HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Lodging Tax Advisory Committee - 09/19/2016 Lodging Tax Advisory Committee
SPECIAL SESSION
September 19, 2016
Start Time 4:00 pm
Centennial Center Conference Room 402
Committee Members Present: Josh Bang, Andrew Hutchison, Bill Boyce, Andrea
Keikkala, Bryan Powell, Ryan Hart, Barbara Smith, John Casey
Others Present: Michelle Wilmot, Ben Wolters, Amy Waters
Chair Boyce called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm.
This session was specifically to discuss what company the City was going to move
forward with for Public Relations.
The three Companies set before the committee are JayRay, Genesis and Dana
Neuts.
Committee chair Boyce states to the committee that all 3 choices are very good
companies and no matter who the decision is that at the end of the day it comes
down to accountability.
Ben speaks of the additional questions that were asked to each of the companies.
Genesis' answers were very specific and spoke of the visit Kent.com and the
approval process, contests etc., Jay Ray spoke more general about brainstorming a
list of Kent audiences, and auditing existing communication processes. Dana was
more in the middle of the two talking about things Kent is already doing, discussing
goals and the budget. Ben also states that the reference check for Dana came back
good, Michelle was supposed to complete the reference check for Jay Ray but she
did not complete it and a reference check for Genesis was unnecessary.
The committee discussed all options of how each company could service the City in
a different way. Michelle believes that with Dana being local and having ties to the
community that she would be able to brand the City better. The only concern of the
committee is with Dana having the capacity to do the volume of work we are asking
for. The entire committee was in consensus that Jay Ray is a large company with
the capacity to do the work for the City. The committee also discussed the current
work of Genesis stating that it felt like Genesis doesn't have the capacity to make
big decisions and did only what the City told them to do. Being a large marketing
company the committee felt that Genesis should have taken more of a lead, taken
what we were asking of them and told us how to implement those ideas in a
greater capacity. The committee seems to agree that regardless of which candidate
is chosen, the committee will need to give more precise, clear direction and be
more involved.
Barb states that she likes Jay Ray's presentation, it is very eye catching and well
put together but makes it sound like they know what we are looking for but did not
put a lot of context into it. She also states that they used Wild Wheat as an
example and how everyone already knows about Wild Wheat and wishes they would
have used something less talked about.
The committee also discusses that fact that Genesis seems to be marketing more of
Seattle with discussion of staying in Kent but the committee would rather the focus
Lodging Tax Advisory Committee
September 16, 2016
being all on Kent, shopping, dining and staying in Kent. However, the positive side
of staying with Genesis would be consistency and having Dana's writing.
The committee also believes that regardless of which company is chosen, the
budget will need to be increased.
Ben asks the committee how they felt about giving Genesis more time and clearer
direction. They discuss whether it would be good to continue with a company that
has already had some success in marketing Kent. The committee comes to a
consensus that a new approach and moving forward with a new Company would be
best.
The committee also discussed the option of having Dana work with JayRay if she
was interested, stating this would be a smart idea for both Dana and JayRay.
Motion: Move to approval the firm of JayRay for a one year term, with two one
year options to renew. The budget is approximately $100,000 to $250,000.
Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned by Chair Bill Boyce, at 5:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Amy Waters, Filling in for Lodging Tax Advisory
Committee Secretary, Julie Pulliam
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