Minutes of the Chamber of Commerce Tourism Committee

June 22, 2010

Committee Members Present:  Stan Moore, Cynthia Crawford, Jill Murray, Arline Borchers, Norma Jean Ferguson

Guests:  Paula Smith

Chair Stan Moore called the meeting to order at 9 am

Stan introduced Paula Smith (guest of Norma Jean Ferguson).  She will be the new president of the Country Patchwork Quilt Guild in July 2010.

Cynthia Crawford made the motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting with a noted correction that Jill Murray will be the new secretary, not the new chair.  It was seconded and motion passed.

Stan presented a Chamber Tourism Project List that was created to keep the Tourism Committee updated on tourism projects.  The Project List will also be used to keep the Tourism Commission informed of what the Committee and the Chamber Office is doing throughout the year and on an on-going basis. Jill Murray at the Chamber Office is taking on a more dedicated role on tourism related activities.  The Project list will be updated at each Tourism Committee meeting and become an attachment to the minutes.
Items from the Project List:

1. Support letter for Bike Trail on 20 highway was created (June 7th) and delivered to Dale Zank for further deliver to MoDot.
2. Old Trails Regional Tourism Partnership filed for a 501 ( c ) (3) non-profit exempt status, but was notified they will be designated as a 501 ( c ) (6 ) – Stan will look into this designation further.
3. Missouri Director of Tourism was given an all-day Fam tour on May 26th that covered Howard, Cooper and Saline County.  In Marshall the group was guided by Arlene Borchers and toured the Park and Nicholas-Beazley Aviation Museum.
4. The June 15th deadline for listing area events in the Missouri Vacation Guide for 2011 was met and additional items were listed on the new visitmo.com Department of Tourism web site.

Cynthia stressed the importance of maintaining the visitmarshallmo.com website.  It will be added to the Project List.

Jill Murray explained the 11-page guide for qualifying events and activities for the visitmo.com web site and the Missouri Vacation Guide and the 9-page set of directions for entering the information. Events for the web site can be added throughout the year.

Jill Murray presented two proposed grant request for possible funding from the Marshall Tourism Commission.  One request for $2,000 for additional advertising and the creation of a rack card for Santa Fe Trail Days, and another proposed grant request for $750 for advertising the visitmarshallmo.com web site (and Community Calendar) on the new City/County (911) map being produced by the Chamber.  Cynthia Crawford made a motion to present the Sante Fe Trail Days proposal, it was seconded and motion passed.  Arlene Borchers made a motion to present the City/County Map proposal, it was seconded, motion passed.  Both grant request proposals will be presented to the Tourism Commission on their July 21st meeting.

Stan presented the Missouri Department of Tourism grant funding process and deadline.  The Marshall Chamber Tourism Committee is currently designated the DMO for Saline County and eligible for small market grant funding up to $5,000 (annually) in two 6-month funding periods.  The DMO designation is for a 5-year period and the goal of the Tourism Committee is to document spending at least $10,000 annually in qualified marketing activities over a two-year period to qualify for the next higher level of grant eligibility from the Dept. of Tourism by the end of the initial 5-year designation.  The committee agreed to focus on magazine and newspaper (that qualifies) for the first grant period.  The application deadline is September 1, 2010 for funding in 2011.

Cynthia mentioned the Old Frontier Trails Museum in Independence as a possible group member for the Old Trails Tourism Partnership – Stan will follow up.

Starting in July, meeting dates for the Chamber Tourism Committee will be the 4th Wednesday of the Month.  Meetings are at 9:00 am at the Saline County Extension Office.  Next meeting date is July 28th.

Motion made and seconded to adjourn meeting – motion passed.

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