JOHNSTON COUNTY TOURISM AUTHORITY
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Noon, Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Visitors Bureau Administrative Offices
Present: M Patel, M Boyette, T Godwin, T Stewart, P Boucher, B Dixon
Absent: D Mills, C McLamb, H Stump, J Godfrey, K Henthorn
Staff: D Bailey-Taylor, A Phillips
I. Call to Order – Vice-Chairman T Godwin
T Godwin called the meeting to order at 12:20 pm and stated that a quorum was present. With no corrections, the agenda was adopted.
II. Vice-Chairman T Godwin
T Godwin asked for a motion or corrections to the June minutes that were previously sent to the Board.
B Dixon motioned to accept the May minutes as presented. M Boyette seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
III. Finances – Vice-Chairman T Godwin
June Financials
Month-to-Date Revenue for June was $76,267.57. Month-to-Date Human Resources expenses were $20,097.12. Month-to-Date Operations were $82,083.56. Net Income for the month was -$25,913.11. Year-to-Date Revenues were $821,852.74. Year-to-Date Human Resources expenses were $240,966.33. Year-to-Date Operations were $518,299.64. Year-to-Date net income was $62,586.77. The May revenues were $50,787.37. Smithfield’s May Revenues were $12,075.98. Selma’s May Revenues were $8,243.77. Kenly’s May Revenues were $1,515.4. Benson’s May Revenues were $910.30.
July Financials
Month-to-Date Revenue for July was $84,487.73. Month-to-Date Human Resources expenses were $20,180.50. Month-to-Date Operations were $45,658.27. Net Income for the month was $18,648.96. Year-to-Date Revenues were $84,487.73. Year-to-Date Human Resources expenses were $20,180.50. Year-to-Date Operations were $45,658.27. Year-to-Date net income was $18,648.96. The June revenues were $50,831.45. Smithfield’s June Revenues were $10,925.74. Selma’s May Revenues were $8,286.77. Kenly’s May Revenues were $1965.35. Benson’s May Revenues were $955.04. Godwin stated that the fund in the money market account has a 1% rate of return.
IV. Special Projects Committee
Special Projects met just prior to the full board meeting to discuss the Special Events Grants for 2011-2012.
P Boucher motioned to accept the recommendation from the Special Projects Committee as presented. B Dixon seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
V. Marketing Committee – M Boyette
M Boyette stated that the committee viewed completed communication projects, including the 2012 Visitors Guide, Benson Visitors Map, and 15 promotional postcards. D Taylor stated that the Muscadine Wine Trail brochures were at the printers and the website for the trail was up and the trail will be launched August 20th. Taylor also stated that materials for the upcoming Ava Gardner Festival were at the printers. Due to the desired quality for the mini-videos, the committee decided to award the contract to Digital P Media as they have the best quality footage and price of all the proposals. The board was reminded of the upcoming NC Logging Expo that is scheduled for October 7-8. Discussion was had on possible uses for the $15,000 that had been budgeted for Branding. Ideas for consideration are: additional visitor information kiosk stations in key areas, Trip Advisor page for the county, contract for part-time publicity person for social media help, and membership in the Triangle Film Commission.
M Boyette motioned to proceed with the purchase of additional kiosk stations and to enroll in Trip Advisor as presented. P Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously.
B Dixon requested that D Bailey-Taylor develop a job description for the publicity person and bring it back to the board at the next meeting. The board decided to postpone a decision on the membership for the Triangle Film Commission.
VI. Staff Report – D Bailey-Taylor
D Bailey-Taylor presented drafts of by-laws for the Sports Council and the Wine & Agri-Tourism Council. The board suggested that a board member would sit on each of these councils. Taylor will update drafts and present to the board for approval at the September meeting. Bailey-Taylor mentioned that additionally there is interest in forming a Civil War 150th Anniversary Event Committee that would be short term working on county-wide events prior to the 2015 Reenactment at Bentonville. Bailey-Taylor also stated that the bureau will have a part-time contract person to help with staffing while A Astoske was out on family leave. This person will work approximately 12 hours per week for 3 months.
Summary of Visitor Inquiries and Distribution – June
Visitor inquiries: pieces of literature mailed: 1,134
Year to Date visitor inquiries: 33,907
Inquiry History by Brochure: Visitor Guide 1,125
Visitor History by State: NC (210), FL (62), PA (67), NY (49), IL (48), VA (47), TX (46), SC (44), CA (39), OH (60)
Visitor Inquiry for Advertising Source: NC Civil War Travel – 402
Coast Host – 105
Southern Living – 111
Oprah – 380
June Bulk Distribution:
JCVB Visitors Guide – 1650
JCVB Agri-tourism Trail brochures – 910
JCVB Golf – 100
JCVB Plastic Bags – 350
JCVB Hospitality Heroes – 5 packets with certificates
JCVB Ava Fans – 800
JCVB Click pens – 200
JCVB Band-Aids – 1254
Ava Gardner Brochures – 50
CPO Brochures - 70
Smithfield/Selma Visitor Map – 2004
Selma Classic Spring Postcards – 1000
New and Inactive IP Records in D3000
Closed: Tarheel Music
Neuse River Adventures
New Record /Opened: Book Warehouse
Pelican’s Snowballs
Ronnie’s Country Store
Treasure Hunt
Lil’ Black Creek Farm
Crossroads Wellness and Rehab
Google Analytics – report for June
www.johnstoncountync.org – 8,474 unique visitors, 19,810 page views
www.visitsmithfield.org – 900 unique visitors, 5,065 page views
www.visitkenly.org – 259 unique visitors, 1,441 page views
www.hamandyam.com – 272 unique visitors, 506 page views
www.americasmainstreetnc.com – 264 unique visitors, 435 page views
www.visitbenson.org – 143 unique visitors, 914 page views
www.visitfouroaks.org – 51 unique visitors, 196page views
www.visitclayton.org - 52 unique visitors, 326 page views
www.visitselma.org – 130 unique visitors, 1,562 page views
Summary of Visitor Inquiries and Distribution – July
Visitor inquiries: pieces of literature mailed: 14,618
Year to Date visitor inquiries: 14,618
Inquiry History by Brochure: Visitor Guide 13,923
CPO Brochure 693
Visitor History by State: NC (1,187), PA (2,082), NY (2,532), CT (479), VA (937), SC (561), NJ (1,002), OH (868), MD (762), MA (630)
Visitor Inquiry for Advertising Source: NC Civil War Travel – 387
Coast Host – 149
Southern Living – 790
Oprah – 1411
Compass Marketing – 11,150
July Bulk Distribution:
JCVB Visitors Guide – 2,660
JCVB Agri-tourism Trail brochures – 510
JCVB Golf – 200
JCVB Plastic Bags – 366
JCVB Hospitality Heroes – 5 packets with certificates
JCVB Ava Fans – 241
JCVB Click pens – 16
JCVB Band-Aids – 507
JCVB Toothbrush holders – 35
JCVB Cell phone holder – 50
JCVB Postcards – 75
JCVB Hand sanitizer - 14
CPO Brochures - 748
Smithfield/Selma Visitor Map – 497
Smithfield Farmer’s Market Flyers - 800
New and Inactive IP Records in D3000
Closed:
New Record /Opened: Cone Creations – Four Oaks
Jumpin’ Jax
Primo Pizza
Reedy Creek Produce & Farm Market
Google Analytics – report for July
www.johnstoncountync.org – 9,211 unique visitors, 22,639 page views
www.visitsmithfield.org – 1,219 unique visitors, 4,969 page views
www.visitkenly.org – 392 unique visitors, 1,257 page views
www.hamandyam.com – 319 unique visitors, 758 page views
www.americasmainstreetnc.com – 264 unique visitors, 435 page views
www.visitbenson.org – 220 unique visitors, 618 page views
www.visitfouroaks.org – 85 unique visitors, 265 page views
www.visitclayton.org - 95 unique visitors, 278 page views
www.visitselma.org – 162 unique visitors, 1,011 page views
VII. Around The County Reports
Benson – Sundown in Downtown, Mule Days 4th weekend in Sept.
Smithfield-Selma – Railroad Days 1st weekend in Oct.
Four Oaks – Oaktober fest
Kenly – Golf Oct. 8-9, TFL Museum fundraiser, shout out for Kenly Chamber director
VIII. Old Business
D Bailey-Taylor stated that she had received another bid on up fitting the office space at CPO.
VIV. New Business
None.
Meeting adjourned at 1:15 pm.
Next Meeting
Johnston County Tourism Authority
Noon, September 7, 2011
Visitors Bureau Administrative Offices
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Dixon, Secretary/Treasurer
