HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-05-TOUR2-min ,ops75 Town of Lexington
x Tourism Committee
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APRIL19' Dawn McKenna, Chair (781) 862-0500 ext 84585
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Tourism Committee Minutes
September 5, 2019 3:30—6:00 pm
Harris Room, Cary Memorial Building
Members Present: Dawn McKenna, Jon Himmel, Trisha Kennealy, Marsha Baker, Kerry Brandin, Erica
McAvoy, Wim Nijenberg
Center Committee Liaison present: Fred Johnson
Staff Present: Casey Hagerty and Melisa Tintocalis
Members Absent: Margaret Coppe, Bebe Fallick (attending organizing meeting for the WWII commemoration
for Committee)
Guests present: Meri Jenkins, Chris Pappas
1) Staff Report
a) Financial data
The Tourism Committee reviewed August data for both the Visitors Center and Liberty Ride for 2019 and compared in to
2018 numbers. The number of Liberty Ride Trolley tickets is down from last year by about 300 tickets. However, charter
sales were up by 30 in 2019 vs 2018. Sales at the new temporary Visitors Center are down by 70% from 2018 due to the
location change required by construction.
b) Liberty Ride Trolley on Special Town Meeting Warrant
Melisa explained that she is working on an analysis for options for the future operations of the Liberty Ride Trolley. In
that analysis, she will include options for buying, leasing, and contracting a vehicle. Currently, the trolley is at 60%
capacity. Owning the trolley would provide additional revenue options from charters and rentals. She is looking at ways
to best optimize marketing and operations to fill that void.
c) Other topics
Casey Hagerty explained that the Visitors Center staff has started a monthly hotel and concierge visitation program. In
August, Katie Johnson and Ariel Chin visited approximately twenty hotels in Boston to inform staff there about all of the
programs that Lexington has to offer. Each month, they will visit a different region. Trisha Kennealy suggested that we
should include Burlington on that list as they have added a significant amount of beds in the last five years and are closer
to our sites.
2) Annual Report due 10115 and photo location
Trisha Kennealy volunteered to work on the Annual Report for the Tourism Committee. The committee will take the
group picture at the Visitors Center construction site before their next meeting.
3) Updates and Miscellaneous
a) Antony Park&Working Group
Dawn McKenna explained that the work at Antony Park is almost done. The art installation in the center of the park will
be completed in the future. The Antony Working Group will be meeting on October 15th 2019. She added that the
Economic Development staff will be traveling to Antony as part of the delegation. This is a great opportunity to promote
travel between Lexington and Antony.
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE•LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02420
b) Reappointments
All Committee members have asked to be reappointed. Merl Jenkins has expressed interest in joining the Tourism
Committee.
c) World War II celebration
Dawn McKenna informed the committee that George Gamota is interested in building a Victory Garden. She does not
have any details at this time. He is also interested in building a memorial as well as some other commemorative events.
The Committee believes that any memorial should be at Cary Hall, not on the Visitors Center grounds as there is already a
memorial there. Bebe Fallick has been representing the Committee and both Marsha Baker and Erica McAvoy are part of
the Committee. Tourism staff will work with George Gamota and the Historical Society on planning and promoting any
events.
4) Visitors Center
a) Media content and AV Equipment
Jon Himmel explained that he and the technology subcommittee were working with Facilities and Purchasing
Departments to issue a Request for Proposals to hire a consultant to work on media for the new Visitors Center. The IT
Department decided to pull the RFP before it went public to address some concerns that they had.
Melisa Tintocalis explained that the IT Department wanted to be more involved with the process before it was put out to
bid. After a meeting of Subcommittee for Electronic Content, the Facilities Department, the IT Department, the Economic
Development Office, and the Purchasing Department, it was decided that the best way to proceed with media for the
Visitors Center was to issue a Request For Information(RFI). Economic Development staff was directed to work with IT
to create a needs requirement document. Subsequently that RFI was posted through Purchasing without a review from the
working group that included the Tourism Committee representatives.
The Tourism Committee expressed concern over the change in process especially since the Tourism Committee had
unanimously approved the proposal at an earlier meeting with Economic Development staff present. They were concerned
that the RFI process will slow down the progress that the subcommittee has made. They were also concerned that the
media project will get bogged down in the town processes and that the product would not meet the needs. Melisa
explained that the RFI process is the first step in hiring a technology expert who will be able to create the appropriate
media for the Visitors Center. The Committee reminded Melisa that the technology expertise that developed the plan we
all approved included a top technology expert. The frustration has left the subgroup volunteers feeling like as their time
was wasted and that there was no point in them continuing their expertise not valued.
b) Lower level content
Michelle Jarvis, the exhibit designer, is proposing one mural on the lower level with a few topics in chronological order.
Dawn explained that they are still waiting to hear what the project will cost. The Committee discussed options for the
lower level including adding digital signage. At this point, digital signage is not being considered because of budget and
design constraints. Technology can be added in the future. The committee will send any specific comments to Dawn about
the proposed mural concept. In general, the Committed accepted the concept.
5) Tourism goals implementation Center
a) Marketing Strategy—joined by consultant, Chris Pappas
Chris Pappas introduced herself to our committee and explained her background. She stated that she has been hired by the
Economic Development Office to create a strategic marketing plan for the tourism operations in the Town. Currently, she
is still in the information gathering stage of her process. She has talked with approximately 30 stakeholders in Lexington
and elsewhere. Her next step will be to draft a plan. She explained that she has worked for Government agencies before
so she understands the constraints that are present when working for a municipality and how to navigate those constraints.
Specifically she wrote the long-term marketing plans for Salem, as well as their more recent update.
Members of the Tourism Committee gave suggestions to Chris of things to explore further into including marketing under
the branding that has been developed with a possible update to the logo,bringing Lexington into the 21st century, methods
of engaging residents, visitors, and volunteers,providing a consistent message, developing an engaging website and
educating Town Staff on the importance of consistency. Where to market and how to best use our marketing funds was
also discussed so that it can be proactive plan, rather than reactive.
6) Interpretive Signage Battle Green &Belfry
The designer is working on another draft of the signage which will be presented at the next Tourism Committee meeting.
The draft will then go to the Board of Selectmen for final approval on October 3rd.
Adjourned at approximately 6:12p.m.
Documents available:Tourism Committee Agenda,August 2018 and 2019 Visitors Center Sales data,August 2018 and 2019 Liberty Ride
Financial data,Draft Tourism Committee Minutes from 7.8.209 and 8.8.2019,FY 18 Annual Report,FY2019-FY2020 meeting schedule,Lower
Level Mural proposal and content,Lower Level Content Outline.
Approved