At the July 23 City Advertising and Promotion Commission meeting, Coltan Scrivner, organizer of Zombie Crawl and Nightmare in the Ozarks, as well as the owner of the Peabody House and the Boodega, requested $5,000 in marketing support for the Crawl from the CAPC. Scrivner said that 25 percent will be used in local print media, and the other 75 percent will go to social media marketing, the same breakdown as last year.
While it is hard to estimate attendance, he said that in speaking with police officers after the event he estimated about 18,000 – 20,000 people attended last year and that B&Bs and hotel rooms within one mile of downtown were sold out weeks in advance. In speaking with downtown merchants, he said he heard feedback that the event had led to great sales days for many.
Commissioner David Avanzino said that his own motel had seen bookings for the next year a day after the event but noted that the marketing support funds available were at $4,900. He made a motion to increase the marketing support fund budget to $100,000 with commissioner Kolin Paulk seconding. Commissioners voted unanimously to increase the total budget, with Avanzino mentioning that before the year was through there’d be more requests. The commission then voted unanimously to approve $5,000 for Zombie Crawl.
The commission also spoke on workshop procedure with commissioner Heather Wilson-Vinson taking the lead. Wilson-Vinson referenced the July 9 workshop where a member of the public spoke to the commission in a public comment style several times during the workshop. She questioned if allowing public comments should be allowed during workshops, what procedure should be for public input during workshops, and time constraints.
Commissioners agreed that meetings and workshops aren’t limited to allow for as much discussion as needed to happen. Wilson-Vinson mentioned that the city had workshops listed as an hour long on its website and Tourism Director Mike Maloney mentioned that some other meetings during the day must be limited in time due to meetings happening later in the day. The CAPC does not necessarily have that problem as their meetings happen at the end of the day.
Discussion on the allowance of public comments during workshops generally kept to allowing for the commission’s flexibility to seek input if the member of the public was an expert in the discussion, since the member of the public at the July 9 meeting was a member of the Chamber board. Commissioner Robert Schmid said he felt the input was valuable but Chair Steve Holifield said looking for more structure may be good.
Other Items
- After an executive session where commissioners discussed three possible applicants for the vacant CAPC seat, the commission voted unanimously to nominate Coltan Scrivner to the CAPC. Council will give the final vote on that nomination.
- Maloney gave a positive director’s report on the CAPC’s Search Engine Marketing results, and spoke on Bikes, Blues, & BBQ moving to October. The city will be providing parking in the Aud lot again this year. He also mentioned that planning for NYE and Christmas would begin soon, and that the 78th Folk Festival prep-work is making headway with the Hedgehoppers returning.
- CAPC Finance Director Ty Reed covered data that AirDNA can provide the CAPC, including comparisons of other nearby tourism markets, length of stays, and booking lead times.