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VLMDAC May MinutesPublic Notice Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Thursday, May 17, 2018 Grand View Room 8:30 – 11:00 AM Packet: https://bit.ly/2jIlmCl VLMDAC Members Present: Phil Metz (Vail Resorts) Laurie Mullen (West Vail Liquor) Jessie Klehfoth (VRD) John Dawsey (CME) - Phone Cindy Krieg (Doubletree) Skip Thurnauer Jenn Bruno (Town of Vail) Dave Chapin (Town of Vail) Also Present: Mia Vlaar (Town of Vail) Laura Waniuk (Town of Vail) Carlie Smith (Town of Vail) Jessica Sweetin (Vail Resorts) Hannah Eflin (Vail Resorts) Yann Benjamin (Vail Resorts) Kristin Yantis (MYPR) Sandra Perrig-Holst (VVP) Anna Robinson (VVP) Meggen Kirkham (SITE) Hannah Green (Cactus) Ainslee Fortune (Cactus) Sarah Berkheimer (Phone - Cactus) Mike Lee (Phone - Cactus) Jack Affleck (Affleck Photo) Paul Abling (Walking Mountains Science Center) Sarah Franke (Vail Valley Foundation) Mac Garnsey (Vail Valley Foundation) Chris Cremer (Alterra Mountain Group) Erica Cannava (Manor Vail) Matt Walsh (Vail Resorts Central Reservations) AGENDA • April 2018 Monthly Financial Report (5 minutes), Carlie Smith Lodging Tax $1.5M – tracking down $94K YOY. Expenses are at $748K (21% of total budget). July 3rd budget meeting will include some discussion of reallocation. • Approval of April 19, 2018 Minutes (5 minutes), Board Motion/Second/Pass (Skip Thurnauer/Cindy Krieg/Unanimous) • Colorado Classic Update (15 minutes), Sarah Franke & Mac Garnsey, Vail Valley Foundation Review of CO Classic video. RPM will run the race events and VVF will tie in village activation with Whistle Pig. This is a circuit race, as opposed to a separate start/finish. Estimate about 20K visitors for this event. It falls during an identified need period – on a Thursday/Friday during the 3rd week in August. Over 420 room nights booked and that is just for the teams. Estimate 500 additional rooms. Review of 2017 highlights – see slides for details. There are women’s teams competing, racing the same course as the men. Review of new media strategy – dropped NBC sports, picked up EuroSport and Tour Tracker. Review of routes/course – see slides for details. Closure footprint will be quite large from 9am-3pm on Thursday – there will need to be a lot of coordination and messaging surrounding closures. Please contact Sarah with concerns or questions. Friday course is standard time trial route. Discussion RE: entertainment lineup – hoping to announce in the next week. Discussion RE: national sponsorships through RPM, more details to come. Discussion RE: coverage/footage/etc. Discussion RE: how are the rooms booked? Teams, media & support staff rooms and meals are booked by VVF directly. Spectator will book through “plan your stay” page. Vail Resorts will mention at the upcoming lodging meeting to encourage partners to offer competitive rates. Discussion RE: additional opportunities for Town of Vail ROI? Discussion RE: any crossover between Denver presence in Vail and vice versa? • Creative Review (15 minutes), Cactus Reminder of strategy shift – families with older kids/teens. Media began running on 4/16, so they have results through end of April. Review of video stats – see slides for details. Discussion RE: review of the mobile AI & how it works. Mobile AI is producing great results. Review of social video stats – 87% video completion rate. Discussion RE: YOY reporting once we get further into summer. May will be a big month for digital media data gathering. Introduced the 2018 influencers – active professionals and families. See slides for details. Chose these influencers based more on the demographics, rather than geography. Target markets were still a factor, but not the only one. Vail will own the assets and can use them as needed. Review of new Canvas Ad microsite with video and 4 day itinerary that directs guests to Vail.com. There is a second version with 4 features of Vail, rather than itinerary. Running 5/10 – 7/16. Review of Instagram Stories: Targeted at destination teen with 8 second social content. Running 5/10 – 7/1. Introduction of 2019 Summer Script Options – looking for board approval today so they can start on asset capture this summer. See packet for scripts – “Over-Civilized” & “Rites of Passage”. Feedback: Phil redirect to Cactus – what would you choose as our consultant? Discussion RE: key differences. Over-Civilized focuses on the smaller moments, Rites of Passage is more bold, adventurous. Important to embrace the spirit of whichever strategy is chosen. Discussion RE: asset collection. Discussion RE: preferences of the advisory council. The Rites of Passage script seems like a bit of a reach based on what Vail actually offers. Activities are interchangeable, but the theme is challenge/achievement. Discussion RE: results of decision maker motivators – exploration is a big motivator. Comparison to other “worldly” destinations may help break through the “sameness”. Discussion RE: alternative options for Rites of Passage. Some familiar destinations, some unfamiliar. Discussion RE: Rites of Passage may be too overboard. Discussion RE: Over Civilized lends itself to more recognizably Vail assets. Discussion RE: which one complements “Watch Them Soar” spot for 2018? Over Civilized is too safe – might lend itself to fall messaging. Tighten up copy for Rites of Passage, but we need to get outside the box. Group is generally in favor of Rites of Passage, but needs to be aspirational, tighten up copy, big focus on Vail imagery. • Retail Plan Strategy (10 minutes) Cactus, Site July still lagging in 2nd & 4th weeks, but up to -4% from -6%. Other resorts seeing the same lag, due to how July 4th falls this year. Recommendation is to implement July lodging retail promotion. No reallocation, just a shift in messaging. Suggested offer: buy 3 nights, get 1 free. Valid July 1 – 31, but specific properties can narrow dates as needed. Gabe Shalley is meeting with American Airlines to see if there is opportunity for air specials. Six lodging partners have signed on for the discount, VR will remove Wed – Sun restriction. Overall, Central Reservations bookings are flat, but revenue is up about $20k. Discussion RE: could the requirement just be Wednesday night? Discussion RE: why July? We may be down YOY but will still be at 70% occupancy. Will discuss further at Lodging Meeting. Discussion RE: What is a “good” rate of participation from lodging properties? • Photo/Video Asset Plan Recommendation (10 minutes), Site 2019 Asset Acquisition – focused solely on families with teens. Will work within current production budget ($91K). Will work with local talent rather than Denver – helps with costs, scheduling, weather delays, etc. No vote needed since it’s within current budget. Next steps: finalize script in order to narrow down assets. Formal plan will be presented at June meeting. Discussion RE: motivators for switching to local talent? Denver talent seemed like it had worked very well. Primarily budget driven. Scheduling is also a factor with kids out of school. • Group Sales Update (5 minutes), Mia Vlaar & VVP Discussion RE: more transparency on how Group Sales is going. New dashboard, with YOY stats. See slides for details. Review of upcoming updates – see slides for details. Discussion RE: any new trends to share with the group? Northern California is now on the radar – direct SFO flight and Jet Center were very intriguing for them. Taking away the direct Houston summer flight didn’t have too much impact but may in the future. Scottsdale/Flagstaff area is also starting to produce some good leads. Discussion RE: KPIs are actual YOY (not calendar). The goal of the new dashboard is to provide detail for those who want it, but really to tell the bigger story. Discussion RE: Can we split out room nights in system to summer/winter. VVP focuses on Spring/Summer/Fall, not so much on winter, sot he majority of room nights will be summer. Discussion RE: group booking window is getting shorter & shorter, which affects forecasting. Can VVP report on leads that come in & are closed within 30 – 45 days? Can there be a report on the new lead generating services that we have invested in? Yes – will report out quarterly, once there’s enough data. • Website Update (5 minutes), Vail Resorts Review of key milestones (Hannah Eflin) – see slides for details. Ahead of schedule for Epic Discovery/Activities page – will now launch June 7th. Email results – (Jessica Sweetin): April 2018 email results: not apples-to-apples YOY because content is very different and more summer focused. Open rate is slightly down but sent more emails overall (up 27%). Unsubscribe rate is down. Getting summer content out earlier than ever was a big win – supports the push to market summer earlier. Discussion RE: how content for each email is determined. Segmented by interest as well as target audiences. See slides for creative details. Discussion RE: how does the council opt-in to get these emails? All very data driven, based on your demographics and buying behavior. VR will send a package of all emails at the end of each month. Review of email date changes & content (amount the same, dates shifted slightly – see slides for details). Audience for incremental teen send was much larger than originally thought. Results have a lag time because guests often refer back to them for booking for about 2 weeks. • Other Business NOTE: VLMDAC AUGUST MEETING NEW DATE & TIME (DUE TO COLORADO CLASSIC) THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2 – 4PM, GRAND VIEW ROOM • Adjournment Motion/Second/Pass (Dave Chapin/Phil Metz/Unanimous) • Upcoming Meetings: o VLMDAC Meeting, June 21, 2018, 8:30 – 11:30AM, Grand View Room o VLMDAC Meeting with Town Council, July 3, 2018 Council Chambers – time TBD