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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/14/1988 Donald K. Ratty, Chair James H. Childs Kevin McDermott Staff: John Stinson AGENDA BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE Wednesday, September 14, 1988 12:00 Noon City Manager's Conference Room 'ITEM #1 KERN COG UNALLOCATED COSTS ITEM #2 CABLE TV UPDATE ITEM #3 SMOKING ORDINANCE ITEM #4 CONVENTION BUREAU TOURISM SERVICE AGREEMENT RENEWAL ITEM #5 PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACT GUIDELINES GREATER BAKERSFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DATE : September 13, 1988 TO : City Council Budget and Finance Committee FROM : Tim Hemphill, Executive Director Convention Bureau Doug Yavanian, President, Chamber of Commerce SUBJECT : Visitor Center We're pleased to present this memo to the City Council, through your Committee, outlining the joint effort of the Greater Bakers- field Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitor's Bureau relative to the development of a more professional visitor's service operation. As convention and tourism (visitor's) activity increases it is paramount that we put our best foot forward to present an effi- cient operation and professional image on behalf of our City through this enhanced visitor center. Please note the follow- ing considerations regarding our joint effort: A. Fiscal $17,000 to be set-up on a contrac- Consideration - tual arrangement between the City and Bureau. In turn the Bureau will sub-contract with the Chamber for a like amount to carryout the Visitor's Service function. B. Personnel - This amount-will provide $15,500 for one full-time visitor center receptionist (8:30 - 5:00 pm/M-F). As visitor traffic driven by the Clarion Hotel and the Civic Audi- torium increases, consideration will be given to staffing the visitors center on off-hours. C. Management - Management of this function and personnel will be at the discre- tion of the Chamber through its President/CEO in cooperation with the Convention & Visitors Bureau. When necessary, other Chamber personnel will supplement this effort. 1033 TRUXTUN AVENUE, P,O. BOX 1947, BAKERSFIELD, CA 93303 (805) 327.-4421 Page 2 D. Operations - The center will provide general information to all walk-in, tele- phone and mail inquiries. All inquiries will be categorized for tracking purposes as visitor, business, relocation, or miscell- aneous inquiries (and whether inquiry is local or out-of-town). As a matter of record the Center will do follow-up conversion studies to determine the action taken by the in- quiry. The Center will also act as the reception area for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. E. Billing Procedure - Beginning September 15th, the Chamber will bill the Bureau quarterly for equal amounts of $4,250. Quarterly reports will be made by the Chamber to your Committee through the Bureau. F. Postage - The balance of the $17,000 or $1,500 will be used to supplement the Chamber's postage requirements related to the visitor service process. These are the basic operational considerations. There are, however, several other important points which should be made: A. This effort will be a major step to re-strengthen the relationship between the Chamber and Bureau. B. Collateral and support materials , ie. brochures, visitors lodging and dining guides, etc. are crucial to the operations of the Center. The Convention & Visitors Bureau is appropriated approximately $20 000 to this effort. ' C. Every effort will be made to promote our facility as a primary visitor center for our City. A new sign has been installed as a first step. D. A review is now underway of the Bureau and Chamber (separate) telephone systems to determine whether the systems can be integrated into a single/unified system. E. We would recommend that the City look into the install- ation of directional signs from the freeway to the Center. It might be possible that the private sector can pay for the signs if the City installs these much needed bench-marks. The "99"-California-Chester-Truxtun corridor may be a suitable route. Page 3 This is the first of many cooperative programs between the Chamber ' and the Convention & Visitors Bureau. We will be essentially writing the book on establishing a first class Visitor Information Center and your support is important This will not only enable us to serve the visitors of the area better, it will also allow us to assemble useful.information to better market ourselves. Prior to this, we have not had the appropriate resources or tools to meet the challenges of a professional Visitor's Center. This effort clearly puts us on the right track. DAY/mmc/michel le 1-2