Door County Tourism Zone Commission : Meeting Minutes

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October 15, 2009 Door County Tourism Zone Commission Meeting - Minutes

MINUTES OF OCTOBER 15, 2009
Gardner Town Hall

ACTION ITEMS:
Nelson moved to approve the September 17, 2009, minutes as submitted; Tice seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Cyrus moved to defer the members from Forestville and Brussels; Boston seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Nelson moved to send a letter to Nasewaupee regarding deferring a Commissioner at this time; Larson seconded. Motion passed unanimously.

Committee Members Present by Roll Call: Bob Kufrin, Tom Benzshawel, Mary Boston, Pauline Cyrus, Sandy D�Amico, Dave Holtz, Mike Johnson (9:20), Jeff Larson, Little Bit LeClair, Bryan Nelson, Dick Skare, Chuck Tice, Bill Weddig

Excused: Richard Briggs, Andy Coulson, Paul Flottman, Diane Jacobson, Deb Jeanquart, Jennifer Laughlin, Sarah Sawyer, Carol Stayton, Nora Zacek

Absent: Amy McClelland

Also Present: Jack Moneypenny, Mary Denis, Jon Jarosh/DCVB

Call to Order
Chair Bob Kufrin called the meeting to order for the Executive Committee at 9:15 a.m. We�re one person short for a Commission meeting (became a quorum at 9:20 with Johnson�s arrival).

Approval of Minutes of September 17, 2009
Nelson moved to approve the September 17, 2009, minutes as submitted; Tice seconded. All ayes.

Consideration of Municipal Appointment Issues
We have a new member from the Village of Forestville, Jennifer Laughlin, but she has swine flu and couldn�t make today�s meeting.
Deferral of appointment from the Town of Forestville. Kufrin received a letter from the Town of Forestville that it is not going to make an appointment to the Commission (previously was Edson Stevens). The Intergovernmental Agreement is drafted to allow for that; any municipality can just communicate that, and while nobody will sit on the Commission, they�ll still get materials and the municipality won�t count toward a quorum. These municipalities can reappoint at any time. Now we have 24 members, which means a quorum of 13.

Deferral of Appointments
Brussels told Kufrin that George Delveaux can no longer attend due to his schedule. Cyrus moved to defer the members from Forestville and Brussels; Boston seconded. All ayes. Discussion on attendance letter. The argument has been made that �only retired people can come,� yet everyone on the Commission is working. What about Nasewaupee? The appointee never comes. Nelson and Benzshawel felt Kirkland should send a letter that, in the interest of a quorum and the mechanics of meetings, it would be courteous to the Commission that if a representative can�t make it, to withhold appointing until a candidate rises. Weddig added that the letter should explain that others have done the same thing. Nelson moved to send a letter to Nasewaupee; Larson seconded. All ayes. Everyone agreed that the third Thursday at 9 a.m. is still a good meeting time.

Kufrin noted that Dave Elliot from the DCVB Executive Committee met with Bob Kaczmarowski during closed session regarding the recent felony charges to which Kaczmarowski pled �no contest.� The Executive Committee voted unanimously to follow Moneypenny�s recommendation to support Kaczmarowski and continue his employment. There is no risk to the DCVB. Kufrin urged Commissioners to say �no comment� to press; relate only that the Visitor Bureau has reviewed and met with Bob, reviewed the prosecution and policy/procedures, and retained him during the time of sentencing. Larson felt we should refer questions to Moneypenny or Kufrin. Kufrin is comfortable with what has been done to protect our interests and thanked the chair of the DCVB thanks for working with the Commission.

Administrative Assistant Report
Kirkland relayed that permit applications have slowed down, and several properties have closed early for the year but were happy with the season in general. The noncompliant properties are still noncompliant, and the Compliance Committee and Vande Castle are still working on this. Weddig asked if Hanson and Maple Grove been collecting room tax from guests. Kirkland feels Hanson has been but is not sure about Maple Grove, although she is permitted and knows the rules. Nelson felt that individual home owners say it�s a mystery how to get information; he directs them to the website. He felt it would be helpful if Kirkland could send an e-mail notice five or six days before end of each month to the ones-and-twos to remind them. She will do so.

Kirkland has a list of about 50 realtors both in and outside Door County; she will send a similar notice to them about informing their clients about room tax obligations (some rent while the house is on the market). Kufrin suggested letters go to associations and groups who have homeowner members. If anyone�s aware of associations, get Kirkland the names. He reminded others to review the Compliance Policy and get notes to Tice. Tice will present the policy at the November meeting.
Kirkland said the Finance Committee will meet next week to begin the budget process.

Report by Door County Visitor Bureau on Marketing Efforts
Moneypenny sent out a draft document that reflects the monthly goal requests that came from the TZC Evaluation Committee. Much of the information was already available at the Visitor Bureau but he put it to paper with the help of Larson�s formatting.

Regarding statistics, the Visitor Center had a strong September. July was up 39% over last July, 18.8% over last August, and 27% up from last September. YTD visitors are up 29%. Many are first-time visitors; anecdotally, innkeepers say guests are asking about what to do in Door County. The Visitor Guide is at 112% of goal for fulfillment. They have 17,000 books left for the year and may recycle those unused. At Thanksgiving, they start taking orders for next season. Tice asked if people have to wait for the new one, does that mean they�ll lose interest? Moneypenny said they offer to send them 2009 or 2010�or both. They�re still working with state-wide distribution at doorway communities, which will continue next year.

Moneypenny reminded all about the annual meeting, where he�ll give an abbreviated presentation of next year�s Strategic Conversation. It�s on Wednesday, October 21, at Horseshoe Bay Golf Club at 6 p.m. If anyone needs a personal phone call to urge them to come to the meeting, let him know. Kufrin said the TZC would pay for attendance ($25) unless the local community is compensating; just submit a bill to us. Benzshawel had talked a lot about TZC and DCVB at the City of Sturgeon Bay Council meetings, and some people still don�t understand the concept; he�ll get Moneypenny some numbers to call.

Moneypenny feels he should get to individual town meetings more often but wants to make sure he�s not there just challenging people for money. If there�s a specific meeting that the towns feel he should attend, that�s important.

Moneypenny said the presentation of the Strategic Conversation and Budget last year was at a separate meeting. Kufrin said if we could get the draft, unless there are a lot of questions, it could be addressed at the November 19 meeting. Moneypenny said he�ll make sure it�s a DCVB-approved plan and send them out by the end of October. That should give people time to read it. Kufrin said next month�s location is �open�; Johnson said we could meet in Clay Banks (on Cty S, left on OO and 1 mile down the road).

Nelson said the Baileys Harbor Town Board wanted to know if there�s a way to track day trips and whether they�re up this year. Nelson didn�t feel we have that capability; he gave them the Visitor Center office visits statistics. Moneypenny said many visitors are overnight visitors because they either have a hotel or �where do you suggest?� The DCVB will run an availability report. Benzshawel asked if there are times Moneypenny feels they�re understaffed at the Visitor Center. No, he said Kaczmarowski and Everhardus sometimes takes over phones or stand in the lobby to answer questions. On busy weekends, they staff-up and make sure all are there. This is the second year they�ve stayed open late Thursday through Saturday evenings; it was a good move.

Denis talked about the old version of the monthly report. Web visits are down 3% but are closing the gap (September was 18% higher than last year). Unique visits are up. Group sales are strong. Meeting planners is slow but the DCVB is attending holiday showcases and will follow up afterward. There are probably 1 or 2 wedding shows next year for event planners. They�re busy working on Strategic Conversation, covering items such as social networking. There�s a new campaign, �Holidays and Holly Nights,� that starts October 29 through mid-December. It was first offered as a co-op campaign, and some business associations went into M magazine but didn�t take advantage of Tribune or Time Warner.

There are three kinds of bundling for co-ops being offered. Kufrin asked if businesses didn�t jump on co-oping, does that concern you that the campaign is not meeting expectations of local innkeepers? Denis said that feedback is that they�re participating in packaging but not a new ad campaign. Next year, it should be a stronger campaign. Kufrin asked if co-ops are laid out ahead of time so they can set aside money to advertise? Denis said yes; last year, they were slightly late. For 2010, it will be timelier. Weddig asked about retailers; Denis said it went to all members, and some took advantage of M magazine. There�s a rep who works with retailers here, and they could still take advantage of Time Warner buys. With TV, you can produce a spot quickly, and it�s a good buy and exposure so far, even without retailers. Moneypenny said he�s hoping Holidays and Holly Nights can grow to develop a gift wrap, cherry red with a ribbon �A Gift for You from Door County� and have several locations around the county as a value-added to shoppers. This year, it�s too late to do it; next year, that may work.

Jarosh said media marketing program is looking good. There are two more press tours, 17 journalists this Sunday through Friday. The journalists will see the Players on Sunday afternoon, AFT, etc. Another trip is December 10 to 13 with a holiday theme, shopping. Media monitoring is still plugging away. NBC had a �Today� show mention in October, and it�s online. Moneypenny because the Commission hasn�t met yet on 2010 budget, the DCVB is keeping its budget flat and may have to make some budget adjustments in January. If so, their Board will approve and then he�ll come back to the TZC.

Jarosh referred to the draft report based on Performance Evaluation. Denis stated that we didn�t ask for website unique visits; don�t we want overall website visits reported? Kufrin said we can decide to keep one or the other after judging their usefulness. Denis said this year, website visits are down but unique visits are up. It might be interesting to have both. Kufrin said unique visits would reflect marketing campaigns; if they�re dropping, that would be a red flag. Denis will show both.

The Top 10 most-requested pages aren�t URL sites; they�re back-of-house portals such as Events or Property. What do we really want to know? Nelson said it�s not too helpful; he�s interested in referring sites, where are coming through? Larson wanted to know which pages are most active; if �Property� is accommodations, we know they�re looking for lodging. If no one�s ever going to the meeting area, that isn�t working. Kufrin said asking for requested pages was an attempt to see if marketing themes re driving overnight stays (e.g, Property). For example, Event hits depends on how they�re getting to the Events page. Kufrin said there are 3 Property-related and three Event-related. Kufrin said to continue as is for now. He was impressed in length of session and page views, suggesting the website redesign makes it more relevant over the past two years compared to 2006/07. Denis said there are more redesigns coming to keep people on longer. Advertising was not in the chart but will be added. Some items will report quarterly instead of monthly, following the list given by Performance.

Kufrin said goals per month for 2010 will be critical: What�s expected and how the projection compares to actual numbers. Is it even distribution? Peaks or valleys? Denis said with our history and a flow chart for campaigns, we can see the most amount of money spent versus activity. Kufrin asked if they�re able to extrapolate ADR and room tax as to what kind of numbers are coming on a monthly basis? Denis said we�re a couple months behind so it�s hard to correlate. Moneypenny said it�s not so much when the collections are, it�s when the reservations are made, and we don�t know that, so it�s difficult to correlate with campaigns.

Kufrin said between occupancy, can you measure the number of people based on rooms/nights available, then identify how many thousands come into the county in a month? Can you extrapolate 95,000 rooms available and only 20,000 occupied? DCVB can identify the traffic coming and be more specific, �This month 400,000 people staying in hotel rooms, enormous flow into restaurants and shops� with at least two people in every room. Weddig said we�re at a point where we have a database; can we develop a more detailed report, perhaps six months back, of how rentals of homes and condos compare to regular hotel rooms? Are people staying longer in more expensive condos/homes and skewing other stats? Should we data mine our own numbers? Moneypenny said it�s a math problem; the number of occupied rooms in a month times the number in room = number of people in the county. Statisticians always use 1.5 per room; is there an average of 2 people? Denis said it�s 2.5. Moneypenny feels that number will always be challenged.

Kufrin asked if data mining does anything for DCVB; Denis feels occupancy does. Moneypenny said only if it�s a non-challengeable number would he put it out there. Denis said Davison-Peterson report does do some of that, and it comes out in April, but there are still challenges to that; plus, those are state figures. Moneypenny felt an interesting figure would be YTD occupancy x 2. We know the numbers we�ve always said: �two million-plus.� Jarosh said that was a complex formula using traffic counters south of the Door County line 10 years ago. Weddig said people rent condos/homes because they have larger groups. Kirkland said our single-home stats don�t list number of bedrooms, so there�s no way to be definitive. Nelson said unless it�s per-person, per-night, we won�t get those figures. Sometimes a couple rents, sometimes eight, sometimes five; would have to use an average that can be challenged. Larson said one large group can skew the figures; he felt the numbers are interesting but doesn�t change the strategies in place. Benzshawel asked if we can see how many people are staying in single homes? Benzshawel said Sturgeon Bay is considering single-family homes again; it�s a concern in the hotel industry. Kufrin said he should call other communities that have permitted single-family rentals; have there been problems? We can give the number of single-family homes permitted. That may resolve the concerns; Kirkland can send out those figures.

Moneypenny asked about Tip-E newsletters. April didn�t have one but there will be two in October, Kufrin asked if figures for 2007 will drop off next year? It was a partial year; the challenge is to have relevant information. Weddig agreed that it should drop off; 2007 went into marketing for following year. Denise asked if they should start the new reporting next month or with the new year? Kufrin said they can keep it as is until 2010 but if they can give the information verbally, that would be good.

Kufrin said that Moneypenny and the Executive Committee are still working on other Performance Measures identified. They will respond in November, Moneypenny said. The first page of last month�s report has been incorporated. Annual Report components are still being discussed on how to coordinate the work between the Executive Committee so as not to duplicate efforts.

Kirkland asked if CMF money is �use it or lose it�; Moneypenny said the associations can hold it over for one year because of the way the money rolls in. Most groups are utilizing money to the full; a couple are stumbling because don�t have strong-enough leadership on how want to spend money. One community was considering giving a sizeable amount back to the Visitors Center. Perhaps they should have made it a grant program. They�re going to work with the slower communities and suggest programs. Some are using the co-op or branding as goals. Kirkland reminded the Commissioners about the Associates training groups and whether we need to set a special meeting or if people will attend those already scheduled.

Discussion on Current Comparatible Occupancy Numbers for 2009
Moneypenny noted that June/July/August are not adjusted yet. Kufrin said the number will change every month based on late collections. July 2009 is unadjusted and could be much higher next month with late fees. It�s too complex a model for Kerber Rose to adjust every month. Nelson feels the best predicted number is blue box on the bottom, �Through July Only.� We�re down 2.6%. Moneypenny wants to address it at the annual meeting; should he use July -2.6%? Kufrin will ask Lensert to come up with through-August number to see if it�s different; Moneypenny will use that at the annual meeting. Holtz wants that figure sent to the Commission, too. Relative to the rest of Wisconsin, Weddig shows -14.2% through August statewide, so ours are good numbers. Nelson likes Moneypenny�s �Flat is the new good� mantra.

Kufrin said it also helps to look at the blue box; if last month�s report was -3.5% and it drops a half-percent, that reflects that late collections are continuing. Late penalties for Hanson and Maple Grove could be substantial. Weddig said that on a late collection, the municipality will get the penalties; Tice said yes, less the cost of the pursuit.

Consideration of Approving Reports and Payables plus Receipts to Date
Tice moves to approve the Kerber Rose reports; Larson seconded. Nelson pointed out on Pg. 4, the Statement of Revenues and Expenses, that we�re running a deficit. That�s mainly in pursuit of noncompliance; legal is $6,600 over and Kerber Rose is over $4,000 over YTD. At the end of the year, it should even out. Moneypenny asked if we need to hold back money from the DCVB, which they could accommodate. Nelson said possibly next May/June, but so far we�re okay. All ayes.

Considerations of Approving Recommendations from the Performance Evaluation Committee on Measurements and Goals for the DCVB
Kufrin wants to establish goals and not change them every month. Hopefully, we can approve of the format at November�s meeting and commit for 2010 and we won�t keep asking for new stats. Please let Kufrin know if there are comments.

Updates from the Compliance Committee and Bill Vande Castle on Specific Enforcement Actions before the Door County Circuit Court
Tice said the Commission should see the final report and policy at the November meeting.

Tice said Sturgeon Bay Visitors Bureau is in its budgeting process, and dealing with the City to support the Sturgeon Bay Visitors Bureau, so it would be appreciated if people could write letters to the City Council explaining and praising the work that the Visitors Bureau has been doing for the City and its benefit to the City, to help support and finance their Bureau. Other communities, decorations, plantings, the general beautification is enjoyed throughout the county. Benzshawel said any letters should just go to �Common Council.� He said they�ve had two budget workshops, and the Visitor Center was a topic of discussion. The aldermen are struggling with this because it�s the first year the general fund money and not room tax was going to the Visitor Center. Some feel the Visitor Center benefits only tourists and businesses� advertising dollars; the Council doesn�t feel it�s the right thing to do with taxpayers� money. Benzshawel has tried to communicate that they�re community events, but some council members think it�s only businesses. Kufrin said if the businesses don�t profit, there�s no community, no jobs.

Weddig is curious if the collections for the City have gone up since they came in to The Zone? Benzshawel said the dollar amount went up but actual occupancy is down. Tice felt they have picked up more locals, but The Zone picks up people on the outskirts. Kufrin said allowing rentals in single-family homes would add a lot of money. There aren�t complaints about single-family home rentals. Holtz said the room tax is now 5.5% instead of 4%, but if you back out the numbers, it�s down 13%.

Moneypenny said Sturgeon Bay would use the first $100,000 for the City and, after that, the money would go to the Visitor Center. Have they used up everything over the $100,000 and are now going back to General Funds? That�s what the CMF money formula was for, to balance it out. Benzshawel said for 2009, the money is only at about $80,000. Moneypenny said the original numbers were probably higher than the numbers they worked from. Moneypenny has committed $300,000 this year and pledged help if needed at the Council meetings.

Adjournment
Nelson moved to adjourn; Boston seconded. All ayes.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Kirkland
Administrative Assistant

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