The Eureka Springs Historical Museum had two requests for marketing support at the City Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting on April 23. The first event is the Museum’s “Longhair Invasion,” a time-travel event akin to the Jailbird Ball last year. Museum Director Jeff Danos explained that the Longhair Invasion is themed around 1973 and based on the influx of hippies, artists, and a music festival called the Ozark Mountain Folk Fair (not to be confused with the Folk Festival). Just like the Jailbird Ball, attendees will play a part in the event.
The request for $2,650 for the Longhair Invasion was approved unanimously. The event happens Aug. 8.
Danos said that Voices of the Silent City covers nearly a third of the museum’s operating budget. He explained that dates for this year have changed to avoid the Zombie Crawl weekend, as transit gave feedback that they can’t handle both events at the same time, so Voices dates are Oct. 16 – 18 and 23 & 24.
Commissioner Robert Schmid asked why the museum needs assistance from the CAPC, pointing out the commission has discussed possibly pulling back on supporting long-running events and focusing on promoting new events in the city.
Danos reiterated that the event covers a large portion of the operating budget of the museum. He said that, just like the Folk Festival, the event plays a part of Eureka Springs’s culture. He said the event won’t go away if the museum doesn’t receive marketing support, but that given the CAPC’s position to advertise the city and events important to the city, they should.
Commissioner David Avanzino asked if the museum has faced any cuts in funding from grant money no longer available. Danos said that there are grants no longer available, including Arkansas Humanities grants that were funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services Museum Assessment Program, also no longer in play. Danos said that while the museum is cautiously optimistic about its position that some things the museum wished to do this year have been put on hold.
Avanzino pointed out that non-profits will be challenged this year due to state and federal funding being slashed or dropped. Schmid responded that he understands the need to support, but that in previous meetings commissioners have discussed changing how they support events. He suggested if not through marketing support, next year the CAPC might allocate money for the museum functioning as a tourist information center.
Avanzino motioned to give $5,000 for Voices of the Silent City with Schmid seconding and the motion passed unanimously.
Director’s Report
Tourism Director Mike Maloney’s Director’s Report covered Madden Media efforts including a breakdown of media tactics such as Expedia, Google SEM, and regional magazines, and how many months of the year ads are run. Maloney also covered “innovative tactics” such as marketing through Reddit and IHeartRadio podcasts. Madden pushed coverage of the region as well, which resulted in coverage from The Washington Post, CNN Travel and others through the first quarter of the year.
Maloney also covered the CAPC’s 2025 marketing pillars for Madden to focus on, which includes weddings, mountain biking, nightlife and trolleys. He lightly covered how mountain biking has grown in the NWA area and marketing efforts including assisting the Parks Department in new trail maps related to the sport.
In relating to trolleys, Maloney asked commissioners for $7,500 for a video produced by Edward Robison. Commissioner Heather Wilson pointed out that $7,500 for a two-minute video was a good price and the commission approved it unanimously. As well, for Blues Festival, commissioners approved $8,000 to hire Indigenous to play the Aud. Little Wing Productions will pay the rental fee and a portion of ticket sales. That money was approved unanimously as well.
Other Items
- Maloney briefly covered the procedure for collecting taxes from collectors who are delinquent on payments.
- In financials, March collections were at a $91,000 and year-to-date collections are $292,000.
- Vote on changing of Chair term limits and the at-large position was postponed until the next meeting. Regarding the at-large position, there are three city ordinances that give different rules on how the at-large position functions. Chair Steve Holifield said that when he first joined the CAPC there had been multiple versions of by-laws with no dates on when each was effective, and this is a continued effort on the commission’s part to streamline those by-laws.
- The CAPC has entered into agreement with VRBO to remit CAPC taxes from lodging.
- Commissioners discussed if there were Municipal League trainings for commissions and Wilson will follow up on what trainings might be available.