Christopher Anthony, organizer for Arkansas Continental Pageant, spoke with Advertising and Promotion commissioners Nov. 10 requesting $5,000 for social media support and $1,000 in print advertising for a mid-January Pageant Weekend. The pageant is part of the Miss Continental Pageantry system, focused on the art of female impersonation, and would be the first of its kind in Arkansas.
Anthony broke down the day-to-day events for Jan. 7 – 10 with that Friday and Saturday having Drag Shows at Eureka Live and a Pride parade through downtown. He said that Saturday and Sunday, there would be a celebrity entertainer in Basin Park and the Pageant itself would be Sunday and Monday, Jan. 9 and 10.
Anthony told commissioners two divisions of the pageant would be competing, utilizing the Aud for four hours each night. He said there is interest in having more events in Eureka Springs should the pageant go well and gave a conservative estimate of 1,800 people attending but said he hoped for 3,000 – 5,000, based on ticket sales so far.
Commissioners passed giving marketing support, although the question of whether to include it in this year’s budget or the 2022 budget came up. Commissioners decided to give the support through this year’s budget, leaving room open for further events to be funded next year.
New position opens up
During the workshop Tourism Director Madison Dawson told commissioners that Group Travel Sales Director Karen Pryor had retired. During the pandemic Pryor had taken on reception duties and Dawson said the Group Travel position is being redefined.
She said she would be taking a closer look at the cost of advertising and soliciting bus tour groups to see if and how beneficial they are.
Commissioner Melissa Greene said that it had become clear that the CAPC requires four employees to function.
Dawson said the position of Office Coordinator would be full-time with city benefits and would handle reception duties, assist in tax collections, and be the face of the CAPC in office. There was discussion of where the employee would be stationed in the Auditorium, some suggesting in the lobby. Others questioned the logistics of breaking down an employee station in the lobby in time for a show, and no decision was made on where the desk would sit during the meeting.
Dawson gave a public relations report with an estimated $1.6 million estimated ad value achieved in October, with an estimated $24.3 million total estimated ad value year-to-date. Commissioner Carol Wright said for the money the CAPC is spending for advertising, the ratio is good. Commissioners agreed.
Dawson showed commissioners two articles written about Eureka Springs, one in Southern Living.
She also said that a filmed segment in Tulsa Gift Guide would air on Thanksgiving Day, mirroring the report from Aud Manager Molly Horton on the continued push for Shop Small in Eureka Springs.
Other Items
- In Auditorium updates, the check for the new chair lift is in the mail and soon to be installed. New office flooring was also installed with commissioners iterating that the new flooring was click-and-lock and that redoing the entire flooring from base up would have been cost prohibitive.
- Profit from shows in October was motioned to be used for further office refurbishing, mainly roof repairs and wall paint.
- With a CAPC seat still open commissioners moved to go through past applicants in an attempt to drum up interest as well as possible press releases in the paper.
- Commissioners, during the workshop, discussed the extra expenditure of rebuilding the .org and .biz websites. The expense is estimated to be in the range of $85,000 – $110,00.