TOWN OF PROVINCETOWN
VISITOR SERVICES BOARD
MONDAY, August 1, 2005
Chairman Lynne Davies convened the
meeting at 11:02 a.m. noting the following attendees:
VSB members: Lynne Davies, Chairman; Peter Bez; Kathleen Fitzgerald; Laurel Guadazno; Michael Peregon; Mick Rudd; Hersh Schwartz
Other attendees: Bill
Schneider, Acting Tourism Director; Michelle Jarusiewicz, Acting Assistant Town
Manager and Grant Administrator; Winthrop Smith, Economic Development Task
Force; Candace Collins-Boden, Executive Director, Chamber of Commerce
Recorder: Cynthia Curran
The following are meeting minutes, in
brief:
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF 7/25/05
MOTION: Move
to approve the minutes of the July 25, 2005 VSB meeting as amended.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Laurel Guadazno
Yea 6 Nay 0 Abstain 1 (MR)
Chairman Lynne Davies said she didn’t
have a budget update because she was waiting for the month end budget
figures. She said that there was an
article on the VSB in the Banner and she has received positive feedback about
it. Ms. Davies also distributed a task
calendar for the VSB and a handout about staffing which was a compilation of
what was discussed at the previous meeting.
She said that the BOS would like the VSB to get the “housekeeping stuff”
out of the way so that it can focus on larger issues.
Winthrop Smith gave an update from the
Economic Development Task Force. He
said they had decided on six subcommittees and passed out a list with short
descriptions. The six areas are:
1.
Branding
2.
Honest Broker
3.
Lighting up Commercial
Street
4.
Packaging
5.
Cultural Website
6.
Cultural Assets
Mr. Smith reviewed these briefly. He said that VSB members are welcome to
attend the EDTF meetings. Lynne Davies
has been attending some of the meetings and said it can sometimes be difficult
because many of the topics discussed are the same as those the VSB is working
on or has in the wings. Mr. Smith said
that the EDTF will follow through with the Adams grant and may try for another
one. He said that right now they are
developing ideas, but have no funding.
Lynne Davies summed it up by saying that the EDTF is coming up with some
great ideas, many of which validate what the VSB has on its plate and that the
VSB will continue with its current direction, but be aware of what is being
suggested by the EDTF in conjunction with the Adams grant. She asked Bill Schneider to email a list of
the EDTF meetings and times to the VSB members so they could attend if
interested.
Bill Schneider gave his report. He said that Provincetown has received two
requests from companies wanting to film commercials here. He is working on a proposal to develop a
film production application permit process.
He said that this could be an additional source of income for the
Town. The proposal would be voted on by
the VSB and then sent on to the BOS for approval.
Mr. Schneider gave more information
about advertising with the Boston Phoenix.
He said a regular display ad would be $942 per insertion. He thought
that given their circulation, this was not a good idea. There is also the possibility of a banner ad
on their web site. This ad would be
linked to a form for a contest. Filling
out the form would make one eligible to win two ferry tickets to
Provincetown. The third possibility
would be sponsoring their back-to-school concerts. Since there isn’t much time
and it involves setting up a booth at the concerts, he thought that it should
not be considered for this year, but perhaps for next year.
The
banner ad would run every other week and will cost $175 per week. The VSB is not locked in and can change the
rate of insertion and the ad as needed.
It was suggested that the ferry companies might donate the tickets. The ad will also link to the web site to
give more information about Provincetown.
Hersh Schwartz said that she is still opposed to targeting 18 to 20 year
olds. Peter Bez said that people start
to come to Provincetown in their 20’s and that the Phoenix reaches college
students and those a little older.
MOTION: Move to have Bill Schneider move forward with the Phoenix banner ad with an insertion every other week at $175/week.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by:
Peter Bez Yea 6
Nay 1 (HS)
Bill
Schneider brought up the ad in the Destinations Travel Guide. Upon further research he did not think that
advertising in it would be worthwhile.
MOTION: Move to rescind the motion to advertise in Destinations Travel Guide.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by: Mick
Rudd Yea 7 Nay 0
Mr.
Schneider has also re-negotiated an advertising contract with Instinct
Magazine. He is working with the PBG to prevent overlapping ads.
The Tourism Office has pre-registered for the ’06 American Bus Association International Conference. Mr. Schneider requested approval of his travel expenses for the show.
MOTION: Move to approve travel expenses of $1,700.00 for the ’06 American Bus Association International Conference.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Hersh
Schwartz Yea 7
Nay 0
Lynne
Davies next brought up the co-op advertising grants with the PBG and the
Chamber of Commerce. The VSB had
originally voted to remove the matching aspect of the grants because they were
a hardship for the Chamber of Commerce.
The BOS suggested changing the grant so that $6000.00 would have to be
matched, of the $10,000.00.
MOTION: Move to recommend the Board of Selectmen award grant agreements to the Provincetown Business Guild and Provincetown Chamber of Commerce for $10,000 for each organization for FY 06 cooperative advertising; provided that said grant shall be matched by an expense of at least $6,000 by each organization.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Hersh
Schwartz Yea 7
Nay 0
Bill
Schneider said that PRNewswire could perhaps provide additional services,
especially regarding travel writers.
This subject will be re-visited and the Board would like to know more
about what they could do,
Lynne
Davies suggested that Michael Patrick Communications be invited to the VSB to
give general information about what a public relations firm does. This might help in writing the RFP. Michael Peregon felt that this might give an
unfair advantage to MPC if they later submitted a proposal. Michelle Jarusiewicz said that sometimes
contractors working for the Town did supply her with information, so it was not
necessarily a conflict of interest. She
said that it would have to be handled carefully. She said that the VSB must tell the PR firms what the Town is
looking for. There must be very clear
reasons why one firm is chosen over another.
Mr. Rudd suggested that perhaps the VSB should go right to the RFP
process. Lynne Davies asked Bill
Schneider and Michelle Jarusiewicz to draft an RFP for a public relations
firm. Mick Rudd also suggested that
copies of the RFP’s that Falmouth and the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce used
could be requested as references. It
was also suggested that other people in town, such as heads of non-profit
organizations or former public relations people, might look over the draft RFP
and give suggestions.
Michael
Peregon asked if the Town employed any other PR firms to see if the VSB could
“piggy-back”. It does not. Mick Rudd, Lynne Davies and other VSB
members explained that the VSB was the only Town entity that actively
advertised the Town. Lynne Davies said
that the VSB should move ahead with the process for the selection of a Tourism
Office head, a PR firm and other identified staffing entities so that things
could be put into motion quickly once the BOS approves the staffing plan and
other members agreed.
Candace
Collins-Boden thought that the primary purpose of a public relations firm is to
get travel writers to come to Provincetown.
She said travel writers can get the word out all over the world. The Town had a PR firm about ten years ago
and it was very helpful.
Referring
to the list of EDTF suggestions, Lynne Davies said that the “Honest Broker”
should be a unifier of different groups.
She also suggested the possibility of hiring a part-time person to work
on putting together travel packages as part of the strategic staffing plan and
asked the members to think about it for the next meeting. She said that the Tourism Office is in the
best position to be the honest broker for the whole town. Mick Rudd said that the government is
required to represent the entire tourism industry as an over-arching meeting
ground.
It was
suggested that having a “Waiter Appreciation Day” at the beginning of the
season might be a good idea. Candace
Collins-Boden said that the surveys she has been doing indicate that customer
service is going downhill. She said
that in the past there have been training sessions for employees, but that
these sometimes caused resentment. She
thought that an appreciation day was a better idea. Mick Rudd thought that something could be developed with input
from business owners. Lynne Davies said
this was an excellent topic to pursue however, that the meeting time had
already gone over by 20 minutes, the discussion would be tabled for two weeks.
NEXT MEETING: Monday, August 8th 11:00 a.m.
(The
next meeting will be a two-hour meeting.)
The
meeting was adjourned at 12:24 p.m..
.