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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Lodging Tax Advisory Committee - 06/20/2016Special Meeting Lodging Tax Advisory Committee June zOt 2OL6 Start Time 4:OO pm Centennial Center Conference Room South Committee Members Present: Chair Bill Boyce, John Casey, Barbara Smith, David Kwok, Andrew Hutchison, Josh Bang, Andrea Keikkala, Bryan Powell Others present: Ben Wolters, Julie Pulliam Chair Boyce called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm. Introductions were made. Chair Boyce asked for any additions to the agenda. Seeing none, he called for approval of the Minutes. 1. Aoproval of Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of April 25,20L6. Chair Boyce called for the vote, Motion PASSED unanimously. 2. Marketinq Requests for Proposals (RFPs) Chair Boyce announced that the Committee would be evaluating four RFPs. Dialogue will be held to discuss the process, where we are at and how we are going to move forward. Andrew Corona stated that at the last meeting, we determined it was worth taking a look at other options for the RFP, if not just to see what we are getting from a value perspective and then take an inventory of what we are receiving for that value. Of the responses we received from sending out the RFPs; these were the four main ones that comprehensively addressed all the needs in the RFP. We saw a lot of different resumes or indications from certain groups that they wanted to respond, but submitted nothing more than a few cover letters and a few resumes with the exception of these four. The other responses did not meet the minimum criteria. Dana Neuts and Kathrvn Schmidt I want to make this as interactive as possible and if there are any areas where they did or didn't address some of the needs of the RFP, chime in. There will be time to go over this and share your in depth thoughts. Corona stated that there is room to consider the will of the committee. it is the hope of staff that we identify two or three and bring those respondents in for in-person interviews at a later date; hopefully July if everyone's schedule will allow. Corona stated that getting in to the initial thoughts and response from Dana Neuts and Kathryn Schmidt. This is the first area where they really focused. Has the agency demonstrated an ability to handle the needs of the RFP? Corona stated that he felt her submission individually addressed all of the needs of the RFP, with a particular confidence in the website and social media where they went into depth. They had good strategies for building on the existing Genesis efforts, particularly with their familiarity and input that they've had on the creation part of that. They identified areas where we haven't currently been active and made recommendations. Corona stated that we have a Pinterest and Google Plus. Dan Neuts recommended enhancing our efforts on Pinterest and deactivating our Google Plus account because it doesn't seem like that is a social media medium that is going to stay alive. They recommended a Newsletter where they felt we could improve our efforts. Corona stated that he felt they appropriately addressed all the aspects and scope of work and provided what seemed to be a realistic timeline for implementation. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of June 20,2016 Page:2 Has the agency demonstrated the plan or the ability to create heads and beds and support the branding efforts? This incorporates two different areas where we would like to focus, Corona stated that he thought that Dana Neuts'response addressed branding concerns mainly on the website and identified a lot of areas specific to the website where we have room for improvement. They talked about multiple audiences and conveyed an understanding that there was a balance with efforts that we would like to see. Knowledge of Kent, how well did the agency demonstrate the knowledge of Kent and local tourism and the economy? I thought that this was exemplary. They are locals. They have a true grasp of the community, Dana has been writing for the I Love Kent blog for a number of years now. I think all of the work she has poured into that translates well to the efforts we are looking for in this RFP, Of all of the groups, they have the best knowledge of Kent. How well does the agency understand the different markets of the LTAC that we want to target? They brought up multiple audiences for marketing targets. I would have liked to see them more specifically identified. Geographically, it would have been nice if they had addressed some markets in the Seattle Metro City versus in South King County; maybe other areas in the State of Washington; external ones that don't have a perception of Kent. One of the areas where we thought was room for improvement was addressing some of the negatives, maybe misconceptions or distorted perceptions of the community and I think it is strategic that we address those to certain specific audiences and leave those off the table for others. We wouldn't want to hlghlight someone with no idea what Kent is with some of the negative perceptions of the area. I would like to have seen a little bit more. They did say that they brought up the multiple audiences and that they allude to business versus the leisure visitors. That would be two separate markets for hotel stays - leisure vs business travelers, They did a fairly good job of doing that. Is the Agency Local? Yes, both Dana and Kathryn have lived in Kent for quite some time Marketing Strategy, How well did the Agency respond to all the needs outlined in the Scope of Work? There weren't any error of omissions in this response. I thought there was a pretty comprehensive strategy; identified particularly in the Web and social media, I feel the Web is where there is the most room for improvement. I think they spent the most time addressing specifically where they would target their efforts and did a good job on strategy specific to the website. How well does the methodology ensure consistent quality of work? They noted that they need to continue their current efforts to ensure a consistent message and not have to start from square one. They included accountability measures such as monthly status updates. They talked about some of the success metrics; clicks on the website or increased followers to Facebook or Twitter. I think they had determined some methodology for determining that this is consistent. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of June 20,2076 Page:3 How did they demonstrate success measures? They were outlined by deliverables and by timeline, They focused efforts on agencies and had aggressive goals for implementation, They wanted to keep up the efforts that Genesis has provided initially without any lags. How creative was the agency? I think that they have good ideas for marketing strategies. They specifically identified areas for involvement partnership opportunities. Washington Tourism Alliance was specifically mentioned. They did a good job of outlining how they have the potential to be creative but also meld that with reality. This is a newly created organization. It was hard to find anything on the agency. They have strong individual experience and history in Kent. Dana specifically has efforts supporting Genesis, This will be the team's first endeavor. This is a smaller project team but I think with that comes more dedication to the Visit Kent Project. I continue to have experience directly with Visit Kent and provided a lot of the content, I think that is a great starting point for their knowledge, In response to an inquiry Corona responded that he had found additional background related to tourism on the part of this team? That it was located in their scope of work at the end; particularly Dana has worked with Kent, Kirkland, City of Blaine, KDP, a lot of different groups that are local such as Maggie's on Meeker. Qualifications of Agencies as a Team Staff? Good resumes/ lots of experience, albeit individually, but I think it was pretty comprehensive. Regarding budget and value - most of these groups adhered to the $150,000, the top range budget for annual tourism marketing services. They were right in line with that in quoting $147,000. Of the four responses, I believe that Dana Neuts and Kathryn Schmidt's submission had the most comprehensive and realistic strategy that we had for implementing and improving marketing efforts of the LTAC. They had the best knowledge of the City of Kent and of the principals of the Kent residents. I think the familiarity with the Board and the city put them ahead in the familiarity area, I think while they do have good visual experience, this undertaking would be new and the response of the proposal is visually appealing. I like the layout, easy to read with comprehensive information, It was professional and from a staff perspective, I would encourage bringing them back in for consideration, I believe the work that went into this proposal warrants bringing them in. Committee member Barbara Smith stated that she noticed the amount of research that was obviously done just with the content. I felt that they researched the questions, whether I liked what they said or not, so that there was real effort and thought that was put into it. Andrew stated that the real question will be are they capable, do they have the right team to pull this off. I believe their hearts are in Kent and their familiarity goes beyond anyone else. Boyce concurred stating he looked at this and felt it was solid but the thing that was missing was the ability to do the job. They are fresh enough that they don't have that depth of experience and it is a big jump from being managers to being the CEO. It is definitely worth bringing them in, fleshing it out that way, Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of June 20, 2016 Page:4 Smith stated that she was impressed with the fact that through their work with Genesis, they never put them down and maintained a very professional attitude through the whole thing. I thought they were smart using a lot of Kent photos, David Kwok stated that he would support moving this forward, Overall, I felt that everyone had a lot of good suggestions to offer Kent. My concern was with Dana and the printed material. Printed material is pretty obsolete. In our industry we don't do printed material as it is outdated. My concern was the $35,000 for that effort, Genesis Marketinq Has the agency demonstrated an ability to handle the needs of the RFP? I thought their response in connection with the previous work with the city and the committee demonstrated that they are capable of meeting the needs. They have handled our needs previously with a limited budget. They showed their presentation that highlighted their creativity and Kent's diversity. Boyce stated that in the interest of time, it was likely not necessary to go into detail with Genesis as the Committee was familiar with them but asked the members if they had any concerns. Corona stated that Seattle Southside has been responsive and flexible. JavRav Has the agency demonstrated an ability to handle the needs of the RFP? Corona stated that JayRay is a group out of Tacoma. They seemed really capable. They have extensive sensation marketing experience. Some of the aspects of the RFP were not articulated as clearly as the Dana Neuts one; but their experience advised that they have comprehensive capabilities. Their client list is very impressive. I have no worry that they can handle the needs that we have here. Has the agency demonstrated the plan or the ability to do heads and beds and support the branding efforts? They did not specifically address heads and beds but did address branding and their experience, They have 10 for 10 on recommendations that indicate their capabilities. Out of all the groups I thought they were the most professional, the most capable and they are relatively local. Their experience is in Fife, Tacoma, Burien and other groups in Kent; was as good or better than most of the other organizations that we brought in. They did not specifically address different markets, but their experience would lead one to believe that they are really capable. They have a strong research, fact finding aspect to their response, and their sample work did a good job in targeting. Are they local? They are from the Tacoma area Marketing Strategy, How well did the Agency respond to all the needs outlined in the Scope of Work? They hit up all the strategy in the scope of work; a little less detail than I had hoped to see. It was never enough to make me question their ability to respond to the needs in our scope of work. How well does the methodology ensure consistent quality of work? Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of June 20, 2016 Page:5 I think there strength was their willingness to do the deep dive analysis and discover some of the assets to find out their familiarlty. They are within close proximity to Kent. How did they demonstrate success measures? Like other groups they talked about their success measures. They monitor, reply, track progress/ provide status reporLs, end of year results, and evaluations. They didn't identify specific goals at this point. They addressed the need for accountability measures and I believe that will be a floating target that they will be working with us on. How creative was the agency? The response was brief, the portfolio was diverse. Efforts were in graphic design, public relations, ads, digital media, and social media. They have video capabilities internally and do good videos, They did a master planned community in Puyallup that was impressive and won awards, They have extensive history in the area with impressive results. They are experienced and their budget was in line with everyone else. I thought they were the most experienced and competent of the four groups. They are an award winning, full service agency, They are the largest staff, They have been around the longest. They have a lot of resources and they have professional video production experience. They are local, and have strong familiarity with Kent. I would recommend bringing them in for an interview. Smith felt their presentation was easy to read and something a little different. Viva and Impulse Creative Smith stated why bother, They are from Texas and we don't want to start over. Their submittal was submitted late. The layout was boring, no photos, no flare, and no energy. It feels like they didn't take the time to put any effoft into their presentation, One of the Committee Members stated if we only needed digital, web creation, I felt they were the best group, but that they lack a lot of local knowledge and it seems given their lack of experience in the area, I think we can pass this off on content creativity. It might fall on some of the heads of folks here and for this reason I think we can pass on this one with Kwok and Boyce concurring. There was consensus to move three of the groups forward for interview. Corona stated that next steps would be to identify potential dates for bringing them in for interview by the committee. Wolters stated that the selection and recommendation needs to carry the weight across the community. With questions and answers, it would require approximately t hour for each presentation. Boyce requested scheduling a block of four hours for interviews in July. Wolters stated that Andrew will provide the committee with some suggested questions and scoring sheets. It has been suggested that scoring will be completed after the interview process. Good of the order - Nothing Assiqnments for next meetino - Nothing Next Soecial Meeting Date - July 2016 date to be scheduled for Interviews. Adiournment - The meeting was adjourned by Chair Bill Boyce, at 5:00 pm Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of June 20,20t6 Page:6 uS bmitted by Pamela Mottram On behalf of Julie Pulliam, Lodging Tax Secretary