Approval of the 2015 marketing plan by members of Palisade’s Tourism Advisory Board was unanimous when they met Tuesday noon, April 14, 2015, at the Civic Center in Palisade.
Teri Cavanaugh of Cobb & Associates presented the ‘finalized’ marketing plan for the remainder of the 2015 year. Cavanaugh also asked new board member Stan Stephens to describe his donation of a digital marketing plan and website for the Tourism Advisory Board. He’ll also monitor the traffic on the website; he’ll be able to target different markets at different times of the year, or for different promotions, adding desired flexibility to the marketing plan.
Board members also agreed to concentrate their marketing dollars on the Front Range cities and some of the larger ski area towns, also keeping focused on the Salt Lake City market. They also discussed putting together some lodging and activity packages for publications such as “Devour Utah” and “City Week” in Salt Lake City.
Stephens also offered to set up a newsletter to automatically generate on a seasonal basis, and will upgrade the website to a more modern, user-friendly platform with modern tracking codes and SEO possibilities. He will keep the board informed on results from tracking the ‘clicks’ to the various Palisade tourism websites. He anticipates having the website ready in time to run May advertisements. The additional tracking capabilities will allow the board to identify what programs work, and to quickly be able to make adjustments when necessary.
Jean Tally asked about shoulder season marketing, reminding the group that “tasting rooms are open year-round.” Stephens explained that the content would be easy to change, depending on the season or special package being offered.
Saturday’s Honeybee Festival in downtown Palisade kicked off the summer’s festival season. The ‘live hive’ pressed between glass caught the attention of almost everyone that went past, especially the kids.
Other Business
Tally announced that the Edesia Food & Wine event held last month at the Wine Country Inn had raised $23,000 to donate to the Marillac Clinic. It was reported to be the best year yet in terms of attendance, and all vendor spots were filled.
Tally also reported on the Honeybee Festival, held the previous weekend in downtown Palisade. She said that they actually had to turn some vendors away, hopefully when the Main Street construction is finished, we can set up booths down that part of Main Street too, bringing attention to the shops along that block too.
Tally reported that a number of local aviaries and beekeepers were represented, including the Western Colorado Beekeepers Association. They brought a large piece of honeycomb so guests could dig out the honey with toothpicks. There was also a working bee hive between glass plates that caught the attention of most folks that walked by it. Dan Bean, director of the Palisade Insectary, spoke about beekeeping and also about other “good bugs” that actually help the garden, and the environment.
Upcoming Palisade events include the Open House and ribbon cutting at the new office of the Colorado Association of Viticulture and Enology (C.A.V.E.), with the newly completed remodel of the old Palisade Tribune building. TAB Chair Cassidee Shull, also Director of C.A.V.E., invited everyone to come and take a look, Thursday, April 23 from 5 – 7 p.m.
Rondo Buecheler mentioned the upcoming marathon, known as the Fruit and Wine 26.2K. The race begins at 6:30 a.m. in the Palisade Town Plaza on Saturday, May 9. There are about 150 runners registered so far, and at least that many more are expected still to sign up. There will be a 5K, a 10K and the marathon.
Mayor Roger Granat updated the board on progress on the proposed shooting complex at Cameo. They are hoping to hear from the lawyers with a contract to purchase the land in about six weeks.
TAB members had a short discussion regarding possible future fundraising efforts. The Lodging Occupational Tax is the only real source of revenue that currently is earmarked for use by the Tourism Advisory Board to market Palisade. Members discussed the need to provide for additional revenue sources, and suggested activating a previously appointed ‘funding subcommittee’ to put together some ideas.
Present at Tuesday’s meeting were Mayor Roger Granat, Community Development Director Ron Quarles, Chair Cassidee Shull, Stan Stephens, Brant Harrison, Jean Tally, Felix Iovanni, and Rondo Buecheler. Absent were Angel Goodman and Julianne Adams.
The next meeting of the Tourism Advisory Board will be at noon on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in the Civic Center meeting room at 341 West 7th Street in Palisade.
Although the horses were decked out in honeybee colors, they declined to enter the costume contest at the Honeybee Festival on Saturday.
