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Home My WebLink About1.a. 2015-03-04 Meeting Minutes DraftCSE Minutes Regular Meeting: March 4, 2015 Page 1 of 4 MINUTES: COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS MEETING Vail Town Council Chambers Wednesday, March 4, 2015 @ 8:30 a.m. CSE Members Present: Jeff Andrews Barry Davis Mark Gordon Rayla Kundolf Sheena Engleman Richardson Marco Valenti Alison Wadey (arrived @ 8:40am) Town of Vail Staff Present: Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager Molly Eppard, Art in Public Places Others Present: Laura Waniuk, Event Liaison Margaret Rogers, Vail Town Council Missy Johnson, Highline Laurie Asmussen, Eagle Valley Event Angela Mueller, REN Productions Laura Lodge, Big Beers Festival Gaby Milhoan, Peak Wellness Meeting materials can be accessed at the following link: http://www.vailgov.com/WebLink8/0/fol/321724/Row1.aspx CSE Chairman Barry Davis called the meeting to order at 8:32am Administrative Items • Approval of the Minutes of the CSE’s Meeting on February 4, 2015  Motion to approve the minutes of the CSE Meeting, February 4, 2015, as presented. M/S/P: Gordon/Kundolf/Wadey had not yet arrived The motion passed 6-0 CSE Minutes Regular Meeting: March 4, 2015 Page 2 of 4 • Financial/Contract Overview: Navas noted that $11,000 is remaining in the CSE’s event budget and that could be applied to the Vail Holidaze event. The funds remaining in the Tier IV Category are not transferable to the CSE’s event budget. • Health considerations have resulted in the cancellation of the Vail Living Well: Longevity Forum, September 13-15, leaving a balance of $6,000 in the Tier IV Category. • CSE Invites: • Vail Brand meeting for CSE and Event Producers, 11:00am-12pm on March 19: Antlers • Review and Recap 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships at Town Council meeting on April 21, evening session. Time TBD. Event Liaison Update Please see attached presentation covering Pink Vail, Vail Film Festival and Taste of Vail. Event Recaps: • Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines: Laura Lodge This was the 15th anniversary of the event; this year featured a well-known brewmaster from Belgium. Dinners and commercial tastings were all sold out. In 2016 the event will again be held at the Cascade from Jan. 7-9. Refinements and operational efficiencies created improvements in the event. A sponsored shuttle went back and forth to West Vail. Lodge is working on fine tuning the operational aspects of the event. Parking was a challenge this year, next year there will be a plan in place with the police, security and the event for the Frontage Roads. Lodge mentioned increasing the event entry costs to maintain quality of event in same location. • Vail Snow Daze: Highline, Missy Johnson The event was expanded into two weekends with big concerts. The second weekend rolled into the holiday week. The concerts ended at 9pm which allowed guests to go out and eat at local restaurants. There was an event expo and the Vail tree lighting was part of the press promotion and advertising. This is a Vail Mountain event; Highline produced the event for their organization. Vail Mountain takes on any of the shortage of the budget. Extensive marketing was used to drive guests into town early in the holiday season.  Motion to approve the 2015 Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines recap and release the final funding disbursement. (Already paid out as the allocation was less than $10,000) M/S/P: Andrews/Kundolf/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0  Motion to approve the 2014 Vail Snow Daze recap and release the final funding disbursement. M/S/P: Andrews/Kundolf/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Vail Holidaze: Review proposals, select an Event Producer and allocate funding. CSE Minutes Regular Meeting: March 4, 2015 Page 3 of 4 • Ren Event Productions: Angela Mueller Mueller described how the event will work around the tree lighting dates and times. One of the events would be cookie decorating with local chefs. There will also be child care and ice skating at both Solaris and Lionshead in cooperation with Vail Recreation District. Vail Noel Night (consider trademarking this name), will include shopping and special menus at participating restaurants. Mueller said that they would also like to add an ice sculpting contest where the sculptures would be placed outside local retailers. The community and judges would both vote. Christmas tree lighting would include a parade and work with the Art in Public Places. Two years ago the skate show cost was $24,000. If there is a large dollar sponsor, then there could be a more robust skate show. The current proposal includes holiday characters skating with guests. There is a plan to have fire pits around the ice skating rinks to make s’mores, the fire department would supervise. For the retailers, there may be a nominal fee to host an ice sculptor out front of their storefront. Kundolf asked about discounts at retailers and also using the ski patrol at the end of the torchlight parade. Wadey asked about permitting, could the retailer host a “sit down” area outside their storefront. Navas stated that it would be part of the overall event permit. • Eagle Valley Events: Laurie Asmussen Eagle Valley Events vision for the event is similar to REN’s. They would like to work with merchant activation, sending people into shops and restaurants. Dates would be determined based on timing for the tree lighting and Art in Public Places partnership. Lots of local music/singing groups to be integrated. Kundolf asked about skating shows. Asmussen mentioned that the character skating program is included in the proposal. Valenti asked about the holiday kick off shopping event. Would it be local or use out of town vendors? Asmussen mentioned it would be local vendors and held at Donovan Pavilion. Richardson asked about the merchant activation program and the overall concept. Asmussen stated that it would be a strong concierge program, working closely with the VVP and Vail Chamber to create a robust event over a two week period. • CSE Discussion about Vail Holidaze Navas noted that the ownership of the “Vail Holidaze” branding lies with Vail Resorts. Missy Johnson said that she would check with them and work with Kelli McDonald to clarify what rights could be transferred. Kundolf stated that the producers have brought elements that were requested, she was pleased with both presentations. Kundolf raised that concern about the holiday gift fair success. Davis stated that there are a number of key elements that the CSE desires for this event. The CSE is looking for a breath of fresh air for the tree lighting and the skating show. Wadey stated that both events are based in more of a local and warm approach, than having a huge skating show. There is a connection between the guest and the locals. If local performers such as choirs are in attendance then more people from all over the Valley will come into Vail. CSE Minutes Regular Meeting: March 4, 2015 Page 4 of 4 Gordon likes the idea of ice sculptures all around town to drive traffic to retailers. Eppard discussed that there is a challenge getting the actual ice sculptors to attend during a very busy time of the year for them. Platforms would need to be built for the sculptures and the sculptors using chainsaws should be a safety consideration. Eppard also discussed the lantern walk and working to bring the community together for participation. Wadey mentioned that instead of creating ice sculptures using the lanterns as an alternate, professional artists and local artists. Have a vote or bid for charity for the lanterns.  Motion to select REN Productions as the producer of Vail Holidaze with an allocation of $36,000 to provide activation similar to 2014. M/S/P: Kundolf/Richardson/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Tier IV Criteria Revisions: Review proposal from subcommittee and provide input. Kundolf would like to align the funding process with the existing process. McDonald stated that that has already been requested of the TOV financial department. Andrews provided background on the meetings and discovery with regard to the revisions of the “Tier IV Category” criteria and definitions. There was much discussion on the role of the Town of Vail with respect to requests for support from philanthropic organizations and McDonald suggested that perhaps we need to identify recipients as “philanthropic events”. Rogers stated that the CSE should focus directly on the Town of Vail’s Vision, Mission, Values and Commitment guidelines as part of the development of the new criteria. McDonald noted that this process aligns well with the current ongoing conversations around maintaining Vail’s leadership position and competitive edge in the resort industry. Andrews stated the goal is to create a framework to be able to evaluate and assess different types of events. The CSE then walked through each section and clarified the revisions. Navas will update the document to incorporate the CSE’s suggestions, Andrews will write a cover letter to include in the proposal for the Town Council. Updates will continue on the “Revised CSE Event Categories” document. Further discussion will resume at the next CSE meeting on April 1st. New Business and Community Input Milhoan stood up and reviewed the Peak Wellness overall business strategy and discussed funding of space for their program. She asked about support from the Town of Vail for start-up businesses. McDonald and Rogers stated that nothing like that exists presently.  Motion to Adjourn at 11:15am M/S/P: Kundolf/Valenti/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0. Next CSE Meeting: Wednesday, April 1, 2015 @ 8:30 a.m. Vail Town Council Chambers