HomeMy WebLinkAboutVLMD DEC FINALVail Local Marketing District Advisory Council
Thursday, December 20, 2012
The Antlers
Caribou/Pronghorn Room
8:30-10:30 AM
VLMDAC Members Present: Laurie Mullen (West Vail Liquor Mart); Susie Tjossem (Vail
Town Council); Mia Vlaar (East West Resorts); Jamie Gunion (Vail Recreation District);
Skip Thurnauer; Beth Slifer, Chair (Slifer Designs); Pete Hayda, Vice Chair (Rock Resorts);
John Dawsey, Treasurer (CME)
Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail); Sybill Navas (CSE); Jenn Bruno (CSE); Clare
Hefferen (Town of Vail); Jill Lammers (Vail Valley Partnership); Chris Romer (Vail Valley
Partnership); Meggen Kirkham (SITE Marketing); Kristin Yantis (MYPR); Haley McNeil
(MYPR); Adam Sutner (MKT Vail); Bobby Bank (CSE); Steve Wodlinger (TV8); Mike Nadal
(Say No More Promotions); Kathleen Halloran (Town of Vail); Satchele Burns
(Videographer); Amy Cassidy (CSE); Brian Rodine (Vail Mountain Marketing)
On the Phone: Josh Culver (Booyah!); Kellie Moen (Booyah!); Brian Smith (Booyah!)
Meeting called to order at 8:30am.
I. November Financials- Kathleen Halloran
a. We budgeted conservatively, so we are looking good. We just need to get
everyone’s invoices in so we can get those paid as soon as possible.
b. Kelli- There was some discussion about the event liaison budget. We are
taking that from a line item.
c. We request a letter from the VLMD to send to the Forest Service in support
of the Vail Resorts Summer Epic Discovery.
II. Discussion of Funding for the Event Liaison Contract.
a. Beth- Where is the $15,000 coming from?
b. Kelli- We can ask for a supplemental in March or pull from another line item,
recommended from Destination Media since it is our largest budget and the
reduction will have the smallest impact on this initiative.
c. John- Unless there are other initiatives, I don’t think we need go in front of
the Council.
d. Clare Hefferen introduces herself.
e. Beth- Everyone in favor of half funding Clare’s contributions?
Motion to fund half of Clare’s salary from the media line item/Skip
Thurnauer. Seconded/Mia Vlaar. Passed unanimously.
III. Approval of November 15 Meeting Minutes.
Motion to approve minutes/Jamie Gunion. Seconded/John Dawsey.
Passed Unanimously.
IV. 2013 Group Sales Update- Chris Romer/Vail Valley Partnership.
a. See Power Point.
b. We usually do not see a lot of group sales during December. So, these
numbers are pretty accurate for the year.
c. John- The southeast seems higher than in years past.
d. Chris- We have a lot of big groups and the volume of those groups are
increasing.
e. Mia- Where do weddings fall?
f. Chris- They fall in the SMERF group, which is about 75% weddings.
g. Sybill- The FBLA, where do they fall?
h. Chris- They go under associations.
i. ‘On the Books’ - see slide.
j. For 2013, ‘Association’ is always skewed because they book far in advance.
k. Kelli- Are you still able to do a good job of tracking the sports and events
lodging?
l. Chris- No. There is no good way to track it.
m. Kelli- I wonder if its possible to have the CSE ask the organizers of the events
to help track the lodging stays?
n. Sybill- If there are some comp rooms available for the officials, maybe they
would be willing to put in the effort to track the lodging stays.
o. Chris- Hotels would be more inclined to give the comp rooms if they were
the host hotel.
p. Kelli- Let us look into that and come back with some ideas for the January
meeting.
q. Group Sales results- see slide.
r. Medical meetings- see slide.
1) We are bringing in a new sales person to focus just on medical.
s. Kelli- The economic council has requested a meeting with the VLMD.
t. Beth- If you haven’t seen the Anschutz Campus, it’s an incredible thing. Who
would want to give up a day to tour the facility? January 11th? Friday? A
delegation of four people could visit.
u. Front range representation & additional vertical industry representation-
see slide.
v. Group sales key tactics- See slide.
w. FBLA has a new executive. They really want to go to Denver and a lot of it
has to do with the cost of some of the venues here. We would recommend
allocating some money from the group sales budget to help them cover
those costs. We will lose that group if we don’t help. We are looking for a
three-year contract.
x. Chris- It is a different use of our money, than we have used before.
y. Kelli- In the future, if you agree with this concept, we will just go ahead and
do this without running it by you.
z. Chris- I did not want it to be a surprise. That is why I wanted to run it by this
group.
V. Asset Inventory Update- Chris Romer/Vail Valley Partnership.
a. Why is the asset inventory useful? It creates an online community resource
directory. We have money budgeted in 2013 to update this twice
throughout the year. It will launch mid-January. It’s going to be a great tool.
b. Kelli- We need it for Chris’s group sales. They can build a portfolio for every
type of event.
c. Chris- It’s not meant to be a consumer site. It's a great tool for event
planners.
d. Skip- To see what people like and don’t like, could we add a survey to this?
e. Mia- Is the council worried about the difficulty of tracking sports and
events?
f. Kelli- We can track registration and attendance. We have trouble tracking
the room nights.
g. Chris- It has to be tied to the funding.
VI. PR Update- MYPR.
a. Please look at www.issuu.com for all of our media coverage.
b. Kristin- Haley did a fabulous job of hosting all the journalists this summer.
c. Media trips- see slide.
d. The Culinary cruiser crawls went really well.
e. Probably the best thing we did this summer, was the Harvest Dinner. There
was a waitlist of media. We only could host 15 and they were really the
who’s who of Denver media.
f. Kelli- Outside of the NY event, this was the best event.
g. Kristin- We had a lot of great immediate results. There were half dozen
media placements right away.
h. For the Fall media campaign, we wanted an extra push in August and
September. See slide.
i. The NY 50th anniversary film premier, it was good for us to be there. This
was money very well spent.
j. Beth- I was there, but I think there were some logistical problems. Having it
in Tribeca, that was very far away.
k. Quantitative year End Statistics- See slide.
l. Qualitative Year End Statistics- See slide.
m. We would like to talk about what messages are resonating with the media.
n. Mia- How was the Macaroni Mom group?
o. Kristin- It went really well. I will pull the sponsorship report and get more
detail.
p. Adam- We are not known as a family destination, even though we are. We
just don’t get credit for it.
q. Kristin- When family travel writers come here, they are really impressed
with the value-based things they find.
r. Meggen- This past year, we made steps to take a lot more images of
families.
s. Kelli- Something is working because more people are coming with families.
t. Mia- It is also important to push the ‘teen” message. Beaver Creek just
started doing that and I think it is important to look at.
u. 2013 Planning- See slide.
v. Kristin- Chicago is a difficult media market. We can revisit it. I can get you
more info and present it to you.
w. Key Messages- Outdoor Pursuits/Cultural/Well Being. See slide.
x. Next Steps- see slide.
y. There is definite interest in the Mexican golf tournament idea. We need to
revisit this and decide who is going to organize this event.
z. Mia- It would be easy to work with the VBCR to pull together some basic
packages for the summer.
VII. Final 2012 Results.
a. Booyah- See Power Point.
b. Beth- There was a disconnect with the messaging for signature events. The
family message does not match with the classical message. We need to pay
attention to that.
c. Website Traffic Comparison- May 1st to Oct. 1st. See slide.
d. Kelli- Are you seeing the same kind of results in the winter?
e. Meggen- 2012 High level results through 10/12. See slide.
f. Beth- Would it be a good idea to print this slide and give it to all the council
members?
g. Kelli- I am planning on putting this in the year-end review.
h. Susie- I think this message has come across loud and clear to the council.
That is why they continue to be supportive.
i. Occupancy/ On the books- See slide.
j. Susie- In October, the sales tax was down, but this is up.
k. Kelli- The occupancy was up, but the rates were lower.
l. Sales Tax Revenue- See slide.
m. Kelli- What is dragging it down is called ‘out of town.’ We look at the overall
and you pull the ‘out of town’ category.
VIII. Other business.
a. Kelli- Good news about the USAPCC.
b. Susie- People are going to need a reason to have their lodging in Vail. Maybe
there should be something that Thursday night in Vail?
c. Beth- We need to get the message out that Vail is the place to be. Get
yourself situated on Thursday night and get ready to watch it on Friday.
d. Chris- It would be a worthwhile conversation to have with the VVF. A
package for the people who stayed at the lodge the night before with some
sort of VIP area to watch the event.
e. Kelli- Since we are giving the VVF a lot of money for this, we should have
them on the agenda in January.
f. Beth- We want to promote it as a fabulous weekend with something
Thursday and then get them to stay on Saturday.
g. Meggen- The winter master calendars are out.
h. Kelli- If you have any input on the US Forest service letter, please let me
know.
IX. Adjournment.
a. Motion to adjourn/Susie Tjossem. Seconded/Jamie Gunion.
b. Upcoming Meetings:
January 17, 8:30 – 11:00am, The Antlers
February 21, 8:30 – 11:00am, The Antlers