HomeMy Public PortalAbout08-07-2017 Minutes Tourism Board Regular MeetingPage 1 of 5
Minutes
Tourism Board
6:15 p.m. Aug. 7, 2017
Town Barn, 101 E. Orange St.
Present: Chairwoman Mary Catherine McKee, Kathleen Ferguson, Libbie Hough, Matt Hughes
and Tommy Stann
Absent: Mark Bateman, Vice Chairman Erik Myers, and Kim Tesoro
Staff: Economic Development Planner Shannan Campbell
Guests: Cathy Blackmon, Sarah DeGennaro, Ernest Dollar, Kate Faherty, Candace Midgett and
Neil Stutzer
Item 1: Call meeting to order
Chairwoman McKee called the meeting to order at 6:22 p.m.
Item 2: Consideration of changes or adjustments to the agenda
There were no changes.
Motion: Ms. Hough moved to approve the agenda as presented.
Second: Commissioner Ferguson seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Item 3: Consideration of minutes from July 10, 2017, meeting
Motion: Ms. Hough moved approval of the minutes with changes.
Second: Mr. Stann seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
Changes: Ms. Hough noted a place in the minutes where three sentences characterizing what she
had said could best be summed up with the last sentence, so she asked Ms. Campbell to
strike the first two sentences. Ms. Campbell noted the change.
Item 4: General comment
There were no comments.
Item 5: Monthly reports
a. Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Director’s Report:
Alliance for Historic Hillsborough Executive Director Sarah DeGennaro reported visitation was
good in June but the number of visitors was a bit fewer than in June 2016. She reported that the
Alliance had participated in the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation Pow Wow on June 10‐11
at the tribal grounds in Alamance County. Also, the Alliance has been participating in Sundays at
the Farm at Pleasant Green Farms monthly, manning a table at the event to reach people in
rural Orange County. Chairwoman McKee asked if a lot of people from northern Orange County
were attending the event or mostly people looking to purchase land in Pleasant Green Farms.
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Ms. DeGennaro said the first event seemed to mostly have people interested in purchasing land.
Ms. DeGennaro shared she had attended an event in June on best practices for social media and
a nonprofit staff retreat by Preservation North Carolina. The Alliance is participating in the book
project with the Orange County Historic Preservation Commission. The Alliance is working with
the County on maintaining the Alexander Dickson House, the location for the Alliance offices
and Hillsborough Visitors Center, and renewing the lease. In June, the Alliance continued to
offer guided walking tours. The number of total volunteer hours was down a bit this June
compared with last June. Volunteers are continuing to lead guided walking tours weekly, to
assist with greeting visitors, do research for the upcoming history pub crawl, and get ready for
the Picnic in the Park event. The Alliance helped with the Cemetery Committee’s workshop.
b. Visitors Center Communications Report:
Ms. Campbell reported that Yep Roc Records formally announced its 20th anniversary
celebration and musician lineup for the fall in October. It also asked the Tourism Development
Authority to fund a portion of the event to enable UNC‐TV to film several segments that will play
throughout the year, highlighting Hillsborough and Yep Roc Records.
Ms. Campbell reported that the Churton Street Access Improvements Project is moving quickly
and is still expected to be completed in November.
Ms. Campbell reported that Visit Hillsborough, NC gained 86 followers on Facebook, 25 on
Twitter and 2 on Snapchat. She reported that a photo she posted on Facebook of an employee
dressed up as ‘Wendy’ at the Wendy’s restaurant drive‐through in town had performed
exceptionally well. Also, there was a popular post on Facebook about bottle trees in town. The
band Liquid Pleasure performed at Last Fridays and got good play on Twitter. She shared the
Last Fridays Art Walk press release, Facebook ads for the Picnic in the Park event and the
feature in Carolina Parent magazine about Picnic in the Park. She reported that the number of
visitors at the Visitors Center was down slightly from 2016, likely due to the improved website
and widespread use of smartphones.
c. Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Report:
No meeting in July.
d. Tourism Board Staff and Food and Beverage Tax Revenues Report:
Ms. Campbell reported that the tax revenue was up 4 percent for the month and up 10 percent
overall from last year.
For the staff report, Ms. Campbell said she wanted to let the board know she had uploaded a
sample filled‐in grant application and an example scoring guide on the Tourism Board page on
the Town website. Also, she reported that the Tourism Development Authority is considering
some radio advertising in the western part of the state.
Item 6: New business items
a. New tourism logo
Ms. Campbell shared the new logo in full color and black and white.
Ms. Hough asked for the thinking behind the logo.
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Chairwoman McKee said it was inspired by a Boy Scout patch. She said the subcommittee
decided this was the best way to indicate we are a town with several aspects, including outdoor
beauty and recreation, a rich history, arts and literature, and food and beverage.
b. Quarterly reports — fourth quarter
Arts Council regarding Last Fridays — Arts Council Chairman Neil Stutzer reported the band
Liquid Pleasure drew 1,200 to 1,500 people in June. Commissioner Ferguson noted that the
band for July drew people who don’t normally attend Last Fridays. Several people told her
they don’t normally attend but were there for the band. Thomas Watson said this year said
he was intentionally looking to expand the diversity of the bands and the audiences they
draw. Someone asked how the man providing rickshaw transportation services did. Mr.
Stutzer said he had spoken with him and the man would like to come more frequently to
events in town. Ms. Campbell noted the name of the business was ‘round town rickshaws’.
Orange County Historical Museum — Executive Director Candace Midgett reported the
museum has experienced a lot of struggles, including the building being closed for much of
the last fiscal year. The air conditioning system has been not working well, and
dehumidifiers are in use to keep the collections safe. She said the museum board is waiting
for the town and county to help relocate the museum. Ms. Campbell reported she and
Hillsborough Public Space Manager Stephanie Trueblood had met with Orange County
Director of Asset Management Services Jeff Thompson to discuss what options there may
possibly be.
Orange County Historical Museum Chairman Ernest Dollar said he wanted to highlight that
the museum has an exceptional ability to attract people to exhibits and programs. With the
building’s problems, it is paramount that the museum find a new home, he said. The
collection is stellar in its depth and wonderful in its representation of the county’s history.
He let the board know that the museum board has been looking at other options around the
county. He asked the Tourism Board to consider the loss for Hillsborough if the museum
relocated outside of Hillsborough. The museum only has money to stay open two more
years.
Commissioner Ferguson asked how the effort is going to grow an endowment. Mr. Dollar
said they are having to pull money out of the endowment to fund operations. Commissioner
Ferguson asked about plans or actions to build that endowment. The executive director said
they need community support. Membership has tripled in the last three years, but it’s not
enough. Commissioner Ferguson said she’d like to talk with the Ms. Midgett and Mr. Dollar
more about growing the endowment outside of this meeting.
Burwell School Historic Site — Executive Director Kate Faherty gave a presentation
highlighting the year. For the year, the site had more than 5,200 visitors. She reviewed some
of the special events held. She reported the history teas have been an astonishing hit.
Commissioner Ferguson asked if it is possible to get Wake County schools to visit. Ms.
Faherty explained why there was a group of visiting educators from around the state but
that the location can be a bit far to travel for the schools in Wake County.
Alliance for Historic Hillsborough regarding the Hillsborough Visitors Center — Ms. Campbell
said the final budget is included in the report. Ms. DeGennaro introduced Cathy Blackmon,
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the Alliance’s new treasurer. Ms. DeGennaro noted that in the income, guided tours and
heritage education are combined as expenses. Special events and income is a new line item
added during the fiscal year. The revenue was quite good for this fiscal year, and the extra
$12,000 contributed significantly to the bottom line, she said. The gift shop did not perform
as well as Ms. DeGennaro had hoped. She is thinking about that for this fiscal year. She
would like to increase marketing dollars from $20,000 to something more next fiscal year.
Chairwoman McKee asked if the Visitors Center could sell gift shop items online. It was agreed
to look into that. Ms. Hough said the marketing budget has been $20,000 for four years. She is
glad Ms. DeGennaro mentioned being intentional and strategic.
Item 7: Old business items
a. Continued conversation with Hillsborough Arts Council on funding options for Handmade
Parade in October 2018
Ms. Campbell said the council put together additional information for the board. She has not
met with the council yet. She planned to meet with Mr. Stutzer and the new programs
coordinator the following Friday. She recommended tabling the discussion until she has had that
meeting. Ms. Campbell asked if there are additional comments or concerns. Ms. Hough
suggested board members could submit questions to Ms. Campbell before Friday so that Ms.
Campbell could ask them when she meets with the council representation.
Motion: Ms. Hough moved to table this discussion.
Second: Commissioner Ferguson seconded.
Vote: Unanimous
b. Continued review of the draft tourism plan
Ms. Campbell reviewed that she and Ms. DeGennaro had met and delineated when “staff” in
the document referred to Ms. Campbell’s position and when “staff” referred to the visitors
center contractors, like Ms. DeGennaro.
She asked the board whether it is a priority to promote events in other parts of town.
Commissioner Ferguson answered absolutely. Ms. Campbell asked whether promoting
walkability is a priority. Board members said that does not fall under this board, although it’s a
good thing to encourage.
Ms. Hough said it may not need to be in this document but she would like for the Tourism Board
to look at metrics regarding restaurant patronage, for example, to know whether the board is
successful.
Ms. Campbell asked if the board wants to financially support some development training for the
contracted groups, specifically to attend tourism‐related workshops. Commissioner Ferguson
said the groups are already members of the North Carolina Center for Nonprofits, which has a
wealth of training. She would want to know how they are leveraging that. Blue Cross Blue Shield
offers board training. Ms. Hough said that because the Alliance has funding in place through the
Tourism Board, it has talked about hosting training in town rather than the groups leaving town
for training. Ms. Campbell said that it would be beneficial for Alliance staff to attend tourism‐
focused training in addition to preservation and programming training and that she and Ms.
DeGennaro had spoken about this.
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Chairwoman McKee would like the Tourism Board to work toward accumulating a fund balance
that would cover expenses for a year to enable the switch to funding from money the Tourism
Board already has instead of from revenue projections. Ms. Hough said doing so to
accommodate the shift makes sense. Commissioner Ferguson said the Tourism Board already
has a very healthy fund balance.
Item 8: Staff/board comments and discussion items
Ms. Campbell asked the board to consider rescheduling the Sept. 11 meeting because
she expects to need to attend the Board of Commissioners meeting this same night. It
was requested that she send out a doodle poll for everyone’s availability.
Ms. Campbell reported Kate Carroll had resigned from the Tourism Board.
Item 9: Adjourn
Chairwoman McKee adjourned the meeting at 7:29 p.m.