City Advertising and Promotion Commissioners, with exception of Greg Moon and James DeVito, met on Monday, July 12 for a Special Meeting to hold an interview with candidate Madison Dawson for Tourism Director.
Closer to a report than a traditional interview described in the notice, commissioners were nevertheless positive. Commissioner Melissa Greene described Madison as “refreshing” and said it would be “nice to have someone young because they can talk the talk.”
Commissioner Carol Wright prompted Dawson to go over her excellent school record, 4.0 GPA in high school and valedictorian and a 3.4 GPA at Northeastern State University with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a major in Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2019.
When asked how she would go about increasing weekday business in town, Dawson said she felt there was untapped potential in conferences. She referenced her work as Tourism Development Manager of the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber in 2020 where she invited conventions and conferences to the city. She said she’d want to capture those hosting conventions in larger cities, and show that Eureka Springs has space for such events as well as outside activities.
Commissioner Harry Meyer asked how soon she could go to work and she answered four weeks or less.
The commission discussed the timeline of an interview with another candidate, tentatively setting a date for a special meeting next Monday, July 19, for a public interview. Chair Jeff Carter said they could make a decision on the new director by July 28.
When asked if questions could be opened to the public, Carter asked the commission if it was fine, and they approved.
The first was to clarify if the commission had already performed interviews with Dawson, which was answered with an affirmative in 1-on-1 interviews. Dawson was asked to go over her résumé. Carter stood to hand over a copy of Dawson’s résumé saying she shouldn’t have to say it all out loud but could summarize.
When asked what she felt was her role as tourism director, Carter raised his hand and said he felt that the commission should not take further questions and that those questions could be asked privately after the meeting.
When told that the notice for the meeting described it as an interview, Carter said it was for the commission to interview. This reporter said that the meeting seemed more like a sales pitch than an interview and was then asked by Carter to step down from the mic and the meeting was adjourned.
After the meeting Dawson answered, echoing what she had described her role had been with the Muskogee Chamber, to be a communicator between the CAPC and the various entities (hotels, restaurants, businesses, etc.) of Eureka Springs and to maintain healthy communication between them.