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HomeMy WebLinkAboutVLMDACJanuary 2013FINALVail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Thursday, January 17, 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); John Dawsey, Treasurer (CME) Absent: Pete Hayda, Vice Chair (Rock Resorts) Also Present: Kelli McDonald (Town of Vail); Sybill Navas (CSE); Clare Hefferen (Town of Vail); Jill Lammers (Vail Valley Partnership); Chris Romer (Vail Valley Partnership); Heather Kersteins (Vail Valley Partnership); Jessica Stevens (Vail Valley Partnership); Meggen Kirkham (SITE Marketing); Kristin Yantis (MYPR); Haley McNeil (MYPR); Adam Sutner; Steve Wodlinger (TV8); Satchele Burns (VRI); Jack Affleck (VRI); Ellen Miller (Vitality Center); Duncan Horner (Vail Valley Foundation); Adam Lueck(Vail Valley Foundation); Mike Imhof ( Vail Valley Foundation); Lorelei Donaldson (Town of Vail) Via Phone: Josh Culver, Booyah! Meeting called to order at 8:41am. I. Intro of new VVP Sales Manager- Chris Romer/VVP a. Chris Romer- Heather Kerstiens is our new Medical, Health and Wellness Sales Manager. This position will become integrated in the medical arena. II. 2012 Photo Review- Jack Affleck a. We fused some of the images from years past into this presentation. b. We added more family photos because that was a request from this group. c. The summer images should be displayed during the winter, so everyone can see how beautiful Vail is in the summer. d. Meggen volunteered to follow up about getting these images in the information center. e. Susie- Are there any wedding shots? I think that would be something to include. f. Beth- We need those in all of our summer messaging. g. Susie- Jack, you have done a fabulous job catching the subtle images. The only thing missing is the grandparent photos, the three generational messaging. h. Kristin- Thank you Jack, you make our job a lot easier. i. Kelli- So, we need more shots of weddings, grandparents and culinary? III. 2013 USAPC – Adam Lueck, Duncan Horner, Mike Imhof/Vail Valley Foundation a. Mike- The two stages are what makes it really financially viable. Having two stages back is really quite a win for us. It would be ideal to have the Tour lock in a 3-5 year commitment. It would allow us to plan years in advance and really make it an iconic event. b. Kelli- The Vail time trial is on Friday. We want to make it go into the weekend. c. Adam- The Tour took a very different approach this year. It is primarily financially driven. Just to give you an idea of what the Tour operators are thinking, Year 3 is about saving money for them, Year 4 will be a hybrid, and Year 5 is the breakeven mark. Every city has two stages this year. The downside is several alumni cities got left out of the loop. We approached our bid a little differently. In years past, we presented a bunch of options, this year we only gave them two options. From a lodging and F&B standpoint, we are going to approach things a little differently. We are going to split the lodging up this year. The teams and media will stay in Vail. The construction groups will stay in Avon. d. We will need approximately 600 total rooms (250 advance groups and 350 for teams, media, VIPs, administration). All will be multi-night stays due to the two stages. i. Casual fans and families are the target for Thursday or Friday and to stay through the weekend. ii. Kelli- We have it bookended. What can we do on Friday night and Saturday day? iii. Susie- And what to do on Thursday to pull people back to Vail? e. Mike- In my mind, it’s really Saturday. How do we attract them to stay through the weekend? f. John- I think Saturday is time for activation. g. Mia- Do we have any data on who was here for the time trial two years ago? h. Beth- We need an activity. To have families stay on Saturday night is not necessarily realistic. i. Laurie- In the first year, was there a scout the stage? j. Mike- We did have citizen ride the first year. k. Laurie- Are we doing a package deal? l. Kelli- If we can put a full package together for a weekend stay, that would be good. m. Skip- We need to highlight all the cycling opportunities as well. n. Meggen- The cycling ad that we have run in the past couple of years has been exactly that. o. Adam- The Tour holds the merchandising rights with anything with the logo on it. We have certain rights and their evolving. It’s great to have the USAPC mark with the name Vail. p. Jamie- Can we start getting this message out during the ski season? q. Adam- For the time trial, the route will be exactly the same. Rarely, will there be loop situation in a smaller city. r. Susie- In looking at ways the spectator can be more active, is that the best we can do? Can there be a loop or two loops so the spectator can see their favorite racer more than once? s. Adam- The technical group for the race will be out here in February and that is definitely something I can bring up. We have an iconic stage here in Vail. The only place from an infrastructure standpoint for the race to start is in front of Solaris. I can talk to the technical group and see what they think. IV. PR Update- MYPR a. We were in New York recently. The tradition for Vail is to be the first to visit in January. We focused on quality one on one appointments. See slide. i. We met with a lot of new people this year. See slide. b. Immediate Opportunities- See slide. c. Next Steps- See slide. We are looking at potentially another Spring trip to New York. d. Skip- Can you tease with the message of Epic Discovery? e. Kristin- People kind of went blank when we talked about it. I think that is because we just don’t know enough about it. I think we need good visuals to really help people understand. V. Swearing in of Advisory Council-Lorelei Donaldson a. Beth, Mia and Skip. VI. Election of Officers a. Motion to appoint the same officers for a second term/Susie Tjossem. Seconded/Laurie Mullen. Passed unanimously. VII. Approval of December Meeting minutes a. Motion to accept minutes/Laurie Mullen. Seconded/John Dawsey. Passed unanimously. VIII. Tracking Lodging for Sporting Events-Chris Romer/VVP a. Option 1 and 2- See slide. i. The Town of Vail has never asked event producers to do this. So, it could be a challenge. There are lots of steps and potential tracking challenges. b. Pros/cons- See slide. c. Option 3- See slide. There is a huge gap between numbers of participants and tracking lodging. d. Option 4- We would encourage event producers to track lodging and report it back to the CSE. Pros/Cons- See slide. There would be no third party cross-referencing and data could be manipulated. e. John- In terms of a dedicated 800 number, do we have the capability to do that? f. Chris- VBCR has that capability. It’s entirely possible. That would be Option 1. g. Mia- I think you are missing an option 2a. Someone like Rocky Mountain Vacation Rentals. That would be an option here in the community. h. Adam Sutner- All of these have added steps by all parties. The more you ask people to do, the less likely they are to do it. i. Chris- We don’t want to add difficulty in bringing groups here. We want to better track lodging. j. Clare- Staff Recommendations- See slide. This is aligned with the more strategic checklist we are putting out already. k. John-I think it is important to keep it simple. If we can do that, that would be best. l. Jessica- A lot of the events already have relationships with the hotels. They are the “host hotels” for the event. They want to keep that relationship with the event. m. Laurie- Are some of the lodges going to be unhappy if we push people to VBCR? n. Mia-Keep the host hotels, work with VBCR and ask the smaller events to track on their own. With new events, we could include it as part of the deal. IX. Presentation of ROI Document – Adam Sutner a. VLMD has been the leader in terms of tracking and the CSE is following that lead. There was a lack of unanimity in regards to what constitutes ROI in the Town Council meeting. See handout. i. There is a direct linear ROI, which is the gross revenue aspect and sales tax derivative. ii. The attendance came from the event producers. Therefore, this data could be suspect. iii. Kelli- If you believe the data, it suggests that the events are self- funding. iv. Adam- For our purposes, we will feel good about the attendance data after the research is conducted this year. At the end of the year, we should have a pretty precise view of who attended our events and why. v. Guest Satisfaction ROI- See handout. vi. It has improved since 2007. In the 2012 survey, 0 detractor or those who would negatively comment on Vail. vii. Chris- When you look back at the 2007 study, we did not have an integrated brand. We are much further along in 2012. viii. John- The net promoter score is more about what guests feel when they are here. ix. Kelli- The town is more aligned around the importance of guest service. In 2007, it was more focused around construction. x. Mia- I remember being surprised that people were not negatively affected by the construction. xi. Leverage/Media/PR/Marketing Impact- See handout. We are spending more and spending it more effectively. xii. Adam- I think the goal over time is to connect these dots and understand how we are spending every penny. xiii. Kelli- we are being very cautious about what we report and to whom due to much of the data being proprietary. X. Council Retreat Report- Susie Tjossem a. We have made some progress about looking at funding through a few different lenses. I have no conclusions or results. The next meeting is scheduled for the end of February. Funding was not discussed in length, but it will be at the next meeting. XI. Other Business- a. Reschedule the tour of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. b. Laurie - At the last Golf Clubhouse meeting, there were 80 opponents and 0 proponents. If we want a new space for weddings and events, we need to get more support. There is another review on Monday the 28th, if we think it is important, we have to rally the troops. The lodging community, the VVP, all need to show support. If there is support by the council to address this, then something needs to be changed. c. Beth- The public vote was 87% in favor. d. Laurie- An important point is that there are going to be the same things done in this location. The use of the Clubhouse will remain the same. It will just be done in a nicer facility. e. Motion to support and reaffirm the Golf Clubhouse project/Mia Vlaar. Seconded/Skip Thurnauer. Passed unanimously. f. Chris- I can suggest to the lodges to get involved and reiterate what the VLMD wants. g. Beth- We need to get some things in writing. h. The tour of the Wellness Center at Anschutz is rescheduled for February 1st. XII. Adjournment. a. Meeting adjourned at 11:03am. XIII. Upcoming Meetings: a. February 12th, 8-10:00am, The Antlers: Joint Meeting with VEAC to discuss health and wellbeing initiatives. b. February 21st, 8:30 – 11:00am, The Antlers