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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04/20/1999 Adjourned Meeting 445 CITY OF YAKIMA, WASHINGTON APRIL 20, 1999 ADJOURNED MEETING The City Council met in session on this date at 7:30 a.m. at the Yakima Convention Center, 10 North Eighth Street, Yakima, Washington. Mayor John Puccinelli, presiding, Council Members Clarence Barnett, Henry Beauchamp, Lynn Buchanan, Mary Place, and Bernard Sims present on roll call. Council Member John Klingele was absent and excused. Staff members present were City Manager Zais, Assistant City Manager Rice, Bill Cook, Director of Community and Economic Development, Marketa George Oliver, Administrative Assistant to the City Manager, and Deputy City Clerk Skovald. Also present were Kathy Coffey, Executive Director of the Yakima Valley Visitors & Convention Bureau and Convention Center. General Manager; Chris Wellner, First Vice President, Visitors and Convention Bureau Executive Committee; Mike Broadhead, Skip Semon, Mike Larson, and Gary Myhre, Visitors and Convention Bureau Executive Committee members. Dick Ostrander, Chairman of the Yakima Convention Center Advisory Commission and Dave Eckel, member of the Yakima Convention Center Advisory Commission. CONVENTION CENTER OPERATIONS AND LONG RANGE PLANNING Mayor Puccinelli opened the meeting and introductions were made. Chris Wellner, First Vice President of the Executive Committee, thanked the Council for coming and invited their comments or questions during the presentation. Dick Ostrander, Chairman of the Yakima Convention Center Advisory Commission, pointed out that the Convention Center belongs to the City of Yakima and noted the responsibilities associated with the Advisory Committee. He directed attention to the very successful, recent expansion of the Convention Center. The addition includes 9,000 square feet of additional meeting space, within the 21,940 square foot total expansion. Revenue from meeting room rentals increased by 38 percent in 1998, while expenditures only increased 28 percent. There was an increase in attendees of over 28 percent; event days increased by 31 percent over the year; and future event days booked are up by over 21 percent. Kathy Coffey, Executive Director of the Yakima Valley Visitors & Convention Bureau and General Manager of the Convention Center, directed attention to page 4 of the Business Plan and described the organizational chart for the Yakima Valley Visitors & Convention Bureau and the Convention Center. Within these two different organizations, there are two separate budgets, two separate sets'of staff, two separate marketing plans, and two separate approaches to what is done. The Bureau's primary responsibility is to bring tourists and convention delegates to Yakima. This stimulates economic 446 ADJOURNED MEETING -APRIL 20, 1999 • development in the Yakima Valley region. The role of the Yakima Convention Center is to maintain, operate, and promote the Yakima Center. The City of Yakima owns the Yakima Center, a multi - purpose exhibition, meeting, banquet and convention facility. The City contracts with the Yakima Valley Visitors and Convention Bureau to manage the Yakima Center. Ms. Coffey briefly described the new procedural manuals and personnel policy manuals for all positions within the Visitors and Convention Bureau and the Convention Center. Also recently developed is an Emergency Procedural Plan of Action. Ms. Coffey passed copies around for the Council to review along with a brochure outlining 13 Loop Tours of the Yakima Valley Region. Council Member Place requested clarification about the Great Western Hotel project noted on page 50 of the Business Plan. Ms. Coffey reported that this project was in the planning stages last fall during the budget process and was included in the report; however, since then that project has been canceled. Connie Upton, Director of Convention Services, briefly described her job to coordinate, oversee, and follow -up with all clients for each event. After determining whether everything was satisfactory during the event and suggestions or comments have been gathered, she then schedules a future booking from the client. She also provided some additional examples of services and indicated how the needs of the customers are met. Sheldon Butler, Operations Manager, outlined some of the responsibilities and duties of the Operations Department. Taking care of technical needs, changing room configurations on a minute -to- minute basis, maintaining the facility, including lighting, carpeting, sound, video, the exterior of the building, as well as maintaining the five - acre grounds surrounding the facility are some of the duties performed by this department. He also provided examples of satisfied clients to illustrate how great the services are, which is the key to repeat bookings. Dick Eckel, Member of the Yakima Convention Center Advisory Commission, commended Ms. Coffey and her staff for the excellent job they did during construction to accomplish the record - breaking number of event days during 1998. Ms. Coffey responded to questions from the Council concerning the expanded capacity of the Convention Center to handle large groups and small groups simultaneously. Skip Semon noted that tourism (and related activities) is the number two industry in this community. That industry is growing and building because of promotion from the Visitors and Convention Bureau as a center for information. Mr: Semon also praised Ms. Coffey and her staff for their high level of expertise and cooperation at the Convention Center. Dick Ostrander noted a recent report on a dip in sales tax revenue. There is a substantial amount of sales tax from tourism, but there is a lot of competition, and there are a lot of expansions going on around the state. Future expansion of the Convention Center will be necessary to promote and to accommodate market competition. 2 447 ADJOURNED MEETING -APRIL 20, 1999 Ms. Coffey reported that the Yakima Convention Center is very underfunded as far as promotion compared to other areas. Other places are significantly increasing their advertising budget to capture the market. More information and a report on this subject will be coming in June. Barb Glover, Director of Tours Development, provided a brief synopsis of the strategies used to market the Yakima Valley. She directed attention to the following three main markets the department is involved with: The Leisure Market, which includes individual travelers; the Motor Coach Market, which includes bus tours; and Media Relations for the Bureau, which creates media interest to write articles about the Yakima Valley. The primary market for Leisure I Travel is the Puget Sound Region. A new website is being developed to entice potential travelers to come visit Yakima. In the area of Media Relations there is a kit available listing activities in the Yakima Valley. This information goes out to travel writers; editors of TV • shows; newspapers and magazines to provide an idea of things to do in this area. Travel shows also provide the opportunity to talk about activities in Yakima. Ms. Glover has traveled to Seattle, Vancouver, California, and New York to attend conferences where she talks to • writers and editors. She noted that familiarization stays are provided for editorial coverage and have proven successful. Ms. Glover summarized the regional editorial coverage about the Yakima Valley in Sunset and Northwest Travelers magazines and prospective future write -ups in other publications, including Redbook and Working Women magazines. She provided copies of the magazines and newspaper articles for Council to review. Ms. Glover also directed attention to day tours where visitors can drive to their destination, and there is a new publication on activities, restaurants, and places to stay. Council Member Beauchamp asked Ms. Glover to summarize how she stays on top of expanding promotion activities for the Center. Ms. Glover noted that the State Department of Tourism has a quarterly newsletter that has been very helpful, and she has been building a relationship with them. Dick Zais noted the significant advancement of the Convention Center over the last several years and asked how Yakima compares to convention centers in other parts .of the Washington. The City has helped the Visitors & Convention Bureau and Convention Center by adding to the marketing and promotion budget resulting in a good value returned, essentially self - generating the return on that investment. Where is the Yakima operation competitively placed within the market in terms of what other convention centers are doing in other parts of the state in terms of marketing and promotion investment. Kathy Coffey explained that a report would be completed in June and presented to the Board. This report will include a comparison of Yakima's Convention Center to convention centers throughout the state. There are numerous convention centers being built or expanded in Washington, including Wenatchee, Spokane, Tacoma, Seattle, and Bellevue. Convention centers don't show a profit. Profit is shown in the form of sales tax generated in the city. Ms. Coffey noted that 3 448 ADJOURNED MEETING -APRIL 20, 1999 Yakima is very underfunded as far as the promotional areas, and she urged the Council to endorse more funding for advertising in the future. She also pointed out that Yakima is the only area in the state that is actually charged with running a convention bureau and running, operating, maintaining a convention center. She noted how the dollar is maximized for this community ten fold; in comparison to other cities, Yakima has the largest percentage of membership, revenue, and budget in the state. Anne Moneymaker, Director of Convention Sales with the Bureau, explained that the sales department is responsible for marketing to the masses to get the major events and conventions into the city. There are five offices in the Convention Sales Department with three salespersons, two sales members, and herself as Director. There is one convention servicing coordinator along with one convention sales support staff. Leads are generated from various hotels, the Sundome, and the Convention Center. Utilizing an existing database, a lot of time is spent telemarketing trying to lure conventions into Yakima, as well as cultivating relationships with local residents within the community. Ms. Moneymaker provided examples of recent successes, for example the AA Basketball Championship at the Sundome, and a Future Business Leaders of Washington conference, which is going to be the new record for the largest convention ever held in Yakima; that will take place in April 2002. She also outlined the bid proposal and follow -up process used after leads are generated. She provided a sample packet for review, and gave an example of what takes place when a convention is booked. Mike Larson, representing the DoubleTree Inn, and Tim Peterson, representing Cavanaughs, noted that from a business standpoint, the hotel /motel industry is becoming more and more dependent upon direct sales, whether it is through a convention center or through a hotel facility. They commended Kathy Coffey for her efforts to help the industry. Mayor Puccinelli referred to the large amount of correspondence with businesses that have held a convention in the community. He asked if there is any recruiting to entice their businesses to open a branch in Yakima. He suggested a marketing campaign with YCDA. Ms. Coffey noted that their primary communication is to bring conventions and tourist delegates to the Yakima Center; however, she feels that is an excellent idea to make those groups' names available to Dave McFadden for business recruitment. City Manager Zais asked the representatives from the hotel /motel industry if there are an adequate number of rooms for new delegates and convention attendees in Yakima and,what are the plans for the future. Kathy Coffey explained the two categories in groups sales, those being sports events and conventions. They are different market shares. For the sports market, it is entirely different because it is a drive market. Participants will drive in from all over the state. There are adequate rooms at this time for those groups; however, the 4 449 ADJOURNED MEETING -APRIL 20, 1999 convention market category is short first -class rooms within easy walking distance of the facility, and that shortage is creating an economic loss. There was continued discussion about the Catch 22 situation where there needs to be another expansion of the Convention Center to attract more conventions and to facilitate those guests, additional hotel rooms are needed, but that can't be justified because • the transient market is soft right now. The convention center segment is growing, but the transient segment is flat. Occupancies need to go up. Mayor Puccinelli suggested a marketing campaign using Yakima's fine weather and central location to entice travelers to make Yakima their destination. Proper signs are needed to attract traffic and to direct them where to go for visitor information to keep them overnight or on an extended stay. Kathy Coffey pointed out the state legislation needs to be•changed_ making the rules less structured. Discussion also continued about the soft market currently in Eastern Washington; more promotion in the sports market is needed. Kathy Coffey provided copies of information about legislation (SSB 452) which has recently passed in the State Legislature. She summarized changes in the legislation affecting the local hotel /motel industry, including putting it to a public vote position instead of a non -vote position, a match would now be required, and the project would have to cost $10 million or more, along other changes. Skip Semon noted that the Executive Committee couldn't recommend going to the second phase of expansion of the Convention Center because of the soft market and lack of first -class hotel rooms to accommodate the convention groups. The Executive Committee voted in favor of the Public Facilities District concept, even though they are in support of expanding the Convention Center contingent upon Cavanaugh's property being expanded. If that does not happen then they do not want to expand the Convention Center. Discussion continued about the possible opportunities with the Public Facilities District concept that could be the vehicle to fund a sports complex. Kathy Coffey explained she didn't want to give the impression that the Executive Committee does not support or does not think an expanded Convention Center is not needed. What the Executive Committee of the Bureau is saying is that they are asking to take a look at and work with Cavanaughs, and or another hotel company, to build or expand a first -class hotel. If that does not happen the Executive Committee would switch support to the sports complex. She then briefly described what is planned for the second phase of expansion for the Convention Center, which is designed for large groups to utilize. The Yakima Center Advisory Commission, on the other hand, is very supportive of the expansion of the Yakima Center and Ms. Coffey urged the Council to consider endorsing both projects. Council Member Place asked about additional parking needs if the Convention Center is further expanded. Assistant City manager Rice briefly summarized the parking provisions under consideration involving lots by the 5 450 ADJOURNED MEETING -APRIL 20, 1999 Convention Center and negotiations underway with Cavanaughs. More parking spaces will be necessary if the Yakima Center is expanded in the future. There was also discussion about the trickle down effect from expanding the state association market including regional, national, and international markets. Yakima is in a prime position to take advantage of that expanded market. City Manager Zais shared his experience utilizing the Tourist Center, which has state -of -the -art equipment and is first -class in terms of helping the visitor, on a recent trip to New Zealand The meeting then adjourned at 9:03 a.m. READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY: � COUNCIL MEM:E" DATE COUNNf MEMBER DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK OHN PUCCINELLI, MAYOR Minutes prepared by Deputy City Clerk Skovald. A videotape of this meeting is available in the City Clerk's Office 1 6