Loading...
CASE Committee Meeting Minutes 11-16-23 FINALCASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 16 NOVEMBER 2023 PAGE 1 | 4 1. ROLL CALL Present: Committee Chair Doug Jimenez, Committee Member Danielle McNair, Lisa Mattis, Thomas Walsh and Justin Chesney and Town Council Member Ruth Stanley Staff: Culture, Arts & Special Events Manager Danita Dempsey, and Special Events Coordinator Chelsea Van Winkle Absent: Committee Member Pedro Campos and Calyn Rieger and Town Council Member Lindsay Hardy Committee Member Lisa Mattis joined at 12:35 p.m. The meeting was called to order at 12:33 p.m. 2. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comments were made. 3. MINUTES Committee Member Thomas Walsh motioned to approve the minutes from October 19, 2023. Committee Member Justin Chesney seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 4. STAFF UPDATE Council and CASE Work Session Review CASE Manager Dempsey went through the committee packet (available at Avon.org) including a quick recap on the CASE & Council Work Session. Council supported removing Summer’s End, adding budget to begin crating collateral for Best of the West and Heart & Soul, funding for XTERRA and the large format mural. Council raised the question of the local car show, and they supported the idea. Regarding the Car Show, Danita explained we have an employee who has done a car show in Leadville since 1992. We met with him on November 6th and have made a recommendation to Town Manager that we support it with in-kind services. We have targeted the 4th weekend of August on Saturday which works with our long-term calendar. We don’t feel like he will need a lot of resources but will need Chelsea and my expertise. Traditionally the car show allows all cars, all trucks, motorcycles, etc. We also received direction from Council that we can reallocate the proposed funds from Summer’s End and put towards additional marketing. XTERRA is not able to come Avon/BCRC in 2024. Beaver Creek Resort Company made the decision to not offer the dates they have historically occupied and instead offered late June dates although trails do not open until July 1. We offered West Avon Preserve trails for consideration, however, XTERRA felt these trails may not be sufficient. Therefore, $15,000 went back into the budget. The Committee commented/inquired: A. Will the car show be a vintage car show? CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 16 NOVEMBER 2023 PAGE 2 | 4 B. High country cars and coffee would maybe be someone to look at to also put on a car show. May be someone to connect Vern with. C. Will we fill that hole from XTERRA? CASE Manager Dempsey we currently don’t have anything to fill that hole but if something came up, we could fill it. Three RFPs will be released soon, and one includes the XTERRA dates. Third Party Producers Events Summary and Debriefs CASE Manager Dempsey reviewed updates of third-party producers and their post event debriefs. The first update was that Copper Triangle has approached us to bring the event to Avon and after speaking with the producer, we feel that it would be a good fit. We would offer them in-kind services and they would start and finish in Nottingham Park. A new development Vail Valley Brew Au’s non -profit partner Vail Valley Charitable will no longer be a partner for the event as it is no longer a fit for the brand. We are waiting to hear back from Adam Bey, the owner of Happy Hour Entertainment to see what he would like to do to move forward. We did an analysis of each third-party producer and the cost per attendance and reviewed each producer. CASE Manager Dempsey reviewed the Third-Party Event Producer recap slides (available at Avon.org) which included what went well and improvements for each event. The Committee commented/inquired: A. Vail when they give funding also has a clause that all lodging must be in Vail. B. Do you think that the length of the show is a deterrent for people coming to Dancing in the Park? C. I like Celebrate the Beat as it adds families from the community. D. I felt like the content was better this year, more engaging. E. There was competition against Man of the Cliff with the new Bluegrass Festival in Vail. Was the Bluegrass Festival successful? F. Man of Cliff is a really unique community. I believe the event has great value but making it more sustainable is a challenge. I think it adds to the community and community flavor, it hits that, and I just love it! G. It depends on what we are looking at, does it need to be profitable, or does it need to hit community? H. Are the extra funds from XTERRA, is there a way we could support Man of the Cliff and give it more traction? I. The town support is for marketing and equipment for Man of the Cliff. J. Is there another tournament we could bring in? K. Are beer festivals just not as popular anymore? L. What is the right bang for our buck? We need to create a framework to how these events fit, and our dollars are being used well. CASE Manager Dempsey responded and said that in discussion with the VVF a few years ago, the dancers can’t handle any extra length of time above the 90-minute show. We talked to them this year about them only promoting the Vail Dance Festival in Vail and then thanked Avon at the last minute and they were very receptive and understanding. We can ask for an additional time extension. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 16 NOVEMBER 2023 PAGE 3 | 4 I don’t believe that the Bluegrass Festival was a detractor, but it was very successful, and they will continue it. My intuit ion says it’s not a funding issue. The owners are passionate and can’t imagine life without this event but also are juggling a lot with other businesses, family, etc. I don’t want to fix something that is not broken, we have the charge from council that “we want community” and we have hit that. We mostly look at brand fit but also consider the financial health of the event/organization. I don’t think our process or criteria are broken. Town of Avon Events Summary and Debriefs CASE Manager Dempsey reviewed the post event summary process and noted the team does an event debrief after every event. Research Cultural Plans CASE Manager Dempsey went through the proposed travel schedule for the CASE Staff and Committee Members to do research into creating our cultural plans. Between the team and Pedro, we felt these top five locations would best fit our goals and desires for Avon and asked for initial thoughts. We will try and get dates so you can reserve space in your calendars as soon as possible. The Committee commented/inquired: A. What towns have “grown” quickly like Avon? Salida, Buena Vista and Silverthorne. B. We all know what these places “have” and how we want to incorporate those into Avon. C. Looking at more performing arts facilities and locations. D. I am excited to look at these places and bring something back that can help us decide what fits best for our community. E. Why is there nowhere around the Vail Valley that brings Dia Da Los Muertos? CASE Manager Dempsey then reviewed our 2024 goals for CASE which goes hand in hand for us to help build capacity in the Vail Valley Art Guild, and when the time comes, have the old fire station be a Cultural and Arts facility. I think our portfolio for events is settled but now, is the same approach to arts and culture and the process and struggle on what fits best here in Avon. CASE Committee Members & Terms CASE Manager Dempsey went through the committee seats are open and those are Doug Jimenz and Pedro Campos. We will have two seats open and the application process will start in mid -December. We are going to take a hard look at the questions and what the committee make up looks like as we look at culture and arts more than events. There will be a press release, listed on the website and will go directly to past committees. Danita asked the Committee to consider if there are individuals that they know who could provide the right skill set for what we are charged with in the coming years. 2024 CASE Committee Regular Meeting Schedule CASE Manager Dempsey went through the meetings schedule which is the third Thursday of every month at 12:30pm. CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023 IN PERSON AT AVON TOWN HALL CASE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES, 16 NOVEMBER 2023 PAGE 4 | 4 The Committee all agreed that the schedule looks good. 5. CLOSING COMMENTS I think it is really cool and funny that the Zamboni sank in Avon lake, could we do something like they do in Dillon on the lake. 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 2:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Chelsea Van Winkle Specials Events Manager