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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-03-02 CSE Meeting Minutes COMMISSION ON SPECIAL EVENTS MEETING Vail Town Council Chambers Wednesday, March 2, 2016 @ 8:30am CSE Members Present: Barry Davis Mark Christie Mark Gordon Kim Newbury Rediker Shenna Richardson Marco Valenti Alison Wadey Town of Vail Staff Present: Sybill Navas, CSE Coordinator Kelli McDonald, Economic Development Manager Laura Waniuk, Event Marketing Liaison Others Present: Brooke Skjonsby, Vail Resorts Missy Johnson, Highline James Deighan, Highline Laura Lodge, Big Beers Beth Slifer, Slifer Designs, VLMDAC Jennifer Hohn, Vladimir Jones Matt Ingwalson, Vladimir Jones AGENDA: Meeting materials can be accessed after February 26th at the following link: http://65.38.144.10/weblink/0/fol/346297/Row1.aspx CSE Chair, Barry Davis, called the meeting to order at 8:35 am Administrative Items (15 minutes) Approval of the Minutes of the CSE Regular Meeting on February 3, 2016  Motion to approve the minutes of the CSE Meeting, February 3, 2016 as presented. M/S/P: Christie/Valenti/Unanimous The motion passed 6-0 (Wadey arrived at 8:37 and was not present for this vote.) Review Financials Please see attachment Closing Weekend: April 8-10, 2016. Report on additional activations funded by Town Council. Memo attached. Navas reported that the Town Council was concerned about early closing of the mountain and felt that an increase in the activities during the closing week would be important to support the businesses and workforce. They funded a concert at Solaris on Friday night as an expansion of Spring Back to Vail that is expected to draw 5-7K attendees. The Vail Film Festival proposed a Virtual Reality concept and they will have a tent set-up at Checkpoint Charlie that will be free and open to the public throughout the event. Wadey and the VCBA are working on a local merchant program; they are not just ending the season, but kicking off the off- season. Wadey met with Skjonsby to discuss the promotion and they will create some stickers for the store fronts and get those out as soon as possible. The promotions will be town-wide on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, April 8-10. Gordon asked if the Town Council discussed the overall event funding or if it was a narrow focus. McDonald replied that it was narrowly focused on the Spring Back to Vail weekend. Gordon asked about the separation of the two groups and the budgeting for 2017. Davis mentioned that it needs to be discussed because it is an additional $120k that was not in the CSE budget and questioned how that will be approached in the 2017 CSE budgeting process. He stated that it will be challenging with respect to the budget for next year and that it was an about face from the new event strategy that Vail Resorts had embraced and that had been indicated by the previous council last year. Wadey stated that she did not think it was the Town Council questioning their decisions about Spring Back funding, rather trying to generate more leverage for local businesses in what is already a “short” April with the Mountain closing on April 10th. Gordon stated that he is “happy it’s happening,” but he isn’t happy with the methodology. He would have preferred that the CSE would have been called in for a work session to discuss the situation and work together on a solution. Event Liaison Marketing update Please see meeting materials for complete presentation. Event Recaps: *motion to release final funding disbursement required Snow Daze: December 11-13, 2015* James Deighan spoke about Spring Back to Vail and suggested he present a case study of an event in another resort town – Jackson Hole Rendezvous Fest. Vail Snow Daze had more funding from Vail Mountain, it was a strong effort. The event kicked off the season with good numbers. There were 55-60K people in town over the course of the event, according to Highline.  Motion to approve the final funding distribution for Vail Snow Daze. M/S/P: Wadey/Christie/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Big Beers, Belgians and Barleywines: January 7-9, 2016 This event has been around for 16 years, and has developed a national and international reputation. The event is a strong economic driver and provides a unique marketing opportunity. The last 8 or 9 years has been primarily held at the Vail Cascade, but given the growth of the event and the changes being made at the Cascade, the event is now too big for most of the event space in town. They would have to move to a new location for the Commercial Grand Tasting, the largest component of event and the primary driver of its success. Trying to keep the nature of the event the same and find a new home is a challenge. Lodge stated that she looked at the option of using the Dobson Arena, and was pleasantly surprised by the potential that space offers. Gordon raised the subject of hotel room rates increasing and how to address this issue as it’s a problem for several events. Navas suggested moving to Dobson and then disbursing the event across the community and hotel properties. Lodge acknowledged she hasn’t had to incur a lot of major expense for equipment rentals, etc. that were provided at the Cascade, and that she would need to find a big sponsor to offset those costs. Wadey suggested that Eagle’s Nest and to investigate that option. Vladimir Jones Branding Update/VLMDAC Please see presentation New Business and Community Input (5 minutes) Valenti mentioned he’d like to have a Town Council member attend the CSE meetings and Navas mentioned that an invitation could be extended to them. Navas suggested the CSE participate in a work session with the Town Council which may also create opportunities for the CSE. Christie mentioned that he received feedback that the Burton US Open banners are difficult to read. Wadey mentioned that the Future Business Leaders of America/FBLA Conference, taking place April 13-16, is seeking volunteers to sit in and judge competitions. There are 60 events that the students will compete in while they are here.  Motion to Adjourn at 10:09am M/S/P: Richardson/Newbury-Rediker/Unanimous The motion passed 7-0 Next CSE Meeting: Wednesday, April 6, 2016 @ 8:30am Vail Town Council Chambers