TOWN OF PROVINCETOWN
VISITOR SERVICES BOARD
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2005
Chairman Lynne Davies convened the
meeting at 10:15 AM 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
Recorder: Cynthia Curran
The following are meeting minutes, in brief:
APPROVAL
OF MINUTES OF 9/6/05
MOTION: Move to approve the minutes of the September 6, 2005 VSB
meeting as written.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by: Kathleen Fitzgerald Yea
5 Nay 0 Abstain
2 (PB, MR)
BUDGET UPDATE
Chairman Lynne Davies said that she
still has not received the figures, so she will email the update to the members
before the next meeting.
TOURISM
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Bill
Schneider said he has been notified that the Ryder Street repaving will be on
September 27th. He will
confirm that date and then notify the bus companies.
There
will be a community “On The Road” forum presented by the Massachusetts
Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development on October 19th in the Town Hall
Auditorium. These forums are being held
in various locations across the state.
The legislators and their staff will also be given a tour.
Mr.
Schneider reported that Valerie Carrano of the C.O.A is coordinating the Town’s
relief efforts to benefit the hurricane evacuees.
Mr.
Schneider presented copies of three articles, which had been written about
Provincetown.
Mr.
Schneider reported that there has been a drop-off in respondents to the Phoenix
web ad for the past two weeks. There
were 22 respondents the first week and 11 the next.
The
contract for Group Tour Magazine is up for
renewal. Mr. Schneider has negotiated a
link on their web site to the Tourist Office web site. Lynne Davies asked if it were on the list of
approved ads and Mr. Schneider said that it was. Ms. Davies suggested that if the Tourism Director should have the
authority to go ahead with ads if they have already been approved and are at or
under budget. The other members
agreed. The Tourism Director will still
inform the Board about the ads. This
contract falls into that category so Mr. Schneider will renew it.
The
contract for Panorama is also up for renewal. In the past the VSB has placed a quarter
page ad in this bi-weekly publication.
The magazine is offering a reduced rate and two free issues, if the VSB
goes to a half-page ad. For most of the
summer the VSB ad is piggybacked with the Bay State Cruise Company and a
complimentary advertorial, giving the appearance of a full-page ad. The Board decided to stay with the
quarter-page ads. They also asked Mr.
Schneider to see if he could improve the copy of the advertorial.
MOTION: Move to renew the Panorama contract at the quarter
page size.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Michael
Peregon Yea 5 Nay 2
The
Board had previously approved the placement of two ads in Curve.
The
magazine proposed the insertion of a third ad at a reduced rate. The Board did not want to do this at this
time. One concern was an article which
is being written about Provincetown, which may be somewhat negative.
Mr.
Schneider said that local businesses have reported that Family Week is not
really good for them economically. Mr.
Schneider suggested that the VSB sponsor a carnival during Family Week. The carnival would have rides but no
animals. It was felt that this would be
well received by the visiting families as well as local residents and might
also bring people from other parts of the Cape. Michelle Jarusiewicz had concerns about where the money would go. She thought that the money could not go
directly to the VSB for their use, but would have to go to the Town. Some members asked if the money earned could
be earmarked for a special project such as the Waterfront Park or new
restrooms. Ms. Jarusiewicz said she
will have to look into this. Mr.
Schneider will wait to proceed with this project, depending on what Ms.
Jarusiewicz learns.
The
PBG survey has been copied and may be borrowed. Ms. Davies said that the survey has not been interpreted and the
PBG is considering having the people who did the survey come and make a verbal
presentation. Ms. Jarusiewicz said that
she had released a copy to the Economic Development Council. She said that for legal reasons, the VSB
must release copies to whoever wants one, but can charge for the cost of
copying it. It was decided that Mr.
Schneider should make copies of the survey for all the Board members.
Mr.
Schneider reported that he had booked a booth for the Adventures in Travel Expo
in Washington, D.C.. He said that he
had gotten an end booth in a very good location, which should have a lot of foot traffic.
The
VSB and the PBG have partnered in providing a donation for the International
Conference for Gay and Lesbian Tourism in Montreal. The PBG is donating two tickets for the Provincetown International
Film Festival and the VSB is donating two round-trip ferry tickets (provided by
Boston Harbor Cruises).
Mr.
Schneider recommended attending the Summit Conference in Florida. The money for this had already been approved
in the FY2006 budget, so Mr. Schneider was told to go ahead with this.
TRADE
SHOW BOOTH
Mr.
Schneider presented information and quotes from several different companies
regarding the backdrop and side displays which had been decided on at the last
meeting. After a discussion it was decided
that the board needed to see actual samples in order to make a final
decision. Two companies (Impressions
and Blazing) were chosen and they will send samples for the Board to look at The Board will pay the shipping costs.
SHOPPING
BAGS
Mr. Schneider presented two sample shopping
bags, one multicolor and one single color.
After discussion it was decided that the word “Provincetown” should be
added at the top in large letters and the colors should be reversed to sand on
blue (single color). It was thought that the original choice would get dirty
too quickly. It was also suggested that Mr. Schneider obtain a price quote for
a quantity of 5,000 bags. He will
report back on October 3rd.
FY2007
MARKETING PLAN
Bill
Schneider distributed copies of his draft for the FY2007 Marketing Plan. The Board reviewed it and was favorably
impressed. They thought it was very
understandable and liked the percentage breakdowns.
TOUR
GUIDE APPRECIATION DAY
Mr.
Schneider has been working on setting up the Tour Guide Appreciation Day with
help from Laurel Guadazno. It will happen on Friday, October 28th. The day will include an awards ceremony,
lunch, and tours of the new library and PAAM.
It was suggested that perhaps the Trolley could be used to ferry the guides
from the library to the Pilgrim Monument.
The bus tour companies will be sent a letter requesting nominations for
best operator. The winner will be
selected by the VSB, but the Chairman asked Mr. Schneider to do the first round
of selection and present the ones he thought were the best to the Board. As an aside comment- Peter Bez said that his
mother has used tour bus services to come to Provincetown twice. He said that on both occasions the tour
guides made homophobic comments to the passengers on the bus. It was suggested that in the letters seeking
nominations, it should be mentioned that Provincetown celebrates
diversity. Mr. Schneider said he is
seeking bids for providing lunch to the guides.
P.
R. FIRM RFP UPDATE
Michelle
Jarusiewicz distributed a rough draft of the RFP for the public relations
firm. She asked that the board members
read it and comment on it. Lynne Davies
asked Bill Schneider to email the draft to the board to make it easier to
comment on. Michelle Jarusiewicz said
their job description will be in the contract.
The VSB will hear the firms’ presentations and grade them in order of
preference. Their choice will then be presented to the BOS for approval.
OTHER
BUSINESS
The
VSB has been bumped to Meeting Room A for the last two meetings. The room is quite small and doesn’t allow
for other people to attend. Mr.
Schneider will check into other options.
The meeting may be changed to another day or time if necessary.
The
Chairman asked for nominations for a new vice chairman for the VSB. Peter Bez was the only nomination.
MOTION: Move to elect Peter Bez as the Vice Chairman of the VSB.
Motion by: Michael Peregon Seconded by:
Laurel Guadazno Yea 6
Nay 0 Abstain 1
(PB)
Mr.
Bez accepted the position. Because the
next item on the agenda was the choosing of a graphics firm, he then recused
himself and left (at 11:57 AM).
RFP
– GRAPHIC DESIGN
Lynne
Davies said that three RFP’s were received.
One was late, but was still accepted by the Town Manager. Two of the RFP’s did not give a total price,
but just an hourly rate. Two of them
did not provide any samples of their work.
There was a discussion of the three groups. Ms. Davies asked Michelle Jarusiewicz if more information could
be requested from two of the firms. Ms.
Jarusiewicz said that was not a good idea, but that all three could be asked to
come in and make presentations. They
would all be asked to bring samples of their work relevant to the VSB and what
amount of work they could do given the estimated amount to be spent on a
graphics firm. Mr. Schneider will set
up a meeting with the firms next week.
Each firm will have fifteen minutes for their presentation.
The
meeting was adjourned at 12:22 PM