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