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DOOR COUNTY TOURISM ZONE COMMISSION
Executive Committee
Minutes of July 15, 2010 - 9 a.m.
Landmark/Charthouse Bldg

ACTION ITEMS:
Nelson moved and Skare seconded to approve the agenda as submitted. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved to approve the minutes as amended; Skare seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved to approve payable as submitted; Larson seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved to recommend to the full Commission that the Tourism Zone Commission enter into a contact with LifeQuest; Skare seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Committee Members Present by Roll Call: Bob Kufrin, Jeff Larson, Bryan Nelson, Dick Skare

Excused: Bob Starr, Bill Weddig

Also in Attendance: Dianne Lensert, Kerber Rose & Assoc.; Kathy Kirkland, Administrative Assistant

Call to Order
Chair Bob Kufrin called the meeting to order at 9:18 a.m.

Welcome New Members
Bob Starr was unable to attend today�s meeting. Kufrin announced that the new At-Large commissioner, Nancy Bertz, has resigned due to other commitments.

Approval of the Agenda
Nelson moved and Skare seconded to approve the agenda as submitted. All ayes.

Approval of July 15, 2010, Minutes
Nelson noted that on pg 2, line 32, it should be �alone� instead of �along.� Also, the catchphrase on line 34 should be �Like nowhere else.� Nelson moved to approve the minutes as amended; Skare seconded. All ayes.

Discussion on the Role of the Executive Committee
Kufrin will save this discussion for a future meeting since the two new commissioners are not in attendance. He tried to find a Sturgeon Bay person in Nancy Bertz. The DCVB is working to come up with a solution to Community Marketing Fund money along with the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Bureau; they�ve set up a committee to discuss CMF going forward beyond the initial three years. Moneypenny told Kufrin they�re making progress. Steve McNeil said last year�s big budget funding issue was Sturgeon Bay Visitor Bureau funding and how to fund it. There are three players�SBVB, DCVB, and TZC. Kufrin has talked with a couple of Sturgeon Bay people who have been too busy to serve. Kufrin may call the mayor for some names. Skare felt the mayor�s input would be a good angle. Larson suggested that Dave Holtz move to the At Large position and then they could pick someone for Sturgeon Bay who wouldn�t have to be allied with innkeeping. Kufrin wants someone who will speak about the Tourism Zone at the Sturgeon Bay Council meetings and maintain the connection. Nelson agreed about swapping Holtz and perhaps asking one of the supervisors. Nelson mentioned Mike Gilson, market president for Baylake Bank, who also has a rental property.

Report from Administrative Assistant on Current Activities
Kirkland said Bay Lake Systems is trying to coordinate the online credit card payment with instituting the new password change. Lensert said it�s difficult to enable the new passwords because Justin has to exempt the passwords for confidentiality purposes from reports Kerber Rose downloads. There have been nine new permits since June�s meeting, and two agents just sent in about 10 more properties to permit.

Late fees/penalties due were fairly static from June (down $3,000), and there are now three properties making up 86% of that amount. Nearly all the late database people have gotten 3+ late notices; there�s no incentive to pay because after the tax itself is paid, the amount due doesn�t change. She suggested several properties to go LifeQuest after August�s meeting if approved. Vande Castle chimed in on the LifeQuest bill collection; Lensert noted that the TRIP program would not apply to a corporation. Kufrin said he has photos of lawn signs that are new for Kirkland to follow up for compliance. Nelson said one of the numbers frequently seen is an agent. Kufrin asked Kirkland to contact associations again about compliance.

Kirkland passed out screen shots of Google Wave as far as sending meeting materials online instead of mailing. Kufrin said the You Send It program is free if you upload only one file; he zips them to send up to 100 MB files. Kirkland said it would be easier if there is software for an executable zip file for those who don�t know how to extract files. Nelson said he didn�t see a lot of enthusiasm for online downloading but Kirkland will try You Send It and see who might use it.

Report on Marketing Efforts by the Door County Visitors Bureau
Kufrin met with Moneypenny about marketing, who feels things are on track. The newly designed Visitor Center is at 70% of last year for last month at only 10 days in. Kufrin asked him about the marketing report: Website numbers did not reflect higher volume than last year even with the new website, which was supposed to drive new traffic. Moneypenny felt part of it was weather and the economy, which are beyond his control. Kufrin also asked about the eBrains report. In late fall of 2007 and early 2008, eBrains was retained and promised $18 million in ROI for its $450,000 (18-month) contract. Part of the proposal would be an independent audit about achieving goals, carried out by the University of Texas/Austin. Last year�s audit in May or June 2009 didn�t answer the question about exceeding goals. This current report came, and Kufrin met with Rene and Dickerson. Bottom line, nowhere does it say it achieved the goal of increasing marketing. Texas person said they could demonstrate $2 to $3 million of increased efforts as opposed to $18 million in the contract. Kufrin said they use a �special formula� that is not in the report. Kufrin has a problem with a secret formula so the auditors in Texas can�t audit properly. Moneypenny said he�s not sure the Texas people are worth what they�re paying ($8-$10,000). Moneypenny trusts eBrains. Kufrin still dislikes the $2.2 versus $16.8 million in value promised; the current presentation says the DCVB is paying $34 to generate each customer. Should we be diligent in keeping eBrains� feet to the fire? Nelson asked if Moneypenny would be open to sending out RFPs to other companies. Kufrin asked how they know eBrains is the best company, that there�s not another company that would be better. Perhaps we should let eBrains know we�re shopping, maybe go to Noise and give them that component. Is that overstepping our mission?

Nelson felt we can only suggest. Moneypenny said eBrains has ala carte and has other things they can add. Larson said it is Moneypenny�s call; there are thousands of these companies. No perfect information, but we may not be getting the best. You can buy inquiries through Google, Yahoo; anyone can do it. Do we need an outside firm? If they paid someone on staff for $40,000 a year, they could do 90% of it. Kufrin said Moneypenny is not a statistics person, so they�re paying a lot for the audit, but the DCVB staff is not sure that the results justify the expense. Nelson said SEO and SEM have to be part of a marketing component. Larson noted that a website is inexpensive compared to direct mail but it�s hard to measure. Kufrin handed out the reports/audit; the answer to the main question is not in the report. When talking about total respondents, they send out 80-90,000 questionnaires, and if they get 1% back, they consider it statistically valid. Larson said there�s a large process associated with good information, and your gut is usually close to reality. He felt a five-year benchmark study, broader than eBrains, would be better. Some magazines, etc., will offer some of this for free from reader surveys. Nelson said that there�s a UWGB business professor who does these studies for a reasonable amount; Skare said so does St. Norbert, and they�ll probably do it for less and get independent results. Kufrin said Black River Falls or Stout has a marketing analysis program for a reasonable price. The contract with eBrains said if don�t achieve their goals, they�ll work for free until they do, so if they�re off by $10-12 million, they should do 2010 for free. Skare said an inexpensive way is to get some RFPs and get proposals.

Skare asked how we insert ourselves in this; what can we require of the DCVB? Kufrin said at budget time, we need to review the big contracts and ask questions on how the success of the contracts is to be measured. Ultimately the Commission is responsible for monitoring the performance of the DCVB and if the measurements don�t show results then the Commission will need to consider a course of action. There is regular discussion on Geiger�s contract. Nelson felt we can only suggest repeatedly that they look at the competition and get proposals. Blizzard Internet Marketing has strong Door County ties, and Larson said they�re well respected in the industry. Kufrin asked Moneypenny if the eBrains letter and formula calculation was supposed to come; it hasn�t yet. He will follow up on this. Larson said that for the Landmark, he hasn�t done pay-per-click, yet their web traffic is up 82% and has grown for five years. He runs online campaigns with banner ads, several radio stations, promotions. Nelson also does their promotion in house. Larson stated that he added Constant Contact last year with 15,000 names.

Consideration of Approving Reports and Payables plus Receipts to Date
Lensert said that May was flat but there will be lates coming in. There�s always a lag that skews it. Even since the report, a few more came in so we�re 0.4% up. Kufrin noted the type of property statistics at the bottom, with room availability up substantially for commercial property, yet they increased their average charge by 30%. Moneypenny was sent a more detailed breakout first, initially asking for commercial and non-commercial but wanted more. Justin did set up a report that can be generated every month to match reports; this component will stay in the report going forward. Lensert confirmed that the final audit fee went out. Kufrin asked Kirkland to send out the two yellow reports to the directors or presidents of municipal associations, letting them know this information is available by the end of the third week of the month and on the website�a wealth of information about the lodging business to use as they may. Kirkland will send out an informational e-mail.

Nelson moved to approve payable as submitted; Larson seconded. Lensert said next month is the time she re-runs and adjust prior months. All ayes. Lensert noted that there is still $25,000 that has to be paid to the DCVB; it will be paid out next month.

Discussion on Bidding Banking Services
Nelson said we�ve been with Associated Bank from the start. Should we request proposals from others? We pay fees but haven�t made money since December 2008. Kufrin said we invested a lot of time and money in the onsite deposit manager. Even though the credit card handling is not ideal, the onsite deposit manager took some time. Nelson felt the Associated people have been responsible as bankers. Lensert said we�d have some costs in changing banks, and Skare acknowledged the cost of training people. Are there additional products from other banks? The nightly sweep allowed us to make money; Nelson hadn�t talked to them about a sweep during the high months. Consensus was that there is no compelling reason to research other banks at this time.

Consideration of LifeQuest Contract and Recommendation to Full Commission
Lensert said we would have to get Social Security or Federal ID numbers, but she didn�t feel those who are late would volunteer them. Lensert said the refund component needs the tax ID but not the regular collection part. Our ability to get a Social Security number or FEIN is nil, Kufrin said; if someone�s an agent, they won�t give the Social Security numbers of owners. Lensert said there was negative feedback at the meeting level previously. Kirkland recalled that Mark Price said that just hearing from LifeQuest collects a majority of the money without having to go to TRIP. Another advantage is that LifeQuest can add interest and fees that are not in our policy. Nelson felt we should enter into a contact with LifeQuest; it can be canceled in six months. There are occasional scenarios where it�s worth a try; there�s no downside and no fee unless the money is collected. Skare said our attitude that we�re going to collect and pursue is as important as anything. Nelson moved to recommend to the full Commission that the Tourism Zone Commission enter into a contact with LifeQuest; Skare seconded. Lensert asked if Kirkland should send out one final letter to the 3+ late notice people that they will be going to collections: �Final Notice,� short and sweet. Consensus is that she should. Call the motion. All ayes.

Discussion on Specific Enforcement Actions on Noncompliant Properties
Kirkland said regarding collections, Hanson has sent $400 recently but wasn�t designated for a specific property; it was applied to Beach Harbor Resort. Consensus is that Kirkland should send a letter to him stating that he has an opportunity to set up a payment plan and that enforcement will be discussed further at the next meeting if there�s failure to achieve a suitable payment plan. Vande Castle had not talked to him about a payment plan. Larson stated and all agreed that the letter should just include a proposal that would bring him current no later than the end of 2010. Divide his amount due by the months to the end of the year and give him a figure expected by date so that he�s paid in full by end of the year. Kirkland will do so.

Adjournment
Larson moved to adjourn; Nelson seconded. All ayes. Meeting adjourned at 11 a.m.

August Meeting
The August 19 (9 a.m.) full Commission meeting will be in the Community Room of the City of Sturgeon Bay City Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Kirkland
Administrative Assistant

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