Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Attending Board Members:  David Longhurst, David Johnston, Doug Holiday, Constance Wolfe, Derek Felch, Karen Christilles, Tim VanLeer and Michael Moore

Not attending: Maria Martin, Bob Schumm, Lisa Patterson and Brad Kemp

Attending Staff:  Judy Billings, Bob Sanner, Susan Henderson, Ashlee Roll-Gregory, Kate Eichten and Debbie White

The meeting was called to order by Derek Felch. Wolfe moved, Holiday seconded to approve the minutes as presented.  Motion carried.

Financial Report

The December financials reported that the CVB was over budget due to several factors; the CVB had not collected as much guest tax as had projected, there had not been as much advertising for the Visitor Guide sold as anticipated, and there is also a small amount of 2006 Visitor Guide advertising left to collect. In addition there have been some hotel rooms that haven’t been in use and have affected the collection of guest tax. The CVB was under budget on expenses.

The January bed tax was up, yet February collections were down. The bed tax is up in total collections from last year. Westminster has been taken off the report, since their rooms are not currently open.  February financials showed that general expenses reflected the TIAK dues and group tour promotional post cards. Year-end numbers from the CVB were included in a Journal-World newspaper article.

Old Business

Discussion followed regarding county commissioner Jones’ idea of setting up a blue ribbon committee to look at the CVB and its relationship with the Chamber, Heritage Area and Watkins Museum.

New Business

Henderson reported on the locations available for a Lawrence billboard.  Discussion followed regarding the type of “message” that needs to be conveyed on the billboard and the number of billboards.

Billings noted that there are two spots currently open on the CVB Advisory Board, one of which is “at large” representative. Billings requested any thoughts of who might be appropriate to fill the vacancy on the Board.

Staff Updates of involvement

Bob Sanner

Sanner noted that the Journal World has hired David Darling to do an economic impact study of a “Big Game Day,” in response to the athletic department’s decision to move the KU/Missouri game to Arrowhead stadium. The CVB has become involved because Darling needed a local resource. The article is still forthcoming at this time.

Sanner also reported on the PLAY initiative. At the 1^st of March 2,400 surveys were sent out into the community and there was a 50% response rate of recommendations for the PLAY committee. The findings of that survey are still forthcoming.

Susan Henderson

Henderson noted that the CVB is in the middle of an advertising conversion study, performed by a researcher from K-State that has been conducted via email and regular mail. The online surveys have been out for several weeks and the paper surveys have just gone out. The preliminary results from the online survey, which have had a response rate of 26%, are extremely positive in regards to the perception of Lawrence and the marketing materials that visitors receive from Lawrence. All the information gathered so far, suggests that visitors that we have communicated with have a positive image of the Lawrence community.

Ashlee Roll-Gregory & Debbie White

Roll-Gregory noted that the direct mail postcard for the Spring was mailed out to 2,300 homes and a corresponding email was sent to 1,000 visitors.

Judy Billings

In Heritage Area news, Billings noted that work has begun with the Board of Trustees on redefining bylaws, putting together a fundraising plan to hopefully pay for the management plan. Billings passed around a copy of a resolution put together by Senator Derek Schmidt, who chairs the economic development committee in the Senate. He will be presenting the resolution on April 28^th. This is intended to raise awareness in the Governor’s office as a result. Billings also noted that the National Park Service has chosen Freedom’s Frontier as a prototype for a GIS mapping, which will be presented on their website marking the anniversary of the Civil War.

Meeting Adjourned

Future Meetings

No meeting in April. Next meeting will be Tuesday, May 15^th at the Eldridge Extended.