The City Advertising and Promotion Commission held a regular meeting after a long workshop focused on the budget. Public comments started off the meeting with Laci Moffitt reporting that the Jeep Jam was so successful this year, there was talk among those who attended of having a second Jam every year in May or June and that next year’s 5th anniversary will see the normal event extended by several days.
Finance Director Ty Reed said that the CAPC currently has $1,970,331 in its checking account. He explained that he had only gone through the information up to July and that the profit for that month was $196,454, while the expenditure was $202,799 meaning the CAPC was down $6,345.
Reed assured commissioners that he would be giving monthly reports to city council, which the CAPC has been unable to do since former Finance Director Scott Bardin left. Commissioners passed Resolution 101-24 changing the accounting method for funds and revenue to being record based on when they are received.
Executive Director Mike Maloney said that Jeep Jam and Bikes, Blues, and BBQ went well., and there are plans to dedicate a section of visiteureka.com to tell people about upcoming events. He reported that two billboards would be going up in Kansas near Arrowhead Stadium, and there would be three additional billboards from Bentonville to Springdale.
New magazine ads will be posted in Central Arkansas and Missouri. Maloney then shared the “highlights” from Madden Media, which has done a study showing that the majority of people looking at Eureka Springs ads were 45 and older and saw the ads in publications including Better Homes and Gardens, Shape, ESPN, and Travel and Leisure. Maloney said that “branded impressions” were at 94,000 clicks and had made 355,000 impressions, which he called tremendous.
Looking at Expedia, Madden Media reported that 3,425 room nights had been booked, resulting in $1,100,000 in gross bookings revenue. The “Free to Be” campaign has been officially launched and is working out well, and the schedule for October events was going to be very busy. Commissioner Robert Schmid wanted the public to know that they could go to the visiteureka.com website, go to reports, click on media reports and they would be able to see all the information Maloney had shared about Madden Media and more.
Talk turned to the ballot issue looming over the CAPC with Chair Steve Holifield saying it was important to share with people what could happen without the CAPC. Schmid shared research he had done on how Colorado was impacted when their A&P had been voted out. He said that within two years they had lost up to $2.4 billion in tourist dollars, slipped to 17th place in states to vacation in, and lost many businesses. They had to work hard over the course of eight years to re-establish an A&P committee and a tax to create a $12,000,000 budget. He stressed that it was important to have a non-partial CAPC to advertise the whole town and not certain businesses saying, “If we don’t advertise, we die” and that the CAPC is needed to assure the town’s future.
Funding requests followed, and Heart of Eureka was approved for $5000, that will be used to advertise Shop Small in November, the Living Windows in which many local shops participate, a Mug Crawl where people can go from shop-to-shop and fill special mugs with hot drinks, and a holiday window contest.
Historical Museum Director Jeff Danos asked received $2,650 to advertise a new event the museum will be holding towards the end of November on the Friday before Thanksgiving. He’s calling it the Jailbird Ball, and it is based off of a true story he found in a 125-year-old article about inmates who broke out of the local jail to attend and dance and then attempted to break back into jail to avoid getting caught. Danos plans for this to be a yearly fundraiser based a different moment in the town’s history. This year’s first Ball will be held at the Inn of the Ozarks, dress will be prison themed.
Devin Henderson of the Chamber of Commerce received the requested $5000 for advertising the Christmas Parade of Lights, the theme of which will be “Boardgame Christmas,” followed by the Christmas Tour of Homes.
Maloney stood in for an absent Charles Mowrey of Escape Room 13 requesting funds to advertise the upcoming October 12 and 19 movie double feature, Pass the Ammo and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, at the Aud. The commission granted $1500.
Commissioner Heather Wilson-Vinson said she has been going around to businesses to perform public outreach and inform people about what the CAPC is and what it does for the community. She suggested creating a welcome packet for new businesses and that there should be more work by commissioners to build bridges of communication.
Holifield agreed, saying the petition showed that a lot of people don’t understand the CAPC, but also said it could be challenging and frustrating trying to reach out to the public. Maloney said he had started what he called the “Monday Memo” where he’s keeping people posted about what the CAPC is doing and supported the idea of printing up packets for new businesses. Vinson said she had heard a lot of vitriol and was saddened that people who had stood for acceptance at the “Free to Be” meeting were now complaining about the types of tourists visiting town. She encouraged citizens to connect with commission members over email or at meetings and share their thoughts and experiences.