a failure to negotiate. Mr. Guidry said the Sandestin Resort and Sandestin Hilton are the Convention Center’s only competition based upon size, adding the Hilton will negotiate. m. Film Commission Update Mayor Anderson reported he had an opportunity to help the Film Commission, and submitted a Resolution to the Chairman the City had passed. n. Visitor Center Top 10 States o. Airport Enplanements & Deplanements (VPS by carrier) Chairman Peterson said he would like to see which air carriers the Pensacola and Panama City Airports are using in next month’s report. p. Airport Enplanements & Deplanements (Airports Comparison) Public Comment (3 minutes each) Mr. Guidry commended Sherry Rushing, CVB Group Sales Manager, who just got back from the Southern Women’s Show in Memphis with 20,000 attendees, working from 8am-10pm at night, and blessed her for doing so. Mr. Peterson asked TDC Council members to think about what the TDC Mission Statement is, adding its review will be on the April TDC meeting agenda. Tourist Development Council Page 3 March 26, 2015  IV. Next TDC Meeting: April 23, 2015 2:00 p.m. Emerald