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VisitRainier Board Minutes: March 2009

10:00-1:00pm
Ashford
Attendance: Maree Lerchen, Dee Patterson, Adam Angel, PC Dickinson, Steven Cadematori; Absent: Andrea Brannon, Rehne Copeland-Vanek, Jeremy Foust

 

The meeting was called to order by Vice-President Dee Patterson at 10:05am. The minutes of the January 15 meeting were reviewed. PC moved and Maree seconded to approve the minutes. The motion carried unanimously.

 

The Financial report for Jan-February was reviewed and accepted. Maree asked the board for reimbursement for mileage and parking for the Seattle Travel Show. The board agreed that since Maree and PC were asked to represent VR in Mary Kay's absence they should receive reimbursement if they desire. Mary Kay will review the year end carryover again and report at the April meeting to be certain what we have in reserves. It was suggested that we hold the reserves until we find out what Pierce County does with the VR funding for 2010.

 

New Business: Mary Kay reported on the following items:

  • AAA Journey Sweepstakes (a free half page promotion) and Oregon-Idaho VIA coop Ad. The board discussed opportunities for internet advertising such as AAA Journey e newsletter. The board agreed not to do this at this time.
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  • ExperienceWA is providing a free banner ad Feb- March 25, 2009- on the Natural Beauty and Mountains and Volcanoes pages as a test model for some research they are conducting.
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  • Brainkinetics responded to questions from last meeting. They confirmed the credit amount would rollover month to month. They explained that performance optimization would cost about $10,000. Mary Kay will ask Ken about the logic of doing a dedicated server versus the performance optimization. In the long run, the board wondered if it might be wiser to invest now in our own server. The web developer also suggested Pay to Play links at $200 in itinerary situations on the website. The board was not excited about that option and was concerned that itineraries with specific locations would send the message that we endorse one business over another. The importance of social networking opportunities found at such sites as WWW.addthis.com were discussed. This includes such items as Flickr and Twitter.com.
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  • Video- It was suggested that we create a plan of what we want, so when an opportunity arises we are "shovel ready". Tiana has some video and the Art Institute of Seattle or Vancouver or PLU might be good resources to look into. MK will contact Kelli Clouse who did our last videos and get a proposal on doing the lodging videos.
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  • Adwords Campaign report was submitted by Annalee Tobey, who continues to monitor this program each month. Some suggestions were made and it was asked that she share the key words with those interested to see if there were any additional input that might help the campaign. National Geographic Geotourism nominations are due March 29, 2009.
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  • Web stats: Jan - 6552 unique visitors 2009, 7479 in 2008 (old site)
    Feb- 6228 which is down from 7285 in 2008 (old site)
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  • Constant Contact- e-newsletter email address collection is a top priority. One page, clear and concise with news and value..ie... packages and discounts are good. It will serve a similar purpose as a blog. The goal is to have this done by next board meeting. 200,000 brochures have been ordered and contract with Certified Folder Display signed.
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  • Seattle Travel Show - Maree and PC reported that it was a valuable experience, but if we do it again, we should do our own booth with our own identity ($870 vs $400). Pam said GSI has a backdrop that we might be able to borrow for travel shows. She will look into it. It was the consensus of the group that when we have enough dollars to budget tradeshows we should invest in a booth. Adam offered to help with photos for the booth.
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  • Pierce County Travel Impact study was shared. This is the first year of having Mount Rainier economic impact separated out for comparison. MK had some concerns about the accuracy of the numbers and will contact Dean Runyan for an explanation.
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  • Northwest Cable News eblast/banner ad - Discussion.. not approved at this time as the conversion in 2007 was non existent. MK will discuss with Larry Hill our ad rep for more information.
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  • The CTED grant for video and website enhancement was resubmitted Feb 13. Recipients will be notified by May 31.
  • Meeting with Lee Taylor and Carol Z (Ken Burns special, Geotourism, interpretive plan) to take place on April 10.
  • Washington State Travel Planner full page ad features a contest for $500 Grand Prize. Email Blast for two months (April and September) will feature a website drawing for $100 RainerBucks.
  • Reminder to everyone to visit Online Editorial Calendar for Carol Zahorsky's PR campaign. Topics and deadlines are listed there for upcoming press releases and stories.
  • Mary Kay proposed that Visit Rainier hold a reception at the new Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise. She suggested if NPS would work with us to do that, we could invite a speaker and the media as well as Tacoma Visitor Center staff, Seattle Concierge Service, and other partners to visit the new visitor center that opened at the very end of the season last year. MK will talk to Lee Taylor about it before any plans are made.
  • Tourism Day at Olympia, Mary Kay and Maree plan to meet with Pierce and Lewis County legislators on March 9. The effort is being organized by the Washington State Convention and Visitor Bureaus.. (WACVB) who are renaming themselves as the WADMO..Washington Association of Destination Marketing Organizations. We are being invited through Tacoma Regional CVB and we will represent District 2.
 

Pierce County Lodging Tax grant request was reviewed and approved. Mary Kay discussed the new requirements. PC moved and Steven seconded a motion to approve for Mary Kay Nelson to submit the 2010 Lodging Tax funding request through Pierce County Department of Community Services. Motion carried.

 

Maree notified the board that she is no longer representing Destination Packwood, but that she would like to continue to sit on the VR board as a representative of the White Pass Scenic Byway. According to the VR Bylaws, a board member represents a community area, not an organization, so the board had no objection to this change.

 

1:20pm Meeting Adjourned
Next Meeting April 29 at Alta Crystal Resort