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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-12-12 MemorandumTO: KENAI MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM: RICKY GEASE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, KENAI CVB DATE: December 12, 2002 RE: UPDATE FOR THE KENAI CVB AND THE KENAI VISITORS AND CULTURAL CENTER Kenai CVB: The next board meeting of the Kenai CVB is scheduled for Monday, December 16, at 5:30 pin. Two new board members were elected to the Kenai CVB Board of Directors this month Sharon Brower of the Grouchy Old Woman Bed and Breakfast and Jacquie Steckel of the Red Cabin Bed and Breakfast. New state of Alaska gaming regulations will come into effect January 1., 2003. The Kenai CVB and the Peninsula Oilers have formed a multi beneficiary permit called "OLD TOWN BINGO." The MBP will operate out of the Peninsula Oilers bingo hall, starting January 1, 2003. At the last board meeting, the Kenai CVB Board of Directors agreed to move ahead in forming a subsidiary 501 c 3 non profit organization to assist in fundraising for museum services at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center. The 501 (c 3 status will allow for tax deductible charitable donations to be made to the Center from individuals and foundations. Currently the Center does not apply for funding from private foundation as the Rasmussen Foundation, nor does it have a friends group of individual donors outside of the basic Kenai CVB membership. The Kenai CVB will hold a strategic planning on February 4, 2003 at the Center, with facilitation by the Foraker Group. The planning session will focus on destination marketing and operations at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center In cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough EDD, the Kenai CVB will host a peninsula wide conference with chambers CVB's at the end of February to discuss the need for research into basic economic factors in peninsula tourism, such as a visitor profile study, a tourism business profile, a travel infrastructure profile, and a DMO strategic marketing profile. The Kenai CVB has received grant funding through Kenai Peninsula College and the Kenai River Council on the Arts to establish a new arts website, www.artskenai.com. The website will feature a peninsula -wide artists directory, an on -line exhibition gallery and a calendar of events. The artists directory will feature artists, art educators, arts businesses and arts associations. The online gallery will initially feature exhibits from the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center, Kenai Peninsula College and the Kenai Fine Arts Center. The Arctic Winter Games International Committee will be visiting Kenai on Friday, January 17, 2003. The eight -hour site inspection is the last step in the bid process, with an announcement coming the following week. The Kenai Peninsula bid committee will be showcasing the region's sport and cultural facilities. The committee arrives at 10:30 am at the Kenai Airport and will tour all day, with an evening reception from 6 8:00 pm at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center. Preliminary indications are that the Kenai Peninsula has an excellent shot at winning the bid for the 2006 Arctic Winter Games and the site inspection will be a crucial aspect of the International Committee's decision. The Kenai CVB is working on its budget for 2003. The new budget will be presented in a program cost center approach, with cost centers for Kenai CVB, KVCC visitor services and KVCC museum. services. Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center Two new exhibits are up in the cultural center: "Arctic: Solo Images by Robert Glenn Ketchum' and "Cook Inlet Commercial Fisheries Solo Images by Pat Dixon." Both will be on display through the end of January. Dana Woodard, curator of the permanent collection, is supervising a database management grant from the Alaska State Museum. Jarod Urban was hired for the fall to input data into the Center's museum collections database, including images and condition reports for all objects in the city of Kenai permanent collection. There are over 3,000 objects in the collection. Posters and postcards for next summer's featured exhibition "Alaska 2003: A Celebration of Wildlife Art" will be available in January. Guy Coheleach, an intemationally renowned wildlife artist, has donated the image use of his new painting "Tundra Swans." At this point, over forty state, national and international wildlife artists are confirmed for the show, with a large presence from the three main national wildlife art houses Mill Pond Press, Wild Wings and Hadley House. There will be a memorial celebration in the exhibit to honor Fred Machetanz, who passed away earlier this year. First Thursday art events in the central peninsula continue to pick up steam. Over 80 people attended the First Thursday viewing of "Bob's Shorts" at the Center. Also featured were selection from "The Politics of the Past: A Collection of Alaskan Political Media 1950 1992," a new film collection from the archives of AMIPA, the Alaska Moving Image Preservation Association. Over fifty people attended a Saturday lecture video presentation "The Body Language of Bears" by Dr. Steve Stringham. He presented his experience of over 30 years of studying the habits and manners of Alaskan brown bears, and decoded their body language through video shots he has made through the years.