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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-31-2007* ~ CITY OF U~.U~.N WASHINGTON Meeting Notes AUBURN TOURISM BOARD May 31, 2007 Auburn Senior Center 1:30-3:30 p.m. Members Present: Board: Mayor Pro Tem Sue Singer, Chair of Auburn Tourism Board (ATB), David. Kwok, Nancy Wyatt, Khara Nixon, Debbie Luce, Ronnie Roberts, Bob Dunn and Councilmember Lynn Norman; City Staff: Kirsten Reynolds, Duanna Richards, Dave Baron, Laurie Rose, Megan Myer, Shawn Hunstock, Julie Brewer; Consultants: Jane Baxter Lynn, JBL Public Relations Strategies Opening: Chair Sue Singer called the Auburn Tourism Board (ATB) meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. on May 31, 2007, at the Auburn Senior Center Welcome and Introductions: Recognition was given to Ronnie Robert's chocolate store as it was featured in the S.E. Living section in the Seattle Times David Kwok and Khara Nixon were reappointed to the Tax Advisory Board Newly Appointed Auburn Tourism Board members are: Jeffery Sabree, Jamelle Garcia, Bob Dunn and Debbie Luce. Housekeeping: o Minutes -Approval of the April 19, 2007 minutes. All were in favor and the minutes were accepted without changes. o Copies of the budget were distributed and reviewed. By State Law, the ATB needs to have an equal number of hotel/motel and other tourism related representatives on the Lodging Tax Advisory board. The upcoming year`s revenue. is projected to be $75,000. The Lodging Tax Advisory Board, a subcommittee of the ATB, votes on the budget. This took place on May 30, with Khara Nixon, David Kwok, Nancy Wyatt and Sue Singer present. o Tourism Coordinator update: by July 1St the City will be increasing the Chamber's Visitor Center contract so the ATB Coordinator can be hired, using Lodging Tax funds. The position will be hired by the Chamber and will report to Nancy Wyatt. The job description and supervision/labor laws were discussed. The Chamber planned to consult with their lawyer. o Tourism speech update: Ten presentations have been made to date. Sue will contact the Senior Center and Wesley Homes to schedule with them. The presentation to the Council will be on June 18. Strategic Marketing and Communications Action Plan for Auburn: The final deadline for comments and approval of the plan was set for Thursday, June 7, 2007. It was mentioned that many of the action items have already been implemented. o It was decided the ATB contact list should be included for members but it is not meant not to be distributed outside the group. The final Plan will be available at the next meeting and the group is planning to have more discussion around who should receive it, i.e. partners. It was decided there should be one original marketing binder kept will all the marketing materials. Website Update: Bob Dunn and Jane Baxter Lynn went through the entire website for updating. Bob will continue to work on making the site more interactive and incorporate more forms. Bob still needs good pictures for the site; the left side of the site will eventually be full of interactive pictures. A subcommittee was formed to work with Bob to get the necessary photos. Map Brochure Design and Approval: Duanna presented the design draft of the new map/brochure. Placed on the front of the brochure are color pictures and the new web address. Regional directions are incorporated on the backside. The goal of this tool is to draw people in from surrounding areas, then once here, to help direct them around the City. They will be widely distributed throughout Auburn and in our marketing area, taking the place of the current rack brochure. The maps will go to print next week, with at least 200,000 to be printed. Arts Festival Update: We had hoped to package several arts events already occurring in Auburn as one arts festival. Discussion involved whether or not we have the time to do this in 2007. Laurie Rose from the City of Auburn Parks, Arts and Rec. Dept. talked about what has already been done to help promote this idea. Parks has already developed a small brochure promoting two art gallery shows and a self guided walking tour of public art downtown. A press release was suggested, labeling this event as "Arts in Auburn". Interested parties to work on this project were Dana Hinman, Laurie Rose and Jane Baxter Lynn. Other events could be incorporated in the festival, such as "Meet the Artist" on July 7t" & 14t". The artist's receptions will follow on Saturday in the park. Also mentioned in this discussion was the first concert in the park on Friday 13t" and July 4t" New Opportunities: o Latin Festival -ATB encouraged partnerships with the festival coordinator. Emerald Downs is already doing a Latino weekend at the same time. In the future the city parks department and the Latino community could move their fiestas to the same week. o Laurie Rose and Megan Myers reported the Art Commission is reaching out for new partnerships, including the Auburn Regional Medical Center, as the ATB had hoped. o Ronnie from Gosanko's Chocolates talked about current plans for remodeling the store, including an ice cream parlor. They are painting the building and ultimately will become more of a destination by being able to watch the production of chocolate. o The goal for our participation in the next year's National Tourism Week will be to get national coverage for Auburn. o Feedback from the auctioneer was very positive. They invited the ATB to put together another package for an upcoming auction called the Lenny Wilkens Celebrity Classic Auction being held on August 10t". With consensus of the group Jane will pursue this. o Auburn Regional Theater contacted Chair Singer to help get the word out about their new website: www.experience-art.org Itinerary Brainstorming: The group brainstormed ideas for the Suggested Itinerary page of our website: for families and kids: Spray Park, Skateboard Parks, Museums, Gosanko Chocolate Art, Children Theater, Kids Stage, Mall-Carousel/bacon & eggs, Theater, Roller Skating, Emerald Downs, Quarter Shoot Cafe (breakfast), Camping, Mill Pond Fishing, Hatchery, Disk Golf, Airport -Picnic, Pacific Raceways, Environmental Park - Birding and the YMCA. for Art and Culture: Dueling Piano Bar at Longhorn BBQ, Bravo, Galleries, Art Walk/Public Art, Symphony, Chocolates, Museum, Auburn Ave. Theater and six more Theaters. on the Tracks: Emerald Downs, Pacific Raceways, Museum Railroad Exhibit, Sounder, Ultimate Hobbies. for Golfers: Disk Golf and four Golf Courses in the area, Casino, Sports Authority, Club House/Copper Door. Thank you Jane -flowers were presented along with a special thank you to Jane for all her hard work with the group. The meeting ended at 3:30 p.m.