After a fruitful year in 2015, City Advertising and Promotion Executive Director Mike Maloney announced in January 2016 that he and Kent Butler of the Chamber of Commerce were collaborating on ways to deliver group travel leads to properties requesting them, and in a change of direction, told CAPC commissioners he planned to move away from print advertising toward more digital marketing, saying “Facebook might the single best investment we make.”
In February, John Rankine encouraged the CAPC to sponsor artists in the same way it sponsors musicians for the Second Saturday concerts in Basin Park, suggesting the upcoming May Festival of the Arts as a place to start. Rankine said unusual art events like individual viewfinders for people to assess art, and yarn-bombing by Gina Gallina, would enhance the Eureka Springs experience.
In March, commissioners agreed to provide $1628 for Books in Bloom, but they were conflicted over a request for $10,000 for the Eurekan Multi-Sport event in August. Commissioners decided to include the event in their overall marketing plan, but not chip in any funds.
The commission voted to fund the first ever Plein Air Festival in May with $1000, and add another $1000 toward the May Festival of the Arts. They approved $2400 for printing the updated Parks trails brochure, and to fund monthly Drumming in the Park at $200 per performance April through November.
Maloney announced four representatives of Bike Magazine, the quintessential periodical for mountain bikers, rode the trails at Lake Leatherwood City Park in March and told him they wanted to do a story on biking trails LLCP, including video footage posted on their website. Maloney said similar exposure in the magazine was a boon to a town in Vermont.
In April, Sandy Martin, speaking on behalf of the Eureka Springs Indie Film Festival, asked commissioners for $3000. She said Arkansas Parks and Tourism offers a mini-grant in which Eureka Springs must put up $3000, but Parks and Tourism would give $2000 back. Funds would be used for advertising the event, August 5-6. On a similar note, Maloney reported the Northwest Arkansas Film Association was in the final steps of becoming a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Eureka Springs is the only member city so far which offers incentives to prospective film producers. Martin’s request was approved.
Blues master John Hammond entertained the crowd in Basin Park for the first Second Saturday Music in the Park event. Other Second Saturday entertainers during the year included Brave Combo, the Cate Brothers and Brewer & Shipley.
In May, Maloney pointed out that ten percent of the CAPC ad budget went specifically toward weddings. He said gets a “big list” of specific and current data about people interested in information about weddings through Arkansas Bride magazine, and this information could be shared with the Chamber of Commerce. Commissioners were divided on whether advertising the wedding market was still a worthwhile investment.
Maloney commented geofencing provides an opportunity to connect with smart phone and iPad devices in very specific areas and deliver short messages on any topic, such as the local wedding opportunities or a music event in Basin Park. The CAPC typically targets a five-mile radius around the University of Arkansas during home football games, around the Promenade in Rogers, Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, and the entire city of Branson.
Maloney announced the International Mountain Biking Association world summit would occur in Bentonville in November. In June, Parks Director Justin Huss told commissioners the trails at LLCP are becoming “a known attraction.” In July Huss asked the CAPC for $20,000 to have a big presence at the IMBA event, and commissioners approved of his enthusiasm but not at the $20,000 level. They agreed to provide $10,500.
Maloney said he could not explain a sudden spike in the number of views of Eureka Springs videos on YouTube. He said there were 33,000 visits to videos about Eureka Springs from mid-April to mid-May, noting videos on social media is the way to reach millennials.
The July 27 workshop was held at the Auditorium, and Kiesha Doss of 121 Digital explained how digital advertising works in general and what she does to promote Eureka Springs. She said CAPC ads have been getting impressive click-through rates.
In August, Maloney stated recent articles about Eureka Springs in various media from California to West Virginia were the equivalent of $70,000 in free public relations.
The August 24 workshop was a two-hour back and forth about marketing strategy and what to do about festivals with a declining attendance. Newly-seated commissioner Susan Harman mentioned the Auditorium is part of the story-telling about the town, however, there had been fewer things going on.
One unknown at the time was the fate of a one percent retail tax on the November ballot, which if passed, would set up an Auditorium Commission with a steady revenue stream to repair the facility and pay for operating it. That would mean the current management contract between the city and CAPC would have to be reworked. Commissioners agreed to let the contract auto-renew, and if the commission were formed, they would rework it later.
Discussions were deep regarding how much money to devote to festivals as things were not the same as in years past, including participants in the Folk Festival. Finance Director Rick Bright said the CAPC had inherited these festivals from promoters who did not want them anymore, and commissioners agreed they needed a way to evaluate the success of a festival.
On Sept. 28, commissioners heard from Blair Johansen of the Johansen Group who had conducted an internal operations audit of CAPC. He suggested they fine-tune vision statements and find ways to work more closely with its tourism stakeholders. He said the organization should continue its effort to stay up-to-date with marketing strategies but also look for ways to make sure the community sees the positive effects of the marketing. Johansen suggested a more robust effort to go after the small meetings market and find ways to attract millennials.
At the Oct. 12 meeting, commissioners OK’d $2000 for promoting the Tour of Homes. Dee Bright said the event brings regulars to town from as far away as California, and proceeds go toward a variety of restoration and repair projects around town. They also approved the $2,500 request from the Great Ozark Beard Off, a fundraiser benefiting men’s health programs.
The next meeting was the day after the election in which citizens voted down the one percent tax. At that meeting, Maloney presented his Made in Eureka Springs campaign. He commented a million people come here annually to take home something from Eureka Springs, so Made in Eureka Springs is a campaign with limitless possibilities, “and the best part is everyone participates,” he said.
He then showed several 15-second ads focused on the theme of Made in Eureka Springs, and said he wants to budget funds for making at least two dozen and as many as 40 of these ads to run online. He said this strategy works well for other communities.
Bright announced collections for the year through September were $80,000 more than they expected, and the total does not include a very good October. Harman wanted to use some of the extra for promoting new acts. Commissioner Charles Ragsdell reminded the group their mission is to market events, not produce them, but commissioner Dustin Duling countered, “But nothing is going on. People ask and there’s nothing.”
In December, John Walker of Deadhead Productions said his events northwest of town attract a younger demographic. The commission agreed to have a workshop with Walker early in the new year to see how they could work together.
Emma Ulibarri proposed adding Dancing in the Park as a regular event on the fourth Saturday of every month from April through October. The commission left it up to Maloney to negotiate a price and agreed to have a decision for Ulibarri in January.
Also at the Dec. 7 workshop, commissioner James DeVito suggested the CAPC help the cash-strapped city budget by agreeing to cover utility bills of about $40,000 at the Auditorium for 2017. Commissioners designated $43,000 from their budget to make that happen.