Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-06-16 Tourism Commission Minutes (2) TOURISM COMMISSION RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI, Monday, June 16, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. At 6:00 p.m. on June 16, 2014, 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 Jason Rule, Lori Locke, and Jennifer Goering. Meredith Hauck, Director of Administration, and Stacey Rasco, Executive Assistant (recorder) were also present. Motion to Approve Commissioner Rule made a motion to approve the minutes from April 14, Minutes 2014. Commissioner Goering seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion passed. FY 2013-2014 & 2014-Ms. Hauck noted that there is $30,500 to roll over to the coming year’s 2015 Tourism Fund budget. Attempts to reach the contact person for the All Truck Nationals Budget Update was successful and we will go ahead and give the sponsorship as planned of $5,000. The Highland Games were this past weekend and were very successful. Good coverage by the Kansas City Star this week as well. Riverfest is underway. It was noted that they are changing the name of the event but that name has not been released. A complete re-branding is underway. At the recommendation of the Tourism Commission Riverfest will be going to a one day event. They have hired an outside firm to plan and manage the event. At the next Tourism Commission meeting, Riverfest will be invited for an update. The Tourism Commission has struggled with Riverfest in years past. The high mark was about 8 years ago. Since then it has gone down each year. Mr. Rule noted that they needed to do just a few things and do them well instead of trying to spread very little over two days. At present, about half of the crowd comes from Riverside and half from around the area. The Tourism Board funds ¾ of this event along with area businesses and we have asked that they compact it down utilizing one big entertainer and one fireworks show and be done. The goals given to Riverfest last year were:  At least 7,500 attendees  No parking issues  Create a big marketing buzz throughout the metro After the All Truck Nationals in September the funding cycle will start again. Budget this year is $175,000. Tourism Grant Overview Ms. Hauck included a copy of the draft RFP for review. This will be discussed and FY 2014-2015 in detail at the next meeting. Schedule Also included are the Tourism Commission Funding Guidelines that were adopted in 2013. They are up for review. With the process of sponsorship recently updated, our funding guidelines should be reviewed timely. We always try to keep some money back in case of another opportunity. This is a once a year sponsorship cycle. History Project Update Ms. Hauck noted that the Tourism Commission provided funds to hire a history intern for the summer. Laura Fagen has been hired and is compiling numerous documents and articles for review. Ms. Fagen is from the Journalism Department at KU. She is meeting with the Mayor this week and will go from there. Already we have taken many videos and converted them to DVD. Just yesterday someone dropped off a stack of pictures from the 1993 flood and she is working on those as well now. She has access to a video camera and will be taping all interviews for future use. Responsibilities of Mr. Rule noted that we have been pooling money for those items that may Funding come up and so 5-10% goes back into the pool each year if possible. We save money so in case something big comes up like at the old Beverly Lumber area for example that may draw in big crowds to the community to hiring staff to help out with projects such as the History project. The Tourism Commission mainly funds other events. The Commission itself has in the past done the Blast using $30-$70 thousand to put this on and then another $50 - $70 to help out Riverfest. It was then that the Commission voted to support Riverfest alone and use our resources more effectively. Ms. Hauck noted that last year we did a series of events in the park, Battle of the Bands and family type events. This was ok, but we needed to get back to what we are trying to attract and where our money is best used. Most things are grass roots. Tourism Commission Meetings will be every other month on even months the second Monday at Meeting Schedule 6pm in the BOA Conf Room at City Hall. Adjournment – 6:30 p.m. Commission was adjourned.