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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-12-08 Tourism Commission Minutes (2) TOURISM COMMISSION RIVERSIDE, MISSOURI, Monday, December 8, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. At 6:02 p.m. on December 8, 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 Alderman Aaron Thatcher, Commissioners Hope Carriger, Lori Locke, Jennifer Goering, and City staff member Jackie Carlson, and Stacey Rasco (Scribe) were also present. Commissioner Julie Rule was absent. Motion to Approve Commissioner Goering made a motion to approve the minutes from Minutes October 20, 2014. Commissioner Carriger seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Motion passed. Riverside MusicFest Final Holly Phillips and Keli Wenzel presented the highlights from the 2014 Report Riverside MucicFest Final Report. Overall they believed that the event was a success and met the goals challenged by the Commission. The RiverFest Committee completed two different surveys, pre and post MusicFest. In the future they would like to do an information booth for Riverside promotion. The event was scaled back to a one-day event. Launched a new website and increased social media as well. For future events the committee would like to have a block of rooms reserved at Argosy for attendees. This will allow for better tracking of the local impact from the event. 2015 Tourism Grant The Tourism Commission reviewed the following grant applications for Applications 2015. It was noted that $175,000 is available for grants this next year with over $256,000 requested. The question was posed as to how much money was in the reserve fund. Commissioner Goering believed it was nearly $300,000. The Commission discussed the 11 applications. As they went through the list they identified top priorities and established the grant allocation for the top 6 applications. The other 5 applications were ranked 1-5, with 1 being a higher priority. Funding was then determined for each of the 5 remaining applications. General Comments: -The Tourism grant should be utilized to help initiate an event, not act as a continuous operating revenue source. -Organizers should work to grow annual events and increase sponsorships. -Applications should include a detailed budget, identifying specific items that Tourism dollars will fund. Utilizing tourism dollars for items like marketing and advertising are more favorable. -Funding preference is given to events that are easily accessible to the public (i.e. – free or minimal cover/registration fees).  Platte County Extension – Northland Ethnic Festival Asking $2000 (granted) o Trying to grow event o Unique o Attendance not the biggest but over 1000 (most not from o Riverside) Good ROI o  City of Riverside – Historical Marker Trail Sign Asking $3000 (granted) o A focus for future activities o Good ROI and one time opportunity o  Park Hill South Student Council – Bell Tower Charity Run Asking $9000 o What is the cost per runner, sponsorships, expenses, etc? o Bell Tower on School property; is it a landmark for Riverside? o Needed more info o Ranked #3, (granted $4,500) o  Heart of America Shakespeare Festival – Team Shakespeare Performance Asking $10,000 o Ask them to start finding other revenue sources o Grant to go to marketing and advertising to grow attendance o Level attendance (800-1500) o Want to see more advertising in 2016, less grant monies should o go for managers/designers Ranked #2, (granted $8,500) o  Genuine GMC Truck Club of KC – Midwest All Truck Nationals Asking $10,000 o Has grown year over year o Gave $5000 last year o Granted $6000 this year for marketing, advertising, materials o  Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation, Inc – Lewis and Clark National Convention Asking $13,640 o Re-enactment open to public? o Advertising to whom?? Must open to public and advertise the o re-enactments publicly. $350 registration fee is high and limits public attendance o Granted $5000 for meeting space. Possible increase if re- o enactments are open to the public Ranked #4 o  Kansas City Scottish Highland Games & Celtic Festival Asking $10,500 (granted) o Statistics are good o Growth over and over o Unique event o  Park Hill South Student Council – Missouri Association of Student Council State Convention Asking $18,000 o What is the public piece? o Students are staying in homes in Riverside o Ranked #5, (granted $5,000) o  Attache International – Dust Bowl Jamboree Asking $19,850 o Organizer will give 110%, he has put on other events and done o well Bluegrass bands and car show (Model A) o First time event; like that it’s something new in Riverside o Granted $18,200 o  Riverside Area Chamber of Commerce – Full-time staff position Ask $50,000 o Cannot guarantee grant will be there year to year o Where is the economic development in this request o Possibly for Chamber to be more involved in MusicFest o Ranked #1, (granted $35,000) o Would need goals for 2016 and need to consider Tourism ROI o  Riverside MusicFest Asking $100,000 o Collect a fee for the headliner act o First part is free RiverFest, second part is MusicFest for a fee o Want to see growth from other sponsorships o Potential help from Chamber position o Granted $77,300 o Tourism Commission The next Tourism Commission meeting will be on February 9 at 6 p.m. Meeting Schedule Adjournment, 7:20p.m. Commission was adjourned by unanimous consent.