TOWN
OF PROVINCETOWN
VISITOR SERVICES BOARD
MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2005
Chairman Lynne Davies convened the
meeting at 11:00AM noting the following attendees:
VSB members: Lynne Davies, Chairman; Peter Bez; Kathleen Fitzgerald; Laurel Guadazno; Michael Peregon; Mick Rudd (arrived 11:10 AM); Hersh Schwartz
Other attendees: Bill
Schneider, Acting Tourism Director; Michelle Jarusiewicz, Acting Assistant Town
Manager and Grant Administrator
Recorder: Cynthia Curran
The following are meeting minutes, in
brief:
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF 8/15/05
MOTION: Move to approve the minutes of the August 15, 2005 VSB
meeting as written.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Kathleen Fitzgerald
Yea 6 Nay 0
BUDGET UPDATE
Chairman Lynne Davies distributed copies
of the FY05 and FY06 budgets. The total
amount carried over from FY05 is $54,240.90.
She went through the breakdown in each category. Michelle Jarusiewicz noted that in the FY06
budget the amount being carried over should be separated from the new budget
and shown for each category. Some of
the money shown as being carried over has already been assigned to specific
uses (such as staffing). Ms. Jarusiewicz
said the new budget should just talk about the new funds, but can mention that
funds will be carried over. Lynne
Davies said the funds can be used only in the area to which they were
originally assigned, unless the BOS approves a variance. Some projects fit into more than one
category however, so there is some flexibility.
GRANT REVIEW PROCESS UPDATE
The ad for the public hearing has been
placed in the Banner. The hearing will
be on Tuesday, August 30.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON GAY AND
LESBIAN TOURISM
MOTION: Move to approve travel expenses for the International Conference
on Gay and Lesbian Tourism of $1,900 for one person; with an additional $1,575
for a second person (a member of the VSB) if approved by the BOS; with the
total not to exceed $3,475.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Michael
Peregon Yea 7 Nay 0
TOURISM
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Bill
Schneider mentioned the Out and About Travel Awards given by Planet
Out. Provincetown was listed as one of the Five
Best Gay Resort Towns. Fairbanks Inn
and Gabriel’s also received awards. He
has written to their press liaison to encourage them to consider Provincetown
as the number one destination for same sex marriages for next year’s awards.
Mr.
Schneider also presented copies of some articles that have been written about
Provincetown recently. He said that he has
pitched a story to Channel 7 about the upcoming PAAM re-opening and the annual
lighting of the Pilgrim monument.
The
Phoenix banner ad has been launched and the first winner has been chosen. The average age of the people who completed
the form was 35.
The
promotional bags for the trade shows were discussed next. Mr. Schneider supplied photos and prices of
the different options. A design and colors were discussed and decided upon.
MOTION: Move to approve $780 for pamphlet bags, with the option to
negotiate for a better price.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Kathleen
Fitzgerald Yea 7
Nay 0
Peter
Bez left the room for the following motion.
MOTION: Move to approve a design fee of $150 for the shopping bag.
Motion by: Hersh Schwartz Seconded by:
Michael Peregon Yea 6
Nay 0 Abstain 1
(PB)
Peter
Bez returned to the room.
The
promotional bag will be yellow with blue writing. Mr. Schneider will present a mock-up to the Board.
Mr.
Schneider said that he has contacted seven firms about updating the travel
booth. He is still waiting for
estimates and brochures.
BIKE
RACK UPDATE
Lynne
Davies suggested that since it is almost the end of the season, the bike rack
proposal should be tabled for now. She
said that it shouldn’t be dropped, but the Board should aim for next
season. Laurel Guadazno said that she
supports the idea of matching grants for business owners who will put up a bike
rack. The Board agreed to table the
discussion for now.
RFP
UPDATE
The
RFP’s for the public relations firm and the graphic design firm are still being
worked on. The board members have
received copies of other RFP’s. Mr.
Schneider and Ms. Jarusiewicz would like comments from the members. Lynne Davies reported that Robin Haueter has
offered to review the RFP to ensure its completeness and focus.
BRANDING
Lynne
Davies said she had spoken with Robin Haueter who said that estimating $20,000
for the public relations firm was reasonable.
She said that branding was not what she had thought it was. Ms. Davies said that branding involves
identifying core values, which guide everything else. Peter Bez said that he wondered if working on branding would take
time away from other important issues and whether it would make the VSB’s
marketing more efficient and successful.
Ms. Davies said the original idea came from the Adams Grant. She said that Robin Haueter would charge
$800.00 a day to work on branding. Some
of the cost could possibly come from the Adams grant or from the VSB. Some members felt that although a slogan
(“Like nowhere else”) has been chosen, there needs to be more community input
and consensus. Ms. Davies felt that it
is important for all Provincetown advertisers to use the same slogan (if they
use a slogan). Mick Rudd said that the
slogan cannot be copyrighted. Ms.
Davies said that through use it can become the intellectual property of the
Town. She said that the slogan was
based on marketing perspective rather than core values. Kathleen Fitzgerald wondered if an expert
was needed to work on branding and how one would get everyone involved in the
process. Michelle Jarusiewicz said that
the Adams grant runs until December 31.
She thought that the fall would be a good time, because many people go
away in the winter. She said that there
may be money available from the grant and the VSB could also put in some
money. Ms. Davies said that an RFP
would be needed to hire a facilitator.
She asked the board members to think about who needs to be involved and
bring a list to the next meeting. She
said that she will update EDTF of our discussion and the presentation.
Laurel
Guadazno left at 12:20 PM.
Ms.
Davies summarized a procedure on this topic: create an RFP for a facilitator,
develop core values using a facilitator and involving the stakeholders. Michael
Peregon thought that the stakeholders could potentially be a large group. Ms. Davies felt it could be contained. She thought that the goal was for the VSB to
be the unifier for town marketing and to get the tourist economy back to what
it used to be.
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, September 6th at 10:00 AM
The
next meeting will be a two-hour meeting.
From now on the meetings will be the first and third Tuesdays of the
month.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:28 PM.