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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Lodging Tax Advisory Committee - 04/27/2015 (2) • Lodging Tax Advisory BEN rT Committee Agenda WASHINGTON Mission: Promote the City as a destination to increase tourism and business development Committee Members: Tim Higgins, Josh Bang, John Casey, Barbara Smith, David Kwok, Andrew Hutchison, Bill Boyce, Chair City Staff: Ben Wolters, Julie Pulliam AGENDA April 27, 201S 4:00 P.M. Centennial North & South Conference Rooms Item Description Action Speaker(s) 1. Approval of the February 25, 2015 Minutes Yes Bill Boyce [—Motion: Move to approve the minutes of February 25, 2015. 2. Budget Update No Ben Wolters 3. ShoWare Marketing Budget Update Yes Tim Higgins 4. Marketing / Reports No Ben Wolters 5. Next meeting Date - Monday, June 22, 2015 i P:�Planning\LTAC\4-27-15 LTAC Agenda.doc 1 Unless othenvise noted,the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee meets every other Month on the 4rd Monday at 4:00 p.m.in Centennial North&South Conference Room,400 West Gowe Street,Kent WA 98032. For information on the above item(s),contact Julie Pulliam(253)856-5702. Lodging Tax Advisory Committee- Meeting N"AM A F T February 25, 2015 Start Time 4:00 pm M aCentennial North & South Conference Rooms U Committee Members Present: Chair Bill Boyce, John Casey, David Kwok, Tim Higgins, Josh Bang, Barbara Smith, Andrew Hutchison Others present: Ben Wolters, Julie Pulliam, Ryan Hart, Mary Kae Repp Chair Boyce called the meeting to order at 4:02 pm. Introductions were made. The Chair asked for any additions to the agenda. None were added. Approval of Minutes John Casey moved to approve the January 22, 2015 minutes and David Kwok seconded the motion. There was no discussion. Motion passed. Future meetings will be held on the 4th Monday of every other month. The next meeting will be held on April 27, 2015 at 4 pm. Budget Update - Ben Wolters Wolters just wanted to make sure the committee understands the budget availability for what Mary Kae will propose. Lodging Tax has around $30,000 under marketing and the committee has the ability to move money from anywhere within the 2015 Lodging Tax approved budget. Tourism Website & Maintenance Proposal - Mary Kae Repp Chair Boyce asked the committee if they have had the chance to look at the website. Boyce said it looks pretty good, questioning if the hits are being tracked? Mary Kae stated that the website is still new, is being tracked with google analytics, and is receiving a few hits. Wolters briefly introduced the marketing proposals, stating that related materials were handed out at an earlier meeting. The committee wanted to move forward with a meeting a month later to give Mary Kae and Genesis the opportunity to verbally present to the Committee the element and material that had been made available in advance to the Committee to review by Ryan Hart, Ben Wolters and Michelle Wilmot - to allow them to ask questions and get them answered in terms of some of the details provided from the Q & A and to allow Mary Kae to address some feedback that came from the Committee at the last meeting. The goal coming from this is to get direction and approval for some or all of the elements Mary Kae proposes to the Committee in whatever fashion the Committee feels are acceptable. Wolters stated that the site is up and running and it is now time to market it. Marketing this site is a layer that will build into other marketing opportunities that will be considered later this year; the next logical steps now that the website is up and launched, to meet the desire for many on the board to more formally expand our marketing of Kent. Mary Kae Repp presented the materials, stating that at the last meeting, the Committee asked what a one month glimpse would look like with what is being done with the campaign; how is tracking going to work? How are the results going to be tracked? and how do we make sure Nthe $1,500 is going to be put to good use? Using April as an example, Mary Kae used an assumption that even if it was approved today, it would take a while before things were finalized and we would most likely not move forward until April. The campaign would be set up as a brand new website. It will need some / exposure. It will be set up as, here is the attractions in Kent, set up for keywords and the budget would be divided up as in the proposal; between Facebook, Bing, Google Ad Words, U Tube, and retargeting. The Committee questioned what was going to happen with those campaigns? For Facebook, the $425 would be used for separate campaigns in the Portland Metro area, Northern Idaho, Central Washington, Eastern Washington, and a separate Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of February 25, 2015 Page: 3 Chair Boyce said the budget can be moved around but not go beyond the $1,500. Wolters clarified that no further money will be spent unless approved by the LTAC. David Kwok asked if the LTAC will meet in August, as it is a busy vacation month. Chair Boyce stated that regular meetings are set up but adjustments will be made where necessary. Wolters stated that he hopes for a pretty engaged year. Boyce added that additional meetings can be held if needed. Tim Higgins and Ryan Hart are working on ideas for the ShoWare Marketing budget that is set aside for ShoWare and collectively blends well with what the Committee is doing here. There will be more decisions for this committee to make as we continue to become more active in Marketing Kent. Chair Boyce stated that Kent is having a 125t" birthday and that information should be captured through this marketing website, Wolters concurred. The Mayor has said that some kind of 6 month celebration will be rolled out pretty soon. Barbara Smith mentioned that the Mayor will be unveiling the Logo next week and we will be able to start using it. Mary Kae stated this would be a good thing for us to feed off of for Social Media and blogs. Barbara Smith stated that KDP is starting to develop a lot more events in downtown. With the Pet Walk in April, the Wine Walk in May, the third Thursday of every month will be an Art Walk. March will be the first one. Wolters clarified that the annual cost for the online marketing proposal would be $20,700. The component parts include; Facebook, Bing, Google Ad Words, etc., and would cost $350 per month, with Mary Kae concurring. Mary Kae clarified that the proposal is for a one month look. Chair Boyce stated that the Committee is being asked to sign a contract, questioning if we are looking at a 6 month contract or do we want to get locked in for a longer term. Wolters replied that we could do a 6-month contract but that this conversation has not been held with Mary Kae. Wolters stated that a 6-month contract would be one way to go, and the other way is an annual contract with a 30-day written notice of termination to dissolve the contract if we are not satisfied or if Genesis was dissatisfied with us. Wolters stated that he would like to propose a contract to the end of this calendar year with the terms as presented, which shows a certain level of commitment on everyone to try to see this through, and recognizing we will be making adjustments. The Committee and Mary Kae voiced concurrence with Wolters proposal. Andrew Hutchison asked that if we are proposing $1,500 a month, what happens if the money runs out on the 1Ot". Mary Kae stated that we will monitor the sites on a daily basis and be able to see if there is a lot of activity in one place over another. That is when we will report back to Ben, Michelle, and Ryan, that specific sites are very active and recommend retaining those active sites and appropriating the money to maintain those sites. $20,000 is a lot of money but you will see this can disappear very quickly over the course of a month. We are going way out in the first part of the campaign. The reality is that in 90 days it is likely that we will narrow it down to two areas and you will be able to see that in the reports. Hutchison said you will be moving money from one to the other? Either the Committee will fund more Lodging Tax Advisory Committee Minutes of February 25, 2015 Page: 5 John Case stated that although the last minutes said we could hold off on the written contents and the photography piece. However, Genesis is saying it can't be held off. Mary Kae stated Michelle Wilmot is going to be working on with the departments to get a photo library together. The website will benefit from being able to use the photo library. Wolters stated we are proposing to not continue with the photographer which will save money. Chair Boyce stated at the last meeting, the consensus was that we did not need so much writing. Mary Kae said with it being a new site, the fact that it has been online for a while and has generated activity, writing can be cut back. The blogs will help a lot in the back end in grabbing keywords and getting the experience stories written. Once all of these things are completed, and when the quarterly seasonal stuff is written, this media can be saved and switched out. Moving forward text can be changed easily. This would require a one-time fee to complete this. In response to questions posed by Chair Boyce, Wolters stated that the total amount is approximately $28,068 from now until the end of 2015; and Mary Kae' stated the only way to know if we are getting our money worth and that this is working, is every cent is website driven, so the only metric that is real will be the analytics. There can be some cross- referencing from the hits and where they come from. David Kwok said each hotel can offer promotions to attach to the website which will help in tracking stays. Chair Boyce said it looks like there are some opportunities for the hoteliers with promotions to make sure there is value added. Mary Kae stated that with the $500 fee Genesis will continue to monitor ways to get more use out of the website. One thing that could be done is build something that would fly in on the webpage that would say "when you call to book your room, make sure you say you called from the website because we offer additional discounts". This feature would hotel staff to assist with tracking of the website. In response to David Kwok, Kae stated that the Committee can give information directly to herself, and it will be easy to get it on the website. Genesis can create a special landing page for special offers, a fly-in that will state that there are VIP offers if you call in and say you are booking through the website. Wolters stated that this website will service the restaurants and offer ways to connect to the ShoWare or the T-Birds website. Motion: Move to approve the budget for the website contract for the Online Marketing Proposal, Online Marketing Campaign Proposal, Social Media Management, Maintenance Proposal, and Freelance Writer Proposal. Not to exceed $30,000 David Kwok moved, Barbara Smith 2"d the motion. Wolters stated as a point of order, $30,000 of the funding will require Council approval to get going on some of the work to be identified and to move this forward. Genesis can invoice. Mary Kae stated that all on-line marketing requires payment in advance. Wolters said that we will use Julie Pulliam's credit card for the on-line required payment. cn Chair Boyce stated we will meet next on April 27 LODGING TAX OPERATING-FUND As of March 31, 2015 2013 2014 2015 2015 2015 Actual Actual Budget YTD Est Actual Beginning Fund Balance 95,397 193,663 371,803 371,803 371,803 Revenues Lodging Tax 217,618 249,377 208,060 13,870 208,060 Miscellaneous Income 85 205 85 90 85 Total Revenues 217,703 249,581 208,145 13,961 208,145 Expenditures Services & Charges 10,000 10,000 Seattle Southside Visitor Services 60,000 13,516 Tourism Unallocated 10,000 21,000 80,000 9,337 80,000 Tourism Chamber 18,500 18,500 18,500 18,500 ShoWare Marketing 35,000 60,000 60,000 Branding Activities 18,425 20,000 22 20,000 Total Expenditures 123,500 71,441 188,500 9,359 188,500 Transfers Out - Showare Center Marquee (4,064) Total Expenditures and Transfers 119,436 71,441 188,500 9,359 188,500 Change in Fund Balance 98,267 178,140 19,645 4,602 19,645 Ending Fund Balance 193,664 371,803 391,448 376,405 391,448 F1RST Robotics Washington FIRSTWA.0R6 "The sport of science, technology,and teamwork." Contact: Erin McCallum, President, Washington FIRST Robotics, 206-619-1525, erinCcDfirstwa.org Come See 10-18 Year Old Youth Play A Sport Where Everyone Can Go Pro! Kent,WA With Superbowl fever at an all-time high,join Washington FIRST Robotics this Saturday,January 315Y at Showare Center in Kent, where you will see over 1,000 youth 10-18 years of age competing at the State Championships for FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge. Just as the Seahawks, these students will be playing with every bone and muscle in their body, using their brain as the primary resource as they find their spark for science, technology, and teamwork which one day could take them pro!This is the first dual state championship that Washington FIRST Robotics has held in bringing two of its fastest growing programs, FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge under one arena.The City of Kent is a proud sponsor of this event along with Intel.This event is free to the public. Thirty-two teams out of 138 FIRSTTech Challenge have advanced to this state championship to play in this season's challenge Cascade Effect.Thirty-two out of 560 teams have advanced to the FIRST LEGO League Western Washington Championships to play in this season's challenge World Class.The Central and Eastern Washington sate championships were held earlier this month. Opening Ceremonies for the event are at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday at Showare.The competition will run all day Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Showare Center, located at 625 West James Street in Kent, FIRST Robotics is a sport of science, technology and teamwork, combining the tremendous opportunity to develop STEM skills under the guidance of professional engineering and business mentors who volunteer their time and talents to teach the students valuable engineering, project management and entrepreneurship skills. FIRST Robotics teams are challenged to design and build a robot based on an annual themed challenge under strict rules, limited resources, and tight time constraints. Washington FIRST Robotics, and the 1054 teams across Washington take STEM to the level of"cool" for students. Students involved in FIRST are eligible for 900 individual scholarship opportunities with a total value of over $25M. It's an amazing opportunity for students. Affiliated with U.S.FIRST, Washington FIRST Robotics designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence,teamwork, and life skills. http•//www.firstwa.org 21238 68'" Avenue South, Kent, WA 98o32-1909 (sob) 619-1525 FIRSTWA.ORG i 4 w ►+. U d L7c rx O + J w N — N ` ^ CL S t+'! 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