The July 9 CAPC workshop held a discussion among commissioners on marketing support funds. Support funds can currently be requested by an event organizer for up to $5,000, and those funds must be used specifically for marketing including websites, creative development, and advertising.
Discussion swirled among what types of events the CAPC may or may not want to support with marketing funds, assessing how many people the event brought to town, how often marketing requests are brought to the commission, how much the CAPC wants to support fundraisers, and more.
Tourism Director Mike Maloney opened with detailing the research staff had done of how other cities decide when to endow marketing support funds including Rogers, Bentonville, Fayetteville, Conway and others. He said that events’ organizers must prove to Rogers and Bentonville, after the event, how many rooms were booked in area hotels and motels by those visiting for the event. If they didn’t fulfill the expected rooms, then the cities cut down how much marketing support is awarded. He also mentioned that Bentonville only takes funding requests three times a year.
He said that Conway lists how long an event organizer can receive money, which starts at $5,000 the first year, decreasing to $3,000 the second year, and $1,000 the third, with no guarantee that money will be given in future years. The possible limiting of how long an event can receive marketing support has been a discussion among commissioners at various meetings and workshops. Maloney said that he would like to see more events doing “homework” about how many people they draw to town before coming to a meeting and requesting support.
Commissioner Heather Wilson-Vinson said legacy events have proven economic success by drawing people to town year after year; the need for new events; and how non-profit events, while not necessarily having the primary aim of tourism generation, do represent the culture and character of town. She said that there needs to be stricter guidelines on when an event receives marketing support, and that legacy events need to start showing more quantifiable data on how much revenue they generate for town, including earned media tracking. She said she has not seen, from events, reports on how advertising efforts performed.
Commissioner Robert Schmid asked how long the CAPC should support a legacy event if it is entirely self-sufficient, and questioned funding the historical museum. Currently the CAPC gives $600 to the museum to act as a visitor center, which is separate from any marketing requests. While discussion focused on the museum’s financial request for its Longhair Invasion and Jailbird Ball, talk trickled into whether the CAPC should support fundraisers in general.
Suggestions went back and forth on how the CAPC should evaluate when an event deserves marketing support or even when the CAPC collaborates on an event such as Bash with a Splash, and how those funds can be used. Schmid mentioned that the fact marketing support can be used to build an event website was a concern, noting how quickly websites become expensive to build and that after the event they are no longer useful. Maloney mentioned that the list of what funding can be used that should be reviewed but that the CAPC does review all receipts regarding marketing support.
Damon Henke also came to the mic at several points to give context on how previous commissions evaluated whether an event was worthwhile for funding, including if the event took place during a time of year that is generally lower in visitor count and if the event has a cultural impact for town that visitors might see.
Commissioners agreed that they’d like to see support requests brought to the commission three to four times a year rather than spread throughout meetings, as well as tighter guidelines of what funds can be used for and for events to better report their economic impact.