HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-09-10 Tourism Commission MinutesTOURISM COMMISSION
RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI,
Monday, September 10, 2012, 6:00 p.m.
At 6:00 p.m. on September 10, 2012, the Tourism Commission for the City of Riverside, Missouri, met in
the Board of Aldermen Conference Room at City Hall, 2950 NW Vivion Road, Riverside, Missouri.
Answering roll call was Jerry Pietsch, Jason Rule Dirk van der Linde, Deana Winter, and Alderman Aaron
Thatcher. Meredith Hauck, Director of Community Relations, was also present and served as recorder.
Motion to approve the
Chair Jason Rule made a motion to approve the minutes of August 13, 2012.
minutes of August 13,
Commissioner Deana Winter seconded the motion. All voted in favor.
2012
Motion carried.
Tourism Fund Update
Hauck provided the Commission with the FY13 Tourism Budget for review.
Motion to approve
Hauck reported that the bids for the trail signage project came in $7,500
additional funding for the
over the estimate originally provided. She explained that the increase in
trail signage project.
price was likely caused by the elements of the contract unique to local
government, including utilizing prevailing wage and the level of insurance
necessary. The Commission expressed their disappointment with this
increased cost for the signs and asked what options were available to bring
the cost down. Hauck explained that staff could explore having Public
Works install the signs but the project wouldn't be complete by November —
a requirement to receive the Platte County Outreach Grant funds.
Commissioner Jerry Pietsch made a motion to approve additional funding in
the amount of $7,500 for the project. Commissioner Winter seconded the
motion. Commissioners Pietsch and Winter voted in favor. Commissioners
van der Linde and Rule were opposed. Motion failed.
Staff will review ways to cut costs on this project and bring their
recommendations before the Commission in the spring. Staff will also be
prepared to reapply for the Platte County Outreach Grant in 2013.
Motion to approve Hauck presented the concept for a city -wide trail map brochure to the
funding for the Trails Commission. She said this brochure would be distributed to hotels and
Map Project. other brochure racks throughout the county and also be available online.
The City was willing to split the cost of the project with the Tourism
Commission. Commissioner Rule commented that this information is
already available on the County's website.
Commissioner Winter made a motion to approve funding in the amount of
$3,500 for the project. Commissioner Pietsch seconded the motion.
Commissioners Winter, Pietsch and van der Linde voted in favor.
Commissioner Rule was opposed. Motion carried.
Tourism Commission Hauck reminded the Commission that they have a workshop at the Board of
Workshop — September Aldermen meeting on September 25, 2012 from 6 to 7 p.m. This workshop
25 is an opportunity for the Commission to update the Board on their work and
to get feedback on changes they want to see in the grant guidelines. Hauck
will prepare the financial overview for the Board, but the Commission will
be responsible for leading the discussion.
Adjournment -7:45 p.m. Commission was adjourned.
Holly Phillips
Riverside Riverfest Development Corporation
2950 NW Vivion Road
Riverside, MO 64150
Riverside Riverfest Committee:
On Monday, February 13, the Tourism Commission approved $44,347.50 for the 2012 Riverside Riverfest. We feel this
event is one of our community's defining festivals and are excited to once again be able to help sponsor it.
One of the challenges we have imposed on ourselves is to ensure we are getting the greatest "bang for our buck" from
tourism dollars. On events we fund, we break them down into their respective components to ensure that each component
is contributing the maximum benefit to the overall event. We are very critical even of our own sponsored events such as
Blast. For example, we have changed major elements of Blast in an attempt to make it as successful as possible. This
year we have chosen to move in a completely different direction and sponsor three smaller events during the summer. I
bring this up because I want to make it clear that our intentions are to be good stewards of tourism dollars and we attempt
to make honest assessments of each event and its components.
Riverfest is one of our major annual sponsorships. Each year when we review the grant for Riverfest we struggle with the
amount of funding we provide versus the draw in attendance for this two -day event. Riverfest is the highest "$ per
attendee" event we fund. Some components of this event are very successful and provide a tremendous draw and garner
goodwill and positive word of mouth from attendees. Some examples include the inflatables, headliner entertainment, and
Saturday night fireworks. Other elements of the two -day event do not appear to provide a good return on dollars spent.
Some examples include Friday night activities and fireworks (compared to Saturday), parade and other Saturday
morning /afternoon events with low attendance. We would like to see Riverfest expand on its top 2 or 3 draws and
become an event that sets itself apart from all other events in the northland. We believe a greater focus on doing a few
things exceptionally well vs. doing many things in an average manner would be a greater draw and provide an even
greater opportunity to present our city in a positive light.
As we discussed with Riverfest committee members last year, we are interested in seeing this event become a greater
tourism draw to Riverside. Although we have discussed a number of suggestions on how Riverfest could do this, we
know that the decision on how the event moves forward is ultimately up to the Committee. However, as Riverfest's
largest sponsor, we will take a closer look at how well the event aligns with our goals during the 2013 grant process and
strongly encourage the Riverfest Committee to consider how the event can be a better tourism draw in the coming years.
We propose the Riverfest Committee takes an honest assessment of the overall event and seek ways to improve
attendance vs. dollars spent.
The Tourism Commission remains a strong supporter of Riverfest and we would welcome the opportunity to meet with the
Committee to provide additional feedback on the event.
Respectfully,
Jason Rule, Chair
On behalf of the Riverside Tourism Commission