Sweetwater County Joint Travel and Tourism Board
August 12, 2015
Western Wyoming Community College Rock Springs Campus, Room 1006
Rock Springs, WY 82901
A. Call to Order
1. Greg called the meeting to order at 5:33pm.
B. Roll Call
1. Members present: Allan Wilson, Debbie Alvarez, Erika Koshar, Bridget Renteria, Falon Morgan, Craig Nelson and Greg Bailey
2. Members absent: Janet Hartford, Liisa Anselmi-Dalton and Amber Coble
3. Visitors, guests & staff: Jenissa Bartlett, Carol Volsey, Johno Green, Rebecca Eusek, Dave Hanks.
C. Approval of Agenda
1. Craig Nelson moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Alan Wilson. Motion passed (7-0).
D. Correspondence
1. Jenissa handed out the request for payment that the Roller Derby submitted. Deborah Cobb from the Roller Derby made folders for all board members to see.
2. Jenissa showed the board a thank you card and certificate of appreciation from the River Festival sent by Rebecca Eusek.
E. Public Comment
1. N/A
F. Approval of Minutes, July 14, 2015
1. Debbie Alvarez moved to approve the minutes from July 14, 2015 and Erika Koshar seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
G. Secretary – Signing of Minutes
1. Bridget Renteria signed the July minutes.
H. Payment of Bills
1. Bridget Renteria moved to approve checks #2862 through #2887, and an electronic payment of $3,494.42 to EFTPS for federal taxes and payroll liabilities, in the total amount of $74,610.98; Allan Wilson seconded Motion passed (7-0).
I. Chairperson’s Report
1. N/A
J. Vice Chairperson’s Report
1. N/A
K. Treasurer’s Report
1. Greg Bailey reported that Lisa deposited $52,860.44 on 7/15/15 to the Money Market Account. Craig made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report, Allan Wilson seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
L. Director’s Report
1. Marketing Campaign
i. Website
a) The new website launch date is now August 15, 2015. Signature wants a whole month of analytics before launch.
ii. PR
a) Jenissa reported we hosted four writers from July 29-August 1. Jenissa and Johno took them on a Safari Tour, Flaming Gorge Tour and to the Fair. Jenissa said they were a very impressive group, a writer out of Virginia, one out of Georgia, one out of New Mexico and one out of Colorado. The writer from Georgia has been writing of over 40 years. She writes for the travelmom.com website, which is a hugely followed site. The writer from Colorado has already turned out an article on elevationoutdoors.com. Jenissa will send a link to the board members so they will be able to read the article.
iii. Photography/Videography
a) With the increase in money form the lodging tax we are able to have a commercial produced to run in the Salt Lake City area. We have hired videographers to produce the commercial. Jenissa showed the board the schedule for the Videography shoot that took place on August 1-4. These schedules are very busy. The places videoed were boating on the gorge, wild horses, river float, and the fair and arial shots.
iv. August E-newsletter
a) Focused on Guide to Hunting is Sweetwater County.
2. Miscellaneous Projects.
i. GRCC luncheon on 7/15/15.
a). Jenissa gave a presentation and explained the new grant system and pushed the mobile app cards.
ii. Flaming Gorge promotions
a) They are working on a job description to find the person that would be right to do the branding study for them.
iii. Flaming Gorge Gateway sign phase II.
a) The committee meets on August 18th to start discussions on it.
iv. Information Trailer
a) The chambers had to make sure that the money they had could be used to purchase the trailer. Jenissa does not want to have a trailer newly wrapped sitting around all winter. Jenissa said it is a two month build. She would like to have it purchased, wrapped and ready for next summer.
v. NHSFR
a) The board attended the Governors reception and the plaque presentation.
vi. SWC Lodging Association
a) Jenissa will be starting up the meetings again in September.
vii. Marketing Assistant
a) Jenissa and Johno are starting to implement all the job description activities associated with the job. Johno had a meeting with the Green River Beautification Committee. They had tons of projects and ideas.
Johno has also been to a meeting with the Rock Springs Main Street URA. Jenissa and Johno are branching out and seeing where they can help out.
viii. Measurables
a) Jenissa showed the board a chart of the lodging tax collection which was up 12% and the Occupancy rate was up 3%. Jenissa showed the board the website analytics. The numbers just keep getting better and better.
ix. Purchases/Commitments
a) Jenissa purchased new business cards for $80.00.
x. Allan Wilson made a motion to approve the director’s report, Falon Morgan seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
M. Quarterly Reports:
1. Rebecca Eusek : GRCC
i. Operations and Staffing
a) Rebecca reported that they are still staffing the chamber office Monday through Friday for 8:30am to 5:30 pm. and are open Saturdays 9-3.
b) Walk through traffic is at 11,348 year to date with over 4,000 during the month of July alone.
c) The Green River chamber has distributed 975 conventions bags year to date.
d) The chamber has distributed 105 relocation and vacation packets year to date. The packets are also on the website to be downloaded.
e) Rebecca let the board know that the new Vacation planner is awesome. They have had many comments of how user friendly it is.
f) The chamber is continually updating the calendar on their website and the visitor center calendar and is posting Sweetwater County events on their Facebook and Twitter pages.
ii. Tourism Industry Support
a) Rebecca gave an update on the Wilkens Peak Trail System.
a. They are continuing to promote use of the trails, no shooting signs have been added, and the trails have been cleaned up. The trail expansion has been approved.
iii. Convention/Event Recruitment
a) Rebecca is serving on the committee and working on researching possible events.
iv. WTIC
a) Rebecca is serving on the board.
v. Ticket sales
a) Rebecca showed a handout of the ticket sales for 2015.
b) Rebecca showed a handout of the visitor registry from November 2013 to August of 2014. Rebecca noted that there was someone from every single state except Delaware. There are also 13 different countries represented.
vi. Green River chamber Events update
a) Rebecca gave a brief description of the events and how each event is going or went.
a. The Sweetwater County Photo contest had 78 entries. They will be printing postcards of the top 20 photos to hand out to visitors. Photos are on display until September at the GR Chamber of Commerce.
b. The NHSFR Shooting Competition had 126 contestants with over 400 people attending.
c. The River Festival is coming up on August 14-15. Rebecca handed out the rack card with information. Registration for all events is on the website. There are 25 states plus one from Canada registered for the Run with the Horses Marathon.
vii. Digital Sign Board
a) Rebecca showed the board a picture of our advertisement on the digital sign.
viii. K-Motive partnered with a Utah based television program on ABC 4 called “at your leisure” and filmed an episode in Green River last month. Rebecca said you can go to the GRCC Facebook page and view it.
viii. Mobile Trailer
a) Rebecca said they are still working with Jenissa on getting the mobile trailer for events next year. Still working on staffing it.
2. Dave Hanks : RSCC
i. Dave gave a building project update for the expansion. Dave showed the board blueprints of the proposed expansion.
a) They are moving into a rented building in September.
b) They prequalified the contractors on Monday 8/10/15. Packets are ready to be picked up and bids are due by September 2nd.
c) Dave let the board know that he appreciates the grant and that the extended hours of operation will be implemented with the new grant.
d) Dave told the board they will be hosting a volunteer appreciation bbq. Anyone who has volunteered for an organization or event is welcome to come.
ii. Wyoming’s Big Show
a) Dave gave a handout of the total tickets sold.
a. Total ticket sales were 4,516 totaling $71,675.
iii. NHSFR
a) The information booth was staffed daily from 10-7.
b) There were over 250 volunteers for the RED Desert Roundup, Fair and NHSFR
iv. Red Desert Roundup Rodeo
a) The Chamber sold 320 Advance tickets. Overall attendance for the rodeo was down.
v. Web Counts
a) Rock Springs Chamber Facebook page up 162 likes for the beginning of the year.
b) Business & Economic Development Facebook page up 75 likes for the beginning of the year.
vi. Visitor Counts
a) May – 1,872
b) June – 2,286
c) July – 4,375
vii. Great Wyoming Road Trip Sticker Campaign:
a) The stickers are very popular. 2,400 stickers have been given away since the beginning of this summer’s program. Dave feels this program is a great idea and is working.
viii. Brochure Deliveries:
a) There are 46 businesses that are receiving brochures in Rock Springs along with Pinedale Visitor Center, Farson Mercantile, Bear River State Park, and Manila.
b) Total number of brochures is 100,000.
N. Old Business
1. N/A
O. New Business
1. Ad: tech Conference: NYC
a) Jenissa asked the board for approval to spend 3,800.00 to attend the ad tech conference in New York City in November.
b) Debbie made a motion to approve the spending of $3,800.00 to attend the ad tech conference, Bridget Renteria seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
1. Office blinds
a) Jenissa asked the board to approve spending $1,281.46 for window blinds in Johno’s office and the storage area.
b) Allan Wilson made a motion to approve spending $1,281.46 for office blinds. Craig Nelson seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
P. Adjournment
1. Erika Koshar moved to adjourn the meeting 6:30 pm, Falon Morgan seconded. Motion passed (7-0).
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Secretary’s signature Date
Minutes submitted by Carol Volsey