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HomeMy WebLinkAboutITEM IV-A MEMORANDUM TO: CITY OF AUBURN COUNCIL MEMBERS, FINANCE COMMIT'I'EE & COMNILJNITY & PLANNING DEVELOPMENT COMNIITTEE FROM: AUBURN AREA CHAMBER OF COMNERCE SUBJECT: SERVICES AGREENIENT UPDATE/CONTRACT RENEWAL - VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & TOURISM DATE: 11 /30/2009 CC: AUBURN AREA CHAMBER OF COMNERCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dear City Council Members, Thank you for this opportunity to present you with an end-of-the-year report identifying some of the highlights of the services the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to have provided the City pursuant to our contract for services. As you know, these services assist the City by supplementing its efforts with regard to Visitor/Tourism Information, the City's Economic Development Goals and Outreach to Current and Future Business Community Members in ways that leverage the credibility, experience and resources of the Chamber. While there is some overlap, we have organized this summary to encompass the general scope of services in the referenced contract, as follows: Handle inquiries made by visitors, new residents and employees via phone, email, mail, walk-in and respond with the appropriate information and materials; Operate the City's storefront Visitor Information Center where visitors obtain materials and advice during normal business hours. The center will provide sufficient space, display racks, appropriate materials and receptionist. Consistent with the terms of the contract for services, the Chamber maintains and operates Auburn's Visitor Information Center where visitors regularly obtain a wide variety of materials and advice during normal business hours. The Chamber-operated Visitor Information Center encompasses the entire front portion of the Chamber's Lobby. It includes large display racks stocked with varied and valuable visitor-related materials. , a The Visitor Information Center signage on the storefront was recently updated to include a large banner across the first three windows to loudly state "Visitor Information Center"; and a new larger window sign that boldly lists Auburn Tourism as one of the main components in our office and offers the universal "I" symbol denoting an information center is located here. ~ With each walk-in, visitors and prospective businesses are able to take multiple pieces of information that the Chamber provides. When we mail out relocation packets and vacation packets, multiple pieces of information are included. We keep on hand information about the City of Auburn, parks & recreation, public art, the golf course, trails, etc., as well as Auburn businesses and visitor services. The valuable contribution the Chamber is uniquely able to provide in its contract with the City, is our ability to staff the Visitor Information Center with employees having extensive personal knowledge of the greater Auburn area, and a genuine desire to promote the City of Auburn. The Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce continues to look for new office space. In this process we are looking at how best to identify where our office will be located, and what the proper signage will be to help facilitate finding the Visitor Information Center. Produce and distribute the City business directory, community profile, street maps, and lists containing information about community resources and/or business services. Respond to requests from publishers seeking information about Auburn for their magazines, web pages and/or directories. Provide City hotels with brochures promoting local attractions, businesses and shops. The Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce produces a Community Directory each year in August and prints 5,000, all of which the 2008-2009 directories were distributed. We now have the 2009-2010 directories of which we have already distributed 1,000. We currently distribute these Community Directories to: ■ City Hall ■ Member advertisers for use with prospective and current customers and firms ■ Auburn Library ■ Muckleshoot Library ■ Auburn Airport ■ Local Hotels ■ Small Business Assistance Center ■ Green River Community College ■ The SuperMall ■ New teachers (in conjunction with the New Teacher Breakfast hosted by the Chamber and the Auburn School District's recruitment efforts); and ■ We mail out the Community Directory in the Chamber's "Relocation/Tourism/Inquiry Packets" The 2010-2011 Community Directory will commence in April of 2009 with production in August of 2010 and ready for distribution throughout the community. 21 Page The 2009-2010 edition continues to receive a very strong response from the Auburn Business Community. We believe the desire of local businesses to advertise in the Communiry Directory is an affirmation of the effectiveness of the Chamber's Communiry Directory in presenting the strengths and assets of the Auburn area, and local businesses, to both current and prospective visitors, customers and firms. The Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce also produces a Local Area Map every two to three years. 10,000 of each edition are printed. Our map came out in December 2008 and of those 10,000 we have been able to distribute approximately 6,943. This map gives us the capability to have an interactive map on our website that shows where our advertisers are, and key local sites. You can go to our website www.AuburnAreaWA.org and click on the link for "Interactive Map of the Area". We currently distribute these Local Area Maps to: ■ City Hall ■ Member advertisers ' ■ Auburn Library • • ■ Muckleshoot Library ■ Auburn Airport ■ Local Hotels ■ Small Business Assistance Center ■ Green River Community College ■ The SuperMall ■ New teachers (in conjunction with the New Teacher Breakfast hosted by the ~ Chamber and the Auburn School District's recruitment efforts); and ■ We mail out the Local Area Map in the Chamber's "Relocation/Tourism/Inquiry Packets" Provide support and service to the City's economic development goals and outreach to current and future business community members. Assist the City in meeting with current and potential businesses to discuss inducements to conducting or locating a business in Auburn. Provide input, feedback and serve on City technical and. advisory committees for issues. (Proposed city codes, comprehensive plans and updates, design review, proposed capital improvements, city business processes, and other emerging issues mutually agreed upon.) Serve as the referral service for individuals seeking to do business with an Auburn business. Meet with and provide tours of the City, when scheduling permits, for prospective business investors in conjunction with the City's Economic Development Manger and Planning Department. Actively promote Auburn to prospective new business investors by attending meetings and providing appropriate information. Maintain and provide demographic information up to a 30-mile radius from the downtown . area. Organize and conduct orientations for new employee groups as an incentive for businesses to locate in Auburn. 3 ~Yage Chamber leaders and the Chamber's President & COO have been active participants in the sign code revision/update process; the Code Working Group; serving on the all important Streets Task Force; and being the lead on starting a new 20-year visioning process for the downtown area and surrounding business community. Chamber staff inembers have been active in giving "windshield tours" of the city to prospective businesses whenever requested. • The Chamber participates, along with other chambers, with the Valley Cities Mayors' group to identify issues where it may forge and implement partnerships on issues critical to enhance economic vitality for Auburn, and the south-end region. The Chamber is also an integral founding partner on the South Sound Chambers of Commerce Legislative Coalition that puts forth issues to better our region's economy. Chamber board members, including executive committee members, have actively ' (proactively) 'attempted to attract new businesses to move to' Auburn. Provide a service to promote Tourism Awareness for the City of Auburn. Coordinate all public relations, marketing, media relations, advertising, and event planning for the Auburn Tourism Board. Liaise on marketing and communications matters and coordinate with the individual Board members, who comprise , representatives from the City Council, the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce, all the major attractions, the lodging sector and other tourism-related businesses. Follow-up on activities to involve existing and new strategic partners. The Chamber's Past Chairman, several Chamber Board Members and President & COO participate on the Tourism Board, working to bring tourists to our area. This effort both builds the growing strength of our local tourism economy and generates additional sales tax revenues to support city services including both capital and operational expenses. As part of our 5-year Strategic Plan, the Chamber's leadership is committed to pursuing a community-wide, partnership effort to market on a consistent basis a branded welcome message to tourists in connection with all the major events that put heads in beds, dollars in retail establishments and seats in restaurants. Our Tourism Marketing Coordinator, Debbie Luce, recently gave a comprehensive report to the City Council Members on the progress of the Tourism Board and the great strides made with that Board. (See separate report from Debbie Luce.) 4~Page I Summary Data Regarding Visitor Information, Tourism & Economic Development Inquiries The following data reflects recorded Chamber activity in responding to Visitor Information Center (Tourism) and Economic Development Inquiries from January 1, 2009 through November 30, 2009. Visitor Information Center/Tourism Walk-ins 578 Phone 514 Email 13 04 Mail 471 Economic Development Walk-ins 78 Phone 191 Email 183 Mail 39 General Information Request Combined 614 Amount of time spent on each: Walk-ins: 15 - 60 minutes Phone: 3 - 30 minutes Email: 3 - 5 minutes Mail: 3 - 15 minutes Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this year-end status report identifying some of the highlights of the services the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to provide the City pursuant to our contract for services. We look forward to another year of providing these essentials services for the City of Auburn. Sincerely, AUBURN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Nancy Wyatt President/COO - - - 5 ~Page Auburn Tourism Board 2009 Accomplishments Overall Accomplishments that follow the Strategic Plan: ➢ Applied for a 2010 Grant from CTED ➢ Worked with Assistant Finance Director for monthly financial review ➢ Maintain New Website and Blog ➢ Negotiated new contract with Clear Channel for banners at the Sounder Train Station ➢ Attend and participate in Trade Shows ➢ Participate.in City Events representing the Tourism Board ➢ Answer all tourism related questions from walk-ins and phone calls ■ Respond to all tourism information requests with follow up if necessary - • phone, mail and website • • ■ Respond to all newcomer inquires about Auburn ➢ Update Chamber staff on current events that are tourism related ➢ Continue to work closely with City of Auburn, Parks Department, Multimedia, Senior Citizens Supervisor, and Cultural Arts Manager to assist in promotion, advertising and up coming events ➢ Continue to work with Auburn School District to promote school functions that need hotel accommodations: Bands for Veterans Day Parade, Soft Ball and Fast Pitch Tournaments, Cup Stacking Tournament, Miss Auburn Pageant, Jazz Festival, Junior Olympics etc. ➢ Other groups: Red Hat Society, YMCA, NW Skating Invitational at Auburn Skate Connection, Auburn Airport ➢ Continue branding in all forms of printed materials, banners, ads, website design ➢ Hold and coordinate monthly ATB meetings ➢ Attended all ATB meetings, organized meetings and produced meeting materials ➢ Organize Visitor Information material in Chamber lobby ➢ Work with and visit all hotels on a weekly basis - more if needed ➢ Check all websites of attractions on a weekly basis for updated information ➢ Participate in monthly meetings with, Parks Special Program Manager, Events Planning Coordinator, Recreation Coordinator, Senior Center Supervisor, Cultural Arts Manager and Communication Manager Develop and Implement ATB Monthly Update Calendar ➢ Distribute Updated Calendar to hotels to inform front desk staff and management of upcoming events ➢ Distribute coupons and flyer to hotels for their visitors ➢ Post monthly calendars in 7 locations: B Street Plaza kiosk, Train Station, ADA, Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce, Auburn Ave., SuperMall and Auburn Reporter ➢ Updates go to all of the ATB partners on a regular basis. ➢ Updates also act as a communication tool to update partners on important information that might affect their business. ➢ Post yearly and monthly events on website and in the Chamber Connections Newsletter ➢ Write tourism article each month in the Chamber Connections ➢ Keep up to date restaurant list, with recommendations on large group choices New Tourism Website ➢ Warked with Web-Master and Cities Multimedia Manager to design new and improved web-site ➢ Incorporated the "Mare Than You Imagined" branding to the overall look of the site which is used in all of our printed material ➢ Now able to track all hits to the site - direct, search engines and referring site (means more sites are linking to our site), we can even track what part of the country they are coming from ➢ Improved the navigation of the site to make it more user - friendly . ➢ Information can be found_in no more than 3 clicks . . ➢ Enhanced efficiency for immediate updates by using a customized content manager ➢ Ensure lodging and restaurant information is complete and valid ➢ Up to date attraction information ➢ Up to date new business information ➢ Working on content development and updating on a weekly basis ➢ Post all current events ➢ Add links and removed them as needed ➢ Add news and media articles ➢ Update any Hotel or Business Partner changes ➢ Answered all inquires from site ➢ Worked on maximization of links from and to the Auburn Tourism site and ATB's reps' site. - ➢ Auburn news feed directly from.the Tourism Blog which keeps the website current ➢ Things To Do section automatically populates from the calendar Continue to Update Tourism Fact Sheet ➢ Update all facts on the two sided sheet as needed ➢ Displayed in Chamber lobby ' Send it out in every information and newcomer packet Maintain partner contact list ➢ Maintain list on a monthly basis ➢ Continue to seek new valued partners Local Community Outreach Program ➢ Welcome Display at the front counter of the Finance Department with business cards, brochures and directions to Visitor Center ➢ Worked with the Auburn Reporter to include tourism in the 2010 Residence Guide - 2010 Residence and Tourism Guide ➢ Attend South King County Event and Wedding Vendors Meet-Up ➢ Channe121 has brochure and website on a continuing basis ➢ Continued to reach out to clubs and organizations as guest speaker ➢ Cold call to local businesses with hotel information and attractions ➢ Distribute chocolate bars with City logo to area businesses and groups ➢ Developed Tourism Packet for visitor as well as business travelers for HR departments. ➢ Got articles and supplements in local print media and Discover Auburn interviews ➢ Write monthly article for Chamber Connections Newsletter ➢ Use the More Than You Imagined tag line and work with the Multimedia Manager on continued branding on all tourism material ; ➢ Maintained a great working relationship with all major local and area attractions and local hotels ➢ Visited with other CVB's, especially Seattle Southside CVB to get overflow from . their hotels . . . . ➢ Maintain an on going branding image for Auburn Tourism ➢ Hosted Lunch & Learn at the Chamber ➢ Participate in Veterans Day Parade Discover Auburn Week Our goal for 2009 was to continue to educate our local citizens by showcasing all the tourism opportunities available in Auburn. We also wanted to promote the opening of the Auburn International Farmers Market ➢ Discover Auburn Week was June 6- 14 we tripled attendance from last year ➢ Did a complete breakdown of attendance and found most participants came from Auburn ➢ 100,000 Passport game pieces sent out in Auburn Reporter ➢ Completed budget and design ➢ Saved $5,000 by changing the Passport design to a center tab ➢ Increased destinations from 16 to 28 ➢ Worked with all 28 destinations on ad copy ➢ All 6 of our hotels participated ➢ Had a very nice Letter to the Editor about how nice it was that we were highlighting destinations in Auburn ➢ Worked with SuperMall, Emerald Downs & White River Amphitheatre that donated Grand Prizes ➢ Had additional advertising in Emerald Downs programs and newsletters as well as the SuperMall newsletter ➢ Purchased another banner for the train trestle and once again had a banner on the Sounder Station ➢ Bought extra ballot boxes and distributed and picked up ➢ Arranged marquees in town to advertise Discover Auburn Week ➢ Organized proclamation from Mayor and Council declaring June 6th thru 14t" as Discover Auburn Week ➢ Got 2 News articles in Chamber Connections Newsletter ➢ Placed 6 pre-ads in the Auburn Report ➢ Posted information on our website with links to each destination ➢ Attended all functions at destination spots ➢ Contacted winners ➢ Sent all participants a post card thanking them for their entry ➢ Created data base for next year ➢ Sent ATB report on where participants came from Hotel Occupancy ➢ Occupancy is down from last year by around a$1,000 a month because of the economy ➢ A116 hotels had a good summer . ➢ Visited hotels regularly asking if they have special groups coming in that we can make goodie bags for their guests . ➢ Have assisted hotels with various issues on a regular basis , ➢ Continue to distribute Thank You for Staying in Auburn that is given to large groups and special guest in hotels ➢ Will once again work with hotels offering Seasonal Special Rates from October thru March ➢ Also established Special Rates for Emerald Downs, Auburn Regional Medical Center, Funeral Homes Advertising; Travel Guide, Visitor Information, Media Coverage ➢ Researched all possible free advertising ~ ➢ Board decided not to participate in the 2009/2010 ad in Washington State Visitor Guide and broadened brochure coverage north on I-5 into Canada for Winter Olympics ➢ Updated Washington State Travel and Tourism site ➢ Member of the Tacoma Visitor and Information Center and are in the Tacoma Visitor Guide ➢ Arranged inclusion in calendar in Hometown Values - Free ➢ Sent 300 Brochures to Tacoma Tall Ships Event ➢ Linked our site to all area attraction websites ➢ Developed a sub-committee to look at all advertising opportunities Trade Shows and Seminars ➢ Participated in Northwest Aviation Trade Show with Auburn Airport ➢ Attended seminar presented by CTED ➢ Attended two workshops with the Association of Visitor Information Centers of Washington ➢ Participated in Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce Trade Show Distribute MapBrochures - Visited to check on stock count on a regular basis ➢ Hotels ➢ Airport ➢ Local businesses ➢ Car Dealers, Rental Car Companies ➢ Public Library ➢ City Hall ➢ Auburn Regional Hospital ➢ Parks Department . ➢ Senior Citizen Center ➢ Muckleshoot Casino, Iron Horse Casino, Emerald Downs, White River Amphitheatre, Auburn Ave, SuperMall, Auburn Golf Course, White River Valley Museum, etc. ➢ Target Markets determined by the ATB Board. (Certified Folder Display). ➢ Work with Certified to insure the best possible information centers to display MapBrochure. ➢ For the first time we have changed our advertising strategies with Certified Folder Display to expand our reach to I-5 North into Canada for the 2010 Olympics . ➢ Trade Shows and Sporting Events . . . Action Items and Goals which follow the Tourism Boards Program of Work ➢ Increase Hotel Occupancy ➢ Having met our goals on educating our community first, our next step is to begin to broaden our focus to a wider audience. . Brochure campaign north on I-5 ■ Vancouver & Whistler BC for the upcoming Winter Olympics ➢ Resell the Banners at Sounder Train Station and sign a new contract with Clear Channel ➢ Work on new Tourism Brochure and sell ads to offset cost ➢ Work on 2010 Autumn Bridal Show at Emerald Downs and all related partners ■ Position our event in between Seattle and Tacoma Wedding Events and promote all that we have to offer ■ Advertise our Community as a Tourist Destination