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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-21-2018 Minutes (2)r AU� rlvor•Auburn Tourism Board Meeting =' "°/ JUNE21,2018-10:00AM WASHINGTON Auburn City Hall, Room #3 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 10:06am by Vice Chairwoman Mohoric. Board Members present: Vice Chair Ashley Mohoric; Board Members Kacie Bray (via phone); Rachael McAlister; Julie Krueger; Ronnie Roberts; Malia Dale; Karrie Schofield. Excused absence: Chair Rebecca Frisch; Jim Wilson; Chantelle Herburger Staff Present: Lorraine Chachere, Tourism Coordinator II. APPROVE MAY MEETING MINUTES Board Member McAlister motioned to approve the May meeting minutes. Board Member Krueger seconded the motion. MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY 7-0. III. OLD BUSINESS 1) Tourism Updates ■ Membership Updates A sincere thank you to former Board Member Tonia Jones for her service and continued participation by ensuring her hotel properties are represented in the Hotel FAM events and on the Tourism Board. Budget Update The financials through April 2018 including BA#5 were presented. ■ Tourism Logos The second draft of the Tourism Logos developed by Smarthouse were reviewed. The vast majority of Board Members and City staff did not respond favorably to these designs. Several options were discussed of who would be tasked with the completion of this project. Board Member Krueger motioned to task the logo to the in-house City designer for additional logo options. Board Member Mc Alister seconded the motion. MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY 7-0. • Tourism Map Coordinator Chachere shared the draft that Smarthouse Creative came up with. Board Member Krueger suggested the downtown section be a different color than the front. Additional feedback given included that the street placements are incorrect, a circle of the Downtown section be indicated on the front, City Hall should not be included for the Visitor Map. W RA Concert Season Stay & Play Packages Coordinator Chachere shared a collaboration with hotels and partner stakeholders (City Traffic/Engineering); Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, King County Sherriff; Auburn Police Department; and Live Nation to mitigate traffic to the summer concert series. Feedback from hotel guests and commentary on the venue's social media sites, Tripadvisor suggest that attending a concert results in a frustrating experience. Hence the desire to improve and enhance the visitor experience. There are three participating hotels to offer Stay & Play packages of which a dedicated shuttle service will offer door to door service for concertgoers staying at Comfort Inn, Best Western Plus, and Red Lion to ideally generate repeat attendance for the 2018 robust concert season (24 rather than the usual 12 concerts), and to cultivate a seamless experience that becomes an annual tradition for Auburn visitors. The additional desired outcomes are to encourage even Auburn residents to consider a staycation, to leave the driving to the Amphitheatre to the shuttle driver, and maximize hotel exposure as several properties have been rebranded. Ads have been placed with the Seattle Weekly, Auburn Reporter, and social media campaigns to heighten awareness and encourage hotel and concert bookings. POS Spotlight Grant Program Q3and Q1 Coordinator Chachere shared that with the Board that the application process for the next round of Spotlight Grants was open and the deadline is prior to the next Board meeting. Because Smarthouse chose not to add a QR code, the only possible metrics could be the Google Analytics that pinpoint location of the user that accessed the Tourism site. Only four users from SeaTac (not distinctly at the airport, yet in all of SeaTac) was identified during the ad's placement Q2 so far. The Board expressed preference to allocating marketing dollars for other endeavors that could be tracked and yield more significant results. • SHCA FAM A FAM event on Wednesday, June 27th for the Seattle Hotel Concierge Association, an influential group of hospitality professionals who are often asked by their guests where they can explore after seeing the desired sights of the Seattle metropolitan area. The event will focus on family friendly and summer attractions Mary Olson Farm, Neely Mansion, and Emerald Downs. Transportation will be provided for attendees from and return to Downtown Seattle as well as lunch. 2) Film Festival Proposal After a presentation by Coordinator Chachere and further discussion on weighing the opportunities and challenges of launching an Auburn Adventure Film Festival, the Board requested more information and research pertaining to the topics of groundwork, outcomes for early years of development, desired goals of sponsorships, detailed sponsorship levels, concerns about Coordinator Chachere's capacity to take this on. 3) Emerald Downs Sponsorship Request After summarizing the request and offering to answer any questions, Vice Chair Mohoric excused herself from the room. It was unanimous that the Board would prefer to develop a sponsorship package with Emerald Downs that encompasses digital and print in Fall 2018 for launch in 2019 rather than enter a sponsorship for an event. IV. NEW BUSINESS Auburn Tourism Economy Study Coordinator Chachere brought up the possibility of having Auburn specific data generated regional research companies that would either help us identify the Auburn traveler profiles or provide visitor feedback through visitor intercept surveys. The former would allow the Board to strategically allocate marketing funds by better understanding who is already visiting Auburn and why. Additionally, should the Board deem it valuable for a tourism economic impact study to be done, that is a possibility, too. The cost for such studies would be in the $27,000 - $41,000 range for each. V. NEXT MEETING Next ATB Meeting: Thursday, July 191h at 10AM in Room #3, 2"a Floor VI. ADJOURNMENT There being no more business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 12:17PM. EBECCA FRISCH, CHAIR L RR INE CHACHERE, TOURISM COOR