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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-05-10 KCVB MinutesKenai Convention Visitors Bureau, Inc. Regular Board of Directors Meeting President Fred Braun, Presiding Thursday, May 10, 2001 5:30 p.m. MINUTES A. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 5:40 p.m. Staff present: Kathy Tarr, Executive Director Ricky Gease, Manager of Exhibits Education B. ROLL CALL Directors present: Fred Braun, Joe Arness, Jim Bookey, Ron Matston, Rebecca Cronkhite Dan Van Zee, Sandra Vozar C. CORRESPONDENCE President Braun reported that KCVB received some positive letters and notes regarding the 2001: A Fish Odyssey reception, which drew 700 people. A resignation letter from Wanetta Ayers was included in the correspondence. Ayers left KCVB Kenai to work for the Alaska Native Heritage Center. D. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT Tarr reiterated concerns about KPTMC. We are at the point where we have to decide if the KCVB will become it's own marketing partner directly with the ATIA, or whether we should pool our funds together with KPTMC or if we don't want to do this at all. Community marketing partners work directly with the ATIA and for that you get certain benefits. Last year we pooled all money on the Peninsula so that KPTMC could become the community marketing partner, that is why you only see their name when you look at the planner. They are listed on the ATIA web site as the community link. In looking at the community marketing situation, you are all aware of what happened this past year with us putting our funds in then we discovered that only half of the funds were sent in. We are at the point where we need to make this decision again. (Documents were distributed detailing the concerns.) There are other concerns with marketing also. KPTMC web site has not been kept up -to -date. We have electronic marketing statistics that we get on our web site, we know that in the year 2000, the total amount of readers that came from KPTMC's web site to ours was less than 100 for the entire year. If you look at their web site, it is difficult to find the communities. We have discovered that kenaipeninsula.com, which is a private organization on the Kenai Peninsula, we have received 800 web readers directly from their site. A lot of problems with this web site. Leads that we have been receiving from KPTMC total 215 names, we have given them 693. The Weekender Guide, which was published by KPTMC, there are some things we are concerned about. Most of the text is centered around private companies that have advert ised in the Weekender. No mention of events going on around the Peninsula KCVB Board Meeting May 10, 2001 Page 2 DRAFT Popp suggested that KCVB talk with the new Acting Administrator at KPTMC prior to retracting or reducing ads with them. Tarr said she would schedule a meeting. ATIA One of the benefits of going directly with ATIA is that on the travelalaska.com web site, we would have our own direct link. We did some checking with the other CVBs in the State, the ATIA web site is getting 70,000 user sessions a month. if we are directly linked, that would generate a tremendous amount of traffic to our new web site. We would also be in the State planner ourselves. This year the community marketing partners pay 5 so therefore we would have about $9,523.00 due. However, in this year's budget, we had already set aside $3,000.00 for if we all joined forces again, so we only need to come up with $6,523.00 to become a direct marketing partner with ATIA. M/S (Vozar, Nelson) for Kenai. CVB to follow Kathy Tan's suggestion to become a community marketing partner directly with ATIA. M/S (Popp, VanZee) to pay for the ATIA community marketing partnership out of the general fund. KPTMC MIS (Cronkhite, Malston) to maintain KPMC membership but to reduce the ad to 1/6, based on performance. Popp, no tracking information and relying on their distribution network. Before retracting or reducing ads, we need to talk with the new Administrator and express our concerns. We need to give them an opportunity to address these concerns. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes for the March 27 meeting were not yet available. F. BOARD COMMENTS The next meeting was scheduled for August 23, 2001. Tarr will give a written report to the Board in early to mid summer. Reports say that the tourism season is going to be slow. The Board requested updates on the income numbers from Bingo and admissions. Tarr to report to Board through July. KCVB Board Meeting May 10, 2001 Page 3 Gease reported on comments he had received about the current art exhibit. Gease requested an official letter to the Kenai Peninsula College thanking them for their partnership. Tarr thanked all staff for their hard work during the set up and opening of the show. Nelson commented about staff's good work on the art show. She said she heard many good comments about the show, and the opening was excellent. G. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjoumed at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, 1 Kathleen Tan Executive Director