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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-20-2008Y F A tiBURN WASHINGTON AUBURN TOURISM BOARD Meeting Notes March 20, 2008 Location: Gosanko Chocolate Art 116 A Street SE 2:00-3:30 p.m. Members Present: Board: Chair Sue Singer, Nancy Wyatt, Susie Sourwine, Ronnie Roberts, Renee Bochnovich, David Kwok, Dixie Scahel, Bruce Goldsberry, Brandon Eyle, Dave Aust and Phil Edwards Staff: Debbie Luce, Kirsten Reynolds, Julie Brewer, Dana Hinman and Dave Baron 1. Housekeeping Introductions of Members and Guests Brandon Eyle, new member, from Muckleshoot Indian Casino Marketing Department introduced himself to the group. Mr. Eyle talked briefly about the new Marketing Director Wayne Shadd, who is planning to be in attendance at the next meeting. Approval of Minutes - February 21, 2008 There were no objections or corrections to the February 21, 2008 minutes; the minutes were approved by consensus. • Ronnie Roberts brought out the ATB's chocolate logo bars for viewing. The bars will have Debbie's business cards stuffed inside the clear packaging. Each bar costs $1.10. 500 bars were produced for the ATB at no cost. Thank you Ronnie! 2. Updates: • Certified Mail - Contract is up for renewal Debbie Luce reviewed the brochure certified contract. The one year contract cost less than a six month contract. Payments are accepted twice annually. Susie Sourwine motioned to have the Tourism Board sign up for a one year contract with Certified Mail; Nancy Wyatt seconded. All were in agreement, the motioned carried. • Brochure Distribution - Update Debbie Luce continues to replenish all the drop sites with brochures and postcards; 2,500 postcards have been used to date. People have been picking up 100 at a time to use at their locations and as thank yous for customers. Special Groups - Update Sport Stacking - Debbie Luce reported 1,200 people attended the Sport Stacking competition at Auburn High School. Most of the people were from the area, a few hotels reported a few rooms were booked. ATB got recognition and Debbie had some great opportunities for networking. The Supermall reported their sales numbers were up during the weekend of the competition. The increased business could have been attributed to Debbie's packets sent out that included a list of sites to visit. NW Skating Invitational's - Debbie Luce reported being disappointed in response back from this group. They were using special rates given to them in 2006. Their competition is April 4tn 5tn and 6cn Fast pitch Tournaments - Debbie received information from Julie Brewer and has e-mailed all the coaches regarding hotel stays for upcoming tournaments. There are four teams coming up from Oregon on Mother's Day for a tournament and packets have been sent to them. • 25th Annual Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show - Update Debbie expressed that the show gave some good exposure but there wasn't much interest from people regarding the fly and golf package. However, there was interest regarding where to eat and places to stay right around the airport. Association of Visitor Information Center of Washington Conference - April 23-25 in Gig Harbor Debbie will be attending a seminar April 23-25 in Gig Harbor for $80. There are interesting topics that will be discussed and will be a great networking opportunity. There will be a basket exchange and Debbie is planning to bring local goodies. • Display Case at Sounder Train Station - Update Debbie, Julie Brewer and Jeremy Chevalier have been working together to get the display case decorated. Marketing space is being reserved for ATB members. Debbie will keep the display case updated. Request for Auction Items - Last year Jane's procurement New Beginnings sent an ask letter to the Tourism Board from their previous years involvement, via Jane Baxter-Lynn who put together a large goodie basket. Members of the Board did not see a return on this basket so there wasn't interest in continuing this effort. Chair Singer gave an update on Jane Baxter-Lynn, she was appointed to a new marketing position and was recognized for her renowned global work she has done. 3. Action Items • Discover Auburn Week ? Budget & Design Debbie Luce introduced the idea behind Discover Auburn Week as promoting Auburn during National Tourism Week. The Board previously decided to promote Auburn locally first. The group reviewed the bid from the Auburn Reporter for inserting the passports; 47,000 copies of the passports will be inserted in the Auburn Reporter, of the 50,000 to be printed. The remainder copies will be placed at various sites around the City. Instructions and maps of participating locations will be posed at most of the participant sites all week long. There are three grand prizes, one from Emerald Downs, the second from the Supermall and the third from the White River Amphitheatre. Chair Singer was advised by the City Attorney that each vendor will need to issue their own prizes. The passport will have a mailer card attached to the back cover for the participant to fill out and either mail in or drop off at destinations participating in the contest. A 6' x 40' banner has been ordered in red and cream color to hang on the side of the Sounder Train Station. The banner will say: Discover Auburn Week with the dates and tourism web-site; the dates will be interchangeable for reusing it each year for a small charge. ? Feeder Ads - Reporter will donate as a Partner Debbie met with the Auburn Reporter and they have offered six free ads for putting their logo on the back of the Passport and posters. A series of ads will run in the Reporter prior to the event week. Drawing Prizes Prizes will be drawn and mailed out from the Chamber. The goal is to receive 500 entries to be successful. The grand prizes are: an ultimate Emerald Downs Experience for six, a SuperMall $500 Shopping Spree and a VIP Night for 4 at the White River Amphitheatre. Most of the destination stops are also having their own drawings. ? Collect Ballots at Destinations The rules were reviewed by the group and a few corrections were made. There will be another proof distributed before the passport goes to print. It was decided something will need to be added to the rules which states participants will need to be 21 and older to visit the casino locations. Several locations will be participating for the entire week others will be participating for just one day events. ? Discover Auburn with the Mayor Mayor Pete Lewis, Debbie Luce and Chair Sue Singer will be on Channel 21 together talking about Discover Auburn Week on Discover Auburn. ? Marques in Town Establishments and individuals owning marquees around town will be asked to put up signage for Discover Auburn Week. 200 posters about the event will also be distributed. ? Display Frames Display frames were quoted at $77 for 16 frames. The group may want to just use ballot boxes that come with frames. Jeremy Chevalier is designing the posters to fit inside the ballot boxes. Dana Hinman will check to see if water bill stuffers are still possible. Further discussion took place about the event logistics including but not limited to. ¦ The possibility of an art walk - Julie Brewer will talk with Laurie Rose about this. Chair Singer would really like to see the new Dragonfly sculptures incorporated into an art walk. ¦ Pictures are still needed for ads in the passport from various locations. ¦ Brandon Eyle asked if there was artwork available for their marquee, he offered to host it on their digital marquee. Brandon talked about the Casino's event taking place on Tuesday night; they will have a spinning wheel for wining prizes from 4-9 p.m. ¦ Bob Dunn is doing the passports and Jeremy Chevalier is doing the flyer/poster. ¦ Every location will be accepting the ballots and Debbie will bring maps and flyers to each location for the event. She also will provide the stamps. • Update on missing Lodging Signs going North on 167 Chair Singer reported the missing lodging signs on northbound 167 are still not up even after writing a letter to Secretary Hammond and receiving an apologetic response. She will follow up. • Update on Lodging Signs on 15th ATB has been asking for lodging signage to be located between the C and A Street intersections on 15th St. NW. City staff has reported this may not be possible because of the prohibition of off site advertising in the sign code. If it would be possible the Board would be content with starting with some wayfinding signage that points in the direction of lodging; it could be possible that individual hotel logos could be added later. Sue will follow up. 4. Information Sharing Phil Edwards from the Auburn Regional Theatre talked about some upcoming shows: in April a new comedy show will run for three weeks; the last three weeks in June there will be a funny works of Shakespeare show; there is a kids event booked; Oliver will take place in the fall at Auburn Riverside High School and a big fundraiser dinner and show is planned for March 29th There was discussion regarding the web domain name: www.auburnwashington.com not having any lodging information. Susie Sourwine talked about a federal law that ensures domain names are given to the rightful owner no matter who currently owns it. Dana Hinman will look into securing that domain name on behalf of the ATB. Emerald Downs is opening on Friday, April 18, 2008. The White River Amphitheater currently has 13 shows booked including: Iron Madden, Toby Keith, Heart and Journey. Kay Jewelers is now opened at the Supermall. It was reported by Chair Singer that the Cavanaugh's were in court for arbitration. The Hospital is still moving forward with building the parking garage; after permits are submitted the demolition of tavern row and the new City Annex can begin. Julie Brewer reminded everyone about clean sweep happening on May 10tH The newly formed City Council Downtown Redevelopment Committee will be reviewing the Requests for Proposals that are out regarding downtown redevelopment plans. The RFPs are due on March 26th. Dave Baron reported he will be writing an addendum that will be due in April. Chair Singer explained that there will be some opportunities for the Downtown stakeholders to get involved this summer. 5. Next Meeting • Host for next meeting - April 17, 2008 at the Auburn Avenue Theater 2-3:30 Sue will be out of town in May so Kara will need to Chair that meeting 6. Adjournment at 3:30 p.m.