The City Advertising and Promotion Commission continued conversation with entrepreneur Chip Ford about investing in his “ultimate Eureka Springs app,” and Executive Director Mike Maloney pointed out Ford was presenting a different arrangement at the June 14 meeting than commissioners had seen before.
Ford said he saw no way to make their relationship work except with the CAPC in a sponsorship role, possibly a non-traditional sponsorship, but he definitely would not be considered an independent contractor. Also, the price of sponsorship doubled to $40,000.
Ford said his team at Modern Tourism Applications learned it took more than they expected to complete the coding. They even researched hiring outside coders but the cost would have been exorbitant. He stated the app would be released for Apple devices only at first, and increased sponsorship cost would go toward making the app available for Android users.
Commissioner David Mitchell commented he had trouble understanding why Ford and his team would go to so much trouble developing this product with little expectation of a return, and Ford demonstrated the app on his phone with a banner displaying ads across the bottom. He claimed this “advert panel” would pay the bills.
Mitchell was not convinced Ford’s team would make enough money to protect the investment from the CAPC. Commissioner Terry McClung also wanted the CAPC to be protected if the project went belly up. He suggested an investment of the first $20,000 at the start and the other half in 2018 after commissioners see a satisfactory product.
Ford replied they could add a belly up paragraph to the contract, but he did not envision that day coming. “We wouldn’t be doing this if we weren’t confident.” He said the product continues to grow, but he’s ready to launch with or without the CAPC. All he needs to do is present the product to Apple, and soon enough, “It is out there.”
Maloney mentioned in the typical process of presenting a sponsorship, the CAPC would be presented with an expectation of how many people the investment would reach and who they probably are. Ford responded he had no answer for the possible number of users, but the map on the app has 575 points on it, and the businesses represented on it liked what they have seen.
Commissioner Susan Harman observed the app re-creates Eureka Springs because it provides facts and stories people do not know about, but Mitchell was still concerned about the risk. McClung saw the risk but also saw this was a direction they want to go. He still wanted clarity about the second $20,000.
Harman compared this investment with other events CAPC events, and commented, “This investment compares well with what we spend money on.”
Ford and commissioners agreed that if they came to full agreement on a contract, the CAPC would put up the initial $20,000 at contract time. McClung wanted to see the Android release by early December to see if it would be part of the 2018 budget. “I’m thinking about results,” he stated. “How many people are on the damn thing?”
Maloney pointed out 88 percent of the users who recently went to eurekapsrings.org did so on Apple devices, plus the upcoming system release is expected to increase Apple sales even higher.
He also mentioned that the CAPC already has an app which all department heads use. It is updated daily and it “provides a broad brushstroke” of what is going on in town. He asked Ford if he expected the CAPC to shut down the app. Ford strongly urged Maloney not to shut it down because it improves search engine optimization if there are multiple apps related to a location or topic.
McClung suggested Ford and Maloney meet to settle details, and commissioners could call a special meeting to decide on a contract. Harman asserted the small CAPC staff could not have done what Ford’s team has done for the price, and it is cheaper than hiring someone.
$40,000? Is that for a year, or for a decade? What guarantees does the city get the app will be supported and updated. If the CAPC cuts a check for $40,000, they better have an ironclad contract that the app will be supported and updated for at least ten years since they could have their own app developed for far, far less than $40,000.