Minutes. The meeting was called to order at 9:08 a.m. by Chair Jo Salyers. Matt Dunn, Denise Alexander, Desi Leibfried

Transcription

1 Tourist Development Council Regular Meeting Ocala/Marion County Visitor & Convention Bureau 112 N Magnolia Avenue Ocala, Florida Wednesday, November 9, :00 a.m. Minutes The meeting was called to order at 9:08 a.m. by Chair Jo Salyers. I. Roll Call Present: Absent: Staff: Guests: Jo Salyers, Charlie Stone, Daniel Owen, Dennis Evans, Jeff Bailey, Navroz Saju, Tim Petty, Rus Adams Kathy Johnson Matt Dunn, Denise Alexander, Desi Leibfried Endira Sharma, City of Ocala; John Duggan, Ocala Pumpkin Run; Jennifer Pallai, Gold & Associates A quorum was present. II. III. IV. Notice of Publication was given. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Charlie Stone to accept the minutes from the October 12, 2011 TDC meeting, Tim Petty seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Marketing Report- GOLD The TDC Board welcomed back GOLD as the TDC Ad Agency. Jennifer Pallai began by discussing the projects that required their immediate efforts. Jennifer reviewed the Marketing Update report that was given to the TDC. The report included the VCB newsletter and creation of a QR code. Rus Adams entered at 9:11am. Jennifer Pallai presented the survey that was sent out in July. She asked the TDC to review this survey again, and let her know if there were any changes or additions that needed to be included. She went on to discuss the additional items that GOLD had completed for the VCB that are included in the Marketing Update documents. 1 P a g e

2 Jeff Bailey entered at 9:15am The status of Trademarking the VCB logo and material was discussed. GOLD is working on the contract with the Attorney that will secure the certificates. Jennifer discussed the Photo & Video Shoot and the professionals that would be handing each area were mentioned. Matt Dunn announced the Board of County Commissioners requested that Gold s Marketing Report be sent to them on a monthly basis. The VCB provided the current report to each County Commissioner via on Friday November 4th. The BOCC also requested that a quarterly report be made to the County Commission at their BOCC meeting. The first scheduled report will be made February 7 th This is to keep Commissioners informed as well as the public. V. Ocala Pumpkin Run- John Duggan John Duggan thanked the TDC for their support and also Matt Dunn for all his help with the Car Show. He pointed out that the attendance of the Car Show was approximately 40,000 people including participants and spectators. John Duggan said there were a lot of out of town clubs that attended the show and they loved the atmosphere. The event was so well received that 609 cars are already preregistered for the March show and approximately 100 vendors are pre-registered and paid. Endira Sharma entered at 9:20am The Ocala Pumpkin Run Webpage was getting 30,000 hits a day the week of the show. As a major sponsor, a link was placed on that webpage directly linking to the Ocala/Marion County VCB. 177,000 people were talking about the show on Facebook. John finished with giving the dates of the Spring Car Show, which will be held March 9, 10, and 11 of Navroz Saju entered at 9:31am. VI. VCB Update- Matt Dunn/Denise Alexander The financial report was presented to the TDC. Matt briefly discussed the report with the TDC Board. Matt then moved on to review the STR report, he stated that occupancy went up by 3 points and ADR went up $4. Matt said it is always good to see the ADR increase or hold steady because this of course will help TDT collections. The TDT Collections spreadsheet for FY was presented with the fiscal year goal. Matt mentioned that the goals are high, but the TDT collections for October are already above the goal projections set. To date, the goal is being exceeded. 2 P a g e

3 Denise Alexander spoke about Government Day in The Villages. The attendees were pleased to receive information on Ocala/Marion County. Many of the attendees were not aware of all the wonderful activities Ocala/Marion County had to offer. Denise mentioned she had been working on coordinating with OBS, Golf Courses and Hotels to create packages for the attendees of the horse sales in Marion County. This is in an attempt to extend a stay. Denise discussed the upcoming Fishers of Men tournament as well as the American Youth Football league tournaments that will be coming the next week. Attendance for the AYF event is expected to reach 2300 participants. This number does not include the friends and family that may be coming along to watch the athletes compete. VII. New/Old Business Matt Dunn discussed the events he is working to bring to Marion County. The HERO Rush obstacle race will be coming for a site visit in the upcoming weeks and they are looking at the Florida Horse Park for the event location. Matt followed up on the National Collegiate Table Tennis event which he had mentioned at a previous meeting, they will be coming to do a site visit in the next couple of weeks. This event will bring approximately participants. National Association Inter Collegiate Athletics and Women s Golf National Championship (NAIA) are two other events that Matt is working with to bring to Marion County. They do not currently have a site visit planned as of yet. Matt mentioned these additional events he is currently pursuing: Firefighter Combat Challenge; YBOA, which will be increased from last year s tournament; American Junior Golf Association will be hosted at Golden Ocala. The City of Ocala Sports Ability Final Grant report was presented for board approval in the amount of $500 (final 50%) of the FY grant award. A motion was made by Rus Adams and seconded by Tim petty to approve the $500 (final 50%) of the grant award. A roll call was taken for voting record. The following board members voted in favor of the funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Tim Petty, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. There were none opposed. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. Matt presented the next item on the agenda; funding for Disc Golf improvement for the event that we host. This request was made by City Parks and Recreation for improvements in the amount of $4,500. Daniel Owen asked that this request be sent back to the City of Ocala. He would like to get this as an agenda item with the City of Ocala Council. He would like to hear the discussion from City Council on absorbing this cost. Matt Dunn informed the board that City Parks and Recreation is also 3 P a g e

4 4 P a g e requesting funding for the potential Skate Park; and if that could be brought to the City Council at the same time. Daniel Owen agreed to bring that up as well. There are two sponsorship requests from a previous promotion. If 50 rooms were booked then the meeting planner would receive $500 in sponsorship. A request was received from The Church of the Springs, a conference that brought in well over 50 rooms. The conference instructed attendees in steps to start a new church and funding sponsorship was requested. A motion was made by Tim Petty and seconded by Jeff Bailey to approve the $500 promotional sponsorship for the Church of Springs Seminar. A roll call was taken for voting record. The following board members voted in favor of the funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Tim Petty, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. There were none opposed. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. The second request was from Southern Cruisers motorcycle group a national reunion southern chapter. A motion was made by Rus Adams and seconded by Charlie Stone to approve the $500 promotional sponsorship for Southern Cruisers Riding Group, pending verification of the minimum 50 room night requirement. A roll call was taken for voting record. The following board members voted in favor of the funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Tim Petty, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. There were none opposed. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. Matt Dunn addressed the issue of funding from the November Meeting, which included the Horse Power in Horse Country Spring 2012 (Ocala Pumpkin Run March Car Show). Matt foresees that the March show will be on the same scale as the previous show in October and therefore the funding request is the same as the October Car Show, $20,000. Matt advised the Board that we can change the funding or approve the funding as it stands. Jo Salyers asked if there was documentation of a request from the Car Show organization and how the Ocala/Marion County VCB is handling requests for funding. Matt advised that he receives or correspondence from the organization requesting the funds. Matt stated then the funding must be used for the allowable expenses. The organizations are advised of what is an allowable expense, and they will not receive funding for ineligible expenses. Matt Dunn said he has been working with the Procurement Department to create a form that will be submitted with check requests to show all the allowable expenses and will be submitted with receipts. Rus Adams asked if there is a form to submit to the TDC for review. Matt Dunn responded that each event is reviewed and the funding request is considered. Matt will then

5 present and give his recommendations to the TDC. The TDC Board Members discussed information that should be included on the form/application for funding as well as the difference between event funding and grant applications. The TDC gave direction to the staff to create a form to be presented to the Board. Discussion continued regarding funding the Horse Power in Horse Country Spring 2012 Car Show. The board discussed the options of funding the spring show which takes place in the high demand month of March. Charlie Stone made a motion to approve to funding in the amount of $15,000 for Horse Power in Horse Country Spring 2012 event. The motion is seconded by Daniel Owen. A roll call vote was taken for voting record. The following board members voted in favor of funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. Tim Petty abstained from voting on this motion. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. There were none opposed. 5 P a g e Matt Dunn presented the next item on the agenda which is a decision to fund Cal Ripken/ Babe Ruth Baseball Tournaments. Cal Ripken has increased their bid fee to $45,000. The Board of Director of the Ocala Rotary Sportsplex, is requesting the TDC pay the entire $45,000 to each tournament 2013 and 2014 event. The bid fee is this high due to the fact that Cal Ripken pays for the travel for every team that qualifies. The participants are here for 7 days and in some cases longer and will use approximately 5 total hotels for teams. Matt Dunn mentioned the event would take place in August when the business is needed. Matt summarized the request by stating the request is for two separate events in the amount of $45,000 each. Payments could be made to Cal Ripken over 3 fiscal years, but this poses a problem since the BOCC has to approve the Tourist Development Department budget each fiscal year, the TDC could not commit to that funding. Charlie Stone confirms that funds cannot be spent for future fiscal years, however you may ear mark the money in a holding account. Jeff Bailey and Navorz Saju both agree that any help bringing room nights in August would be greatly welcomed. The support in bringing room nights in August is greatly needed and both Jeff and Navroz agreed they would be in favor of funding events in August for a higher amount then in a busy month. Jo Salyers spoke regarding the memo line item including a caveat that all guests must block and stay in Marion County overnight accommodations. Matt elaborated that traditionally the 2014 event had the participants staying in host housing. Host housing is a local baseball family that will take in a few participants and allow them to stay at their home during the tournament. The financial commitment by the TDC will be made on the basis that the participants would be staying in hotels not host housing and this would be made aware to Cal Ripken & Rotary Sportsplex. Jeff Bailey said that if

6 baseball did not happen in Marion County it would not have been good for hoteliers. Jeff Bailey said the spending is not just at the hotels but also the direct spending in the County outside of hotel business. A motion to fund $45,000 for 2013 and $45,000 for 2014 to Cal Ripken Baseball and Rotary Sportsplex tournament and receive direction from County Administration as to how to pay over time was made by Rus Adams and motion was seconded by Daniel Owen. A roll call was taken for voting record. The following board members voted in favor of the funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Tim Petty, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. There were none opposed. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. Matt Dunn addressed the next item on the agenda, the Cal Ripken 15 year old Southeast Regional tournament. The tournament would take place in June and July of The request is to fund this tournament in the amount of $5,000. A motion is made to fund the Cal Ripken 15 year old Southeast Regional tournament in the amount of $5,000. The motion made by Jeff Bailey and is seconded by Tim Petty. The following board members voted in favor of the funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Tim Petty, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. There were none opposed. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. Matt Dunn addressed the next agenda item, a funding request for Girls Softball State Championship in the amount of $20,000. The event takes place in July 2012 at Shocker Park. A motion was made to approve $20,000 for upgrades to Shocker Park facility for the Girls Softball State Championship tournament. The following board members voted in favor of the funding: Rus Adams, Jeff Bailey, Dennis Evans, Daniel Owen, Tim Petty, Navroz Saju, Jo Salyers, and Charlie Stone. There were none opposed. Kathy Johnson was absent during the vote. VIII. Public Comment Daniel Owen suggested that it would be advantageous to the VCB to become a sponsor for Tim Potter, a local Golf Professional. He requested that the VCB staff or TDC Board approach him to ask about approved methods of sponsorship. Motion is made by Rus Adams to adjourn the meeting at 11:40am. The next regular meeting of the TDC is December 14, P a g e