TOWN OF PROVINCETOWN
VISITOR SERVICES BOARD
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2005
Chairman Lynne Davies convened the
meeting at 10:02 AM noting the following attendees:
VSB members: Lynne Davies, Chairman, Peter Bez [arrived at 11:47 AM]; Kathleen Fitzgerald; Laurel Guadazno; Michael Peregon; Mick Rudd; Hersh Schwartz
Other attendees: Bill
Schneider, Administrative Tourism Director; Michelle Jarusiewicz, Acting
Assistant Town Manager and Grant Administrator; Candace Collins-Boden, Executive
Director, Chamber of Commerce; Chuck Anzalone, Graphic Designer; Steve Tait,
President, PBG
Recorder: Cynthia Curran
The following are meeting minutes, in
brief:
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Chuck Anzalone had been asked to come
and present his ideas concerning the VSB’s advertisements. Mr. Anzalone said that in regard to
advertising in 411 Magazine, he suggests not advertising now. He suggests using the money saved to
advertise weekly instead of biweekly in the spring. He thought that Art News would be a good place to
advertise and passed around a copy. Mr.
Anzalone said that readers of Out Traveler rated Provincetown as the
number one gay resort. He said that it
would be a good publication in which to advertise in the spring. Lynne Davies said that the PBG was placing
an ad there. She also suggested using a
reference to the survey in the VSB’s ads (such as “Voted #1 Gay Resort by Out
Traveler readers”). Mick Rudd
suggested writing to the magazine and asking for more information about the
survey.
Mr. Anzalone said that there was an
article in Innewsweekly regarding the VSB and branding. The writer
proposed a slogan contest. Mr. Anzalone
suggested contacting the writer and explaining to him the VSB’s ideas about
branding.
Mr. Anzalone asked for feedback regarding
the general design for the ads. He has
been doing ads featuring multiple photos of Provincetown and has tried to keep
a unified look. He wanted to know if he
should stay with that general design.
Lynne Davies said that she thought he should not make any changes until
after the “branding” process has been finished. At that tine there may be changes, but it was not a good idea to
change it now and then possibly change it again. Other board members agreed.
Ms. Davies said that she would like to
make use of tile ads on web sites. Mr.
Anzalone thought that it was a good idea, but said that they are
expensive. He said that he will look
into where we might advertise and the cost.
Ms. Davies said that at the Montreal trade show other companies had
approached them about having reciprocal ads on the web sites. She said that maybe the Cape Cod Chamber of
Commerce and the VSB could do this. Mr.
Anzalone said that ads on Google were a possibility. He asked how much money was available. Ms. Davies didn’t know, but said there was money.
Bill Schneider said that a recent issue
of 411 Magazine ran the wrong ad.
The magazine offered a make-up ad, but that isn’t really needed. They also offered a quarter page ad in Genre. The Board decided that they would like
request a quarter page ad in March.
The contract for Concierge is up
for renewal. The Board agreed on the
renewal and discussed what kind of ad should be used. In the past the ad focused on the Arts. Mr. Anzalone said that a variety of ads may be needed, possibly
reflecting the seasons. He will put something together.
MOTION: Move to approve the renewal of the Concierge
contract for four insertions at the cost of $6,000.00 for the year.
Motion by: Mick Rudd
Seconded by: Kathleen Fitzgerald
Yea 6 Nay 0
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION: Move to approve the minutes of the September 20, 2005 VSB
evening public hearing with minor correction.
Motion by: Michael Peregon Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz Yea 5 Nay 0
Abstain 1 (MR)
MOTION: Move to approve the minutes of the September 27, 2005 VSB
meeting as written.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz Yea 4 Nay 0
Abstain 2 (MP, MR)
The
approval of the minutes of October 3, 2005 was delayed until the arrival of Peter
Bez.
TOURISM
DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Bill
Schneider said that he had posted the ad for the Administrative Assistant
position with the Town Clerk and it will run in the Banner for two weeks.
Regarding
the permanent display of the Lipton Cup, Mr. Schneider has obtained a quote
from Adam Levinson for building a display case. The Library Director has chosen a place for the case, subject to
approval by the BOS. Mr. Schneider
asked for funding to build the case, have the cup cleaned and appraised,
install a security system (the Library would be responsible for the yearly fee)
and hold a town-wide celebration.
Laurel Guadazno said that the Library does not have a security system,
but does have paintings from the Town’s art collection, so this would be an
added benefit.
[Peter
Bez arrived at 11:47 AM]
The
Board felt that the project would be beneficial for the Town as well as
visitors. Many visitors have expressed
an interest in seeing the cup, but it has been displayed only on rare
occasions. Lynne Davies asked if the
funding had to be approved by the BOS.
Mr. Schneider said that they did not have to approve the funding, but
had to approve moving the cup to the library.
Mick Rudd said that the Library Board met last night and is very excited
about the project. Lynne Davies said
the funding would come out of leftover funds in the Municipal account.
MOTION: Move to approve the funding of the Lipton Cup project,
including the purchase of a display case, the installation of a security system
to protect it, the cleaning and appraisal of the cup, holding a celebration for
the new display and related expenses, not to exceed $5,000.00.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by:
Peter Bez Yea 6 Nay 0
Abstain 1 (MR)
Bill
Schneider will present the proposal to the BOS on November 14th. There will be further discussion about
planning the town-wide event.
TOUR
GUIDE APPRECIATION DAY
Bill
Schneider said he had received several nominations for the awards to be given
out at the ceremony. The Board decided
to let Mr. Schneider choose the winners.
Mr. Schneider thought that there should be a trivia contest about
Provincetown for the attendees as they travel on the bus from Hyannis. He presented several questions and asked
that each Board member give him a question by the end of the day. Mr. Schneider said that the luncheon was
from 12:30 to 2:00 and all Board members were invited to attend.
Mr.
Schneider said there is a one-day conference in Boston called “Tourism
Massachusetts Global Forum and Marketplace” which he thought he should
attend. The Board agreed.
MOTION: Move to approve up to $325.00 for Tourism Director Bill
Schneider to attend “Tourism Massachusetts Global Forum and Marketplace” on November 30,
2005 in Boston.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by: Peter
Bez Yea 7 Nay 0
On an
unrelated subject, Peter Bez said that he had checked with the Commonwealth
concerning his being present on the Board when there were discussions with Mr.
Anzalone. He was told that as a
co-worker of Mr. Anzalone’s, he could be present except when the discussion
concerned performance review or funding.
The
Board also decided to approve the minutes of October 3, 2005 at this time.
MOTION: Move to approve the minutes of the October 3, 2005 VSB
meeting as written.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Hersh Schwartz
Yea 4 Nay 0 Abstain 3 (MP. LG,
KF)
SHOPPING
BAGS
Bill
Schneider presented the sample shopping bag. He said the cost for each bag
would be 74 cents when ordering 5,000.
An order of 5,000 bags would last at least a year.
MOTION: Move to approve up to $4,000.00 from the FY06 Marketing
funds for the purchase of 5,000 shopping bags to be distributed at trade
shows.
Motion by: Peter Bez
Seconded by: Hersh
Schwartz Yea 7 Nay 0
TRADE
SHOW BOOTH UPDATE
One of
the samples of the trade show booth had arrived, and Mr. Schneider had set it
up. He discussed the relative merits of this display versus the display from
the other company approached. Although
the sample seen was less expensive than the other, it was heavier and harder to
ship. The other company’s product could
be taken on a plane. Mr. Schneider said
that he thought the board should see the other display before deciding, but was
leaning towards that company. The Board
decided to wait to see the other sample.
PUBLIC
RELATIONS FIRMS
Mr.
Schneider said he has had two firms respond to the RFP. Lynne Davies wondered if an ad should be
placed in the Cape Cod Times to get as many applicants as possible. Michelle Jarusiewicz said it was not usually
done, but could be. Mr. Schneider said
he would approach PRNewswire and ask them to help get the word out.
STOREFRONT
INITIATIVE UPDATE
Mr.
Schneider had contacted the public schools who wanted to participate, but said
that they would need to get the artwork back.
Ms. Davies said that there could be no guarantee that the artwork would
be returned. Ms. Schwartz said that it
should be thought of as a fun project.
She thought that the windows should be measured to see what size pictures
would be needed. Ms. Davies thought
that there could be just one size. The
theme will be Provincetown Heritage.
HOLIDAY
LIGHTING PROJECT UPDATE
Bill
Schneider contacted the vendor and said that the Town did not want to continue
with the other stages of the project.
Mr. Schneider has been looking into getting quotes from the florists for
banners and other decorations. Downtown Decorations would pay for these to make
up for not putting the lights on the tower.
Downtown Decorations expressed concern about the snowflake decorations,
because they were very expensive. Mr.
Schneider thinks they can possibly be sold.
The lights that were put up were supposed to be permanent and re-useable
every year. Because they were not well
attached, some of them are loose and some of the bulbs broken. The Board would still like to have these
fixed so that they can be used.
PROPOSED
GUIDELINES – FY07 GRANT PROGRAM
Lynne
Davies said she has been talking to others who give grants, about their
applications. She said that compared to
some, the VSB has been asking for minimal information. She said that because the VSB is giving out
public money, they must be sure that they are following the best practices. Ms. Davies said that after each section of
the application there would be a place to write a score. She hoped that the grants could be judged
more objectively in this way. Peter Bez
thought that they should not be judged just on these numbers. He said that they
could be used to separate those projects, which would be considered from those
that would not. Laurel Guadazno said
that she would like to go over the application page by page. The discussion was tabled for now due to lack
of time. The application must be ready
for approval by the BOS on November 14th.
[Kathleen
Fitzgerald left at 11:50 AM]
PBG
FUNDING REQUEST
Steve
Tait, President of the PBG, came to request funding regarding the PBG
survey. They have asked the company
which did the survey to come and make a presentation interpreting the survey. The VSB paid for approximately fifty per
cent of the survey and the PBG would like the Board to pay for half of the
presentation ($1,800). Lynne Davies
said the survey was an important document for the Town. She thought that it was
important to have a professional interpretation of the survey, especially since
other groups are using it as well.
Laurel Guadazno thought that it would be essential to have a written
version of the presentation to refer to.
Mr. Tait said he thought there would be a written report. Peter Bez said that he thought that it
should be a condition for the VSB’s funding.
Mick Rudd thought that by funding the presentation, the VSB was perhaps
giving even more weight to the importance of the survey than it should. He said the target audience of the survey
was only part of the tourist market.
Michelle Jarusiewicz said that the EDTF and the Economic Development
Council are very interested in the data from the survey, but they realize that
it covers just one aspect of the tourism base.
Michael Peregon thought that perhaps a similar survey should be done for
the general tourist. Ms. Davies said
that the Chamber of Commerce has done a survey of tourists who are here and a
more mainstream survey of travelers has been discussed.
MOTION: Move to approve the amount of $1,800.00 from the FY05
Marketing budget to help pay for the professional presentation of the results
of the PBG survey, contingent upon there also being a written report of the
interpretation of the survey results.
Motion by: Laurel Guadazno Seconded by: Mick
Rudd Yea 6 Nay 0
The
presentation will be at 6:00 on November 9th.
OTHER
BUSINESS
Michelle
Jarusiewicz said she is working on the draft for the new Adams grant. She said the VSB is currently an active
participant in the project through existing initiatives by the VSB. Lynne Davies said that the VSB is providing
support, including financial support by following through on VSB goals that
happen to be in concert with some Adam Grant ideas. Monetary donations to the Adams Grant projects beyond that remain
to be seen.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:20 PM