Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting

TWENTYNINE PALMS TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT REGULAR MEETING AGENDA 6136 Adobe Road Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 www.29palms.org / www.Visit29.org Thursday, May 10, 2018 REGULAR SESSION AGENDA 4:00 P. M. CALL TO ORDER Pledge of Allegiance. Roll Call. PRESENTATIONS 1. 29 Palms Chamber of Commerce - Report 2. MCAGCC - Report 3. Action 29 Palms - Report 4. Joshua Tree Communities/CW/DRTA - Report 5. Social Media Marketing – Report 3-4 @Visit29Palms Social Analytics, April 2018 - Robin Zimmermann 6. Marketing Specialist – Report 5-6 MarketingReport-20180510 BUSINESS 7. Approval of Minutes from the TBID Meeting held on April 12, 2018. 7-9 Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting - 12 Apr 2018 - Minutes - Pdf PUBLIC COMMENTS Page 1 of 11 DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS 8. Third Quarter Revenue Report - TBID Revenue for 2017-2018 Fiscal Year, actual and 11 projected. TBID Revenue Report 9. Future Meetings Schedule - Establish dates for upcoming meetings through September 2018. 10. Partnerships - Partnerships with Sky's The Limit, Joshua Tree National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts for promoting/supporting Night Sky Festival in November. BOARDMEMBER COMMENTS MARKETING SPECIALIST COMMENTS FUTURE BOARDMEMBER INITIATED ITEMS ADJOURNMENT It is the intention of the City of Twentynine Palms to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act in all respects. If you are a person with a disability who requires a disability-related modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, please request such modification or accommodation from the City Clerk at (760) 367-4890 (facsimile). Notification at least 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to assure accessibility to the meeting. Please advise us at the time whether you will require accommodations to participate in meetings on a regular basis. Any person affected by any application on this agenda may submit their concerns in writing prior to the meeting or appear in person and be heard in support or opposition to the proposal at the time the matter is considered on the agenda. The staff reports, applications and environmental documents may be viewed at either the office of Community Development or the office of the City Clerk, 6136 Adobe Road, from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, except legal holidays. The Invocation is given per Policy 10-01, and does not reflect the views of the City but rather is an expression of speech by a private citizen making the presentation. Telephone inquiries may be made at (760) 367-6799. If you challenge any agenda issue in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues that you or someone else raised at the public meeting described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Twentynine Palms at, or prior to, the public meeting. This notice of agenda is hereby certified to have been posted on or before 5:00 p.m., May 7, 2018. Cindy Villescas, City Clerk Time/Date Page 2 of 11  Visit 29! Core Platform Social Media Analytics Monthly report prepared by: Robin Zimmermann, Social Media Specialist (for City of 29 Palms TBID) -Data compiled through month end April 30, 2018; prepared May 7, 2018- CURRENT 29! PRESENCE ON FACEBOOK 456 LIKES, 462 FOLLOWERS as of 2/28/18 (launched 4/27/2016; Specialist start 4/12/18) 733 PAGE LIKES (+277), 749 PAGE FOLLOWERS (+287) as of 4/30/18 **note: numbers in red denote significant growth over pre-Specialist efforts (before March 12, 2018) Engagement Likes/reactions/ Post Retweets/ rate average People Posts Comments Post topics emoticons clicks shares per post reached 9.94% Grand Prix, JTNP art fest/Art Cruise, local April 2018 18 504 posts total/PT 50 1,132 68 13,899 merchants/antique/thrift, Yucca Man, JTNP (average per free day, Historical Society post/APP 28); groundbreaking/Retro Bash, STL events/ Lyrid shower, Brecada sculpture/art, new website, national park week, P2P, farmers +137 page likes market, Harmony Hotel, Visit29 ribbon +142 page follows cutting Farmers Market, Car Show, Wonder Valley MARCH 12-30 15 958 posts total/PT 198 2,691 120 11.73% 12,278 Music Fest, Faultline Farm, KidsNTrips 2018 (APP 63.9); Twitter Party, Robert Plant 29 video, Theatre29/marines share, spring bloom, (2.5-week Habitat profile, Call for Artists/Pioneer Days +140 page likes period) +145 page follows RoadRunner, social rebrand announcement FARMERS MKT/ (1) (427; APP 427) (89) (1,800) (60) 16% (8,800) VIRAL; 3/28/18 MARCH 1-11 2018 - - - - - - - - February 2018 6 19 PT (APP 3.2) 0 12 0 7% 428 Valentines Day, King of Hammers, 29 Palms art gallery, LA Travel & Adventure January 2018 4 11 PT (APP 2.75) 0 46 4 7.75% 543 Park announcements, Road Runner, Art Cruise December 2017 4 17 PT (APP 4.25) 1 66 5 9% 535 Food, NY Times share/desert profile November 2017 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - October 2017 1 3 PT (APP 3) 0 3 0 0.46% 1,303 TBID RFP September 2017 2 2 PT (APP 1) 0 8 0 4.5% 169 JT National Park Art Expo Note: The line charts provided by social media (included with last month’s analytics) only show a 28-day period, rather than a full month. Currently and going forward, the analytics presented will be compiled in the shown table format to accommodate a full month’s data. Next page: Instagram and Twitter analytics Page 3 of 11  CURRENT 29! PRESENCE ON INSTAGRAM 307 FOLLOWERS, 426 FOLLOWING as of 2/28/18 (launched 9/19/16, Specialist start 4/12/18) 380 (+73) FOLLOWERS, 475 FOLLOWING as of 4/30/18 **note: numbers in red denote significant growth over pre-Specialist efforts (before March 12, 2018) Discovery Actions: Impressions New (% of accounts (H)ome/ (P)rofile Visits/ Posts Hearts Comments followers that saw post Reach (#)Hashtags/ Post topics (W)ebsite that weren’t clicks (P)rofile following APRIL 2018 9 484 20 43 13% 15 total 1803 2407 total P2P, STL, Grand Prix, JTNP art fest/Art Cruise, Historical Society groundbreaking/Retro Bash, P: 15; W: 0 H: 2191; #: 83; local merchants/thrift, Brecada sculpture, Barker P: 60; Other 73 Dam dragonfly/national park week MARCH 12-30 13 553 15 30 10.58% 18 total 1943 2597 total Farmers Market, Car Show, Salad/29Palms Inn, H: 2319; #: 78; Faultline Farm, spring bloom, Retro Bash, 2018 P: 16; W: 2 Habitat profile, RoadRunner, social rebrand P: 150; Other (2.5-week period) announcement 50 MARCH 1-11 2018 1 21 2 Art Cruise post - this was a share from Campbell House February 2018 5 105 6 Fans Sports Bar, 90s throwback dance party, President’s Day/Oasis Grill, LA Travel and Adventure Show January 2018 4 149 7 San Diego Travel Show, Palm Springs Tram, Road Runner, JTNP announcements December 2017 13 346 5 Local restaurants/bars, Images 29 book/holiday shopping, JTGC, JT Lab artist program, meteor shower, JTNP photo shares November 2017 0 0 0 - October 2017 0 0 0 - September 2017 3 84 4 JT National Park Art Expo Note: As Business Profile for Instagram (showing analytics) was not installed prior to Specialist start on March 12, 2018, there is minimal past insights/performance data for previous 6 months. Full analytics starting March 12 onward are now provided. CURRENT 29! PRESENCE ON TWITTER 148 TWEETS, 290 FOLLOWERS, 379 FOLLOWING as of 2/23/18 (launched 4/27/16, Specialist start 4/12/18) 184 TWEETS, 323 FOLLOWERS (+33), 395 FOLLOWING as of 4/30/18 **note: numbers in red denote significant growth over pre-Specialist efforts (before March 12, 2018) New Impressions Engagements Tweets/ Likes/ Retweets/ Profile Comments followers Mentions (delivered to (Tweet Post topics posts hearts shares visits a stream) interaction) P2P, STL/Lyrid shower, Grand Prix, JTNP art festArt Cruise, Historical Society groundbreaking, farmers market, Coachella/Cottonwood drive, Yucca Man, APRIL 2018 17 93 3 26 15 832 7 10,800 274 Desert Lady Diaries, JTNP free day, new website, Barker Dam/national park week, Harmony Hotel, ribbon cutting MARCH 12-30 Farmers Market, Car Show, Faultline Farm, KidsNTrips Twitter Party, Robert Pla t 29 video, 2018 19 86 5 22 18 586 5 16,900 323 spring bloom, Habitat profile, RoadRunner, social (2.5-week period) rebrand announcement MARCH 1-11 2018 - - - - - - - - - - February 2018 1 2 1 0 10 39 8 811 4 LA Travel Show January 2018 4 4 0 2 13 48 18 1,511 34 Desert Woman show, JTNP announcements, Art Cruise December 2017 4 8 2 2 8 52 19 1,256 56 Local food, NY Times desert profile share November 2017 1 2 0 0 7 12 1 565 6 Cocktails @29PalmsInn October 2017 1 0 0 0 13 23 1 901 11 TBID RFP September 2017 2 1 0 0 14 10 1 813 2 JT National Park Art Expo Page 4 of 11  Visit 29! City of Twentynine Palms TBID 6136 Adobe Road Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 (760) 367-6799, ext.1030 ~ www.visit29.org MARKETING REPORT – May 10, 2018 Vickie Waite, Marketing Specialist WEBSITE – Visit29.org Most of April was spent finishing the website redesign with Lori Rennie of Benchmark Studios and populating the pages with text and photos for Lodging, Restaurants, Attractions, Explore sections and Events. The remodeled site was launched on April 30 with a virtual ribbon cutting. Three pages still need to be finished, Health & Wellness, Historic Bldgs & Adobes, History- Films; more Blogs are forthcoming; and a page for Sustainability has been requested. Updates are ongoing for Restaurants, Lodging/VHRs, Events, and will continue to be updated. Beginning stats are posted below and will be used as a baseline: GOOGLE ANALYTICS – (new) VISIT29.ORG • First week after April 30 launch: 249 Users, 228 New Users, Up 40.7% in last 7 days. • Pageviews 1,084, Pages per Session 3.50, Average Session Duration 3.43 minutes. • Top 4 Pages viewed: Attractions/Cultural Arts, Lodging, Restaurants, Events. • Users: 59% Desktop, 34.2% Mobile, 6.8% Tablet. • Referrals: So far, most referrals coming from City website (54%), then Facebook (30%), VisitCalifornia.com, VisitGreaterPalmSprings.com ... also 29 Palms Inn and (SB County) CaliforniaOutdoorPlayground.com. • Countries: U.S., Peru, Germany, France, Canada, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Brazil, U.K. • Cities: Twentynine Palms, Yucca Valley, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Palm Springs, Riverside, Palm Desert. PRINT ADVERTISING • >California Road Trips 2018-2019: 1/8-page ad will appear in 1 million copies of Visit California’s publication; 600,000 inserted into July issue of Travel+Leisure Magazine, plus 400,000 circulated to CA Welcome Centers and T+L events, plus a digital version on VisitCaifornia.com with a link to our Visit29.org. • >Desert Magazine: A 6x ad agreement was initiated; 1/4-page ad June, Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec., Jan. issues to promote events and drive traffic to new website. (Circ. 40,000 subscribers, 68,000 readers, insert in The Desert Sun last Sunday of the month, plus 4,500-7,500 distributed to boutique and resort hotels, Greater Palm Springs CVB, visitor centers, and digital version on DesertSun.com.) • >Sunset Magazine: We ran 3 ads, Dec./Jan., Feb., March issues, which generated 1,023 leads (California & national) to date requesting information via mail (Visit 29! brochure & cover letter); 25% included email addresses, which will be added to Email marketing list. • >Off the Grid and Visitor Digest: 1/4-page ad was renewed in Off the Grid visitor publication, distributed in and outside Morongo Basin, and a trial 1/2-page ad was Page 5 of 11  placed in the new Visitor Digest, both produced by Hi-Desert Publishing Co. and distributed to visitor venues, CA Welcome Center, Low Desert, Big Bear area, etc. EMAIL MARKETING Constant Contact was renewed for $549/yr. We have 1,259 active contacts, not counting new Sunset Magazine and travel show leads and website signups to be added. Open rate is 32% to 40%. New monthly e-newsletters will begin in May and summer promos will be developed. TRAVEL SHOWS >Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show: Attendance 36,113 travel consumers; our Twentynine Palms Tourism booth generated 730 Leads; 422 + 283 e-news sign-ups = 705 plus 25 media. For travel show leads, 308 were “qualified leads” to be added to the Constant Contact email list. Travel show contacts: 8 travel writers have already contacted us for more information, including a guy from Pixelcaster who wants to install a live feed camera here. >San Diego Travel & Adventure Show: Attendance 15,443, and we received 118 leads from Greater Palm Springs CVB, as we co-hosted the Visit California Deserts booth with them. PARTNERSHIPS I attended the monthly JT Gateway Communities/DRTA meeting; coordinated with Monique Carter of SB County EDA tourism marketing; assisted 29 Chamber with tourism materials and V29! brochures for MCAGCC upcoming event; assisted PAAC and new Art Cruise 29! with event publicity; submitted story material to Westways magazine for “Five Worth the Drive” promo for JTNPCA’s Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo event in September. OUTREACH • I have been reaching out to the travel writers and bloggers we met at the travel shows, and we are beginning dialogues and invitations. • I am trying to catch up this month with data entry for leads to update the email marketing list so a new e-marketing campaign can be developed and initiated. • I will start working with the social media specialist and 29 Chamber to develop new summer promotions, featuring lodging discounts and packages for summer vacation stays. • We are beginning preliminary planning for an annual meeting tentatively set for the second Thursday, June 7, at 4 p.m., for TBID Advisory Board and all TBID lodging partners. ### Page 6 of 11  TWENTYNINE PALMS TOURISM BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT [MeetingTypeName] MINUTES City Hall, 6136 Adobe Road, Twentynine Palms, CA 92277 www.29palms.org / www.Visit29.org April 12, 2018 CALL TO ORDER - 4:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance - Kristina Viloria led the Pledge of Allegiance Roll Call - The following TBID Advisory Boardmembers were present: Congdon, Dusastre, Maharaj, Mehta, Viloria. Changes to Agenda - There were no changes to the Agenda. PRESENTATIONS 1. 29 Palms Chamber of Commerce - Chamber board member Cora Heiser gave a report. The first Farmers Market will be held April 28 at Bucklin Park, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. People can use restrooms at the visitor center. She will see that the TBID Advisory Board gets monthly visitor center stats in the future. Chair Mehta requested that a tablet be available in the visitor center (with a stand) to record visitors and let them subscribe to an e-newsletter from 29 Palms. This will be investigated, and TBID money in Marketing Equipment budget category could be used to fund it. 2. MCAGCC - Jim Ricker, Director of Governmental Affairs, gave a report. King of The Hammers and base partnership Jan./Feb.; the event brought 40,000 to 50,000 people into the basin. May/June base turnover will be heavy this year. They need a current list of lodging, restaurants, retail. He was referred to Visit29.org as a source of information, in addition to “Visit 29!” brochures. New Brig.Gen. Turner is coming soon. A lot of reservists will be in town in June, and senior brass will be coming too. The July 4 Fireworks event will return to the base this year, and information for the public will be coming from MCCS. 3. Action 29 Palms - LeeAnn Clarke reported on progress for restoring the 26 current murals. They gave a request to city council, and a resolution passed March 13. The Desert Trail had a story about city council approval, and the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians donated $1000 because of this publicity. Three murals have been restored (Caplinger lizard, Mural #15 Desert Wildflowers, and #26 CDPA mural at the museum has been coated). Wayne Winiecki is assessing the murals: least to moderate to major damage; Mural #5, Desert Storm, is of concern, listed as major damage. Action 29 Palms is now working with PAAC in Art in Public Places and with “Art Cruise 29!” First Saturday events for publicity for art attractions. Oasis of Murals brochures are very popular and a great handout; they appreciate city support for printing in the past. Working with California Welcome Center for new backlit panel incorporating the murals. Interested in ongoing partnership with us. Boardmember Maharaj requested that LeeAnn get mural postcards delivered to the hotels for guests. 4. Social Media Marketing - Robin Zimmermann started posting on March 12 and already gained more than 200 new Facebook followers in the first month. She handed out printed reports with comparative stats. She asks that we promote the social media @visit29palms for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Like/Follow and Share the posts, and share posts to local businesses, etc. Boardmember Maharaj requests that we create Google+ page and push Google maps, etc. Page 1 of 3 Page 7 of 11  Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting April 12, 2018 5. Website Redesign - Lori Rennie gave the TBID Advisory Board a brief visual tour of the redesigned Visit29.org website. Some pages are still being populated, and she is working on glitches with Instagram. We will put out a press release next week; suggestion to add @visit29palms social media tags to the press release. It was suggested that Marketing Specialist Waite make an 8-1/2x11 sheet with a screenshot of the home page to give to hotels for their guest notebooks. City Manager Luckino suggested a virtual ribbon cutting event with TBID and lodging people to introduce the redesigned website and new social media campaign. He also suggested planning an annual meeting in June, inviting all lodging partners to attend. Boardmember Dusastre requested making sure a confirmation email is sent to all new e-newsletter subscribers when they sign up on the website. Chair Mehta requested adding a link to Visit California, and adding the electric car charging station to the Visitor Center page. Boardmember Maharaj requested a page on Sustainability and showing how we support the park and the base. BUSINESS 6. Approval of Meeting Minutes from the TBID Meeting on February 8, 2018. A motion was made by Chair Mehta, seconded by Boardmember Dusastre, to approve the meeting minutes from February 8, 2018 as submitted. All in favor. Meeting minutes were approved. PUBLIC COMMENTS Wayne Winiecki of Action 29 Palms has been attending the Global Mural Conferences and wants the city to send someone to the next conference. He will give the dates to Marketing Specialist Waite. DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS 7. Joshua Tree Gateway Communities - Report and proposal regarding cooperative marketing plan and potential partnership with TBID. Desert Regional Tourism Agency (DRTA) boardmembers Julie Bruley and Jerry Mattos reported that they received funding from the Town of Yucca Valley for $25,000, and they will run the budget together with the California Welcome Center (CWC). They are restructuring now. They want to take more advantage of the CWC building, which receives 20,000 visitors a year. They plan partnership meetings, will contact major activities in the basin to bring them in. Tour buses are now stopping at the visitor center. Monique Carter is doing FAM tours on behalf of SB County EDA. YouTube videos are up, post engagements up 38%. Chair Mehta feels their proposal for cooperative marketing is a duplication of efforts. He proposes partnering with JTGC by buying into co-op campaigns; have them come to the TBID on a project-by-project basis. Boardmember Maharaj prefers buying special events, campaigns, projects, co-op ads, etc. The social media part won’t benefit the TBID, which already has its own social media specialist. A motion was made by Chair Mehta and seconded by Boardmember Viloria to reject the JTGC proposal request for $750/month funding. All in favor. 8. Tourism Marketing Plan & Budget - Updates to Tourism Marketing Budget for 2017-2018. Marketing Specialist Waite presented updates to the budget. Income for first quarter was $44,917 and expenditures were $43,845. Page 2 of 3 Page 8 of 11  Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District Meeting April 12, 2018 She reported that the California Road Trips print ad will reach 1 million readers and will be inserted into the July issue of Travel+Leisure Magazine; a digital version will appear on the Visit California website w/link to Visit29.org. She reported that TripAdvisor has increased its minimum advertising package to $10,000/year, and she requested a decision by the board on whether or not to continue the contract. A motion was made by Chair Mehta and seconded by Boardmember Dusastre to reject the TripAdvisor Premium Destination Partnership this year, due to the proposed increase to $10,000 for 2018-2019 for Twentynine Palms Tourism page sponsorship, and reallocate that money to other Internet marketing. All in favor. 9. Partnerships - Partnerships with local/regional organizations and events. Chair Mehta suggests adding the Partnerships list to the website, with links to their websites. BOARDMEMBER COMMENTS Boardmember Maharaj wants a page on Sustainability on the website. Boardmember Dusastre announced that Pat Flanagan will be honored with Minerva Hoyt Award next month. Jackie G of Mojave Desert Land Trust is now Executive Director at JTNP Association. We have opportunity for a BLM director to give us guided tours of the new Mojave Trails National Monument (end of April or May); she will email dates to Marketing Specialist Waite, who will send to the board. She also asked Waite to reach out to Greater Palm Springs CVB regarding FAM tours, and to contact writers with suggestion of summer visits when it’s easier to give a comp room. MARKETING SPECIALIST COMMENTS - None CITY MANAGER COMMENTS - None FUTURE BOARDMEMBER INITIATED ITEMS - None ADJOURNMENT - Chair Mehta adjourned the meeting at 6;05 p.m. The next TBID Advisory Board meeting is Thursday, May 10, 2018. Respectfully Submitted, Vickie Waite, Marketing Specialist Page 3 of 3 Page 9 of 11 Page 10 of 11  T O U R I SM B U SI NESS I M PR OVE MEN T DI ST R ICT TBID $80,000 $203,367 in Total $70,000 $60,000 $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $10,000 $0 Oct.-December Jan.- March Apr- June (Forecast) July - Sept. (Forecast) TBID Fees 45,105 69,813 50,741 37,708 Page 11 of 11