Tourism Director Madison Dawson, as well as Group Travel Director Karen Pryor, gave City Advertising and Promotion commissioners reports on current projects at the Oct. 27 meeting. Dawson showed a recording of The Place, a segment on KY3 TV in Springfield, Mo., that featured City Historic Preservation Officer Kylee Heverdejs talking about Eureka Springs, as well as an unaired ad for Eureka Springs focusing on Shop Local Christmas.
Dawson said that she and Aud Operations Manager Molly Horton may participate in interviews in Tulsa for a segment much like the one shown. She also said that she was hoping to start working on marketing for 2022.
Commissioner Patrick Burnett raised concern with the ad not adhering to Paradise Marketing’s Style Guide, and Dawson said that there were still tweaks to be made and it would be edited before airing.
Pryor reported that she had a motor coach from New Jersey coming from Dec. 8 – 10 with 38 passengers. She also told commissioners she had talked with Dawson about travel associations she felt the CAPC needs to renew membership with, specifically the American Bus Association and Travel Alliance Partners. She described group travel as an “out of sight out of mind” market and said she feels that Eureka Springs needs to get its name back out there for 2022.
The ABA is the largest motor coach association in the country. While TAP is smaller, destinations are allowed in by invitation only. Pryor said that Eureka Springs is the only city in Arkansas that has been invited to attend their conferences, the TAP board spent a weekend in Eureka Springs in 2018, and TAP has departures with Eureka Springs included in the itineraries.
Pryor said that there is still more than $19,000 in the group travel budget and it would be more than enough to pay for continued membership.
Burnett asked Pryor if the best way to reach passengers of motor coach associations was through the coaches themselves. Pryor gave an affirmative and explained that the bus groups put together packages that they then sell to travelers. Burnett asked if digital marketing would be a good strategy to sell, along with Pryor attending their conferences, and she said that it would be.
Auditorium renovations covered
Commissioner Harry Meyer gave an update on installation of a new chair lift at the Aud. He said he received a quote from 101 Mobility LLC for just under $36,000 for full installation. The lift would meet ADA requirements, be battery operated so that it can be used even if power is down, and with the $50,000 bid minimum not reached, no other bids are required. Commissioners voted to create a new line item in the budget and place reserve funds in to pay for the lift.
At their Oct. 13 meeting commissioners discussed the need for a new support beam for loudspeakers in the Aud. but did not vote on allocating money as they were not sure whether it covered renovations already being done by Nabholz. Chair Jeff Carter said that the work is a change of scope of work for what the city has already ordered by Nabholz, and the city would handle it. He explained that once the city had taken care of that, Nabholz will bid the work out themselves.
Commissioners also voted to allocate a maximum of $4,950 for office furniture after a request from Dawson. Previous furniture and other items would be sold and would go against the amount for the new furniture.
In a final item, Dawson suggested that the commission continue with a contract with Crowdriff. Crowdriff is where the CAPC receives photo assets for “organic social media posts” and has been used by the CAPC for multiple years prior to working with Paradise.
The contract total is for $15,000 but would be split in co-op with the state so the CAPC would only pay $7,500. Dawson said that there are other companies that could be used for the same purpose, but the offer of co-op would not be available with them. The commission voted unanimously to enter into the contract.
The next CAPC workshop is at the Aud on Nov. 10 at 5 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 6.