HomeMy WebLinkAbout02. VLMDAC Minutes January 20, 2021
Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council
Monthly Meeting
January 20, 2021, 8:30 am
Meeting held via Zoom
VLMDAC member attendees:
Esmarie Faessler (Sonnenalp), Laurie Mullen (Member at Large),
Erica Cannava (Manor Vail Lodge), Jana Morgan (Sweet Basil), Michael Holton (Vail Health),
Scott Gubrud (Four Seasons-Vail), Kam Bozich (Slifer, Smith & Frampton), Liana Moore
(Antlers), Jenn Bruno (TOV council)
Additional attendees:
Kristin Yantis (MYPR), Meggen Kirkham (SITE Marketing), Ainslie Fortune (Cactus),
Katie Harker (Cactus) Mia Vlaar (Town of Vail), Jeremy Gross (Town of Vail),
Kim Brussow (Vail Valley Partnership), Kay Schneider (Vail Valley Partnership),
Liz Gladitsch (Town of Vail), Chris Romer (Vail Valley Partnership),
Carlie Smith (Town of Vail), Mark Herron (lodging Liaison), Bob Brown (Data Roadmap),
Jeremy Coleman (Data Roadmap),Ashley Ojala, Chad Milam, Chris Shewmake(Cactus), Colin
Johnson, Emily Tamberino, Jennifer Viditz-Ward, Mike Lee(Cactus), Scott Strother(Cactus),
John Plack (Vail Resorts),
Call to Order
Esmarie called meeting to order at 8:30am
Tammy Nagel swore in Michael Holton as he was not present at the December meeting when
the other new Board members were sworn in.
Monthly Financial Report-
To date, current year lodging tax totals $2.5 million which is down 17% from 2019 but is up
15.5% from the budget.
The VLMD also received $198,000 in prior year lodging tax as a result of a lawsuit that the state
perused. That was an unexpected addition to VLMD revenue this year!
Expenses through December 31st total $2.53 million which is 97% of the total budget allocated
for 2020.
Any revenues in excess of expenses will go into the fund balance. The fund balance totals close
to $1.6 million which is 44% of annual normal years revenue.
The VLMD is required to keep a fund balance equivalent to 25% of normal annual revenues.
Approval of December 16, 2020 Minutes
Motion to approve Erica/ Scott second/ unanimous
Appointment of Officers-
Jana moved to nominate Esmarie as Chair
Esmarie moved to nominate Laurie as Vice-Chair
Scott moved to nominate Erica as Treasurer
Jana seconded Laurie & Erica’s appointments/ Scott seconded Esmarie’s
appointment/unanimous
Board Member Orientation-
Cactus - Ainslie
Expectations-
What you can expect from us-
Collaboration (Partners & Board), we are goal oriented and Data-driven (we have almost a full
year of data)
What we need from you-
Unified long-term vision
Clearly defined goals
Your point-of-view and expectations
Partner Ecosystem
See Town of Vail slide in presentation for more details
Town of Vail- Mia-(Economic Development Director) we are here to serve the board and work
with the VLMD
Because we are funded by publicly collected taxes we have to be transparent to the voters and
town council
Liz- (Economic Development Marketing Specialist) day to day VLMD contact
Carlie- Finance Manager
Jeremy- Economic Development Events coordinator
CACTUS- privately owned company out of Denver, we offer Brand strategy, website
development, Digital media- strategy, planning + buying.
Ainslie introduced the CACTUS team (see presentation)
Malen Yantis PR- Kristin Yantis-public relations, influencer program, community/partner
relations
SITE marketing- Meggen Kirkham- Project, brand, creative, budget management, tactical photo
and video oversight
VVP- Chris Romer & Kim Brussow- Strategic leadership, Industry Rep, Groups, RRC +
Destimetrics oversight
Mark Herron – Lodge Liaison
Brown Analytics Advisory Group- Bob Brown & Jeremy Coleman- Data roadmap
Scott Gubrud asked for a better understanding on how to navigate GDPR guidelines in the data
collection/communication process Jeremy Coleman answered he would be happy to share as
everything they do is based on adhering to both domestic and international data privacy laws
Vail Resorts - John Plack
Jack Affleck - Photography
Satchele and Steep Motion – videography and production
Ainslie explains: The Annual Planning Calendar (see presentation),
Key Monthly Milestones & Deadlines
Please see presentation for more details on all VLMD partners
Data Systems Roadmap Update- Brown Analytics
Objectives & Status- Who are our customers, drive visitation growth, Obtaining customer data,
take an iterative approach
Roadmap Output- data-driven marketing roadmap summary slide, data-driven marketing
roadmap slide
Example of Approach- See presentation
Phase 1 and 2 review- Organizational collaboration, marketing data, analytics/insights,
marketing strategy, automation/execution
Next steps- address any follow-ups or questions from this meeting, Develop roadmap details for
Phase 1 & 2, gather and incorporate partner feedback on Roadmap, Move to phase 1
implementation
Lodge Liaison update- Mark Herron
My position is new, we came up with lodging contacts and it is a revolving door, but the main
goal is to create communication with the lodging sector.
Discussed the results of the lodging survey and discovervail.com
SOAR strengths- brand recognition, marketing, staying in level orange and saying safe
SOAR opportunities- lodging engagement, communication, support, discovervail.com lodging
bookings, website engagement, referrals, Vail resorts relationship, group sales, leisure bookings
SOAR aspirations- Investigate new products, collaboration offerings, lodging supported TIF
capital improvements, sustainability green initiative, enhanced lodging relationship
SOAR results- lodging tax/sales tax, discovervail.com views, referrals, bookings, bi-annual
reports
90 day lodging action plan- Lodging communication, different way to communicate- not a
newsletter, I have come up with a postcard. Discovervail.com, data acquisition, lodging
participation
Scott commended Mark for his work. Scott commented that if we are spending the bulk of our
resources to direct to the web site, then content is key.
2021 Goals, Budget & Strategic Approach-
Town council Action Plan- VLMD business and marketing goals should ladder up to Town
Councils vision and mission
Laurie Mullen asked that the TOV goals for tax revenues be added
VLMDAC 2021 business goals (May-October) Mia asked the Board to look at this slide and think
about a reasonable goal setting for 2021. It is a moving target, so how do we set realistic goals
for 2021. You don’t need to answer now but maybe at the next meeting.
2021 Budget- $2,184,024 Level A & Level B considerations (see breakdown in presentation)
Mike Lee/Chris Shewmake- Cactus-
COVID has had a huge impact short and long term travel
Changes in Vail Resorts summer marketing.
Discovervail.com, we have data! We will use this newly acquired freedom to
test and iterate.
Building a more personalized approach-
Strategic approach- data acquisition, refined content, personalization
Data Acquisition
Personalizing the Consumer Journey
Summer Persona Overview- Primary, Destination families with teens-
Secondary, Destination & Front Range Boomers- Tertiary, Front Range events
See presentation for more detail
Events Meeting Update-
Jana will volunteer to go to these meetings moving forward as Skip is no longer on the board.
Other Business-
Eagle County School breaks during February and April meetings. February (Wednesday the 17th)
will stay the same but change April 21 to April 14 because of school spring break on the 21st.
See presentation appendix for more information
Adjournment-
Laurie adjourned the meeting
Motion to adjourn by Jana /second by Erica/unanimous
Upcoming Meetings:
VLMDAC Monthly Meeting Wednesday, February 17, 2021
Virtual Zoom Meeting