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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-10-17 KCVB MinutesKenai Convention Visitors Bureau, Inc, Regular Board of Directors Meeting President Fred Braun, Presiding Wednesday, October 17, 2001 5:30 p.m. MINUTES DRAFT A. CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order at 5:50 p.m. ROLL CALL Directors present: Fred Braun, Joe Amess, Ron. Malston, Marty Ragan, Marion Nelson Staff present: Kathy Tarr, Executive Director Reecellee James, Administrative Assistant B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Approval of the meeting minutes for March 27, 2001 and May 10, 2001 were postponed until the November 12, 2001 board meeting, due to a lack of quorum. C. CORRESPONDENCE President Braun reported that Ricky Gease received an award from the Alaska Art Education Association, Kenai CVB also received a thank you letter from William Harper, a KCHS student, thanking Kathy for spending time with him and giving him a tour of the facility, President Braun said another personal letter, signed by Braun, was mailed out to all the corporate and community sponsors of the 2001: A Fish Odyssey art show, Director Nelson said a lot of favorable comments were received on the Fish Odyssey show, Director Ragan remarked on the email she received from Wayne Monroe of Tennessee, complimenting the KCVB staff, Director Nelson witnessed some of the art tours Ricky did with area school children and commented on the excellent job he did. D. STATUS OF KCVB 2002 BOARD ELECTION There was discussion on the upcoming board election. Some names were discussed for future board candidates. Directors Arness Legg informed the board that they would not seek re- election due to other personal and professional commitments. Tarr reminded incumbent board members that they needed to submit the required paperwork to run again for a board seat. It was agreed that potential board candidates would be contacted to determine their level of interest, E. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT President Braun said a copy of the executive director's letter of resignation was before them. He expressed his regret in her leaving, but admires her determination and courage for taking on something new and different. Tarr will be assisting in the transition of the new director, if there is selected prior to her departure Tarr said her decision to leave was very hard. She assured the board that this would be a good time for the transition since it isn't near or during the visitor season. Tarr commented on how much she would miss her job and all of the people associated with it, Tarr will prepare a transition report for the board to be presented at her final board meeting on November 1.2 The report will include an overview of all departments, projects, positions, and will also include project recommendations for the board to consider. Friday, November 30 is Tarr's last day of employment. She requested that the Board allow her to take some time off in November to work on personal logistics related to her graduate school application. STRATEGIC PLAN Tarr reiterated that she believes the organization needs to go through a strategic planning process that will engage the whole community. Serious discussions about the future of the cultural center and how it fits into Kenai need to be held. It may require a third party, like the Foraker Group, to assist with the strategic plan. It has been since 1996 that KCVB has had any kind of meeting or planning like this, and that was just a one -day retreat, Tarr said. FINANCES Tarr reported that the Bureau's bookkeeper was out of state on a family emergency for over 6 weeks. The August September financial reports were not available until Ms. Moody returns and gets caught up. All financials and budget reports will be updated and given to the Board as soon as possible, prior to the next board meeting. Linda Dunn, bookkeeper, Peninsula Oilers, has been filling in for Ms. Moody and keeping accounts payable, receivables, and weekly payrolls. Tarr reported on the bank balances. Copies of July 2001 financials were distributed. (Note: the last board meeting was held in June.) Gaming revenues improved in 2001 after a below normal year in 2000. There was a question about the impact the new gaming operation. in Soldotna would have on Bicentennial Bingo. Tarr has not talked with Peggy Baxter regarding that situation. Tarr said she recently met with Mike Baxter of the Oilers to once again begin operating the Bingo Bus. Baxter provides bingo players free transportation from Soldotna to Kenai. The cost to KCVB is $60 per night for the bus. The Bingo Bus begins service in October. Tarr shared copies of a letter she sent to the State of Alaska regarding troublesome, proposed changes to the gaming regulations which could negatively impact Bicentennial Bingo. I mam LL Director Malston said Peggy Baxter and Linda Dunn went to Anchorage to attend a hearing on the proposed gaming changes, but it was a complete waste of time as they were not allowed any questions or answers of the State of Alaska officials Regarding personnel matters, Tarr said that when Amy Manuel vacated her position in April that Maggie Tappana, formerly in Visitor Services, was moved to the administrative assistant's job. The vacant position in Visitor Services was never filled as the Bureau depended primarily upon its seasonal staff for most of the summer. Tarr said she will not fill any empty positions before she leaves, Total admissions collected for May, June, July and August were $20,481.00. $1.2,000 of the total was used to partially pay for the exhibition. expenses. Admissions in 2001 were down compared to 2000. FISH ODYSSEY The 2001 summer tourism season was flat or slightly down around the state. The KVCC saw an 11% drop in visitation, compared to 2000. The Soldotna Visitor Center was 12% lower. Approximately one -third of the art which was available for purchase in the Fish Odyssey show was sold. The Bureau received a 25% commission, but the net was lower than the wildlife art show because the fish art originals were not as expensive overall. The fish poster was not as marketable as the Bateman bear poster from the year before. Posters on the fish art show were used mostly for promotional purposes around the state. Director Nelson stated that more attention needed to paid on making the posters marketable and that "personal" type of art should not featured. Tarr said that she secured sponsorships for the Fish Odyssey totaling $24,550.00 cash. In addition, over $5,500 in in -kind sponsorships were received. Total revenue from the Fish Odyssey is estimated at $51,000.00, said Tarr. Fish Odyssey Expenses totaled approximately $50, 000.00, although the final figures would not be available until next week. The expenses from the art show included the $4,300.00 it cost the Bureau to purchase the 40 mounted Cook Inlet fish from Bob James' estate. A record number of 1,600 school children visited the Center in May. The Bureau also hosted a free community day on Mother's Day. Over 700 residents attended the grand opening reception. Staff estimated that approximately 20,000 people saw the art show. (Paid admissions were much lower.) Final numbers on the Fish Odyssey as well as up-to -date financials will be available at. the November 12 Board Meeting. 10 ANNIVERSARY YEAR Tarr reminded everyone that 2002 is the 10 anniversary of the building. She suggested that Kenai CVB possibly tie in the grand opening of the art show with the anniversary celebration. HIRING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR There was discussion about how to go about hiring the new executive director since November 30 was fast approaching, Director Braun said a board committee needed to start working on the selection process for a new director. He welcomed board members to participate in the selection process. Board members agreed to speak personally with Ricky Gease in advance to inquire about his level of interest in applying for the director's position. ARTS SUMMIT Tan directed attention to the card in the board packet announcing the Arts Summit being held at the Center on Saturday, October 20. Tarr said the new Executive Director for the Alaska State Council on the Arts, Charlotte Fox was invited to attend. 50 to 100 people are expected to attend, Michael Morgan is the President of the Kenai River Council on the Arts and has been very involved in organizing the arts summit: Ricky Gease accompanied Tarr to the Alaska Travel Industry Association's statewide tourism convention. in Anchorage in early October so that Gease could meet a lot of the tourism industry people. KCVB staffer, Alise Bowen, also attended one day of the ATIA convention and a reception at the Alaska Native Heritage Center. She visited the Anchorage Museum of History Art and enjoyed attending the ATIA tourism sessions. Tarr said many of the articles in the board packet relate to the tourism projections for 2002. Since the September 11 tragedy, the tourism industry is bracing for a big decline in travel. The State plans on refocusing their advertising on more domestic marketing. Tarr gave the following highlights from the ATIA Convention: State Economist, Neal Fried spoke on the tourism industry and gave some statistics; 15 out of Alaska's top 100 employers are in tourism, 2/3 of the growth in Alaska's economy over the past ten years has come from the services and retail sector. Fried said the tourism industry in has been creating jobs and has been part of what has kept the economy going. The Mat -Su Borough had a 475% increase in bed tax collected in the past ten years. Director Nelson gave a few comments about the ATIA convention as she also heard the economist's presentation. In discussing the impact tourism has on Alaska's economy, Fried said that construction firms, gas stations, and others are greatly impacted by tourism, yet many of these businesses do not get involved in ATIA. Premier Alaska Tours won the Chuck West Entrepreneurial Award for new tourism business, At ATIA's final banquet, Tarr bid $2,600.00 on a full -page color ad in Alaska Magazine and was the successful bidder. The ad will be used to market Kenai's next summer art exhibition. The Borough is holding their economic forum the 16 and 17 of November. Tarr has been asked to participate as a speaker. The Bureau's new website was launched in April. It was discovered that some members have not been billed for their business hot link. Tarr drafted a letter to all affected KCVB members (40 -50). Staff is putting together a sheet showing the statistics for the website that will be put into new member packets. User sessions on the web site in the year ending 2000 were about 25,000. This year, 2001, the Bureau is tracking at 50,000 user sessions, said Tarr. KCVB staff continue to make changes to the website to improve it. It was noted that the Arts Culture section appears in the top ten sections visited on www.visitkenai.com each month. The Kenai CVB has invested $10,000 for Kenai to become a Community Marketing Partner with the Alaska Travel Industry Association. The Kenai CVB and website are now listed on the back cover of each State of Alaska vacation planner. Kenai CVB's web site is also prominently featured and linked from ATIA's web site that is generating more web traffic to www.visitkenai.com. It is unknown at this time whether Kenai. CVB can afford this program in 2002, President Braun said a board liability insurance quote for approximately $2,000 has been received, but no action was taken due to lack of a quorum. This will be put on the November 12 agenda. G. BOARD COMMENTS; Braun The facility has done very well on getting free press regarding happenings at the building. Tarr Circulated an example of an arts press release that was sent to the Clarion showing events at the center. Celia Carl Anderson has been named as the curator for the next art show entitled "Spirit of Alaska: The Inner Landscape The board will want to look at the sponsorships for the show and to also tie this in with the 10 anniversary. In 2003, Dr. Wartenbee will repeat the Celebration of Wildlife Art. Tarr sent a proposal for $5,000 to Phillips Alaska for possible sponsorship of the "Spirit of Alaska" art show in 2002. Artless Really likes the idea of the strategic plan, the community really needs it. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, Kathleen Tarr Executive Director