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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-06-02 CSE Minutes MINUTES: Commission on Special Events Meeting Vail Town Council Chambers Wednesday, June 2, 2010 @ 9:00 a.m. CSE Members Present: Dave Chapin, Chairman Jenn Bruno Meggen Kirkham Rayla Kundolf Bob McKown CSE Members Absent: Bobby Bank Heather Trub TOV Staff Present: Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator Others Present: Todd DeJong, Lone Star Security Chris Romer, Vail Valley Partnership (VVP) Jamie Gunion, Vail Recreation District (VRD) Nigel Cooper, Ski and Snowboard Club Vail (SSCV) Katie Coakley, Peeples Ink Jeff Brausch and Missy Johnson, Highline Sports and Entertainment Rhonda Jackson, Vail Soul Music Fest Sean and Scott Cross, Bill Lavasseur, Vail Film Festival Saloni Shah and Olaf Richter, Genesis Tony O’Rourke, Beaver Creek Resort Sarah Franke, LionsHead Merchants Association Dick Puetzer, Business and Marketing Research Services (BMRS) Kaye Ferry CSE Chairman, Dave Chapin, called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Administrative Items: Motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of April 7, 2010, as presented. M/S/P: McKown, Kirkham, Unanimous Coordinator Report: CSE Members reviewed the financial report and contract status. No issues were raised. The Participatory Sports Funding Group financial spreadsheet was reviewed. Sybill noted that it seems likely that some of the monies contributed by the CSE will be returned after the August 1 deadline. CSE members approved by consensus the Summer Street Entertainment Schedule as presented with Slifer Square as the Vail Village location on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Meggen Kirkham distributed copies of the list of FREE summer activities that she prepared for the Vail Local Marketing District (VLMD), as well as copies of the “map” of summer events that correlates with the VLMD’s summer advertising campaign. Kirkham also provided an update on the progress of Vail Restaurant Month. Navas introduced Sara Stookey, who is working as a summer intern with Suzanne Silverthorn in the Community Information Office and with Sybill on special events projects. Navas also described the new “This Week in Vail” e-publication describing in detail the week’s upcoming activities and events and encouraged those present to subscribe via the e-mail services on www. Vailgov.com. Chris Romer, representing the Vail Valley Partnership and highlighting the higher level of collaboration between the VLMD and the CSE, explained that the Vail Resorts market research team will be taking intercept surveys at all major events and around town from Teva to Oktoberfest weekend as part of the bi-annual effort that helps to provide benchmark information. The survey will include several questions that focus on special events and should be complete in time to provide meaningful input for the CSE’s fall funding decision-making process. He added the the M-Trip reports, which were included in the packets, provide reason for optimism. Genesis, VLMDAC Agency: Presentation of the 2010 summer creative Saloni Shah and Olaf Richter gave a Power Point presentation of the VLMD’s summer campaign, highlighting the goal of developing the “Vail” brand as the clear leadership brand in year round resorts. Copies of the presentation can be obtained by emailing your request to Kelli McDonald, Vail Economic Development Manager, at kmcdonald@vailgov.com. Vail Soul Music Fest Update: Defining Soul Music as definitely “not Top 40” and as having “history, legs and roots,” Rhonda Jackson explained that the event is being branded as a “destination festival” and that they are targeting their marketing in the top “soul markets” of Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas. Jackson distributed a schedule for the event and informed the board that the www.vailsouldmusicfest.com site was now in place and that they are working on implementing educational programs with both the Youth Foundation and CMC. Advertising and ticket sales are set to begin this month- with local ticket sales at the Vilar Center and the Gerald Ford Amphitheater and at the Vail Plaza Hotel. She then explained that they have been “pitching sponsors since they received the grant,” but that it has been challenging both on account of the current economic situation and the fact that August is at the tail-end of the event season and most companies have already committed their monies earlier in the year. Final Event Recaps: Highline Sports and Entertainment: Jeff Brausch presented the CSE with recaps of the following events produced by Highline Sports over the winter. Vancouver Comes to Vail: highlighting that all of the food and beverage proceeds from the event went to support Sarah Schleper, Brausch added that the event reminded people that “Vail gets behind their athletes.” CarniVail Spring Back to Vail: once again, the biggest spring party in the mountains. Brausch added that the great hotel deals motivated people to stay in lodging, rather than with friends. He explained that pond skimming on Sunday followed by a concert was a highly successful format. CSE members suggested that adding a “family viewing” area might be helpful, as it was difficult to get the smaller members of the community up close on account on the crowds. Colorado Film Institute: Vail Film Festival: Bill Lavasseur, host of the festival for all it’s 7 years, presented the CSE with a Power Point recap of the event, and stated that with 14,000 attendees and over 90 films, it was the best year ever. In response to questions regarding how the overall event fared in relationship to the venue sharing between Vail and Beaver Creek and whether this format would be used again next year, Sean and Scott Cross explained that although numbers of attendees were up and they were able to show more films, the management of the event was far more complicated with the dual sites. CSE members questioned how the email survey had been formatted, and what number of surveys were returned relative to the number sent out. Dick Puetzer asked how the attendance number had been calculated, whether based on the counts for each individual screening, or an accounting of passes sold. Kirkham suggested that the call to action for lodging needed to be included in the media spot. Due to technical difficulties in the presentation, the lack of early distribution of the information and the general lack of accountability for the information presented, the CSE determined that, pending receipt of the additional information requested, they would not approve the recap as having provided all information that was asked for in the contract. Discussion: Allocation of remaining $5000 CSE members agreed to the following notice by email and procedure for the allocation of the remaining event funds in the 2010 budget: The CSE has $5000 remaining in the 2010 event funding budget, due to the cancellation of the Vail Gaelic Games. An opportunity to request all or part of these funds is open to any event taking place between mid-August and December 31, 2010 that received less funding from the CSE than they requested last fall. The CSE will consider requests that provide a compelling description, in 100 words or less, for a specific and creative enhancement to your event that is not presently in your plan due to budget constraints. To be eligible for consideration, requests should be submitted by email to specialevents@vailgov.com, not later than 5pm on Friday, June 18. The CSE will discuss the proposals and allocate the funds at their meeting on Wednesday, July 7. Citing a full palate of competition for Friday Afternoon Club business, the Saturday partnership with the Vail Recreation District and the Raptor Rendezvous and a more favorable partnership with Vail Resorts, Sarah Franke. Representing the LionsHead Merchants Association, asked the CSE if they would consider allowing them to change the time/date to Saturdays from 3 – 6 p.m. Motion to approve, as requested, the change of name/date of the LionsHead Family Friday Afternoon Club to the LionsHead Saturday Afternoon Club, from July 10 to August 14, with a scaled back format on July 17 due to a conflict with a major private event in Arrabelle. M/S/P: Kirkham, Bruno, Unanimous Confirm CSE Budget request for 2011 and discussion of how/if to implement independent 3rd party intercept surveys. CSE members agreed by consensus to approve the budget request for 2011 funds as presented. Motion to approve the final recap and release the remaining funding for CarniVail. M/S/P: Kirkham, McKown, Unanimous Motion to approve the final recap and release the remaining funding for Spring Back to Vail. M/S/P: McKown, Bruno, Unanimous Motion to approve the final recap and release the remaining funding for Vancouver Comes to Vail. M/S/P: McKown, Kirkham, Unanimous Motion to withhold approval of the final recap and release of the remaining funding for the Vail Film Festival, pending receipt of the following information: Additional information on PR How was attendance tabulated? E-mail surveys: How many sent, how many returned? Further explanation of in-kind services provided by the Beaver Creek Resort Company Where did the celebrities stay? M/S/P: Bruno, Kundolf, Unanimous New Business: Dick Puetzer, of BMRS (Business and Marketing Research Specialists) remarked to the CSE that they are still relying on event review information provided by the event producers themselves, that there is little consistency of information across all events and that the biggest issue remains accurately accounting for the attendance. Disclosing that he had submitted a proposal in response to the CSE’s RFP issued for 3rd party intercept surveys, he offered, at no charge, to review the information provided in the event recaps from last year and give an objective 3rd party opinion on the value of the final numbers. The CSE acknowledged that the information they were presented with was public information, and that Dick was welcome to do with it what he wished. Memorial Day Event: Navas reported that the CSE has received a request from some members of the Town Council suggesting the development of a Memorial Day event which would highlight the 10th Mountain Division heritage of the community and provide a festive kick-off to summer. CSE members agreed by consensus that a line be added to the 2011 RFP stating that the CSE will pay particular attention to event proposals including that concept. Motion to adjourn at 12:00 p.m. M/S/P: McKown, Kundolf, Unanimous Next CSE Meeting: Wednesday, July 7, 2010 @ 9:00 a.m.