AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from October 22, 2002
Present: P. Johnson, S. Craner, J. d’Oronzio, T. Hussey, D. Dempsey, M. Vanek, B. M. Lewis, M. Goodelle, C. Carter, P. Anderegg, J. Kline and D. Lamb
Excused: M. Alberici and E. McHugh
Absent: W. DeWitt, P. Wisbey, M. Weitekamp, T. Bridenbecker, J. McCormick and S. Marteney
Vice Chair D. Dempsey said M. Alberici was attending a funeral, and he will be running the meeting. He said he invited Mike Long, from City Planning, to discuss the status of the Finger Lakes Tourism membership. M. Long will join the meeting shortly.
I. Approval of the Minutes
D. Dempsey asked for an approval of the September minutes. J. d’Oronzio said the minutes should reflect that D. Dempsey led the meeting. J. Kline said she would make the change. S. Craner made a motion to accept the amended meeting minutes, seconded by B. Lewis. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Planning & Development Committee
D. Lamb said this committee has not met.
III. Marketing Committee
As for leads from ads, M. Vanek said from September 24 – October 20, 2002 the Tourism Office responded to 1140 inquiries; the largest generator was Better Homes & Gardens. The BH&G leads had been delayed, since they were sent to the wrong office by mistake. D. Dempsey said Councilor Jacobs had questioned why the Commission advertised in the Greater Philadelphia News. He thought that was too far reaching. M. Vanek replied, that as with the Office of Tourism, marketing initiatives encompass a 6-8 hour driving radius from here. This approach was further reaffirmed by the research conducted by Randall Travel Marketing one year ago. NY, NJ, OH, and PA are the main areas where our visitors come from.
M. Vanek said the website had 554 hits during the last 30 days, averaging approximately 25 hits a day. Photographer Jack Kidd has finished taking stock shots of the sites. He will be sending the sites their own disk with a selection of their images in the next few weeks. The Office of Tourism will have a master CD with all of the site’s images. This will be useful for providing images to travel writers, the Commission display, and for our marketing publications.
M. Vanek said Maggie Johengen is designing the restaurant tent cards, noting M. Alberici’s additions from the last Committee meeting. The Committee also finished a fall place mat promoting Common Threads and Holiday Traditions. Jacob’s Press will be printing a total of 5,000 place mats. They will be done very soon. J. Kline wrote an introductory letter to the restaurants, and M. Riley has agreed to make the follow-up phone calls and distribute the place mats and tent cards. The Commission will reimburse M. Riley (Willard Memorial Chapel) for her time and mileage.
M. Vanek said at the last Committee meeting there were a few changes made to the advertising schedule for 2003. Historic Traveler has changed its format. It had previously been an insert into various history magazines, now editorial will be incorporated directly into the publications. The Tourism Office will be advertising in America’s Civil War and Civil WarTimes magazines, and if the budget allows, the Commission can chose to send their brochure out in response to these leads as well. With the money that was allocated for Historic Traveler, the Committee decided to increase their Meredith buy, and go into a TPA ad section that runs in 7 publications including Better Homes & Gardens, Country Home, More (a mature reader magazine) and Ladies Home Journal. The Meredith ad rep. said to expect 8,000-10,000 leads from this initiative. The next Marketing Committee meeting is scheduled for November 19th at 3PM at the Tourism Office.
IV. Community Outreach Committee
Those present said the Committee had not met, yet things should more forward on the Commission’s display to be used at community special events. J. Kline said that the stock photographs taken by Jack Kidd could be used as a backdrop for the display. The images are conveniently on CD. S. Craner and T. Hussey volunteered to research the cost of a tabletop display and choose the images to be used.
V. Quality Assurance Committee
Committee Chair W. DeWitt was absent, no report. This Committee has not met. D. Dempsey said since this Committee and others have not been meeting, the Chairs should call a meeting as soon as possible. D. Dempsey asked C. Carter when W. DeWitt was in Auburn, she said he didn’t have a set day that he comes in, it changes every week. D. Dempsey will ask M. Alberici to call all the Committee Chairs, and remind them to call a meeting before the next Commission meeting so things can move forward.
VI. Prison Museum Committee
Committee Chair P. Wisbey was absent, and the Committee has not met. There was confusion on who was going to contact the Mayor and/or P. Wisbey and encourage them to meet. D. Dempsey said he would contact Mayor Carnicelli, who could contact P. Wisbey. P. Johnson and M. Goodelle said they too wanted to serve on this Committee.
The exhibit “Both Sides of the Wall,” will open in April 2003. The public’s response to the exhibit will be beneficial in knowing how to proceed. If it’s popular, and generates more interest, then maybe the exhibit could become a more permanent display. J. Kline said, when this idea was discussed initially, other sites (Seward House and Tubman Home) had artifacts and objects that tied into the prison theme; i.e. a bedroom set made by prisoners and paintings. These could be incorporated into the display as well.
VII. Other Business
Holiday Enhancement Committee
S. Craner, Chair of the Holiday Enhancement Committee, said her Arts & Cultural funding application was unfortunately denied funds. Now, it is unclear how she will proceed. Specifically, Festival of Trees needed the City’s financial backing to move forward. S. Craner said her office (and the Office of Tourism) would have decorated trees in the windows. (Thanks to trees donated by the Willard Memorial Chapel.) S. Craner did purchase battery-operated candles for some of the second and third floor business windows on Genesee Street, and she is trying to add more activities to the holiday parade. She is having a street banner made, and additional signage, plus carolers will be performing. Next year, hopefully, things can be expanded upon more.
Common Threads
D. Lamb said “Quilts=Art=Quilts” is opening November 2, 2002. They will have 103 quilts and 10 garments on display. Entries were received nationwide, plus some from Canada. D. Lamb said the Cayuga Museum is working with a woman in Syracuse, originally from Cayuga County, to put together their vintage quilt display. C. Carter said they have approximately six quilts for the Tubman Home exhibit, and more may be coming. J. d’Oronzio asked where the quilts were going to be displayed. C. Carter said they would be in the Visitor’s Center. J. d’Oronzio was concerned about the dampness there. C. Carter said, since the space is utilized more often now, it isn’t as damp. D. Lamb asked if money was still available for cooperative advertising, J. Kline said yes, and that Common Threads would be a
perfect program for this, and to call her if she needs an application.
M. Long came in and gave the Commission an overview of how the Finger Lakes Tourism membership was paid in the past. He said, at one point the dues were paid by AIDA, and then it was later deemed inappropriate for their purposes. More recently, with the turnover in City staff positions, the funding got skewed, and the ball got dropped for payment. When this year’s travel guide was printed, and the City of Auburn lacked a description, attention was again focused on the unpaid membership.
Currently, with the help of the City Manager, it was decided that the Commission should absorb the FLT membership cost since there was a surplus at the end of last budget year. M. Vanek said, that was the case since the City had failed to send monthly (Commission) spending reports. Thus, it was difficult to know what the remaining balance was, and we learned of the surplus with only a few hours to spend the balance. The City has since been more diligent in providing monthly reports. M. Long assured the Commission if there was now a short fall due to this change, that additional money would be made available.
J. Kline said the invoice for advertising in the 2003 FLT Travel Guide has already been paid. The deluxe marketing package was chosen, which includes a descriptive listing in the Travel Guide, on the website and a contact listing in the mini-guide and map. The cost for this was $1,800. J. Kline couldn’t see spending an additional $1,750 for a descriptive listing for Auburn, and wondered if a discounted rate was possible. M. Vanek said now is not the time to drop the community package. Laura Coburn, who has already inserted additional local photos into the guide, giving Auburn more play, designs the guide. M. Long then called Mary Lou from FLT, and said the community listing would only cost an additional $750. D. Lamb made a motion for the Commission to pay $750 for the FLT Community Package, seconded by P. Anderegg.
All were in favor and the motion carried.
D. Dempsey led a short discussion on the Commission’s name and the Committees’ goals and members. The Commission decided to keep the name decided on at the retreat, Auburn’s Historic & Cultural Sites Commission. Then the Committee Chairs that were present, M. Vanek and D. Lamb said there were fine with their positions and with their Committee’s charges. M. Vanek said the Marketing Committee had accomplished its goals for the year. The only pending item was the site signage that is now in the hands of DOT, c/o the City’s arterial proposal. D. Lamb suggested that a date was added to the Committee member listing.
J. d’Oronzio said her weekend in NJ went well. She met lots of interesting people, including Regina Thomas, the Secretary of State for NJ. She was very impressed with how well organized the Harriet Tubman Walk was, which covered many states. She did distribute the Commission brochures to those interested. (There was not a lot of awareness about the Tubman Home.) For more information, the website address is: www.state.nj.us/state/undergroundrailroad.
P. Anderegg said she thought it would be a good idea if the Commission hire on a docent that would rotate around the sites, i.e. work one day per week at each. She had in mind Lydia Rosell for this position. Since the Commission had not budgeted for such, M. Vanek suggested that L. Rosell serve as a step-on guide for motor coach tours that come through this area. This way, L. Rosell would be paid directly by the tour, at a rate negotiated by her, not incurring any expense for the Commission. Everyone present thought this was a good idea. J. Kline said she would refer guide requests to L. Rosell directly as they come in.
With no other business to discuss, P. Anderegg made a motion to adjourn, seconded by D. Lamb. All were in favor and the motion carried. The Commission adjourned at 4:55PM.
The next Commission meeting is Tuesday, November 26th
at 3:30PM, 3rd floor meeting room at City Hall.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
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