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HomeMy WebLinkAbout 2015-02-04 CSE Meeting MinutesCSE Minutes Regular Meeting: Feb 4 , 2015 Page 1 of 4 MINUTES: COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS MEETING Vail Town Council Chambers Wednesday, February 4, 2015 @ 8:30am CSE Members Present: Jeff Andrews Barry Davis Shenna Engleman Mark Gordon Rayla Kundolf Marco Valenti Alison Wadey Town of Vail Staff Present: Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager Patty McKenny, Vail Town Clerk Molly Eppard, Art in Public Places Coordinator Others Present: Laura Waniuk, Event Liaison Missy Johnson, Highline Jeff Brausch, Highline Laurie Asmussen, Eagle Valley Events Brian Hall, Blue Creek Productions Angela Mueller , REN Productions Ann Foster, REN Productions Beth Pappas, Vail Recreation District Sean Glackin, Alpine Quest Sports Meeting materials can be accessed at the following link: http://www.vailgov.com/WebLink8/0/fol/321723/Row1.aspx Acting CSE Chair, Barry Davis, called the meeting to order at 8:42am Administrative Items • CSE Members Swearing In: Patty McKenny, Vail Town Clerk. Barry Davis, Mark Gordon, Marco Valenti and Alison Wadey were appointed on December 2nd by the Vail Town Council to serve two year terms expiring on December 31, 2016. Shenna Engleman was appointed on January 20th to serve out the unexpired term of Nicole Whitaker, which expires on December 31, 2015. • Election of Officers: CSE Chair and Vice Chair  Motion to approve Barry Davis as 2015 CSE Chair and Mark Gordon as 2015 CSE Vice-chair. M/S/P: Kundolf/ Andrews/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 • Approval of the Minutes of the CSE’s Meeting on December 3, 2014  Motion to approve the minutes of the CSE Meeting, December 3, 2014, as presented. M/S/P: Gordon/Kundolf/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 • CSE Contact list and Meeting Dates for 2015 Navas to update as requested. • CAST (Colorado Association of Ski Towns) Meeting: Barry, Kelli and Sybill gave a report on January 23 in Dillon explaining how Vail’s Special Events program is managed. The PowerPoint presentation that was prepared for this meeting is included in the meeting materials. CSE Minutes Regular Meeting: Feb 4 , 2015 Page 2 of 4 • Financial Report and Budget Update Navas reported that Vail Rocks! had cancelled their event due to internal organizational challenges, and that there had been a clerical error in the amount designated to the CSE as part of the Town Vail budget, resulting in a $31,000 balance of available Special Event funding. Event Survey Agreement with RRC: Review and approve the proposed contract  Motion to approve the RRC contract, as written. M/S/P: Andrews/Kundolf/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Tier IV Criteria: Determine process for revision to Tier IV Category funding criteria to present to Council by April 3rd- materials would be due March 25th. • Kundolf and Andrews will be the CSE representatives who work on the criteria. Rogers will be asked to participate and another Town of Vail staff person will support the development of the presentation and criteria. Vail Whitewater Kayak Series: Request to transfer the funding agreement to the Vail Recreation District: Sean Glackin and Beth Pappas  Motion to approve the transfer of the allocation and agreement from Alpine Quest Sports to the Vail Recreation District. M/S/P: Kundolf /Gordon /Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Event Recaps: • Vail Snow Daze 2014: rescheduled for March 4 @ request from Highline Vail Resort impressions and survey data not yet available. • Vail Holidaze 2014: Highline: Missy Johnson, accompanied by AIPP Coordinator, Molly Eppard Christmas tree lighting with lantern walk supported by AIPP was a great success. Collaboration with local performers to continue the connection with the community was a key part of the event. Kundolf mentioned that they should continue generating local sponsorship. Dorothy Browning sponsored the lantern creation and Alpine Bank was a strong sponsor for the event as well.  Motion to approve the 2014 Vail Holidaze recap and release the final funding disbursement. M/S/P: Kundolf/Gordon/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Vail Rocks!: cancellation and reallocation of funding CSE members agreed by consensus to support the staff recommendation to reallocate the remaining $31,000 of the CSE’s event funds for 2015 to Vail America Days™ and/or Vail Holidaze. Vail Holidaze and Vail America Days™: Review proposals, select Event Producer and allocate funding for Vail America Days™ and Vail Holidaze. The CSE requested to first review the proposals for Vail America Days™, then follow with the review of the Vail Holidaze proposals. 2015 Vail America Days™- Blue Creek Productions Hall’s key strategy is focusing on theatrical and post parade events, variety show and activities for kids. Brian will lead and tag team with Laurie Asmussen on this event; she will work for him. 2015 Vail America Days™- Ren Productions Mueller is the producer of Taste of Vail and Vail Farmers’ Market. Her team is able to manage large crowds and they can bring in some of the vendors from the Farmers’ Market to the event. Mueller wants to ensure that there is a community feel and positive impact on both the guests’ experience and locals. Focus on “Made in Colorado” local food and vendors. The vendor location would be in Mountain Plaza, they already have permission from Vail Resorts. Beer sponsorship is confirmed if the contract is signed. Mueller stated that she had produced a smaller parade in the past. Staffing budget is high to address the need for crowd control and parade management. Davis asked about insurance. Mueller said the insurance cost would be $.44-$.50 per person and she would take out a new policy for the event. 2015 Vail America Days™ - Highline The original 2015 funding request was a shortfall in relation to last year’s budget. They would plan the event like last year, with a focus on the parade. Brausch spoke about the insurance cost for the parade, which is the most expensive for any event that they produce. The reasons CSE Minutes Regular Meeting: Feb 4 , 2015 Page 3 of 4 for the expense: no barricades, throwing candy which drives people into the street, water launching and the narrow parade route with many tight turns. A standard 4th of July parade runs along much wider roads. Brausch stated that ambient activities are a challenge to hold, may not be as successful. Kundolf stated that the one day celebration has demonstrated itself to be the most successful. Kundolf also mentioned she’d like to see an evening concert and asked what other sponsors they are trying to secure. They are researching further sponsorship opportunities. Solaris will not be holding a 4th of July celebration. 2015 Vail Holidays – Eagle Valley Events Laurie Asmussen will take the lead on this and Brian will work for her. Asmussen provided her bio and background to the new CSE members. Asmussen suggested re-naming the event to utilize the more traditional spelling of “Holidays”. Her main goals are delighting families and providing a great guest experience. Asmussen would like to bring back a holiday gift market, produce it outside of the budget for this event. Asmussen would like to work with Solaris and have a skating show with the local skating club; the extra cost would be $10,000 to include it. Navas said the cost to use Solaris is increasing. One suggestion was to hold the skating event at Arrabelle in Lionshead. 2015 Vail Holidaze – Ren Productions Mueller would focus on the tree lighting, but in addition include the holiday market, prior to the tree lighting (Dec. 13). The market would be held indoors at a hotel. Mueller would use vendors from other locations in Colorado. Wadey mentioned that the local vendors should be considered as well, integrating the Vail businesses. The Kris Kringle market is held a week before the tree lighting, a weekend event. It could map to Snow Daze timing. Andrews mentioned that a more optimum day might be Saturday instead, in order to book more room nights. Kundolf stated that the holiday market has been a challenge and a risk in the past, but it could be a good opportunity as well. There is no skating show included in the current budget, but Mueller could follow up with her contacts to research the costs. 2015 Vail Holidaze – Highline The higher budget included the skating entertainment, high quality, included Olympic level and local skating groups. They would need an additional $10k-$15k to bring the event to the same level as the 2014. The skating show is a big line item. Year one was around $70k, production value was very high. Brausch stated that $40k-$50k would get a good skating show. Vail Resorts used to be a partner, when they pulled their funding, the event changed to remove the skating show. Wadey asked if the skating production could be moved to Lionshead, but there is a concern that the rink is too small. They looked at holding a similar show at Dobson, but Highline wasn’t sure if the quality and brand fit would be right. Vail America Days™ ─ Discussion Davis said that this is the town’s iconic event and it needs to focus on the core product, putting on a world class parade and fireworks event. Andrews stated that Vail needs to “own” the 4th of July. Andrews liked the programming from the last two years, and what happens afterwards might not drive more lodging nights, but it would create a celebratory atmosphere. Kundolf stated that the parade is the “jewel” of the event. Davis stated that it might be a consideration to split the fireworks budget differently. He stated that that he thought 70% of the fireworks budget should be allocated to the 4th of July. Navas mentioned that the Bravo concert is one of the anchor events of the day. Andrews stated that having activation all day might not improve the experience. He added that there is a benefit to having the previous producer manage the parade because of their knowledge. Engleman asked what type of activation and innovation would/could impact the parade itself. Wadey asked the producers what type of innovation would they add but still keep the elevated quality of the event. Andrews said that it would be interesting to see what other types of activation could be created and Gordon said maybe the allocation funding could be split between producers for different portions of the event. Davis is interested in trying something new, with a focus on the pageantry. Andrews stated that there might not be enough information to make a decision for 2015, perhaps it can be a consideration for 2016.  Motion to select Highline as the producer of the 2015 Vail America Days™ with a budget of $65,000 to support activation similar to 2014. M/S/P: Gordon/Valenti/Davis opposed. The motion passed 6 -1. CSE Minutes Regular Meeting: Feb 4 , 2015 Page 4 of 4 Holidaze/Holidays ─ Discussion Andrews said that although Highline did a great job on this event, perhaps a new producer could increase the excitement and innovation of this event. Eppard stated that Art in Public Places lantern creation and walk could be implemented with any of the event producers. Valenti stated that he thinks it’s a good opportunity to showcase the Vail brand and bring revenue to local vendors. Wadey gave the example of “Noel Night” in Telluride and it’s attraction to both guests and locals. Davis asked the producers if they could come back in March and present a more specific proposal with a $36,000 budget (not including fireworks, which would be paid for from the Council’s designated funding) Gordon stated that involving the local merchants is a great idea to investigate further. Molly noted that the Triumph Winterfest may start the event/installation earlier next year because of the warmer weather, which has significantly sped up ice melting this January. Davis asked Molly to return in March to provide an update. Andrews said that he thinks these two events (America Days™ and Holidaze) should fall into the overall council budget. McDonald asked Wadey if the Chamber could help with the activation and operations. Davis stated that the new producer selection is an opportunity to further define the “Holidaze/Holidays” event. Navas explained how America Days™ and Holidaze are different from other events because they require so much support from the town, in-kind and financially. The town provides access and resources for these two events. Engleman asked where the group wants to align with Holidaze, in comparison to 4th of July. Andrews stated that the three key pillars are tree lighting, ski down and fireworks. He also raised the idea that the entire week could be focused on a shopping experience with the local retailers. Kundolf mentioned that it’s important to keep the event in line with the Vail brand. The CSE wants to see the producers innovate around the tree lighting, ski down and fireworks. Engleman stated that it’s key to explain to the producers what we’re looking for – in terms of the iconic portions of the event. Andrews requested that the CSE have an opportunity to communicate with the producers prior to their event and provide them with more information on the CSE strategic focus.  Motion to table the allocation of $36,000 in funding available for Vail Holidaze to the March 2015 CSE meeting and give an opportunity to event producers to more explicitly present new ideas, events and innovations. M/S/P: Gordon/Wadey/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0. New Business and Community Input Andrews said that the producer e-newsletter that Waniuk has developed is a good tool and asked how the CSE can support the effort. Waniuk stated forwarding ideas for topics to her to include in the next e-newsletter would be helpful. Gordon stated that there is an opportunity to discuss with promoters or staff to find out what we’re doing right and what needs improvement. Engleman suggested that we send out a survey to assess producer insights. McDonald and Navas stated that much of this information is exchanged in the ERC meeting. Gordon requested that we see gross numbers for sales. McDonald and Navas stated that the new RRC survey will include this information.  Motion to Adjourn at 11:30am M/S/P: Andrews/Kundolf/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0. Next CSE Meeting: Wednesday, March 4, 2015 @ 8:30 a.m.