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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/03/11 MASON COUNTY LODGING TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Commissioners'Chambers 411 North 5T" Street, Shelton, WA 98584 Thursday March 11, 2015 2:00 p.m. Members in Attendance: Chair Terri Jeffreys, Bonnie Knight, Duane Wilson, Stephanie Rowland, Kelly Bergh, Darin Barry, Shaun Tucker. Mason County Staff, Diane Zoren Absent: Julie Gray and Angela Rabelos. 1. Chair Jeffreys called the meeting to order at 2:03 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes: Approval of the February 5, 2015 minutes Knight/Bergh moved and seconded to approve the February 5, 2015 meeting minutes. Motion carried. Shaun Tucker joined the meeting at 2:06 p.m. 3. Financial Status of Lodging Tax Fund: Revenues came in over budget and expeditures came in less than anticipated. The amount budgeted for awards was $402,000.00 and $258,000.00 carried over. Cmmr. Jeffreys stated that LTAC cannot expend any additional money at this point unless it's opened up to everyone. 4. Diane Zoren reminded the group that the RFP stated it would award 58 percent of revenues. Chair Jeffreys stated she will check with legal for opinions and possible options. Darin asked when they will discuss the future budget allocations percentages. Cmmr. Jeffreys said that is open for discussion at any point and can put it for a future agenda item possibly in June. Stephanie commented that she would like to have the opportunity to present quarterly results to the LTAC. Diane said it could be scheduled at the same time Blue Collar does their presentation. 5. Expectations of LTAC Participation in Tourism Marketing Plan: Chair Jeffreys reminded the group that each time Blue Collar takes phone calls, it gets the clock ticking. She added that Blue Collar plans to come quarterly for updates and the first update will be in June. She asked the group is there is anything else they would like to request. Bonnie Knight asked if the quarterly reports will be interactive. Shaun Tucker confirmed that Blue Collar reports to the County. He said it seemed like Blue Collar went to people in the Community rather than the LTAC. LTAC Page 1 Darin said after they set the foundation for the future they can allocate funds in to specific social media budgets. He said a pivot point is at the one year mark. He stated they can build upon the foundation that Blue Collar creates. Shaun said he's not comfortable making those decisions for the County. He said Blue Collar is better equipped to do the marketing because that's what they are hired to do and that's what they do for a living. Bonnie said this year is a development year and right now the goal is to make sure we are going in the right direction. Chair Jeffreys asked if performance measures will be enough. Kelly Bergh said they will hear the quarterly performance reports although they will also need to distinguish what is and is not working. Stephanie Rowland stated that Blue Collar wants feedback and she doesn't see this as a chance to grade their performance. LTAC feedback and input is wanted. She sees this as working with Blue Collar. Shaun Tucker asked what are the expectations of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. Chair Jeffreys said by statute the role of the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee is to make recommendations on how the money should be used. She said the LTAC will manage the contract. Darin said he thinks people on the Committee should have marketing skills. Stephanie and Shaun said that's why they hired Blue Collar Agency. The Committee agrees that a quarterly report is adequate. Stephanie said she is the liaison for Blue Collar. She stated the intent was not to go to the public first. She said that Blue Collar Agency wanted to gather information to be able to come back to the LTAC with information. They were trying to do a huge discovery in a short amount of time and was not intended to leave people out. Duane said he was annoyed because they didn't do what they said they would do although it's water under the bridge at this point and he would like to move on. Chair Jeffreys reminded everyone not to dilute the message. Darin said he would like to see the LTAC dollars end up with the locals. Shaun said it makes things somewhat uncomfortable with Stephanie';role with Blue Collar. Stephanie said she will be lea ving L TA and said she is only here today for discussion. LTAC Page 12 Chair Jeffreys said Stephanie will still be here for the meetings,just not as an L TA member. 6. Recommended Events to Promote: Darin said all events need a landing page as a foundation. The main events that came to mind were: Oysterfest, Celtic Festival, Taste of Hood Canal, Matlock Old Timers Fair, Hamma Hamma Oyster Rama, Allyn Days, Blue Grass in the Forest and Mason County Rodeo. Barry/Knight moved and seconded to instruct Stephanie Rowland to ask Blue Collar to create landing pages for nine festivals and the top five adventures in the County. 1 aye - 5 nay. Motion failed. 7. Participation with the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau: Cmmr. Jeffreys explained that it was decided at the last meeting that they would not pay Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau although Olympic Peninsula is expecting some money from LTAC as Mason County has already been included in the Visitor Guide. She explained the earliest it will be considered is October, 2015 and it would be 2016 funding. Duane said hopefully Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau can do a presentation before October so LTAC can understand exactly what they would be getting for the money. 8. Other Business: Stephanie announced that next Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Social Media training at Alderbrook. Please make sure everyone has accounts for Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Stephanie said at a minimum people should have a Facebook account. 9. Public Comment: Angela Mendoza, KAYO radio Account Executive, was introduced. 10. Future meeting agenda items : 1. Visitor Information Center Funding 2. Presentation from Union Tourism Association on virtual visitor information centers 3. Budget allocations discussion possibly in October. Diane Zoren asked if anyone knows of any days in June they are unable to attend to please let her know because Blue Collar will be here in June. 11. Adjourn at 3:32 p.m. LODGING TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE MASON COUNTY, WASHINGTON ATTEST: LTAC Clerk Cmmr. Terri Jeffreys, Chair LTAC Page 13 LTAC Page 14