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Home My WebLink About02.1 10-17-2019 VLMDAC Meeting MinutesVail Local Marketing District Advisory Council Monthly Meeting Thursday, October 17, 8:30 am AGENDA In attendance: Skip Thurnauer, Esmarie Faessler, Laurie Mullen, Mia Vlaar, Jessie Klehfoth, Kristin Yantis, Meggen Kirkham, Hannah Green, Katie Harker, Andrew Baker, Carlie Smith, Liz Gladitsch, Kim Brussow, Corinne Baud Monthly Financial Report (5 minutes), Carlie Smith Carly presented financial report recap: September lodging tax = $217K. YTD = $2.6 million. This is .2% below last year. - Expenses YTD are $2.3 million, which is 59% of budget. - Bid officially passed resolution from 9/3 last Tuesday Approval of September 19, 2019 Minutes (5 minutes), Board Motion to approve Sept 2019 minutes Motion: Laurie/ Second: Skip/ Approval: Unanimous CSE Meeting Updates (10 minutes), Board Member/Mia Vlaar Funding meeting yesterday 10/16. Samantha from CSE was present to give update. - Eight new events approved for slower need periods with a flat budget - November 6th is next meeting: Reminder to please keep up the VLMD attendance/representation at this meeting. - Mia stated Town Council approved GoPro Mountain Games as a Signature event leading to major accolades. Intercept Surveys: producers are responsible for their own surveys as well. Challenge is getting a meaningful sample size. Difficult to get people to engage as much with on-site intercepts especially at large free events. Having email addresses are hard to collect. Information is being obtained but there are limitations to results because of lack of survey consistency. 2020 Event application deadline Monday Sept 22: Last reminder going out today regarding applications for 2020. Emphasis to producers, CSE is looking for quality over quantity, and the following reminders: guest profiles, who are the targeted guests, and clarification that the intent of CSE is to provide seed money for the events. With requests for additional funds, there should be a continually improving guest experience, and clear expectations that events are improving and growing YOY. Additional discussion of the phrasing of this messaging. TOV will draft a document for CSE to provide additional guidelines for events and event promotion. Emphasis is quantity over quality, and the following reminders: guest profiles, who are the targeted guests, and clarification that the intent is to provide seed money for the events. With requests for additional funds, there should be a continually improving guest experience, and clear expectations that events are improving and growing YOY. Additional discussion of the phrasing of this messaging. Group Sales Update – (15 minutes), Kim Brussow, VVP Recapped great Q3 from Group Sales Team Above sales pace from this time last year - 184 total leads last year to 197 YTD Went over tradeshows, client events and sales mission successes. Strong attendance at each with Requests for Proposals Funding meeting yesterday 10/16. Samantha from CSE was present to give update. increase in new contacts and organizations added. Highlights includes IMEX, Destination West and New York and Dallas Client Events Strong lead-in for Q4 with 4% higher increase YOY. Q4 Shows: Client Events in ATL, & Denver Destination CO Customer Appreciation-Ft. Collins, October Serving Up Hope – Denver November CMP Conclave – CO Spgs, November Destination CO Front Range Trade Show – Denver, December Occupancy/FIT higher in peak mos. than group travel as transient ADR continues to trend higher than group. Skip asked about trends regarding group size, length of stay and other market trends. Grand Hyatt doing exceptionally well since brand transition. No new trends; corporate and incentive group continue to dominate, though at shorter group stays. Organic Social and SEM Update (15 minutes), Vail Marketing Digital Update (15 minutes), Cactus Data Update (20 minutes), Cactus Skip: For next year, any plans to change any tactics? Cactus: In 2020 will revisit the partners, strategies and tactics will stay the course. Mia: major changes coming to AIR partnerships. Very promising partnership coming thru SW. Stay tuned. Breckenridge is trending ahead of Vail in the category of families Be sure to review CACTUS slides – all updates, strategies, successes are outlined New Website coming for Town of Vail: (15 minutes) Launch date – February Insights from stakeholder research: - Data content, one-stop-shop, bus info, activities, etc. provide level playing field for all the businesses in Vail. Functionality, timely and relevant content, seasonal photography, social media, anticipatory, - No technical conversations yet - Mia - Cactus will do licensing and negotiate great deal - Reoccurring themes: making sure that everyone understands what website will be and will not be. Not to be competitive with VRI. Content - who will manage, etc. all ongoing process - How to define success? How easy will it be to guide people and get them the content they need and want. Time on the site, etc. - From a competitive standpoint, looked at other towns: Aspen, Telluride, JH, Breck, Steamboat. Working to finalize this list. - Website functionality, Social media, interactive content, etc. Went thru various URL’s. Squatters= people who buy up domains and wait for viable buyer. - List on slide is in order of priority - Looking to finalize with broker by end of month. - Look at list for those owned by squatters. These can go upwards to 10-75k each. Not a great investment, will continue to monitor and research those URL’s that contain “Vail” - Our Owned URL’s Looking for more that are Simple, two words, easy to read, etc. - Welcome to Vail, Come to Vail, etc. - Esmarie – not a fan of the VailCO or any that contain this moniker - Jessie – Most important factor is making sure the website name comes across strong and legitimate - Laurie – VisitVail is strongest, is there placeholder in our funding for this? - Mia – Council will not purchase any until price-tags are approved and back up’s in place. - current visit vail site is not as user friendly or content-heavy as preferred. Discovery Workshop – work with key stakeholders, content, creating labels, animation, analytic insights, etc. sitemap, Laurie – reiterated the need to stay on plan to launch on time. People are very excited and supportive to get this onboard. Good timing. Mia – major collaboration with all stakeholders, no negativity. Fluid process/strategy to complement seasonal happenings for TOV. • Asset Acquisition Update (10 minutes), SITE – Meggen Jack is out of town) “Casual Bike” Showcase family friendly biking shots in Vail, East Vail, paved, vail village Jack executed extra “casual biking” shoot. “Goals: showcasing authentic, casual, family-friendly biking and hiking in Vail in various light of day, music, etc. Satchel - Long-form story telling pieces, family hiking, dogs, kids, etc. Various speeds/genres of music used to illicit mood/feel. Tactical asset captures along with short form shoots. Not meant to tell the entire story. Clips intent is to showcase what has been accomplished. Clips are meant for internal analysis, not for public viewing. Discussion/comments on photos, what represents Vail. A need for more diversity/multi-racial in family shots in Vail was also mentioned. Brand shoot includes more multiracial models, keep in mind this test- shoot included local professional models due to timeframe. Please see SLIDES for new shots. Skip – good spectrum of Vail in summer and use of fall colors. BURKE – Chris to address further next month (20 min) Continuing research with key markets including: Families w/teens, Super Boomers, Front Range 517 respondents in a nationally representative footprint were interviewed Conversions remain high 2019 results Overall Breck is leader with CO residents, town atmosphere, is main factor. 2020 will have clear messaging about what Vail Village has to offer that Breck doesn’t. Talk about Aspen is also just behind Vail, perplexing why Breck is trending higher than Vail due to the pedestrian nature of VV vs Breck. Mia – Superboombers will have a major impact on the valley in next 5-10 yrs. as a growing group. Esmarie – Do we know why Tahoe is not converting as they lead in awareness? A-could be sheer numbers in respondents but waiting on code to have better understanding of the matrixes overall. See slides for total funnel matrix across and persona profiles Water Activities / Destinations on the rise Colorado Residents - town atmosphere most important Vacationers and Intenders – word of mouth most important when choosing destination Safety and location are most important to visiting families Liz – of the Winter commenters, do we know how many overlaps to summer? No Laurie – Is overlap indicative of loyalty to brand in each category—No info Tahoe is leading the way on return visits due to affordability. Mia? How do we incentivize our guests to return—by working with strategic partners. Burke – info to be updated with most current data. • Guest Experience, Town Manager, Town Council Election and Board Commission Vacancies Update (15 minutes), Mia Vlaar Mia provided recap on some current initiatives. Guest Experience Initiative: customer service training, employee engagement, and “Thanksgiving Reimagined” event, Revely, coming November 22 – 29, 2019. Peer Resort Visit – 2020 budget has approved council to visit Jackson Hole. Next steps are to decide where to stay. Launched GR experience ICW Vail Resorts, Prima Vail. Prima Vail will be focused on Customer Service objectives Will have engagement component, recognition, etc. Went over music, lighting festivals, astronomy piece to elevate guest experience in fall / early winter season. See Mia for more details. Vail Après: (Vail Bells) – at 3pm every day, everyone will ring bells and clocktowers to ring to signify start of après ski. Several Board seats are coming open. Mia, Jessie and Laurie will be interviewing to fill. Taking apps now. On CSE there is vacant spot. Several more are up for renewal. Reach out to your resources to fill these spots. Funding secured for Thanksgiving event, finalizing curriculum and dates for training sessions, and participants lined up for employee engagement piece. Town Council election Nov. 6. Upcoming candidate forum on 9/25/19 at Donovan Pavilion. Reappointment of Boards and Commissions – upcoming, also one open space on CSE. Welcome Liz, the new Marketing Specialist for TOV. • Adjournment Motion to Adjourn Motion: Laurie/ Second: Skip/ Approval: Unanimous Next VLMDAC Monthly Meeting, Thursday, November 21, 2019 Grandview Room