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VLMDAC Minutes 2020-05-21 Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Monthly Meeting May 21, 2020, 8:30 am Meeting held via Zoom VLMDAC member attendees: Erick Cannava (Manor Vail), Amy Moser Harrison (Four Seasons), Esmarie Faessler (Sonnenalp), Laurie Mullen (West Vail Liquor Mart), Jenn Bruno (Vail Town Council), Skip Thurnauer, Beth Slifer (Slifer Designs), Jana Morgan (Sweet Basil) Additional attendees: Sarah Berkheimer (Cactus), Kristin Yantis (MYPR), Meggen Kirkham (SITE Marketing), Sarah Franke (Vail Valley Foundation), Ainslie Fortune (Cactus), Mia Vlaar (Town of Vail), Chris Romer (Vail Valley Partnership), Jeremy Gross (Town of Vail), Phil Metz (Vail Resorts), Cynthia Pillsbury, Carlie Smith, Dana Norder, Jill Lau, Alison Wadey (Vail chamber & business association), Ashley Ojala, Colin Johnson, Corinne Baud (MYPR), Kim Brussow (Vail Valley Partnership), Liana More, Satchele Burns, Liz Gladitsch (Town of Vail) Call to Order Meeting called to order at 8:36 am by Beth Slifer Monthly Financial Report- Carlie Smith Carlie provided update on YTD financials March lodging tax came in at $455,000, which is down 30% from March 2019 Year to date is $1.5 million, which is 18% down from last year Expenses to date are $516,000, which is 14% of budget Slifer- Vendor revenue was reduced from 3.3 million to 2.3 million, but assuming we will not make the $2.3million, we need to find the extra $450,000. This is the issue for todays meeting. “Refer to presentation” for budget levels Beth suggested moving forward on discussion due to time constraints. Discussion ensued on three options outlined in meeting packet and described by town staff. Board consensus after extended discussion to move to crisis level to align with Town direction and to ensure we are prepared for future years marketing efforts. Beth- the options for the $450,000 are: 1-Reduce the fund balance by half 2-Take the expense budget down which would affect media 3-Go to the counsel for money 4- combination of all Motion to approve reducing the budget –half from Vendors-half from the fund balance by Skip- second by Jenn, unanimous Board approved the final budget reduction below. Town Council approved on 6/2/2020 https://vail.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=12856&MeetingID=1168 Approval of April 16, 2020 Minutes Board- Motion to approve by Beth, second by Laurie, unanimous Vail Mountain Update (5 minutes), Phil- VR is trying to open chairlifts and activities by late June/early July. They are watching how guests are making travel plans. They feel people are going to travel to familiar places not new places so the “find what you are missing” is right on track” Skip asked Chris Romer about his report- Chris responded that the VVP has shifted their focus to CO. They are still getting leads and booking groups. He has seen a lot of groups from June/July moving to fourth quarter or next year. Group business across the board is going to happen next summer 2021 and for 2020 there Will be a significant impact. • Public Relations Update- Kristin Yantis Front Range Zoom Happy Hour Travel & Leisure wrote a story about trends with Expedia- this is all about searching, Vail is in the top 10 of people searching. • COVID-19 Updates: Budget, Tactics & Creative Cactus/All Partners “Please reference Presentation” Katie opened up her presentation with the fact that they are really watching 5/25 for restaurants to open in the Vail Valley and launching print and digital in Local and the Front Range markets June 1st Opportunity in the Vail Valley- VailDaily.com to promote to current residents and second homeowners Megan Kirkham- we are looking at digital to take the lead in the traditional Front Range market Ainslie- identified 3 markets within 500 miles that they would market to in late June - early July- Santa Fe, Albuquerque and Salt Lake City, the key audience is family with teens and active professionals. Ainslie- as we continue looking to expand outside of 500 miles and the long haul drive markets we would launch in- KC, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston and Chicago. Chris talked about the flight status into Eagle- Chicago has been cancelled, Dallas has a flight until early June that flies into Eagle then Aspen then Montrose and Telluride with a possibility of a direct flight from Dallas to Eagle in July. Presentation- “Find what you’ve been missing” was the winning campaign. Board watched videos and looked at print. Sarah Berkheimer- Watch for the “sunrise dawn” video during the golf match: Champions for Charity on ESPN this weekend. Beth and Jana asked for more pictures of people eating outside in print/videos as this will be our new normal. Budget Shift Level 1- See page 7 “in the presentation”-Budget shift level 1:13% reductions Budget Shift Level 2- See page 8 “in the presentation” Budget shift level 2:20% reductions Discover Vail.com Erica asked about Discover Vail for email marketing. Ainslie said they were looking for people who are not yet in our email database and more specific markets. Esmarie asked if COVID information would be added, Ainslie said it would be built out today and added. Liz also mentioned the safety video should be ready to push out tomorrow and TOV will share it. Erica also asked about more consistent signage through out the villages and Mia said they had professional signage to share as well as a tool kit coming out. Data & Website Updates- Ainslie- Reference Presentation- Page 22- Increase consumer engagement, improve word of mouth Reference Presentation- Page 23- Matrix: Inspiration, Consideration, Booking, Planning, Experiencing, Sharing We have to start driving traffic to the site. We are planning on a big push June 1st Events Update- Mia Vlaar Mia discussed the major events being canceled- Bravo, Dance, Go Pro and that they are looking at moving things to the end of the summer. They are reducing thier budget. The messaging to the county is safety, being outdoors, events will be last in the message as there won’t be a lot of traditional events happening. • CSE Meetings Update – Erica Cannava/Skip Thurnauer Erica discussed how events are part of the long-term strategy for Vail. Concentrating on smaller events is in the near future. Adjustments to the Fourth of July could include: Fireworks more centrally located so more people could watch while social distancing as well as a reverse parade. Skip discussed the support for rescheduling events such as: Lacrosse in August, Blue Grass in July and the Farmers market launching virtually in June then going live with less vendors in July. Beth asked how many dollars had been saved by cancelled events and Mia replied she didn’t have a good answer as they are just looking into it. • Other Business Mia will be emailing the Board, as a vote has to be approved via email. • Adjournment Motion to adjourn by Beth/second by Jenn/unanimous Upcoming Meetings: VLMDAC Monthly Meeting, Thursday, June 18, 2020, Grand View Room