Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee

ACCOMMODATIONS TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, November 15, 2018 at 12:00pm Municipal Complex, Committee Meeting Room, 3rd Floor 100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES PRESENT: Cheryl Craven, Shannon Hartman, Rebecca Gosnell, Brumby McLeod, and Vishal Patel ABSENT: Su McManus Frost and Laurie Bixler ALSO PRESENT: Tom O’Rourke, Council Liaison STAFF PRESENT: Lauren Sims, Community & Government Affairs Chief Ms. Gosnell called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon. I. Approval of the minutes from the March 7 and 8, 2018 meetings Ms. Craven moved for approval as submitted; seconded by Ms. Hartman. All present voted in favor. II. Public Comments [None] III. Election of Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee Chairman Ms. Gosnell stated that Ms. Frost is stepping down as chair of the committee due to work conflicts. Ms. Craven nominated Ms. Rebecca Gosnell; seconded by Ms. Hartman. All present voted in favor. Ms. Sims stated that typically the Business Tourism Manager in this role; however, the Town is currently in the process of rehiring. She stated for this year, the remaining balance available is $144,800. She stated that expenditures to date this year are $18,000 for external  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 2 of 27 special events and the internal special events have been provided to Committee members in their budget report. Ms. Gosnell stated that for clarification, is the amount shown for the Patriots Point Fourth of July coming from ATAC. Ms. Sims responded in the affirmative. IV. FY 19/20 (January – June) Funding Presentations A. SC Aquarium – Charleston Waterfront Chloe Garrison, Foundation Relations Coordinator for the South Carolina Aquarium, thanked ATAC for their consideration for their proposal for the Charleston Waterfront Pass. She stated that her colleague would be presenting. Brent Duncan, Senior Manager of Advertising and Public Affairs for the South Carolina Aquarium, stated that they have the Charleston Waterfront Pass and are excited to be working with the partners from Patriots Point. He said this is the first time in several years that they have had anything such as this. He said it is a seamless transition into a larger partnership. He said this summer they had a pilot launch of the program and saw great sales; however, they only had this pass available for sale at the four sponsored CACVB visitors’ centers. He said this joint pass allows individuals to get into Patriots Point, as well as the Aquarium and have round-trip transport via the Charleston Water Taxi for one price. He said that this has worked in larger markets such as Baltimore and Boston, so it was a next step for them to take their relationships to the next level. He said this funding will allow them to take this advertisement and promotion of this project outside the market. He said both Patriots Point and the Aquarium have similar demographics and targets when it relates to advertisements, such at Charlotte, Columbia, Greenville and similar markets. He said this funding would allow them to reach these areas with sponsored content, in addition to partnering with several hotels in Mount  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 3 of 27 Pleasant as well. He said they would include this in online content as well as traditional outdoor boards as well. Ms. Gosnell asked if the Water Taxi is a privately-owned business. Mr. Duncan responded in the affirmative. Ms. Gosnell asked how many people participated as riders in their pilot program. Mr. Duncan stated that the Water Taxi’s capacity is approximately 40 riders and given the schedules, they saw that they were fairly full. He said the goal for this project was 400 in the span of a few months and they did reach their goal. He said knowing the limitation of only being able to sell through CACVB, they will continue to do this through the winter and try to take this program online and offer online sales. He said this will assist when it comes to advertisement and directing people to the link, so they are able to purchase on-demand to visit both attractions. Ms. Gosnell asked that when an individual goes online to look at an advanced ticket purchase for the Aquarium or Patriots Point, is this currently not an option. Mr. Duncan stated that they suspended just a few weeks ago until they were able to get online sales launched. He said their goal would be to do this before the end of the year. Ms. Gosnell stated that she would imagine that the ticket is really appealing to those who have already made a commitment to visit one of those properties and this is simply a convenience option. Mr. Duncan stated that it is. He added that the Aquarium does not receive any funding from the parking. He said the Aquarium garage is a City of Charleston owned property. He said he is more than happy to send people over to Patriots Point to park and once there, they can spend the morning at Patriots Point, then take the Water Taxi to the Aquarium for the afternoon. He said it is in the spirit of the program to be a one-stop ticket for people to enjoy their day.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 4 of 27 Ms. Gosnell asked if this would be a stand-alone promotion of the pass or would it be integrated into “Come Visit the Aquarium” advertising. She asked if it is a one or the other investment; will this promote both Patriots Point and the Aquarium in those ads, and how is this set up. Mr. Duncan stated that there are joint logos on many of their placements. He stated that there is a website created called “Charlestonwaterfrontpass.com” so any type of digital advertising, outdoor boards or rotating graphics would direct people to that site. It would not be directing people solely to Patriots Point or the Aquarium. Ms. Gosnell asked why they decided to go this route versus pursuing a City Pass program where people who are already traveling are used to searching out City Pass for ticket options. Mr. Duncan said they went this route so that the cost is not passed along to the consumer. He said they are able to offer 20% off jointly. He said City Pass is a trade-marked company, so it operates in larger metro areas. He said for the pilot stage and the first year, it made more sense to keep this as an intimate product. Mr. McLeod asked if during the pilot program, were they able to capture the hotel room stays. Mr. Duncan stated that they are not tracking hotel stays. He said Patriots Point does this with their gate admissions. He said that although the Aquarium does care about those numbers, when they are coming through their gates, they are there whether they are there for a day visit or not. He said they do have certain hotels that send them more business, because they sell tickets directly from those hotels. Ms. Hartman stated that she is the Director of Sales and Marketing at the Charleston Harbor Resort where the Water Taxi is housed,  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 5 of 27 and she was not aware of this initiative. She believes they could be a good hotel to partner with since they are at Patriots Point. Mr. Duncan stated that they would like to be as collaborative as possible. He said the Aquarium has done certain promotions with the resort for spring break, but it is great for sponsored content, because this is where you can track and measure all the analytics and see who the ads are affecting. He said it is very cost effective to reach a number of people. He said this is why in Charlotte the rates for outdoor boards are so high, so doing something such as this project, especially when they are able to partner this with trade, will make the dollar go that much further. Ms. Gosnell asked if they had confirmed funding. Mr. Duncan stated that they have it with the City of Charleston. Ms. Gosnell asked if the program will move forward if they do not receive funding from the Town of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Duncan stated that it will continue to move forward, but likely not at the scale they would like to see. Ms. Hartman asked if the Water Taxi ticket was included complimentary with the package. Mr. Duncan said that it was not but was a higher percentage off than a stand-alone ticket or through other partner programs. He said the Aquarium assumes the cost of advertising and promoting this program. He said Patriots Point is a partner in the reconciliation and budget process as well as the disbursement of funds to both organizations. He said the promotion itself lies with the Aquarium which is why they are the organization requesting funding. B. USS Yorktown Foundation – Vietnam Photographic Exhibit Allison Hunt, Executive Director of the USS Yorktown Foundation, which is the support organization for Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum. She introduced Kayla Halchak, Marketing  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 6 of 27 Manager for the Museum. She said they have been able to do a lot of projects and appreciate all the support the Town has provided. She said they are requesting funds today for a national archive traveling exhibit that is entitled, “Picturing Nam” and it is a carefully curated collection of photographs taken by military photographers during the Vietnam War that provides an intimate and ground up view of the war and those who fought it. She stated that it will be displayed in the Harbor Room, which is next to the Smokey Stover Theatre from January 24th through March 31, 2019 and there will be no additional fee for this and is a value-added exhibit for the paying guests who come to the ship and museum. She said Vietnam Veterans Day falls on March 29th and is very popular and very well attended so they expect a great deal of traffic in there through that time. She added that all veterans are admitted free on Vietnam Veterans Day, courtesy of business sponsorships, so they plan to host a major symposium around Vietnam Veterans Day this year as well as around this exhibit and this event. She said the contract with the National Archives and Records Administration requires quite a bit of preparation for this space, so that is built into the request, plus the fee for the actual exhibit. Ms. Gosnell complimented the staff on the calculation of attendance, which was a well thought out attendance projection. She asked if Patriots Point is planning to request any additional funding for other symposium requests this year. Ms. Hunt responded in the negative and said this is the only one. Ms. Gosnell asked if there would be any special school promotions for students. Ms. Hunt stated that they would definitely be looking into this. She said they are currently in the planning phases of the exhibit, but this will absolutely be a part of what they are trying to accomplish.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 7 of 27 Ms. Halchak stated that part of their marketing push is meeting with their Group Sales team who have regular schools and hotels they will be sharing the information with.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 8 of 27 C. Charleston Jazz Festival Tatjana Beylotte, Director of Development at Charleston Jazz, stated that they are a first time applicant. She stated that she has been there for approximately three months. She said they are presenting their annual jazz festival this January, which this funding will help promote. She said they draw approximately 3,000 jazz fans from all over the southeast. She said last year, approximately 26% came from outside the greater Charleston area. She said this festival is a four-day event and brings internationally known performers to Charleston. She said this year, their headliner is Bobby McFerrin and putting him in collaboration with Ranky Tanky, which is one of the local jazz groups that have made it big and are now playing on international festival stages. She said they are commissioning both of these performers to create music together for the first time. They will be playing on Saturday night (January 26, 2019) at the Gaillard Center. On Thursday night, they will be bringing in a Puerto Rican flautist, Nestor Torres, who will play at the Charleston Music Hall. On Friday night, they will present Charleston Jazz Bands. She said they have an open call for performers to apply and they select four or five groups to play on Friday, the 25th and will perform at Dockery’s on Daniel Island. She said on Sunday, they have Family Day where they feature the best of the High School Jazz performers here in the area, many of whom come from Wando High School. She said they also provide opportunities to bands outside of Charleston to come and for an afternoon at the Sottile Theatre, they perform with members of the Charleston Jazz Orchestra. She said that event is free for children. Ms. Gosnell stated that she noticed that there are no Mount Pleasant locations in the schedule and was not sure how they calculated their room nights. She stated that the application is being submitted based on the fact that the applicant anticipates their guests will be staying in Mount Pleasant hotels; however, she  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 9 of 27 does not have any information on how they made this determination. Ms. Beylotte stated that she blocked rooms with two hotels in Mount Pleasant and they will be promoting this in their festival promotions to encourage the visitors to take advantage of the room block and special room rate. Ms. Gosnell asked for the number of hotels they have blocked room nights with. Ms. Beylotte stated that they only have two hotels in Mount Pleasant in total. Mr. McLeod asked if the additional funding is from the City of Charleston or Charleston County. Ms. Beylotte stated that they are both providing funding. Ms. Gosnell stated that she believes the Bobby McFerrin and Ranky Tanky event will sell well and hopes, as a headliner, will draw a great deal of attention to the overall festival. She stated that jazz is a very important cultural piece for Charleston and people rarely understand how the Jenkins Orphanage played a role in the emergence of jazz in America. She said it is important that we keep that cultural aspect alive here. D. Lowcountry Oyster Festival Jenny Peppler, Membership & Special Events Coordinator, Greater Charleston Restaurant Association, and with the Charleston Restaurant Foundation, they put on the Lowcountry Oyster Festival. She said they are gearing up for the end of January on the 27th for the 36th Annual Oyster Festival at Boone Hall Plantation. She said this year they will have some new changes and will be highlighting some of the changes as far as the oyster recycling efforts. She said they will also be promoting their benefitting charities, so the guests will know this event is for charity.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 10 of 27 Ms. Gosnell asked about attendance over the past three years. Ms. Peppler stated that it has been great. This past January they had black clouds the entire day, so attendance was half at 5,000. She said the two years prior to that, was strong at 10,000 attendees, which is Boone Hall’s request, so they do cap this event. Ms. Gosnell asked how they will spend the money the Town is proposing to provide. Ms. Peppler stated that almost half of the attendees are from out of the tri-county area, so this is added to the marketing efforts to reach Greenville, Columbia, Charlotte and others, to get them to attend. Ms. Gosnell stated that the Town needs very clarified receipts back because they do give out scholarships and the Town’s funds cannot co-mingle under the rules of the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee. She stated that they must demonstrate that all the funding goes directly into the marketing budget and that the logo is on their marketing materials. Mr. McLeod asked how the Hospitality Association and the GCRA merger impacts this application. He asked if there was any shared ownership. Ms. Peppler stated that there is no impact. The Foundation is the 501c3 which is completely separate of the merger. Ms. Gosnell asked if the Taste of Charleston will return. Ms. Peppler stated that it may. E. College of Charleston Softball Program Linda Calafatis, Head Softball Coach at the College of Charleston said there are just under 300 division 1 softball programs in the country and the majority of those cannot play when our season opens up, which makes locations such as ours very favorable. She said they would like to continue to recruit or attract some of the  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 11 of 27 best names in softball. She said this year, they have 16 teams coming to three tournaments and three of the conference schools coming. She said the hotel piece that was added was a huge help. She added that they were able to contract with all the schools or require in their game contract that they stay in Mount Pleasant hotels. She stated that unfortunately one team had already made their arrangement, so there will be 18 teams that will be staying in Mount Pleasant. She said just the teams alone is 804 room nights, not including the three conference schools or fans, which are more difficult to track. She stated that they expect 1,100 to 1,200 hotel nights in Mount Pleasant. Ms. Gosnell asked what their promotions are and are they only to these teams, and digital. Ms. Calafatis responded in the affirmative. She said what they are going to attempt to do this year is get their communications department to do a graphic for each and send that graphic onto the teams and request that they put it on their own page, as well as their athletic page. She stated that NC State has over 80,000 followers on their athletic site. She said if they are able to get all the schools to post the graphic on their direct sites and on their athletic sites, she believes it will attract a lot of attention. Ms. Hartman asked if the teams come from all over. Ms. Calafatis stated that all of the teams this year are from out of state. Ms. Gosnell stated that it appears that no profit will be made. F. 2019 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition John Powell, Executive Director of SEWE, stated that they are excited about February and some of the things they have accomplished to work more closely with Mount Pleasant. He said they actually submitted two applications this year. He said they still have a few waterfowl events in Mount Pleasant. He said they are  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 12 of 27 excited to work more closely with Charleston Harbor Resort where they will host artists and lectors throughout the year and help promote all the fishing tournaments and other activities there through their database and media lists. He said he would like to speak about the second application. Through discussions of having a presence in Mount Pleasant, not just during SEWE weekend, but permanently. They have an opportunity to bring public sculpture to Waterfront Park and beyond. He met with Councilwoman Whitley and Nicole Harvey and they have looked at places where they can put permanent bases to public sculptures starting with six sculptures conservatively. Rather than these being semi-permanent or up for a three or four-month period, the idea evolved into having them up for a full year and then rotating them out. He said they are still working on it from a budget standpoint. He said some of it is not as complicated as they believed. He said they were also working with the individual who is doing some of the bases for some other projects in Mount Pleasant. He said they are working to streamline this process. Ms. Gosnell asked if the sculptures were on loan from the artist. Mr. Powell responded in the affirmative. He said they have several to choose from. He said Brooke Green Gardens has also offered a list of some nice pieces, because they are excited about public sculpture. Ms. Gosnell stated that Mount Pleasant has been working hard to improve their visual arts. She said we are already in the business of sculpture bases for a number of projects. Mr. Powell stated that he does not want to infringe on those but believes what they are doing is unique and stated that the six or eight pieces they begin with will be indigenous to the region. Ms. Gosnell asked how the funding they are requesting from the Town for the sculpture program would specifically be used.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 13 of 27 Mr. Powell stated for marketing and for working with the Town. He said in discussions, who pays for what when it comes to the bases for these sculptures. They have not worked this out at this time, so their request is lessened by what the Town is willing to do internally. He said if they need to utilize some of their resources, obviously they will do this as well. Ms. Gosnell asked how the sculptures would be insured and who will hold the liability. Mr. Powell stated that they will. Ms. Gosnell stated that the initial proposal for the SEWE event is the same proposal seen every year. She asked if there was anything new going on in Mount Pleasant on the SEWE schedule. Mr. Powell stated that nothing other than the events held at the Omar Shrine Temple regarding the Waterfowl Association, as well as the potential opening of the sculpture program. Ms. Hartman stated that she appreciates the efforts of trying to bring Mount Pleasant into this event and some of the other things they are attempting to do to partner with the Town to bring SEWE across the bridge to Mount Pleasant. She said it is very much appreciated. Mr. Powell said that this provides them with the opportunity to do things throughout the year with the sculpture exhibit which can be marketed 365 days a year. G. 2019 Charleston Challenge Cup Rhonda Sanders, stated that this event is similar every year. She stated that it is approximately 500 rooms between the two tournaments with approximately 5,000 visitors. Half of the visitors are from other places.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 14 of 27 Ms. Gosnell stated that it appears that the attendance projections are about the same. She asked if the attendance numbers were met last year. Ms. Sanders responded in the affirmative. She said they may also be larger, as the event is growing. However, no one estimated higher. Ms. Gosnell asked if they had the option of requiring their participants to do their hotel bookings in Mount Pleasant. Ms. Sanders responded in the affirmative. She said it is “stay and play”. She said they are provided with a list of hotels where they are required to stay. Mr. Patel asked how the requirement to stay in the dedicated hotels is enforced. How is it tracked? Ms. Sanders stated that they check on how many teams book rooms and if they do not use “stay and play”, they forfeit and will not be able to play. She said the hotels are typically less, because the hotels provide a good discount. She said it is in the February/March timeframe, so it is somewhat the off season for tourists. Ms. Gosnell advised ATAC members that their packets contain the fall and spring shootout. Ms. Sanders stated that she thought this was only for the two spring shootouts. Ms. Gosnell stated that Ms. Sanders is correct. She said there are two events. H. 2019 Charleston Spring Shootout [addressed above] I. Mount Pleasant Symphony Orchestra Tyler All, President of the Southcoast Symphony is here with executive director, Dawn Durst. They have performed in Mount  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 15 of 27 Pleasant for the past three or four years at Christ Church. He said this project represents them wanting to make their permanent home in Mount Pleasant and broaden this by marketing this project as the Mount Pleasant Symphony Orchestra. He said they believe that Mount Pleasant deserves their own orchestra which is what they want to do. Dawn Durst, stated that she has been a musician and fundraiser in Charleston and the Mount Pleasant communities for many years. She said East Cooper is looking for a seed for cultural livability and they are that seed and are working with the Town Administrator, Lauren Sims and others. She said they need to work on a name for themselves and would like it to be in coordination with the Town and what the Town will look like in the future. She stated that they are very open to this and working on it. She has great people in the community and a public relations individual from Los Angeles, who has volunteered to help with this issue in coordination with the Town. She said all of the funding provided is being spent on marketing. She said in order to make it easier on ATAC, they are calling it the “Post Brunch Series”, which is on a Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Christ Church in Mount Pleasant. She said the restaurants really like it. Ms. Gosnell stated that she is very excited about the name. Ms. Durst stated that she has a lot of people from Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms that provide the bulk of the funding and actually had a drive-by donation of $10,000. Ms. Gosnell said that when they were presenting previously, they were very hopeful about their corporate and individual sponsorship efforts and asked how this was progressing. Ms. Durst stated that as she mentioned, she had a drive-by donation of $10,000 and said she can start there. She has a full church with 500 people, standing room only. She also has Dorothea Benton Frank, who will be reading “The Night Before Christmas” for  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 16 of 27 the Christmas show, which they will be doing with the Christ Church Choir. She said no one understands how awesome Mount Pleasant really is and the depth of this Town. She said the Christ Church Choir will be going to Carnegie Hall, which is a very big deal. She said they are also getting people from out of Town. She said she had a wonderful donation in the basket from the last concert from a woman who resides in Bellingham, Washington and three or four other donations for $50 from North Carolina. She said they are serving people from outside of Charleston. She said as she speaks, she has a fantastic group of musicians at the Chamber of Commerce doing a Nashville fiddle Christmas performance. She said they have been trying to be more engaged in the civic events that are hosted here in the Town. She thanked the Town and said they were able to get the College of Charleston to do a new website for them, as well as a lot of advertising, so it has been great. J. Charleston Wine + Food Gillian Zettler, Executive Director, stated that she has been in this position for the past five years. She stated that they are so excited and thankful for ATAC’s past consideration of funding, as there was a significant increase in the funding request. She recognized from some of the Council meeting minutes that there was some point of contention on this, so she wanted to address those with the ATAC members. She understands that there were questions on the size and number of events that took place in the Town of Mount Pleasant. She said beginning with her tenure here with the festival, there were only two events that were taking place in the Town, one of which was a small dinner and this year there are seven events. She said two of them are large signature events and she would like to say that their marquee dinner has received significant press over the past few years, so they are now doing three smaller marquee dinners. One will be held in the Old Village and the host chef is Ben Berryhill. She said none of these are being held on the peninsula so for them, this is much bigger than a King Street event. She said she  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 17 of 27 is a Mount Pleasant resident and it is important that the Town is also a part of the landscape of this event. She said that Marriot Rewards Credit Cards has returned as a National Partner this year and while those hotels did not do packages with them, they receive the ancillary benefits of their sponsorship work, regardless. She said they will actually curate on a corporate level, hotel ticket packages with all those Mount Pleasant Hotels as well and they sold out all the packages they put together to their rewards cards members last year and advertised to over three million people, the impressions on the Rewards Card site. She said Cambria Hotel is also a partner and wishes there would be some further consideration from others to participate. Ms. Gosnell stated that this committee put their faith in her last year with their investment and knew that she would find a way to put more things in Mount Pleasant, so they appreciate that she returned ATAC’s intentions. She asked the hotel participants if there was anything further to support the hotel bookings in Mount Pleasant. Ms. Zettler asked Ms. Hartman to provide her with some feedback. Ms. Hartman thanked Ms. Zettler for directly addressing some of the concerns that members of ATAC had last year. She said they are always happy to partner, and they do receive residual impacts. She said it may evolve with the seven additional events added to Mount Pleasant, but it still seems as if the Town is the residual once downtown fills up, rather than being in the forefront because of the nature of the event. She said as more of the events evolve in Mount Pleasant, it may continue to evolve, and they would then be happy to offer a discount to post on their website to attempt to attract more people into Mount Pleasant. She said they still have not seen that shift. Ms. Zettler stated that with the committee’s permission, she would also love to add that The Today’s Show approached Charleston  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 18 of 27 Wine & Food for a media partnership this year and this is the first ever marketing partnership of its kind and this is a national broadcast opportunity. She said one of the events they will be focusing their marketing efforts on is actually an excursion that will involve Nico Romo who is with Nico here in Mount Pleasant. K. College of Charleston Beach Volleyball Tournament [No representative present] L. Cooper River Bridge Run Irv Batten, Deputy Race Director, stated that we all know the enormity of the Bridge Run, so the application is the same. Ms. Gosnell asked if there were any changes to shuttle routes. Mr. Batten stated that they did condense the two small routes in Mount Pleasant and are starting from Seacoast Church which has a much larger parking lot. He said they will also have one at the Town Centre. Mr. Batten stated that Julian Smith wanted to apologize for not attending. Ms. Gosnell stated that the Committee’s hearts are with him. M. Sperry Charleston Race Week Ms. Gosnell stated that the Cultural, Arts and Pride Commission picks art for Town Hall and there were some fabulous photographs that will be hung soon that are from Race Week. Randy Draft, Executive Director of Sperry Charleston Race Week, and said they are trying to make it Sperry Mount Pleasant Race Week. He stated that they are challenged logistically on the growth and are beginning to level out slightly. He said it is logistics getting 250 boats in and out of the water and 85% of their attendees are from throughout the country and the world. He said they initiated a “launch and haul” plan themselves last year and it allowed them to grow 15% from the year before, which is a big number for the size  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 19 of 27 of the event that they have. He said because of that initiation, this year, their registration is up 40% from year to date last year. He said it is these boats that they needed to get launched and hauled and is an attribute to that initiative of launching and hauling boats. He said they are excited about the growth this year and looked to expanding the event to a week. He said he was in a presentation in Europe a few months ago and told them that one of the things they did a number of years ago was consolidate the event to three days. He said the reason race week has grown nationally so much is because it is an inexpensive event to attend because of those three days. He said that this has been their key to success, but now he is trying to break it because he has more boats that would like to attend, and he cannot sail them all in the three days that we have. He said they have looked at expanding it to a week and tried to do it for this year and could not quite manage the marketing of it. He said he needs approximately 85 more boats to attend to afford to do five days. He said the event is so expensive per day. He said they are going to use the 2019 event to do their research and evaluate expanding it to a week. He said 2020 will be their 25th anniversary so it will be a good time to do this. He said he is looking at a company called Briscoe to manage and measure their actual room nights. He said because of their partnership with the Charleston Harbor Resort, they are aware of their numbers there; however, he has been trying to research the other hotels. He said they will do blocks at other hotels, but he would be interested in their comments. He said Briscoe can actually take the list they have to provide on their website of all the hotels and key in with them and measure it for them. He said he does not believe they are a broker. Ms. Hartman said they are definitely going to get some type of compensation. Ms. Hartman stated that everyone is aware of this event and the scope and volume of people who come in for Race Week and in this instance, it can be tracked, and every hotel can admit to the impact  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 20 of 27 the race has. She stated that Mr. Draft began touching upon the growth of Race Week and trying to add new races but does not know if this was as much as he was able to share. She said it would basically be a new race, not an add-on to Race Week. Mr. Draft said it would be the expansion of Race Week and would be turning it back into a week as it started 25 years ago. He said it was a weekend, a Wednesday night and a weekend, back in their earlier days. He said for 2019 they are in between Easter and the Bridge Run so they could not have racing on one weekend. He said the research they do will indicate to them whether the participants would rather come in and race Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He said they have fleets that are wanting to come in. He said they have boats forty to thirty-three feet that race offshore at this time. He said they do not want to race offshore when everyone is having a great time inshore, and it is a 90-minute commute out to the ocean course. He said this year, they will likely have one ocean course and just have them race from the harbor start out into the ocean, do a course and race back. He said it is all about time. How efficient can they be with their time racing? He said there are other classes of boats that would show up in a group of 30 to 40 which would get his 85 boats much easier than a bunch of individual boats. Ms. Hartman said she realizes Mr. Draft has been working on this for years and if he can make the numbers work and is able to expand it would double the impact that Race Week has and move it from a weekend event to a week day impact which is also beneficial. Mr. Draft stated that the copy of the ad in the packet was an ad that went into the top leading sailing magazine in Europe. He said he was recently invited out to France to speak on Race Week. He said this is a global event and it is difficult for him to realize that  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 21 of 27 this event has gotten to this point, but it is one of the top events in the world. Ms. Gosnell asked Mr. Draft what his infrastructure limitations are at this time, in terms of docks, launch sites or staging. Mr. Draft said it is a question of how they get boats in and out of the water. He said Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina has gotten fuller, so the impact is there. He said they used to provide free dockage for the first group of boats to register; however, the demand on the resort is so high that they can no longer offer this. He said they partnered with one of the yacht clubs as far as docking some of the boats across the harbor, but the infrastructure is not big enough to support it. He said he has boatyards telling him that they are unable to take any additional race week boats launching and hauling, which is big money for them. He said when the boats go in those areas to launch, they are selling paint jobs and work done on the boats while they are there, and they are at capacity. He said last year, he partnered with the Port Authority, brought a crane into Columbus Street Terminal himself, got quick cards and launched boats themselves. He said it is a big task for 300 volunteers running this event. He said this is why the week-long event makes sense as far as managing. N. Charleston Tallship Festival Reg Brown, Executive Director, stated that they would like to change that name as well, because they like Mount Pleasant. He said he used to live in Mount Pleasant. From May 16th through May 19th, they will bring together a collection of tall ships for four days for fun off and on the water. He said the classic charm of Mount Pleasant will be host to a grand waterfront celebration of the sea. The event will feature a classic beauty of sailing ships, wooden boat displays, sail-away rides, maritime art, music, food and much more. The four-day tall ship festival will feature eight to ten tall ships on display, a large pirate camp, and children’s play area will be a major  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 22 of 27 attraction. He said classic wooden boats will be displayed while live music is broadcast from their central stage and great food is supplied by a fleet of local food trucks. Vendors come from all over the lowcountry to provide a variety of maritime related goods. Charleston Port Authority is going to join them with putting up a tent and talking about the history of Charleston Harbor (past, present and future). He said last year they brought 22,500 attendees to North Charleston and they expect this to increase with their new location in Mount Pleasant. They are planning on 20,000 to 30,000 and 20% of those attending will come from out-of-town. He said profits will go towards supporting maritime non-profit organizations, four of which are right here in the area. He said last year, they received funding from North Charleston, but will not receive that funding this year. He said they are now coming to Mount Pleasant to seek funding. Ms. Hartman asked if Mr. Brown could show them some information about their marketing efforts. Mr. Brown stated that they had mass digital marketing last year, had over 80,000 email addresses that received their advertising, they have a sign at the airport, and have a billboard coming into Town. He said from the previous event to now, he receives five or six calls a week wanting to know when this event will happen again. He said these calls come from out-of-town. Although they were in North Charleston last year, they still sold a number of rooms in Mount Pleasant hotels. He plans to visit each hotel in Mount Pleasant to discuss having a blanket deal in order to have everyone stay in Mount Pleasant. Ms. Gosnell asked Ms. Craven and Ms. Hartman if this date is problematic with hotel occupancy. Ms. Hartman stated that it is not problematic, as it is not a high- need time for them or any of the areas in Charleston. Mr. Brown stated that it is between Mother’s Day and Spoleto.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 23 of 27 Ms. Gosnell asked if the timing of the event based on the touring time of the other ships. Mr. Brown stated that the ships coming here are going to end up in the Great Lakes in July. He said many of them travel to the islands for the winter. As they begin to come back, they are attempting to get their schedules set so they are able to stop in Mount Pleasant for four days. He said it used to be three days, but the fourth day is now Thursday, which will be group day. He said they are encouraging all the schools, retirement homes and all who have a bus, to come to see the ships for a special rate on Thursday. He added that this event is an all-volunteer event. O. Cry Joy Park: Gardens of Dark and Light Liz Bizwell, Director of Public Affairs of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, stated that they are the College of Charleston’s Contemporary Art Museum. She added that they are non-profit and non-collecting and the description of the exhibition that is within the application is a Hallmark of the way they organize contemporary art. She said they do not have a collection they pull from but invite artists to come into their space, create something new for the community and if possible, debut brand new work for them. She said this is exactly what Jennifer Wen Ma, the artist of “Cry Joy Park” is going to be doing. She currently has an exhibition in Beijing that is somewhat along the lines of “Cry Joy Park”. It is her way of visually working out exactly what she is going to be doing here. She is doing 18 months of preparation for creating this brand-new environment within the gallery spaces. She stated that the funding will go towards the marketing costs of this exhibition. She said they do receive support from the City of Charleston and Charleston County for marketing; however, their grant funding is only for all year round the entire season. She said she is interested because of the potential impact for the community, the dialogue that is possible with this exhibition and the themes that she  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 24 of 27 explores. She is also capitalizing on the fact that it is happening during Spoleto. She said the room blocks are also during Memorial Day weekend, so it is a natural time when people are coming to Charleston. They want to ensure they are in front of them and do not get overshadowed by Spoleto. Ms. Gosnell asked what their geographics are in their marketing campaign. Ms. Bizwell stated that it should be included in her packet; however, most of the funding would pay for national art focused publications, whether digital or in print and there are some contemporary art blog spaces that are well respected on a national level. She stated that the Halsey is very well known outside of South Carolina. The choice of publications and places to market were focused on the fact that this is the audience they are seeking, which are those coming to town looking for something contemporary, new and new south about Charleston, which is why they went with a lot of art publications rather than general magazines or newspapers in larger markets. Ms. Gosnell asked why Mount Pleasant should fund this project. Ms. Bizwell stated that they are a first-time applicant and believes this is a great partnership experiment. She said they advertise nationally all over, admission is free, so they do not track where people stay and are not in tune with the tourism in the area in that sense. She said people ask them where to go for lunch and other suggestions. She believes that because the exhibition itself is about community that branching out and getting people to stay in other places and explore other pieces of the Charleston area, they can connect their entire stay rather than just downtown Charleston. Ms. Hartman stated that if they do receive funding for marketing, do they already have something that they feel is lacking in their current campaign or would they wait to get the funding to see where it could best be utilized.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 25 of 27 Ms. Bizwell stated that they have not branched out into is billboards and radio. She said because of the nature of Spoleto, it is a destination type of festival, and if people have affordable options for staying, then perhaps the people from Greenville will come for more than just a day trip. She said those advertisements are something she has noticed because their Columbia museum does billboards here in Charleston. She feels those are effective and would like to do a similar format with markets that are outside of the Charleston area. She said they did billboards with two exhibitions in the past three years and five years ago and they were both during Spoleto and were effective. Ms. Hartman stated that typically when funding is provided, there is usually some reference back to Mount Pleasant and asked if Ms. Bizwell if she had ideas on how the Town could be included in their efforts to ensure Mount Pleasant is referenced. Ms. Bizwell stated that because a lot of the artists’ research is going to be centered around the plantation development and then grew up into this baby metropolis, she believes within the history and context of the work for the artist’s essays and for the articles, there can be a reference to the development of Mount Pleasant, West Ashley and Johns Island and how these places have changed and grown up. P. Munchkin Radio Plays Marie Louise Moreto, President of Mount Pleasant Community Arts Center, stated that they are requesting funding for “Munchkin Radio Plays”. She stated that these are children’s plays and are new plays by local playwrights. She said they are going to present them during Piccolo and are in the process of applying to be an official Piccolo event. She said this would allow them to utilize the Piccolo Advertising to promote this event. She said they would like to do morning events and will be working in conjunction with the Story Tree Children’s Theatre which has a good reputation for doing  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 26 of 27 Children’s Theatre. She said they are also working with the music department of Christ Church, which is where the plays will be performed. She said they will be done in a very professional venue. She said they want to bring people into Mount Pleasant that will be coming for Piccolo. She said there are not many children’s events for Piccolo, so this will bring families in. She said they want to keep ticket prices low, so they are affordable, because they want not just the tourists, but people in the surrounding communities. She said because they are morning shows, those visiting from out of town can then take advantage of all the restaurants in the Town, as well as shopping at the Town’s local shops. Ms. Hartman asked about the general ticket price. Ms. Moreto stated that they only wanted to charge $5 per person, whether they are 7 years old or 70. Ms. Hartman asked about the capacity of the venue. Ms. Moreto stated that the plays will be held at the Christ Church Parish Hall, which can hold up to 100. She said there will be seats in the back for the adults, but the children will be sitting on cushions on the floor. Ms. Gosnell stated that in their budget, the projected expenditures are $10,371 and the projected income is $10,500 which is dependent upon $8,000 in grants. She said when she reviewed the funding secured to date, she does not see where this project can be successful without 100% funding from the Town of Mount Pleasant. Ms. Moreto stated that they are only requesting the Town to provide 52% funding, because they have other pending funding sources and will also be asking for sponsorships. Ms. Gosnell stated that ATAC’s support would be $50 per guest. Ms. Moreto stated that they would like to do at least three programs and each program is $3,457. They are asking $6,000 from the Town which is slightly below the cost of two programs.  Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee November 15, 2018 Page 27 of 27 Ms. Hartman asked when they will receive confirmation that they will be included in Piccolo. Ms. Moreto stated that the Piccolo application is not due until December 14th and because they already have a venue secured, which is the most important aspect, they are confident they will be accepted. She said that since they are also self-sponsoring, this will also provide them with more control over the event. Mr. O’Rourke stated that last year’s presentation was a concept, but this is narrowed into an actual event. He said the room nights appear aggressive. Ms. Moreto stated that people will come for Piccolo and since they are a new applicant for a new event, it is difficult to calculate what the room nights will be. She is sure some will come, because it is a low-cost event, and will be spending their money in Mount Pleasant. She said they intend to do a survey of people who attend. She said they feel this will be successful and when they return to request funding next year, they will have more concrete figures through this survey. Ms. Gosnell stated that this is a much more precise presentation. Ms. Moreto stated that they are learning. Q. Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Festival [No representative present] VI. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 1:23 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara Ashe November 15, 2018