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Home My Public Portal About12-06-2021 Minutes Tourism Board Regular Meeting 101 E. Orange St., PO Box 429, Hillsborough, NC 27278 www.hillsboroughnc.gov | @HillsboroughGov www.visithillsboroughnc.com | @HillsboroughNC Tourism Board Minutes | 1 of 4 Minutes Hillsborough Tourism Board Remote regular meeting 5:30 p.m. Dec. 6, 2021 Virtual meeting via YouTube Live Town of Hillsborough YouTube channel Present: Chair Matt Hughes, Vice Chair Kim Tesoro, Mark Bateman, Barney Caton, Barry Hupp, Tommy Stann and Cathleen Turner Staff: Planning and Economic Development Manager Shannan Campbell 1. Call to order Chair Matt Hughes called the meeting to order at 5:37 p.m. with five members present. 2. Agenda changes and approval Motion: Member Mark Bateman moved to approve the agenda as amended. Member Barney Caton seconded. Vote: 5-0. Ayes: Members Bateman, Caton, Hughes, Barry Hupp and Cathleen Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Members Tommy Stann and Kim Tesoro. 3. Minutes review and approval Minutes from regular meeting on Nov. 1, 2021 Stann joined the meeting at 5:38 p.m. Motion: Caton moved to approve the minutes as presented. Bateman seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Members Bateman, Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Stann and Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Tesoro. Tesoro joined the meeting at 5:39 p.m. 4. Presentations A. At-large board member interview: Victoria Pace Board members introduced themselves and Pace introduced herself. She is a Hillsborough resident and discussed what she likes about Hillsborough and why she wanted to serve. 5. Discussion/action items A. Special project/partnership funding request — POP UP: Artistic Adventure (Orange County Theater Arts) Blake Wilson, a theater teacher at Orange High School, addressed the board. Two members of Strike Anywhere, which is a company collaborating on this project, joined him. Tourism Board Minutes | 2 of 4 Aaron Noe, the Orange High School band director, addressed the board. Noe said he is excited about this opportunity to collaborate between the music and theater departments and the community of Hillsborough. The performances would be based on the stories and culture of Hillsborough gathered during the story- collecting phase of the project. Leese Walker of Strike Anywhere said the project creates artistic work by and for communities. Flash interviews would be conducted outdoors. Interviewers will ask quirky and poetic questions about Hillsborough to identify what makes this place special and unique. This type of performance was started in 2015 in France and is currently underway in other communities in the United States. Wilson shared that people would be drawn to the two flagship events as well as the story-gathering and workshops that take place in the community. All of it is expected to bring visitors to downtown. He said it is in keeping with the Art Walk and other cultural events that bring people into town. Leese Walker said this would be promoted outside of Hillsborough. A public relations firm handles their social media and designs a campaign to be shared with community partners. The project would start in February. Wilson and Noe would conduct a fundraiser at the school and start the interview process. Over the next several months, they would guide students for choreography, music and sound painting. The professional company would come May 2-5 to help with the performances May 6-7. Noe said the event would attract extended family from out of town. It’s also an investment in the future of Hillsborough. Walker said interview-based theater tends to draw an audience that would not typically go to a theater as well as those who would. Hupp asked about getting Cedar Ridge High School involved. Wilson said it is a possibility but would take some working out of logistics. Bateman said there are people a few miles away who would be tourists. He thinks it would bring tourists in. Wilson said 60-80 students would be involved. Some would participate during class time and some would participate after school. It was noted that they are asking the Tourism Board for $4,995 and the board would need to allocate this from fund balance if it chose to fund the project. The Strike Anywhere team they take a lot of photos that can be shared with partners to continue to advertise the area. Strike Anywhere will send documentation of video and press to Wilson to give to the board. Tesoro got confirmation that Strike Anywhere would receive $13,000 total for their involvement. Tesoro requested more marketing plan information. Hupp agreed with her and added that he would like to hear how Cedar Ridge High School could be involved. Tourism Board Minutes | 3 of 4 Caton said it is nice that this group is not asking the Tourism Board to fund something like 80% of the budget. Hughes said this is experimental and we may not know if it works until we try it. It was noted that the project’s total budget is $25,000. The board did not think it was a good idea for performances to take place May 6-7 because of Last Fridays, local university graduations and Mother’s Day. Motion: Hupp moved to table a decision until next month and ask the applicant to submit a marketing plan, information on how Cedar Ridge could be involved, and look for additional partnerships and collaborations with other non-profits and businesses. Bateman seconded. Vote: 7-0. Ayes: Members Bateman, Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Stann, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. B. Adoption of 2022 Meeting Calendar Member Bateman left the meeting at 6:49 p.m. The board amended the calendar to hold the January meeting Jan. 10. The board decided not to meet in July. Motion: Caton moved to adopt the schedule as modified. Tesoro seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Members Bateman, Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Stann. C. 2022 Appointment of Tourism Board member to the Tourism Development Authority Tesoro would like to continue to serve on the authority. Motion: Caton moved to recommend that the Board of Commissioners reappoint Tesoro to… Hupp seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Members Stann, Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Bateman. Member Stann had to leave the meeting. D. Reappointment of Barney Caton to the Tourism Board Caton said he would like to serve again. Motion: Tesoro moved. Turner seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Members Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Stann and Bateman. E. Appoint of vacant at-large Tourism Board seat Motion: Turner moved. Hupp seconded. Vote: 6-0. Ayes: Members Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Stann and Bateman. 6. Monthly reports and comments A. Tourism staff report and Orange County Visitors Bureau updates Campbell noted: Tourism Board Minutes | 4 of 4 • Prepared food and beverage tax revenues increased in July, August and September compared with previous years but she doesn’t think it’s telling the full picture (restaurants are struggling and there’s been an uptick in fast-food and take-out sales.) • Marketing that was conducted for the holidays. B. Board comments and updates Tesoro shared updates from the Tourism Development Authority. 7. Adjournment Motion: Tesoro moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:18 p.m. Turner seconded. Vote: 5-0. Ayes: Members Caton, Hughes, Hupp, Tesoro and Turner. Nays: None. Absent: Bateman and Stann. Respectfully submitted, Shannan Campbell Economic Development Planner Staff support to the Hillsborough Tourism Board Approved: February 7, 2022