Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

 

Attending Board Members: Constance Wolfe, Jim Adams, Doug Holiday, Jane Pennington, Nancy Longhurst, Jeanie Hetrick, Karen Christilles, David Johnston & Lisa Patterson

 

Attending Staff:  Judy Billings, Anne Dillon, Susan Henderson, David Longhurst, Ashlee Roll-Gregory, Bob Sanner & Debbie White

 

Not attending: Derek Felch, Bob Schumm & John Schilling

 


In the absence of Chairman Felch, Susan Henderson called the meeting to order and moved approval of the minutes as presented.  Johnston seconded and the motion carried.

 

Old Business

City Manager, Dave Corliss, attended the meeting to discuss the guidelines for using the Bed Tax Reserve Fund previously drafted by members of the Advisory Board. Corliss expressed his desire to have open communications between the LCVB Advisory Board about the transient guest tax funds.  Corliss noted that he believes the best time to address the use of guest tax funds, is when a specific event makes a request.

 

Corliss stated that from a management perspective, he was unlikely to approve any money, due to the current economic environment. The need to watch perception is equally important to watching expenses. Corliss noted that it’s difficult to spend 10K – 20K on tourism when the Boys and Girls Club funding is in danger of being cut. Corliss noted that from a management perspective, it is unlikely that money will be spent on projects that aren’t already underway. Corliss noted that just because he is reluctant to move forward with a new request, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the City Commission will say no.

 

Corliss noted that historically, reserve funds are used for local events. For example, the 4th of July fireworks display. Instead of doling out large sums for events, Corliss stated that he’d rather save the funds for smaller incidental requests that arise.

 

Billings stated that the board was sensitive to providing guidelines concerning the funds. The hope of the board was to make the process non-political. Instead, the guidelines were intended as a tool to provide the City with enough information to make a well-informed decision regarding a request.

 

Nancy Longhurst commented that she thought the funds might be best used for new events to bring new dollars into the City. These new dollars would both generate guest tax in addition to local sales tax. Therefore, new events aimed at visitors would be more beneficial than existing events for locals. Longhurst also stated that part of the criteria for receiving funds should include the date and size of events due to the fact that those variables affect hotel business.

 

Corliss commented that the money taken from the guest tax and put into the general fund helps the City support other activities. The policy that is approved should provide that the City has the authority to use guest tax funds for City goals. Corliss stated that the LCVB board can recommend against it, but that the City will continue to request that funds for events like the Christmas Parade, Ironman and March Madness celebrations come from guest tax. Corliss also remarked that the money is used indirectly on visitors since when they visit, they use the roads and City facilities while in Lawrence.

 

At this time, Henderson stated that the guidelines were not created to take events off the table, but to use as a guideline and thought process for events that come before the City requesting money.

 

Financials

David Longhurst reported on the year-end financials. The balance sheet shows a balance of 67K remaining at the end of the year, which does not include Visitor Guide revenue. Longhurst explained that with different programs like the Visitor Guide, Watkins Museum, Freedom’s Frontier, DMI and Douglas County the LCVB must have a cash balance going forward to offset quarterly transient guest tax payments since they can sometimes be late. Longhurst also noted that the biggest expense for the LCVB was advertising.

 

New Business

Henderson gave the board an update on the Kansas Tourism Initiative legislation proposed but not passed in the 2008 legislative session.  TIAK and its partners in KTI decided that, due to the economic environment, this was not a year to push the legislature for action on the initiative. KTI is still a bill and there is still a concerted effort by TIAK and its partners to keep KTI and tourism in general in front of legislators for awareness purposes, but there are currently no scheduled hearings on it and it is not likely to move forward in this session.

 

Staff Updates

 

Susan Henderson

Henderson reported that she is currently placing ads for Spring & Summer publications. This year, the LCVB has also placed ads with KU Alumni magazine. In addition, there are three ads that will rotate in KC Spaces magazine. The LCVB will track the success of the ads by participating in a giveaway promotion in which readers can win a package to Lawrence. This type of promotion will help the LCVB track ads and determine if we want to move forward with the Kansas City market.

 

David Johnston asked about the LCVB’s involvement in International Marketing. Henderson explained that Lawrence participates in the international PowWow, in conjunction with Kansas and Oklahoma Travel & Tourism.  PowWow is trade show matching international travel agents and tour operators with domestic destinations. Henderson explained how POW WOW works in conjunction with local hotels and agents. The travel packages are for international travelers who have more than likely, already travelled within the U.S. and are looking for travel experiences that are off the beaten path.

 

Ashlee Roll-Gregory

Roll-Gregory reported on the CVB’s entrance into social media. The CVB recently created a page on facebook and Twitter.  Roll-Gregory will maintain the sites and with the updating of the visitlawrence website, the integration of the technology will help drive the number of visitors to the website and ultimately, the community.

 

Bob Sanner

Sanner reported on the cycling event “Tour of Lawrence.” The event would take place on the 4th of July weekend, which would be a good time for Lawrence businesses. The Tour would provide events for adults as well as children and would attract cycling enthusiasts as well as elite cyclists. Sanner also stated that the Tour of Lawrence would attract the cyclists that are en route to another cycling event in Milwaukee.  It was also noted that the state of Kansas has given the event $13,000 in seed money. In addition, there are already sponsorship commitments from premier cycling teams and other vendors.

 

Sanner reported that the Best of the Midwest Tournament is scheduled to come to Lawrence in March. The event will bring an estimated 125 teams to town. He also noted that at the end of June, USSSA would be back to Lawrence with a baseball tournament.

 

Anne Buhler Dillon

Dillon noted that she is still getting acclimated to the position at the LCVB and is currently working with groups that were already committed to coming here.

 

Meeting Adjourned

The next CVB Board meeting is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., May 26, at Capital City Bank.