Village of Oswego Committee of the Whole met Nov. 1.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
CALL TO ORDER
President Troy Parlier called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Board Members Physically Present: President Troy Parlier; Trustees Tom Guist, James Marter II (attended at 6:30 p.m. after roll call was taken), Terry Olson, Jennifer Jones Sinnott, and Brian Thomas
Staff Physically Present: Dan Di Santo, Village Administrator, Christina Burns, Asst. Village Administrator; Tina Touchette, Village Clerk; Jeff Burgner. Police Chief; Jennifer Hughes, Public Works Director; Rod Zenner, Community Development Services Director; Andrea Lamberg, Finance Director, Bridget Bittman, Community Engagement Manager- Marketing; Kevin Leighty, Economic Development Director; Joe Renzetti, IT/GIS Director; and Karl Ottosen, Village Attorney.
PUBLIC FORUM
Public Forum was opened at 6:30 p.m. There was no one who requested to speak. The public forum was closed at 6:30 p.m.
NEW BUSINESS
G.1 Discussion of Continuing Partnership with the AACVB
Asst. Village Administrator Burns addressed the Board regarding the marketing program with the Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (AACVB). The AACVB was formed in 1987 as a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to marketing the greater Aurora area for tourism and hotel stays. Their membership is currently comprised of ten communities: Aurora, Batavia, Big Rock, Hinckley, Montgomery, North Aurora, Oswego, Plano, Sugar Grove, and Yorkville. The Village became a member in 2018 at the request of local hoteliers. The Village’s capacity and expertise to do tourism marketing was limited and the introduction to AACVB’s Municipal Marketing Partnership offered more direct Oswego promotion. In February 2018, the Village entered into an agreement of which expires December 15, 2022. Partnership with the AACVB requires a financial contribution of 90% of the Village’s 3% hotel/motel tax. The AACVB contribution for FY23 is budgeted at $54,000, 40% of which is used to promote Oswego. The Village retains the remaining 10% of hotel/motel tax.
Prior to the Village joining in 2018, the AACVB had emphasized its efforts to attract youth sports teams to its local sports venues. Only participant communities receive the hotel bookings in this model. AACVB also markets and attracts bus tours and conferences, promoting destinations across the region. For example, a tour may come to the area for a show at the Paramount but also stop at Fox Valley Winery in Oswego and tour the Farnsworth house in Plano. Similarly, sports tournaments frequently use multiple locations throughout the area to provide enough field or court space to meet their needs.
The Village also benefits from additional state funds through its CVB participation. AACVB receives a share of the state local tourism grants based on Oswego’s population. The Village would not be eligible to receive those grant funds without participating in a CVB. In 2022, the Village directed some of the Municipal Marketing funds to promotion events at Venue 1012. The AACVB provided additional marketing of our events’ series, including promotion to regional lifestyle and travel magazines. The Village’s partnership with the AACVB has been beneficial in providing the kind of tourism marketing the Village is not able to do on its own that directly benefits our hotels.
Sports marketing and travel tours benefit from utilizing resources across many communities, which the AACVB can do. Additionally, the Municipal Marketing partnership allows the Village to direct its marketing funds based on our evolving needs but leveraging AACVB’s ad buys and expertise.
Cort Carlson and James Cardis presented the following marketing reports:
Oswego Marketing Report Summary
Venue 1012 Marketing Report
• AACVB promoted Venue 1012 across all channels
• Digital Ads May -September 2022
• Combined Results
• Next Steps
Board, staff, and AACVB discussion focused on very successful summer at the Venue; proud of the numbers in the reports; additional funds are in the Fall and holiday season campaign right now; other communities base their contributions on the hotel/motel tax; goal is to drive guests to stay in hotels; whether there are other avenues to obtain traffic; local radio is very costly; makes more sense to promote digitally; not promoting on streaming services; leisure and consumer marketing; direct sales more for sports; whether there is a larger return on group sales; marketing done as a region and not specific to communities; examples of print ads for the region and for Oswego; opportunities for providing marketing in more ads; putting more in social media; vast majority of marketing is digital and social media; Bureau Gravity is a separate company; funds of 40% is specific to marketing Oswego; 3% of hotel tax goes to AACVB; bringing recognition to Oswego’s brand; whether there is a breakdown in age demographic; can obtain the information through AACVB data files; target is for those who are 25 and older; AACCB campaign excludes the Chicago market because Bureau Gravity is doing the marketing to Chicago; not wanting to duplicate what Bureau Gravity is doing; having a say in what the priorities are; AACVB serves ten communities; Oswego ranks second with North Aurora and Yorkville similar in the rankings; why Oswego is excluded in the annual report; Oswego is always included in the figures; only one photo in the report; what the plan is to focus on the Venue; will depend on what Village staff wants; will come up with a plan and how to spend the funds; advertising goes out to anyone who subscribes; e-advertisements; Fox Trail Guide for each community. AACVB to provide a copy of print ads to the Village Board. There was no further discussion.
CLOSED SESSION
There was no closed session.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m.
https://www.oswegoil.org/home/showpublisheddocument/5479/638046440748170000
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