Mammoth Lakes Tourism Board

Minutes of Regular Meeting

Wednesday, November 03, 2021 at 1:00 P.m. - 3:30 P.m.

437 Old Mammoth Road, Suite Z, Mammoth Lakes

Members Present:

• Chair Jeremy Goico,
• Vice Chair Pat Foster,
• Treasurer John Morris,
• Secretary Jess Karell,
• Board Member Lynda Salcido,
• Board Member Eric Clark,
• and Board Member John Mendel

Members Absent:

• Board Member Larry Crabb

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1.

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Jeremy Goico called the meeting to order at 1:01 p.m. in the Council Chamber located at 437 Old Mammoth Road. Members of the Board attended the meeting via videoconference. 

2.

BOARD MEMBER REPORTS

Board Member Lynda Salcido announced that there would be a groundbreaking ceremony for The Parcel tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. followed by a Town Council meeting at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber.

Treasurer John Morris reported that he had received comments and emails from local lodging personnel voicing concern about the possibility of restrictions to Short Term Rental (STR) licensing which was discussed at the last Town Council meeting. Mr. Morris said that he informed them that there would be no changes to STR licensing at this time. Mr. Morris said that the Lodging Association planned to work with Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ken Brengle and MLT Executive Director John Urdi regarding a potential new occupancy reporting software program that would help individual businesses with their statistics and give them the ability to compare their business with other businesses in Town. He said that such a program would also assist with MLT's reporting and would help restaurants and other local businesses prepare for upcoming busy periods.

Board Member Eric Clark thanked Ms. Salcido and Mono County Public Health for providing a vaccination and booster clinic onsite for Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (MMSA) employees and reported that the MMSA staff have an 80% self-attested vaccination rate.

Vice Chair Pat Foster announced that Advanced Airlines' air service would start at Mammoth Yosemite Airport (MMH) during Thanksgiving week, and reported that locals could use the Discount Code MMHLOCAL to receive an additional 20% off for a total of 40% off flights.

Board Member John Mendel said that it was a great opening weekend at the Mountain and in Town, and reported that he had received a lot of positive feedback.

Chair Jeremy Goico reported that the Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) Ad Hoc Committee had met twice recently and said that SMG Consulting President and Chief Strategist Carl Ribaudo had participated in the Committee's meeting yesterday. Chair Goico said that MLT wanted to work together with the community as well as the Town Council to create awareness around what MLT had accomplished and would continue to do in addition to marketing. He thanked Mammoth Mountain staff for a great opening weekend.

Board Member Lynda Salcido reported that there would be a vaccination and booster clinic at Mammoth High School on Friday from 2:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.

There was discussion among members of the Board.

3.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no comments given at this time.

4.

CONSENT AGENDA

• Resolution:
  Moved by Treasurer John Morris
  Seconded by Vice Chair Pat Foster

  Approve the Consent Agenda.

  For (6)	Chair Jeremy Goico, Vice Chair Pat Foster, Treasurer John Morris, Board Member Lynda Salcido, Board Member Eric Clark, and Board Member John Mendel
  Absent (2)	Secretary Jess Karell, and Board Member Larry Crabb

  Carried (6 to 0)

4.1

Adopt Resolution 2021-02 to Allow for Virtual Board Meetings to Continue During the Covid-19 Pandemic Declared Emergency

4.2

Approve the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 6, 2021

5.

POLICY MATTERS

5.1

Presentation on Quarter 1 Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Budget Variances 

• Board VOTE on budget adjustments requests by Director of Marketing Brian Wright and Director of Sales and International Marketing Michael Vanderhurst.

Executive Director John Urdi outlined the Revenues, Payroll and Benefits, Overhead and Sales information in the Quarter 1 Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Budget Variance Summary and requested that the Board approve reallocation of $13,000 in the International Sales portion of the budget from Research and Data to Advertising.

Secretary Jess Karell joined the meeting at 1:18 p.m.

Director of Communications Lara Kaylor outlined the Public Relations/Communications information in the Quarter 1 Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Budget Variance Summary.

Special Events Manager Dakota Snider outlined the Special Events information in the Quarter 1 Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Budget Variance Summary.

Director of Marketing Brian Wright outlined the Marketing information in the Quarter 1 Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Budget Variance Summary and requested that the Board approve an increase of $100,000 to Marketing Research and $200,000 to the Brand Refresh Campaign for the 2022/2023 Fiscal Year utilizing surplus dollars from Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and if necessary, from reserves.

There was discussion between staff and members of the Board.

• Resolution:
  Moved by Chair Jeremy Goico
  Seconded by Secretary Jess Karell

  Approve with the following adjustments to the Quarter 1 Fiscal Year 2021/2022 Budget. International Sales; reallocate $13,000 from Research and Data to Advertising. Marketing; add $100,000 to Research and $200,000 to the Brand Refresh Campaign for the 2022/2023 Fiscal Year utilizing surplus dollars from Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and if necessary, from reserves.

  For (7)	Chair Jeremy Goico, Vice Chair Pat Foster, Treasurer John Morris, Secretary Jess Karell, Board Member Lynda Salcido, Board Member Eric Clark, and Board Member John Mendel
  Absent (1)	Board Member Larry Crabb

  Carried (7 to 0)

5.2

Restaurant Representative Board Seat Vacancy

Nominating Committee to make a recommendation on the vacant restaurant representative seat. Candidate to fill remaining term left by Michael Ledesma through June 2023. New Board Member to be seated at the December 1^st Board meeting.

• Board discussion and VOTE to approve the Nominating Committee recommendation.

Nominating Committee Members Pat Foster, John Morris and John Mendel outlined the information in the Restaurant Seat October 2021 Report and recommended that Deb Radcliff fill the open seat.

There was discussion among members of the Board.

• Resolution:
  Moved by Chair Jeremy Goico
  Seconded by Board Member Eric Clark

  Appoint Deb Radcliff to the vacant Restaurant Representative seat to fulfill the remainder of the three year term vacated by former Board Member Michael Ledesma which would expire in June 2023.

  For (7)	Chair Jeremy Goico, Vice Chair Pat Foster, Treasurer John Morris, Secretary Jess Karell, Board Member Lynda Salcido, Board Member Eric Clark, and Board Member John Mendel
  Absent (1)	Board Member Larry Crabb

  Carried (7 to 0)

5.3

Airport Shuttle Transportation Request For Qualifications (RFQ) Update

Update on RFQ process.

Executive Director John Urdi gave an update on the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process for Airport Shuttle Transportation. Mr. Urdi reported that the one respondent, Mammoth Transit Ventures, that currently runs a business in Mammoth known as Mammoth All Weather Shuttle (MAWS), had been selected for the contract.

There was discussion between Mr. Urdi and members of the Board.

5.4

Financial Reports

Receive an update regarding the financial health of the Mammoth Lakes Tourism and the results of the previous month for Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT), Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and current account balances.

Executive Director John Urdi outlined the information in the Financial Reports.

There was discussion between Mr. Urdi and members of the Board.

6.

DEPARTMENT UPDATES

6.1

International Sales

This item was tabled as Mr. Vanderhurst was in London on a sales mission with Visit California.

6.2

Communications

Director of Communications Lara Kaylor gave an update on recent public relations activities. Ms. Kaylor announced that she was in the process of preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a travel writers media conference to be held in Mammoth next fall and reported that she would be in New York next week to meet with various members of the media to discuss the new air service options and upcoming events in Mammoth.

There was discussion between Ms. Kaylor and members of the Board.

6.3

Marketing

Director of Marketing Brian Wright gave an update on marketing events and activities. Mr. Wright said that he had joined the Visit California Rural Committee as part of the High Sierra Visitor Council. He reported that he and Office Manager Emily Bryant had recently attended the California Welcome Center Annual Conference at the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, and announced that he had been selected as the Vice Chair of the Visit California Welcome Center Committee. Mr. Wright said that MLT ads would be on played on television screens in United Airlines Airports in Denver, San Francisco and Newark, in addition to ads running on United's website. He said that he had received discount codes this afternoon for United Airlines' flights and that the codes would be sent out at a later date.

Mr. Wright presented information on the following United Airlines webpages: https://www.united.com/en-us/flights-to-bishop, 

https://www.united.com/en-us/flights-to-bishop, and https://www.united.com/en-us/flights-to-ski-destinations#collapse10.

Board Member Lynda Salcido left the meeting at 2:27 p.m.

There was discussion between Mr. Wright and members of the Board.

6.4

Digital Marketing

Senior Content Marketing Manager Meghan Miranda gave an update on recent website activity.

There was discussion between Ms. Miranda and members of the Board.

6.5

Special Events

Special Events Manager Dakota Snider gave an update on recent special events activity. Mr. Snider reported that MLT would partner with the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce and would hold joint meetings the first Wednesday each month as well as quarterly mixers.

There was discussion between Mr. Snider and members of the Board.

6.6

Local Marketing

Local Marketing Manager Rebecca Davison gave an update on recent marketing activity. Ms. Davison announced that local discount air service mailers would be sent out to residents in areas from Bridgeport to Ridgecrest and shared a copy of the mailer. 

There was discussion between Ms. Davison and members of the Board.

6.7

Social Media

Social Media Coordinator Sarah Wallock gave an update on marketing events and activities. Ms. Wallock announced that Visit Mammoth recently created a Winter in Mammoth Lakes playlist on Spotify. 

There was discussion between Mr. Wright and members of the Board.

7.

OTHER STANDING UPDATES

7.1

Mammoth Resorts Update - Eric Clark 5 minutes

Board Member Eric Clark gave an update on Mammoth Mountain Ski Area (MMSA) events and activities. Mr. Clark spoke about MMSA's Opening Day and reported that there was a new storm forecasted for next week and said he hoped for more snow. He spoke about the challenges over the past two years due to drought conditions followed by COVID and the sense of relief after the recent atmospheric river storm and snowfall which allowed the Mountain to open early. He reported that Opening Day 2021 attracted the most media coverage they had ever had on an opening day. He said that Mammoth Resorts lodging reservations for November had already met their goal, in part due to longer stays booked the week of Thanksgiving. Mr. Clark reported that MMSA had formed a new partnership with the Los Angeles Rams and said that Woolly would hang out with Rampage in Los Angeles on Sunday and that Rampage would be invited to Mammoth for snowboard lessons on November 14th, additionally there would be a Monday Night Football watch party at 53 with Woolly and Rampage. He also reported that MMSA's partnership with the Los Angeles Kings was up and running.

There was discussion between Mr. Clark and members of the Board. 

7.2

Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce Update - Jeremy Goico 5 minutes

Chair Jeremy Goico gave an update on recent Chamber events and activities. Chair Goico announced the Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards Gala scheduled to be held on November 10th at Jimmy's Taverna had sold out and the location of the event moved to Canyon Lodge to allow additional tickets to be sold. Chair Goico said that there would be Customer Service Training Workshops led by Workshop Facilitator Jo Zulaica at noon on November 16th for management personnel and business owners at the Village in the Palisades Room, followed by training for frontline staff at 4:00 p.m. and a second training session for frontline staff on the 17th at 9:00 a.m. at the same venue.

There was discussion between Mr. Goico and members of the Board.

7.3

Town Council Update - Lynda Salcido 5 minutes

There was no report given.

8.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 3:03 p.m. to the next regular meeting scheduled to be held on December 1, 2021.