AUBURN’S HISTORIC & CULTURAL SITES COMMISSION
Meeting minutes from March 9, 2005
Present: D. Dempsey, K. Walker, M. Vanek, D. Lamb, T. Hussey, J. Bryant, P. Wisbey, E. McHugh and J. Kline
Excused: M. Alberici, J. McCormick, S. Craner and P. Copes Johnson
Absent: B. M. Lewis, S. Marteney, S. Tucker, P. Anderegg, T. Bridenbecker and Rev. Carter
Councilor D. Dempsey led the meeting since Chair M. Alberici was away on vacation.
I. Approval of the Minutes
D. Dempsey asked for approval of the 1/12/05 minutes. M. Vanek made a motion to accept the minutes as submitted, seconded by K. Walker. All were in favor and the motion carried.
Committee Reports
II. Planning & Development Committee
D. Lamb said the site directors had not met, but they would schedule a meeting soon.
III. Marketing Committee
M. Vanek said, as for leads from ads, in February 623 inquiries were fulfilled, with 782 year-to-date. The March Ladies Home Journal ad has been a large producer. J. Kline circulated ad copies.
M. Vanek said we are still waiting for the City to install the pedestrian signs. Whenever we put calls in, we never hear anything back, but Steve Lynch from City Planning is working on having one or two of our maps installed on State Street. D. Dempsey said he would talk with the City Manager, so he could ask Jerry Del Favero from DPW.
J. Kline circulated copies of the revised ad schedule. Changes had to be made due to the cut in I Love NY advertising money granted. These ad costs are more accurate than the first draft, as well. A new addition to the schedule was The Citizen “Go & Do” guide, and the ad in AAA magazines was switched with the Canadian auto magazine (CAA), since AAA did not produce many leads. M. Vanek said the Tourism Office is running an ad in the NY Times, so we won’t go in that as tentatively planned, and we’ll see how it produces. The extra money in the ad budget may be needed for fulfillment costs, since our ad campaign is doing so well. Otherwise, we can place some last minute fall ads with extra money.
IV. Community Outreach Committee
E. McHugh said they are now sponsoring the film festival that was started last year. It will now be named after Ted Case. The date is set for June 18th, and the films will be shown at CCC, and the award reception will be at the Museum. E. McHugh said, last year, the focus was on youth entries, and this year, it is open to all ages.
As for the dinner with the site’s staff and their directors, the Schweinfurth is undecided, yet still wants to do something. Willard Chapel is also interested if SMAC can’t pull something together.
J. Kline said she drafted a letter to the Mayor requesting an amendment to the Commission By- Laws to allow for a representative from the Auburn Enlarged School District to have an ex-officio spot on the Commission. She will drop it off after the meeting, and will ask M. Alberici to follow-up, if nothing happens from there. P. Wisbey asked if it would be a conflict of interest for Leslie Leary to sit on the Commission, with her job as the Administrative Consultant for Auburn Education Foundation- they financially support community educational outreach programs. K. Walker said on their Board, if a conflict happens, they just abstain from the vote.
P. Wisbey said he was making his presentation to City Council the next evening. He will give an update on the Commission’s activities, and talk about the Seward House’s anniversary celebration, asking for a proclamation. D. Dempsey said he would introduce him, and that he had his support, and that he thought it was wise to raise the Commission’s visibility before some of the other organizations funded by the City. J. Kline said she would pass along the updated economic impact figures for P. Wisbey’s presentation.
J. Bryant said there has been discussion about hosting a “History Week” in Auburn. (May would be ideal since it’s National Preservation Month.) Since there are many people who come to Auburn to do genealogy research, it would be nice to coordinate a week when all the resources were available for longer hours, etc. We could also offer seminars on the topic. M. Vanek said T. Ottley from County Planning had expressed some interest in this initiative, and she suggested working with the Commission on it. J. Bryant said she had attended an Underground Railroad workshop in Schenectady that attracted 200-300 people. Why couldn’t this happen in Auburn? She continued, she received an invite to the Tubman ceremony in New York City, but the deadline was only three days away.
J. Kline circulated copies of the Cayuga County Chamber’s Task Force & Committees to see if anyone had any interesting in representing the Commission. No one did, at this time. M. Vanek said Leadership Cayuga is doing a project on the last ten years in tourism. They may need more information, and will be calling the sites. They are interested in physical changes/improvements to the attractions, and the impact of tourism. They will also be chronicling any major happenings. Leadership Cayuga was initially instrumental in researching the occupancy tax, which now partially funds the Tourism Office. That annual amount, which is collected by the County Treasurer, is now around $100,000, and they keep 5%.
P. Wisbey said the City of Rochester has purchased the Fast Ferry and many of its obstacles have been dealt with, such as the vessel’s registration, truck traffic with customs, etc. J. Kline said she had attended a meeting at Finger Lakes Tourism and they are pushing the State to spend more advertising dollars on the Canadian market, yet it is a hard sell when the State’s marketing budget was cut dramatically. J. Kline said also, the Society of American Travel Writers Conference is happening in Rochester this year, in mid May. J. Kline has suggested many of the sites as places to include on the pre- and post-FAM tours, but no decisions have been made at this time. The (national) Travel Media Showcase is also happening in Niagara Falls this year.
E. McHugh said she has written to the teachers and principals to schedule the “Passport to History” presentations at the schools, and has 4-6 appointments already. She wants to get the passports out the week before spring break, which runs from April 18 – 22.
M. Vanek said as part of our local PR initiative for our 10th anniversary, we would like the sites to give out buttons that say, “Be a Tourist in Your Own Backyard.” The committee decided against doing a drawing at the sites, as initially planned.
With no other business to discuss, the Commission adjourned at 4:30PM. The Commission’s next meeting will held May 3rd at 3:30PM, 3rd Floor City Hall. The site directors should plan to meet prior to the meeting.
Recorded by Jesse Kline
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