HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-05 CSE MinutesCSE Minutes March 5, 2014 Page 1 of 5
MINUTES:
COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS MEETING
Vail Town Council Chambers
Wednesday, March 5, 2014 @ 8:30 a.m.
CSE Members Present: Jeff Andrews
Bobby Bank
Amy Cassidy
Barry Davis
Mark Gordon
Rayla Kundolf
Nicole Whitaker
Town of Vail Staff Present: Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager
Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator
Others Present: Laura Waniuk, CSE/VLMD Event Liaison
Margaret Rogers, Vail Town Council
Matt Mire, Vail Town Attorney
Laura Lodge, Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines Festival
Helene Mattison, Grand Traverse Adventures and
Beth Pappas, Vail Recreation District: Keen Vail Kids Adventure
Race
Davy Ratchford, Vail Resorts Marketing
Cati Miller, Solaris
Ariel Rosemberg, Vail Summer Blue Grass Series
Missy Johnson, Highline
Sandra Perrig, Vail Valley Partnership
Meeting Materials may be viewed at:
http://www.vailgov.com/WebLink8/Browse.aspx?startid=34151&row=1&dbid=0
CSE Chair, Barry Davis, called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.
Continuing Discussion w/Davy Ratchford re: Review event survey data and evaluate
which events best deliver destination visitation.
Ratchford is looking forward to CSE and VLMDAC working together more closely. The
groups need to reach an understanding on how to market strategically for future events.
Ratchford suggests taking a look more closely at the events that drive destination visitation.
The next action item is that the VLDMAC will take a look at the statistics and provide
feedback on what and how much to fund. Ratchford mentioned that there can be multiple
CSE Minutes March 5, 2014 Page 2 of 5
strategies. Driving overnight traffic for a specific event is different than marketing for an
upsell event – such as the Farmer’s Market. Consider what the CSE and VLMDAC want to
market ahead of time versus marketing on site in town.
Andrews said that there is a need to break down the events into more categories, events
that don’t necessarily drive overnight guests but they could drive retail and restaurant
revenue. Ratchford closed with saying that we need to work on a unified upsell strategy.
We should analyze how we communicate events to the public. Andrews said that he
thought that additional criteria or categories should be added to the scoring mec hanism for
allocating destination marketing funding for events.
Administrative Items
Motion to approve the Minutes of the CSE Meeting of February 5, 2014, as
presented. M/S/P: Kundolf/Gordon/Unanimous – The motion passed 7-0.
Reminder: Town of Vail Community Meeting
Tuesday, March 11 @ 5:00 p.m. at the Donovan Pavilion
Review Financial Status and acceptances of funding allocations
Navas provides an update on where we are with payment and two events are not going to be
funded: Vail Global Energy Forum, New Years Eve.
Event Liaison Update: Laura Waniuk
Please see presentation, covered the next 3 events, Vail Film Festival, Taste of Vail and Pink
Vail marketing.
CIRSA (Colorado Intergovernmental Risk Sharing Agency) Education and training for
new board members: Matt Mire, Vail Town Attorney
Mire explains why the training is required. If there are any legal questions, he is in the office
Tuesday and Thursdays. The CSE is more of a judicial commission.
http://www.cirsa.org/coverageline/blog-discussion.aspx?blog_id=1227
1. Honoring the Allocation of Responsibilities: Recognize that your role has changed
once you’ve joined the board. Your responsibility is in the best interest of the TOV and
CSE.
2. Honoring Transparency in Meetings: Avoid conduct that is outside the scope of your
office responsibilities. Avoid inadvertent meetings; private emails are not acceptable,
nor are ex parte contacts. Communicating outside of the public forum is not acceptable,
including emails or texts. Every discussion needs to be on record.
3. Honoring the Quasi-Judicial Rules of Engagement: Before the board acts, look into
the charter, to make sure they are within their authority. The responsibility here is to
allocate funds in a public forum. .
4. Honoring Standards of Personal Conduct: Run a good meeting. The idea is to make
people feel they are treated fairly even if they don’t get what they want.
CSE Minutes March 5, 2014 Page 3 of 5
Update on Vail Summer Bluegrass Series: Ariel Rosemberg, Vail Summer Bluegrass Series
Rosemberg provided update on where the event planning stands. He presented the line-up for
the series. It’s a well-rounded lineup, appeal for both younger and older audiences.
He spoke about the initial partners and sponsors. Eco Products is going to provide a plastic
cup that people can take home and re-use. The goal is to work with a different craft brewery
per week. Rosemberg is working with Sera Schools; they place adults and students in music
programs. The event will also focus on the sustainability initiative using the “Zero Hero”
program. They will launch sales of tickets for preferred seating on April 1. If the event is
successful, the CSE needs to make sure that it is considered to be funded for 2015. Gordon
mentioned that the line up is great, and there may be an opportunity to extend the series.
Keen Vail Kids Adventure Race: Beth Pappas, VRD and Helene Mattison, Grand Traverse
Adventures. Update on outcome of negotiations between VRD and Grand Traverse.
The name has changed to Kids Adventure Games, because there will be a lot of other
activities going on in addition to the race. In 2014 Grand Traverse are going to hold Kids
Adventure Games events at 7 other resorts, each in a different state. This year the Keen Vail
Kids Adventure Race will be held in Vail, and put on by the Vail Recreation District. It will be
incorporated in the Kids Adventure Games Series in 2015 and will remain the only venue in
Colorado. Pappas mentioned that they are planning to make Vail the “National/World
Championship” location for 2015 and on. There will not be a national championship this
summer. CSE funding will stay strictly in Vail. They have mapped out the event planning for
the next five years and Vail is a marketing focus. The Vail event is 5 days in length this year
from August 6-10. This is a great example of an upsell opportunity. Mattison said that they are
trying to get guests to stay the weekend before.
Vail America Days Budget Planning:
CSE members reviewed the revised budget for Vail America Days as provided by Highline at
the last CSE meeting. Navas reminded the CSE that Highline had requested $120,000 to
produce the event in 2014; however the CSE allocated only $70,000 based on the following
considerations:
In 2013, the event had been expanded to a full three day celebration featuring kids’
zones and a beer garden with live music in Solaris, in addition to the parade and
fireworks.
Solaris has stepped up to provide the entertainment within the pla za in 2014 at their
own expense.
The CSE directed that the event funding should cover only the parade, marketing and
fireworks. In 2013 funding was $40,000, plus a credit of $31,500 for fireworks - a total of
$71,500.
Highline responded to the 2014 offer by stating that they had lost money on the event in 2013
and that since the bombing incident at the Boston Marathon the insurance costs associated
with the parade were significantly greater than they had anticipated. They provided a revised
budget reflecting a reduced fireworks budget to accommodate the dramatic increase in
insurance rates.
CSE Minutes March 5, 2014 Page 4 of 5
Davis recommended reallocating the $7,500 funding that had been returned to the CSE’s
budget as a result of Highline’s decision to cancel the 2014 Vail NYE event at D obson to the
Vail America Days fireworks.
The additional funding would bring the total budget for fireworks for Vail America Days to
$21,500, which would be adequate for a show approximately 11 minutes in length using the
traditional high-flying fireworks. Navas noted that the budget for the close proximity fireworks
used in 2013 had been $35,000, and that the feedback had been generally disappointing.
Traditionally the fireworks shows have fun 15-16 minutes in length. The CSE agreed
unanimously that the funding for fireworks, even with the additional $7,500, was minimal and
hoped that the community would find it adequate.
Motion to approve the reallocation of $7,500 from Vail NYE to Vail America Days
for the purpose of augmenting the fireworks component, for a total allocation of
$77,500.
M/S/P: Bank/Gordon/Unanimous- The motion passed 7-0.
Following a brief discussion, CSE members agreed by consensus that since the funding had
been specifically directed by council to support Life Long Learning catego ry events, they would
not consider reallocation opportunity for the TIER IV funds restored to that budget as a result
of the Council’s decision to withdraw their support of the $7,500 funding for the Vail Global
Energy Forum on account of regional marketing conflicts.
For 2015 funding, the next step is to draft a memo from the CSE, including a complete history
of CSE funding and a strategic recommendation for allocation of budget. Andrews and
Whitaker will create the initial draft of the memo.
Event Recap: Big Beers Belgians, and Barleywines Festival, Laura Lodge
Lodge spoke about the event’s success. She said that the roundabout banners were an added
benefit. They increased attendance despite the poor weather. Lodge mentioned that she
worked with Jason from Intercept Insights and added in questions to the survey. As the event
grows, it’s key to keep it personal and intimate. Perhaps add some additional events with the
brewers themselves, seminars. Guests could extend their stay. The areas for improvement are
parking and bathrooms. Gordon mentioned that the attendees were very active on twitter and
the social media marketing was organic.
Motion to approve the recap and final funding disbursement for Big Beers,
Belgians and Barleywines Festival.
M/S/P: Cassidy/Andrews/Unanimous. The motion passed 7-0.
Lionshead Merchant Assoc. Funding for the Colorado Grand Enhancements: Cati Miller
Miller spoke about the Lionshead Merchants Association; she does not want the association to
lose the funding just because she is no longer heading up the program. Navas said that the
agreement hasn’t gone out to the Lionshead merchants yet because there was a question
about how the contract should be drafted.
Event Attendance Survey Results: Review results as provided by RRC and discussion from
Council Meeting on Tuesday, March 4 and provide comments.
Discussion:
CSE Minutes March 5, 2014 Page 5 of 5
Rogers gave an overview on how the RRC presentation was received by the Town Council.
There are some discrepancies in the results that can vary, for example, depending on what
percentage of a total event budget CSE funds. However, if the CSE funds the event 100%, then
there is ROI that makes a little more sense. RRC is going to put together methodology for
event producers to use for their attendance. McDonald said that it’s important to get that data
and methodology and also help the event producers to collect this info.
RRC stats support the intuition of the CSE and what the VLMDAC have been doing already.
Davis mentioned that CSE was the biggest proponent of the review of attendance. Andrews
brought up the “guidelines for post-event recaps” document. Navas said that we need to look
at the recap presentations more closely and not release final funding until the information is
100% complete.
McDonald reiterated that accountability is key; the taxpayer needs to know how their dollars
are being spent and the ROI. The survey costs have been expensive; Lodge mentioned that
for the Big Beers event, it cost $2000, which was 20% of the funding they received. The CSE
needs to think about the survey implementation, perhaps negotiating for a complete quote for
all events with a survey company. McDonald said that perhaps this could be part of the 2015
budget.
CSE Members requested to please add additional time to the agenda to continue the
discussion at the next meeting.
New Business and Community Input
None
Motion to adjourn @ 11:52 a.m.
M/S/P: Kundolf/Cassidy/Unanimous- The motion passed 7-0
Next CSE Meeting:
Wednesday, April 2, 2014 @ 8:30 a.m.
Vail Town Council Chambers