[4:14] There we go. Okay. Testing. Yeah. >> Okay.

[4:19] » Welcome to the tourism advisory committee meeting. It's August 19th. We

[4:23] are starting at right at 2 p.m. >> I want to welcome everybody. to do a

[4:28] roll call. >> Keith Chamber,

[4:31] » Linda Whis,

[4:36] » Christy P >> and Vesty

[4:40] » and Satie Mercer and two other guests, Dave Mercer and

[4:45] Finn Mercer. Okay. Uh, review of the minutes. Has everybody had an

[4:49] opportunity to review the minutes? And if so, may I have a motion?

[4:57] Okay. Second,

[5:01] » second by Keith. All in favor? >> All those. Thank you very much.

[5:07] Financial review. >> Before we go to there, I will say about

[5:11] the minutes, you might notice that they're getting more matterof fact and

[5:15] less descriptive

[5:19] » and that's because we record everything. Okay. And so this point like dictating

[5:23] everything out. I think the city of meetings are kind of moving away from

[5:27] having to do that just it's it's strictly what were the votes what was

[5:31] you know what was discussed if you want details you can watch videos so I think

[5:36] that's the way it should be >> yeah financial review I have um some

[5:42] financial reports from the city but again

[5:46] it's leg we're mostly looking at May stuff here um so um

[5:54] that's Just because this is what city council has voted on in their packets

[5:59] recently which are transcribed here for you.

[6:01] » Can you just talk about which page you're on?

[6:05] » Reports are I should put page numbers on.

[6:17] » So [clears throat] I can go through these or you could ask

[6:21] me questions about them if you'd like. whatever depends on how you like to do

[6:25] it. These b these bills are all paid already. So, you know, it's kind of up

[6:29] to you and what your is

[6:37] » what's Lookout. >> Lookout is our creative uh agency that

[6:41] does development of our ads. >> Okay.

[6:44] » So, our print ads mostly, but lots of digital ads as well. So, on this one, we

[6:49] have creative development February through June.

[6:54] Most of that work took place in February, March, April around, but

[7:00] this closed off the fiscal year. >> So, we missed a payment for the weather

[7:03] camp. >> We did miss a payment for the weather

[7:06] camp. >> Well, we missed it until we paid in May.

[7:11] » I mean, it's a big difference. [laughter] I mean, quite a few months.

[7:14] I'm like, I'm surprised we didn't catch it earlier.

[7:17] » Yeah. So, we we caught it in May, but >> Yeah. I know it's a good thing. But

[7:22] » yeah, >> it's weird. Billing is strange because

[7:27] especially large companies >> like broadcast companies and stuff,

[7:31] they'll send us a bill >> or they'll send it to city hall or

[7:35] they'll mail it and it's just like floats around sometimes and gets lost

[7:38] and I think part of this is the reason why

[7:42] um we build our own kind of parallel finance system to city hall so that we

[7:47] can keep track of what we've allocated, what we expect and what we're actually

[7:50] seeing. Then we can locate it kind of like this. This is from October.

[7:55] » That's why I said it to such a long time. Almost a year that they realized

[7:58] they didn't get >> No. No. October to May. So it's about

[8:01] half a year. >> Only 58 bucks for office coffee. That's

[8:04] a bargain. >> I know. We would have shot where you

[8:07] shop. [laughter] >> Columbia River coffee.

[8:10] You can buy them in bulk. >> That's per cup.

[8:13] » Yeah. >> It's about two months worthy coffee.

[8:17] » That's good. >> Yeah.

[8:19] » Delicious. You got to do the work and we pour our own coffee, but

[8:23] » [laughter] >> as if you'd have it any other way.

[8:30] » I don't know. I'm not aware. What is C? What seaside condo association?

[8:35] » Yeah, I knew it.

[8:41] » You're truly on the tack now. >> Yes.

[8:43] » Okay. So um a long time ago when the world mark was built there was an

[8:48] agreement reached where the city would assume the uh responsibility for power

[8:54] for the lower two levels the public parking levels of the world parking

[8:57] garage and the equivalent of two units for some reason

[9:04] » that exists in a contract somewhere that was signed when I was you know 19

[9:11] » that's how you think you like [clears throat] not their little hotel

[9:15] units or what those down >> that's where they set the value

[9:18] » that's the value of what they gave us basically

[9:21] » so every month we pay up it's it's assigned to us because a lot of the bed

[9:25] tax comes through our department >> that's not so true anymore now that we

[9:30] have a tourism uh activity fund that Zach and Spencer set up but when Mark

[9:35] was doing the budget it always brought it through us and so that's a historical

[9:39] just remnant where we still pay that through this budget

[9:43] We pay that every month or >> every month.

[9:47] » Just two >> for those for all those parking spots.

[9:49] » It's for public parking. >> It's for public parking. We don't

[9:52] actually get the units. >> Okay. Just parking.

[9:56] » Okay. Good to know. >> The homeless get the units

[10:01] » and it's like a lease of those parking >> so they can be revoked at some point.

[10:06] » I hope they do honestly. [clears throat]

[10:11] Yeah, it's it's an interesting thing and and for a long time there was all these

[10:15] things where that number would fluctuate every year and we'd have no recourse or

[10:21] understanding of why it would go up a thousand bucks or down a thousand bucks.

[10:25] We're just like what is going on here? And it turned out when you go back and

[10:29] look at the document that was signed that there was all these committees that

[10:32] were supposed to be set up to discuss these things. And so it's only within

[10:36] the last year that those committees have actually been set up because we've

[10:39] looked on track like what is going on here?

[10:41] » It's not really anything to do with this department. It's a city umbrella thing

[10:46] that we pay but we kind of prod because we're like what's going on here and

[10:50] » so it might be taken out of these >> I hope it will eventually. Yeah.

[10:54] » But it is a professional or it's in maintenance contracts now which is

[10:58] actually an improvement because it used to be in our professional contractual

[11:01] and just eat it up immediately. So >> yeah because that's big that's a big

[11:07] » huge >> do you have the committ we're doing the

[11:11] committees now >> Zach Zach is on it it's it's uh Zach is

[11:18] the city representative he's our finance director and then there's the general

[11:22] manager of the world mark there's some other worldmark representative who's in

[11:27] um Las Vegas and then Mark Tolen who's the

[11:32] board director or something of the condos there or something. That's the

[11:36] group. And it sounds like they are working on putting in u

[11:42] they're working on resurfacing protecting some of the uh sealant that

[11:47] they have um in the parking garage and they're also working on putting in

[11:51] security cameras and stuff like that. So the funding that is all goes into what

[11:56] determines this cost. But we're now part of that whereas before it was just kind

[12:00] of happened >> is like building maintenance

[12:05] like pressure washing cuz the outside isn't really bad shape like is that part

[12:10] of that committee or if you know >> I know it is some weather proofing so I

[12:15] would think that might be involved but you might um talk to Mark or Zach

[12:23] because they sit in on those meetings every two months.

[12:27] I just pay the bills. >> Yeah. Yeah.

[12:30] » Do we know how many parking spots we get for that $7,000?

[12:34] » Oh, >> yeah. It's two floors, but I don't know

[12:36] how many it is to be the truth. >> Be nice to

[12:40] » I'm surprised if you got there [clears throat] early

[12:44] tomorrow. And

[12:48] » there's also there as well or charging station.

[12:53] » Yeah. So when people call me and ask for it.

[12:58] » There's two there, right? >> One I think is up on the page.

[13:01] » Yeah. One paid one is the one that we public have.

[13:06] » It's one of them. >> So the paid not everybody can go to the

[13:10] paid section. It's just windows, right? >> Yes. You already have to have

[13:17] » good. >> Thanks for the explanation.

[13:19] » Great question.

[13:23] in Alabama.

[13:27] I don't think so. >> Well, what what's destination lab? We

[13:31] probably you probably already told us >> that is the um for three years we have

[13:35] done a resident sentiment on tourism survey with Oregon State University.

[13:42] » And um the first year um it was paid for because we went in as part of a travel

[13:47] Oregon grant and we were one of the destinations that was awarded funding

[13:50] for that. um sitting out for the last two years. We've paid to continue that

[13:54] because we have a benchmark and we've seen how it moves.

[13:57] » Okay. >> And that that meets city council goals

[14:01] and stuff like that. It's a really good program for us to have

[14:05] » and that's not that's a one time once a year.

[14:07] » That's an annual. >> Yeah. Okay.

[14:10] That's how I haven't seen it.

[14:15] » I think if you go on to um seside.com and go to the industry section, we have

[14:21] the um the results posted. It's interesting to see how things are

[14:26] changing and all that. But seaside, if I had to put it into like a short

[14:31] baitment, is relatively well positioned for a mature destination. lots of other

[14:38] towns tourism has a is perceived as having a lot more um drawbacks.

[14:45] Seaside I think those drawbacks are recognized but also a lot of people

[14:48] recognize the benefit that it brings. So relative to other destinations seaside's

[14:52] doing pretty [clears throat] well. >> That's good.

[14:58] » Okay. Um expenditures I have two here. One is from last year, so it's through

[15:04] the end of June and um it's been updated since we last talked. I think everything

[15:10] is in here now. And I just want to point out if you look at the totals for

[15:15] materials and services on an almost $890,000

[15:22] total, we spent it to with a half percentage.

[15:27] So, um, it's kind like we don't have full control over all these lion. So,

[15:32] it's a little bit like, uh, surfing or something. You know, you're

[15:37] anticipating things and kind of changing changing uh, course throughout the year,

[15:43] but also keeping an eye on the things we do control very squarely and and trying

[15:48] to spend it within within reason, but not going over budget. So, half a

[15:53] percentage point on that total be good. the new fiscal year. So on the next

[15:59] page, it moves to the end of July. Um I messed up the spreadsheet there on

[16:07] personnel services and didn't put in year-to- date expenditures, but it is

[16:11] 7.86% for this point in the year. Materials

[16:17] and services is at 8.47%.

[16:21] There are two items that I noticed in the budget that um are both need to be

[16:28] reconciled before the end of the fiscal year and both result from the city

[16:33] council approving more money for things and our budget not being adapted to um

[16:40] take those into account. So, one is in the contributions and donations line.

[16:46] They have budgeted again,000, which is the same as last year. However,

[16:51] the city council voted to give uh David's chair $14,000 this year instead

[16:58] of $7,000. So, that means we're overdrawn on that. Unfortunate or we

[17:03] will be overdrawn on that. And unfortunately, that's also where we get

[17:07] our arts grant money. So

[17:10] » that's why we have less money right now. >> Yeah. But that that's just on paper.

[17:17] It's going to be running south end the year. So that money that 44,000 will

[17:22] have to go up. And then the other more impactful one is that chamber

[17:29] I don't what does commamber communities or business license former business

[17:35] license. >> Yeah. 6

[17:37] 64,000. The chamber gets what? 39,000 plus fireworks.

[17:42] » Yeah. >> Plus 25.

[17:45] » Yeah, it does. I think >> Yeah.

[17:49] » Yeah. >> But that's not what

[17:51] » So you So this year the city council voted to 40,500, right?

[17:55] » But didn't adjust this line. And so we're out about 155 on that one.

[18:02] » But it shouldn't have come out of that fund.

[18:04] » It It is coming out of that fund. They just are paying this with the tax now.

[18:09] So they switched they switched how it was funded which doesn't impact us.

[18:13] However, they didn't adjust the total line. So we areed. They're going to fix

[18:18] it. >> Which explains why when I called about

[18:20] the bill being paid, then it was a big question as to why I was billing them

[18:25] for that amount. >> Oh yeah.

[18:28] » Yeah. We didn't get that bill even though we pay it. Sometimes city hall

[18:31] got it and I saw it inflated and said, "Yeah, we pay that. We'll pay it." Is it

[18:35] this is this is where >> that was where it was originally.

[18:39] » Oh, I know that's where it was originally, but I thought that that

[18:42] whole thing was that it was going to be switched out of off of your budget.

[18:47] » I think what they're what they were switching is how it's paid.

[18:52] » Yes. >> For for business license fees.

[18:55] » This this amount isn't I don't think business license anymore. I think it's

[18:59] TLP, but >> Right. But what was business license

[19:03] fees? Sorry, I guess I was talking about fireworks.

[19:05] » Yeah, but yeah. Anyway, >> fireworks used to be in our promo event,

[19:10] promotional events, >> but now it's chamber business line or

[19:14] whatever there. >> So, anyway, on paper,

[19:18] we're short, but it won't be that'll be adjusted. Zach said they'll adjust it

[19:23] before the end of the year. So, we'll just have to watch those lines and

[19:25] ensure that by the end of the year that gets adjusted, or else we'll definitely

[19:28] be overcrowded. And I showed him I said it with him half

[19:33] a percentage coin last year. I need that money. [laughter]

[19:41] » Okay.

[19:52] » Uh I [clears throat] think most of you have heard me mention this at meetings

[19:55] over the last couple weeks, but our visitors are coming from everywhere.

[19:59] We've had people from five, six, seven, eight different major foreign countries.

[20:04] Um, not including Canada, but we've had Canada. Uh, and then all over the

[20:09] country. A lot of Midwest and South, which is a whole new weird thing. Why so

[20:13] many of them ended up here again, Oklahoma today, Virginia,

[20:18] um, New York yesterday. I mean, they're everywhere. It's It's really

[20:22] interesting. Um, and very fun. Uh the um a lot of people in Oregon and eastern

[20:29] Washington obviously escaping smoke. Uh and then we had a lot of people who were

[20:34] um had plans, this happened during volleyball. I heard about it afterwards,

[20:38] but apparently a lot of people had plans to go hike at the end of Mount Hood and

[20:42] when they had that Meadows evacuation or to stay clear, a lot of people chose to

[20:46] come to Seaside and do the trail head. So, I think at one point we were

[20:51] estimating there could have been seven to 10 different groups camping up at the

[20:55] hikers camp, which is really, you know, pretty interesting. It must have been

[20:58] fun. Uh, but seven cars got permits and were parked out here while people did

[21:02] the trail. So, that was kind of neat. I like that they pivoted and came the

[21:05] seaside. Uh, and then, um, months ahead of schedule, I think we set

[21:11] a record. Um, I'm going to mail out the last of our polyag guides this week. Uh,

[21:17] so we've already started stuffing envelopes and labeling postage. Uh, Nate

[21:22] came in today, our Sunday part-timer, and I went over that with him. It's

[21:26] like, if you're saying Sundays are busy, so hopefully he has a little time to

[21:29] stuff. But yes, surprisingly, Sundays have been um, really busy. And again,

[21:34] people from all over the place are coming in on a Sunday. So, it's great

[21:38] even it's four hours, it's great that we're hoping it obviously serves a

[21:41] purpose. Uh, and Nate does a great job of detailing what they're in for. Um,

[21:46] like we try to keep notes of, you know, complete a treasure quest, you know,

[21:49] that kind of stuff. And he just gets extra thorough. I told him I'm like,

[21:53] "Don't feel like you have to do it unless you want to." No, no. It's just

[21:56] kind of fun to talk about. >> He locks the door.

[21:59] » Yeah. >> So, yeah, hopefully he'll get to stuff

[22:03] some envelopes. Uh, and I've already ordered more labels and more envelopes

[22:07] uh to finish up the year because it looks like we're just going to be on

[22:11] average about 500 a week till the end of the year.

[22:14] Usually we would drop to about 250. Now by October we're waiting every other

[22:19] week because we're not hitting our 200 max that we need to do the shipment. Um

[22:23] so this is different new territory kind of fun and it's so great to get more

[22:29] poly bag. >> Yeah. So at this point

[22:35] fully onethird of the guides that have gone out are going direct to mail order

[22:40] homes which is a much higher ratio than we've had in the past at least while

[22:45] I've been here. >> So we've had 20,000 I think that we're

[22:49] in now. And I did mention at chamber this morning, so no heard it at all

[22:54] actually. Um the I learned from Josh the meta leads are not just like some of the

[23:00] leads we used to get from I don't know we used to get leads from places where

[23:05] if people just tacked on oh interested in the coast well then we you know we

[23:11] get the order for it. I learned on Meta they actually fill out an order form for

[23:17] the seaside visitor guide. So that made a big difference in my opinion of the

[23:22] meta leads. I thought they were just throwaways, but they're actually people

[23:26] filling out a form to get our guide. So I just thought that was

[23:30] » Yeah. >> Pretty amazing that many people a month.

[23:33] » Over 300. >> Yeah. Close to 400 sometimes a month. So

[23:37] then that's all Facebook and Instagram, right? Just Facebook.

[23:40] » I think it's Facebook and Instagram. And I think our totals to date this year are

[23:47] um Uh, travel Oregon I think is the most

[23:52] because they're just a much larger machine that stuff,

[23:58] » right? And uh, the next highest would be Meta. Next highest is their own website

[24:06] and those combined together have been 20,000 this year so far.

[24:11] And the cost per acquisition on entitle is really reasonable. We're running at

[24:15] like one $1.78 or something for those per per

[24:20] guy. If you consider that if one of those if one out of 10 people from that

[24:27] that get those magazines come to Seaside and pay for 100 people get a guide, you

[24:32] know, um it's really um running at really cost effective uh

[24:39] rate. And Meta has all these little the I don't know how accurate they are, but

[24:43] they they rate all these different things as far as like how successful is

[24:47] your ad, how affordable is your ad, is your creative good, and aren't we were

[24:52] running above average in all the categories. For this particular one,

[24:55] it's just really seems to be working well for what it is.

[25:00] » And then the only other thing, yesterday, beach towel Tuesday, same as

[25:03] usual, there were five different families out front waiting. We opened

[25:06] the door. Uh, so everybody got their towels and then a little bit later this

[25:10] other family shows up and the kids were really excited. So Greg slipped the

[25:14] sixth one by but he did go extra. Uh, and that was great to see. I mean people

[25:19] are still at it. Uh, Don called me right before coming here and asked how many we

[25:23] have left because she sold out >> and wanted to know if you should be

[25:26] ordering more. I said hell yeah because people want them. So and the way she's

[25:31] selling them that is great to hear. So >> more towels will be coming soon to craft

[25:35] it in season.

[25:41] » Can you have any sense of like where they're hearing about it? Like are they

[25:45] seeing >> posts or

[25:48] » It varies. It seems like um I mean Greg interacts directly. I know that one time

[25:55] there was a couple in and they said, "Oh, we've already got that. It's our

[25:58] one sheet." So they were in town. They knew that they were going to come back

[26:02] and do it, but it was like a Friday or a Monday or something and you know, so

[26:06] it's like, do you want the info? I know we've got that

[26:10] » social media. >> I have a hunch. It's our um event

[26:12] calendar. >> Oh yes. And then it's in the newsletter

[26:15] and the Thursday turnaround as well. So maybe but it's not for locals. So word

[26:22] must be getting passed on from staff at places. Are they all coming from Ruths

[26:26] or >> No, come here.

[26:29] » A lot of them go to craft it for Ruth. [laughter]

[26:33] » Yeah, that was fun. Yesterday, two two of the different families as they were

[26:36] walking out. Um the grandma of one family, she put the towel on like a

[26:42] shaw, did a little scarfy wrap, and then the dad of the other family made a cake.

[26:46] Not the kid, the dad. And then they got their chair pictures.

[26:51] So that was pretty cute. Do you do chair pictures with all of

[26:55] them? No. >> Do you take pictures of them holding

[26:58] their cup? >> No, but I think everybody does. They get

[27:00] their towel and they go out there and they take pictures in your chair.

[27:02] They've been waiting a while too and they've already taken chairs pictures.

[27:06] So, >> but yeah, a lot of fun.

[27:13] Take a look at the monthly stats.

[27:18] feels like it's been busy in the visitor center but relative to past years it's

[27:22] still still slow. So July we were down about a 100 visitors from the previous

[27:28] July at 1100 13% running about 7% below 2025 today

[27:38] volume was down this month our direct mail leads were up 23% total

[27:43] distribution is about about even with last year but like I said our

[27:48] distribution has been much better mix as far as quality active web users were

[27:54] about equal with last year sitting around 49,000 people on the website.

[27:58] July email signups were up 30%.

[28:03] July our visitor guide requests on our

[28:06] website were down 47% but that's because they've shifted to meta and our views

[28:12] for active user are down about 5%. Loging stats for Katsup County in

[28:19] October were positive 5.6%. 6% revenue growth at least for the

[28:24] STR report there and I did get bed tax for the last quarter of 2526

[28:31] 1 8 million for tell 742,000 for

[28:39] BRD total for the quarter 2.6 6 million.

[28:44] That brings us up to 9 almost 9.3 million combined for the whole year.

[28:52] That is a 3.9% growth of the last year. what

[29:01] equation

[29:08] and I I don't know if that's final the truth though initial initial note so we

[29:13] may get a few more

[29:17] » it is hard to say if that increase is rate increases

[29:23] versus occupancy increases right like we don't have any way of actually tracking

[29:28] occupancy increases? >> The only occupancy data I get is on a

[29:32] county level on a month-to-month basis and I just don't know how represented

[29:38] suicide is in that. Do you know you have your report a little bit different?

[29:43] » Yeah. Um and it's but it's like I said it's over so it's not like it really

[29:49] shows size. Yeah. how many more et.

[30:01] » So the two lodging uh representatives in the room, how is your rates reporting

[30:07] compared to last year? >> Uh we usually uh have about a 5%

[30:11] increase on rates annually >> and that was the case.

[30:13] » We ch we choose that. I see. Yeah. I mean it's

[30:17] um in the winter time we're having to dip lower uh sign like lower than we

[30:23] have before at least this last winter uh we had to reduce rates significantly to

[30:28] get anybody in but um but as far as our average for our summer we increase about

[30:34] 5% announcement >> and so we our breakdown's a little

[30:39] different however I feel like um as a whole we try to stay pretty um set most

[30:46] of the way through. Um we haven't shown that big of an increase though because

[30:49] again we value our customers are repeat ones for the most part and we're

[30:53] smaller. You know at 22 units I can pretty much control that matrix a lot

[30:59] better than somebody who is 100 75. >> Um so yeah it's a little different but

[31:05] for us this summer it's just been where you need summer just because it's not

[31:09] been sunny and hot every day. So you're playing that game of, you know, we used

[31:14] do they stay or don't they stay? But this last month has been very different

[31:18] because it was cooler >> because people were packing it in like

[31:22] we discussed Wednesday where it would make that drop. I'm starting to see

[31:26] where Wednesday is starting to even out. It used to be that you would you always

[31:29] have Wednesday where nobody middle of the week nobody really stayed but I'm

[31:33] starting to see an increase now. >> So but school's you know in for a lot of

[31:38] places and school's got to be in. schools got in already.

[31:41] » Yeah, for us June was really soft and beginning of July, first week of July

[31:46] was really soft and then it started ramping up and now we're pretty much at

[31:50] capacity. But >> yeah,

[31:52] » but yeah, but June was really soft. >> Yeah.

[31:54] » But again, I feel like that's because people are starting to realize school is

[31:57] going back or in like so a lot of kids in the Portland area already back in. So

[32:02] they're hoping to squeeze that last weekend in or that last before.

[32:09] Well, so the for the county in June, at least the county numbers and STR

[32:14] reports, it looks like occupancy was up 1.6 over the previous year and uh repar

[32:20] was up almost 8%. >> Yeah. for the county. Again, it's just

[32:25] there are definitely some particularities, but each

[32:28] » and then there's things that have happened in lodging too, like certain

[32:31] hotel, especially when you look at each county because like the Shiloh in

[32:36] Warrington went down and you know there've been some other things have

[32:40] changed and some of the hotel in Atoria have gone to not being temporary lodging

[32:47] like that, >> but we don't even know which properties

[32:49] are participating, >> right? And that's what I'm saying. So

[32:51] some of these guys have actually fallen off the star report because they no

[32:54] longer are representative of that. So then you look at that and with rates and

[33:00] stuff you could look like you're seeing an increase.

[33:02] » Like is Norblad not are they not reporting anymore?

[33:07] » What happened? >> It's under contract right now.

[33:11] » Yeah. Um >> I mean just they're south.

[33:19] » It's currently a hostel, right? >> No, it's it's um

[33:24] » we know it's hard to >> uh No, it's just not every room has a

[33:28] bathroom. >> That's tough.

[33:31] » It's it's Yeah, it's hard to hard to rent rooms without bathroom private

[33:34] bathrooms. Yeah. >> So, it was up for sale.

[33:39] » Yeah.

[33:50] Rose festival the 5th May 26th move to the weekend this year for the third time

[33:55] that's held a little earlier on May 30th typically held in June yes change held

[34:02] boost attendance with an estimated 30,000 people participating in and off

[34:06] the submission once again the decoration station was decked out seaside branding

[34:10] and staff members walked the route prior to the parade hyping up seaside hand and

[34:14] out travel guide from committees. Seaside also received sponsorship

[34:18] recognition in print and future experience magazine as part of this

[34:21] package on the Portland website and in an e newsletter to participants. The

[34:26] rose festival host about seesaw on Instagram and Facebook on May 27th and

[34:30] again on June 3rd. Probably the biggest bonus though again is going to be uh

[34:35] besides the participation in the parade itself was a 60-second CSA commercial

[34:40] that aired during KT's Hellcast of the Grand Floral Starlight Parade and on the

[34:44] live YouTube stream which I've got a screenshot of down there. Neielson

[34:49] overnight data showed the broadcast reached 80,000 viewers in the Portland

[34:54] DMA which seems kind of small small to me but that seems small for viewership

[35:01] broadcast. Well, I think you know because people are streaming and stuff

[35:04] more now it's not so much of I just don't think they send me for viewing

[35:08] » because they saw huge increases in inerson

[35:11] right but I don't feel like people are actually staying home and watching it as

[35:14] much especially when they can buy them. >> Yeah

[35:17] » because this is the first year that where

[35:19] » you know it's a little different. >> It sounds like they're going to keep

[35:22] that. >> They are. They said that funding wise

[35:24] it's been a better choice about us. Yeah,

[35:28] » that looks like it. and they said it averaged more than 40,000 viewers over

[35:31] the duration. Also want to recognize two summer

[35:34] advertisements we currently have out in the wild. I might have even mentioned

[35:37] this in a prior attack meeting, but um we got these free last minute or value

[35:42] added placements from our partners and collaborators. As a general rule, we do

[35:46] not allocate advertising budget to seaside summer months for obvious

[35:50] reasons. First up, uh, Oregon's Oregon Idaho's tripaa via magazine on a full

[35:56] page sand castle season had in the July August issue. This is out right now. And

[36:00] they even honored our premium first page placement. So, if you pick up the

[36:05] magazine, you're definitely going to see this. And so, that was really nice of

[36:08] them to uh give us this. Um, the Oregon Coast Visitors

[36:12] Association also included a text advocacy signin July August email blast

[36:18] to subscribers. The email was appropriately themed 10 places for

[36:21] family fun. And although seaside was not among the named in the article somehow

[36:28] like I don't know how you dance around that took some fancy footwork but um

[36:34] showing up as one of the emails for text ads and I have a picture of it down

[36:38] there on the bottom of the page. There's a nice bit of added exposure. This is a

[36:42] text ad by the way. It says text ad but it's a photograph a linked photograph

[36:46] that's just a small bit of text. This is very common in email newsletters.

[36:51] And then lastly, although it's not an ad, our friends of we included an

[36:54] awesome feature on seaside in our annual 2026 summer guide. The article begins on

[36:59] page 18 and runs for pages making a complete case for why Seaside is an

[37:03] unbeatable family destination. Also includes a variety of photographs,

[37:08] including a beautiful sunset shot we got from Brager during our most recent

[37:12] advertising shoot. And um Christy, I think they have a picture from you in

[37:16] there, too. And I think it says Crispy Pool.

[37:19] » Yeah. Oh, really? >> Yeah. Courtesy of I think so. Or maybe

[37:23] it says >> the mall.

[37:25] » And then they reached out and they wanted a photo and I and I went out and

[37:29] just grabbed one with my phone. I'm like, this is the best cuz I only had

[37:31] like 48. >> There you go.

[37:34] » A really good picture. >> Well, it ran. It looked good enough.

[37:37] » I was just sitting here thinking I need to get a professional picture.

[37:43] » You run a 3 AI. It's fine. Oh my gosh, that would be

[37:49] » There's a lot of um >> There's a lot of seal pictures there,

[37:52] too. >> A lot of seal.

[37:53] » There's at least two. >> So,

[37:56] » ours are just ones out on the beach. >> Yeah, you walk up like

[38:05] Yeah, it's it's a really it's a really it's a good article. It's kind of funny.

[38:08] I mean, it's a typical W week like tongue and cheek, but you know, they

[38:12] rate all these places based on like how much fun your kids are going to have,

[38:15] how much fun you're going to have as an adult, you know, and so the things kind

[38:19] of change over the different destination,

[38:24] but overall, there's always something for everybody, which is kind of a really

[38:27] nice takeaway. They use the word kitschy at one point, but as far as things go

[38:33] for it week and for monthly and things like that, it's really comes off very

[38:38] positive and not too backhanded compliments which that kind

[38:43] of media is really good at doing. I know. I used to work for [laughter]

[38:52] » Okay. And in terms of grant, I got two of them.

[39:08] Museum is applying for money to put banners

[39:13] on

[39:28] it.

[39:32] » Me too. >> So this is under two hearts of vitality.

[39:37] There is 9,683 remaining. This asks for 3,452.

[40:06] request. Was that the SDVA one? >> No, that was a that was a request that

[40:13] came from a woman from California who proposed putting a mural somewhere, but

[40:18] she didn't complete her application. Seemed really interested on when she

[40:22] found >> this wasn't the one in the Gilbert

[40:24] building. >> That was

[40:26] » that was different. >> That was last year.

[40:29] » The water. >> Oh, yeah. They Yeah. No, they never

[40:33] » So I did want to ask maybe I'm so last year year whatever last grant

[40:44] program I'm blind STDA was awarded the 11,500

[40:50] for the or what 11,000 for the alleyway. >> Yeah.

[40:54] » And it they were they kept that. >> They kept it.

[40:59] » Okay. for some reason. >> For some reason, I thought that because

[41:03] the project didn't >> they received the money

[41:07] » and um >> I think what you're thinking about is

[41:12] the mechanical watershed council was trying to get a mural as well, but it

[41:16] turned out that they weren't going to be able to get it within the time frame

[41:20] they needed. So, they were invited to buy this year,

[41:24] » but then their director left or something. So, I don't know where

[41:26] they're at with that, but um >> because what what is the timeline again

[41:30] for the use of it? >> The idea is that it's spent by the end

[41:34] of the fiscal year >> right

[41:36] » now once the money's dispensed. So, we don't have a lot of

[41:42] um we don't have a lot of levers we can pull except for we can get give out more

[41:48] money. So the problem problem currently for STBA is that until the DOS close

[41:54] that grant by submitting a final report on how they've spent that money and

[41:59] everything or they are not allowed to apply for the next grant which is going

[42:04] to impact Halloween happening if it doesn't happen soon but they are the

[42:07] rest. >> For some reason I thought we had talked

[42:10] about like getting that money back because

[42:14] there wasn't really a timeline when it was completed. I mean, I'm glad they're

[42:17] kept and it looks like they're moving forward, right? But I thought we at one

[42:21] point we had discussed that that money would have to be allocated out of this

[42:25] year's >> I think I asked Zach if that was the

[42:28] case and I the answer was if if they hadn't got the money then we wouldn't

[42:33] give it to them. But if they already had the money,

[42:36] » it's just you can't apply for another granted.

[42:40] » Okay. So, we did um we did spend the majority of that 25,000 last year then,

[42:48] right? >> I think it was

[42:52] was it >> around or was

[42:55] » I have a memory that there was like maybe 9,000 left over or something.

[42:58] » Yeah, let's see. So, the almost seven and but we did spend the majority of it.

[43:05] I mean, I think we had like seven maybe. Well, so I mean, so SVD would be 11 and

[43:10] then Chamber would be almost seven. Not entirely 6, eight or something like

[43:14] that. >> So it was

[43:15] » so so then there wasn't anybody else though.

[43:18] » No, it was just those two. >> Yeah. Was

[43:21] » pending. I think the TAC voted to award them.

[43:25] » We did. And then >> assuming they could come up with a

[43:28] location or something or get an agreement from Gilbert building. That's

[43:32] what it was. >> Gotcha.

[43:33] » But they couldn't do that and so they didn't get the funds.

[43:36] » Yeah. Uh, I was I was concerned that if we still had if if we had not awarded

[43:42] them already and now that they're closing in on that project start that we

[43:47] would need to make sure that there was enough funding in this year. Sorry, that

[43:51] was a long way around getting to an actual point.

[43:54] » Yeah. But no, >> that that was the kind of the point is

[43:57] to make sure that like before we move forward on anything else that there

[44:01] wasn't enough funds for that project. So right there.

[44:34] Did they say or did I just miss how many banners that it actually is accounting

[44:39] for? >> Four. Four banners.

[44:41] » Is that it? >> I think it's the four polls. I think

[44:46] » I think four. Eight banners. >> Have you seen the old?

[44:53] Yeah, I priced those at one point to to do

[44:57] » uh No, to do temporary ones for events on the prom.

[45:02] Anyway,

[45:06] » is this meant to stay? >> Yes.

[45:16] It looks like the most the money is mostly in the hardware, you know, and

[45:21] then after that when these are weatherproof, if they take a beating,

[45:25] they are going to be replacing them with balance money after they committed

[45:30] keeping them.

[45:48] I remember

[45:53] » for hanging those like the ones coming >> because we had some down in

[46:00] Vietn park had a couple.

[46:04] » Yeah, that's how some of the hardware bands back in the day. Oh, Ambassadors.

[46:10] That's what that was.

[46:14] » Yeah, I haven't changed. Yeah, the the hardware not useful.

[46:20] » Yeah, >> the ones that are up, but I might have

[46:24] some upstairs aquarium. >> If they're anywhere, that's where

[46:31] » if they're missing Oh, I know where they are. The aquarium. It might be there.

[46:35] [laughter] or the basement of the Gilbert building.

[46:46] » Uh recommendations

[46:52] motions. >> So it's just just on Pearl Harbor

[46:55] Bridge. Yeah. >> Or banners. The brackets

[47:02] banners. Banners are pretty inexpensive, guys.

[47:06] » Yeah. Or 70. [clears throat] >> Yeah.

[47:11] Then of the brackets for those. >> Yeah.

[47:14] » But it's just one banner per like it's not

[47:18] » two double double banners, right? And they were doublesided.

[47:22] » Two off the side. >> No, I know they're doublesided. Yeah,

[47:25] there were two off each one originally. >> That's what I thought.

[47:31] Great.

[47:38] And I paid more. >> Yeah, we all pay for

[47:42] pretty good time.

[47:49] » I like this idea. I forward a resolution to awarding.

[47:58] » Okay. Motion to award 4,000 sorry $3,452

[48:04] is all available. Uh looking for a second

[48:11] » all in favor. >> All opposed. Okay.

[48:17] All right. One more.

[48:27] Cool.

[48:34] He goes down there

[48:39] every year on five

[48:44] something there. >> This one is a repeat. So indigenous

[48:50] gathering

[48:55] is the

[48:58] Looks like April 30th.

[49:08] » We didn't fund it. The last meeting or did we

[49:12] » I believe you did fun. I think I found >> Yeah, they put 2026, but they must have

[49:19] meant 25. >> Yeah.

[49:22] » Wasn't it in the spring? >> So, they go and they have this. Did you

[49:26] read it before? They go and they harvest like tree bark and all different kinds

[49:31] of stuff and then they make weaving baskets and improve it.

[49:36] » But it if you look at it's it looks like it's a private event,

[49:42] » right? >> And it's I think they you have to be a

[49:45] travel number invited

[49:48] and they put about it was five hotel rooms.

[49:52] » So I don't really see how this Thursday night. Yeah. What is that

[49:57] » for five? Yeah. And then what they want 3,000

[50:02] and most of that is going just to salaries

[50:07] » of the NC describing your project there's an

[50:11] interesting paragraph that says due to the nature of this three-day

[50:16] gathering inevit inevitably event participants stay overnight seaside as

[50:20] well as shopping locally. We anticipate, this is important, bringing a similar

[50:25] mix of travelers to the event and anticipate the same number of

[50:28] participants in 2027 from previous years, all of which

[50:34] it doesn't seem like uh material change from last year in a sense,

[50:40] » which I recall you folks saying that this is something that they wanted

[50:45] wanted to support, but then >> but we wanted it to grow

[50:49] » and that doesn't sound like that happening. That would be even better if

[50:52] they would have at least one particular event or something to go

[50:58] to. >> Yeah,

[51:00] » I noticed that too. But

[51:44] They have quite resources.

[51:51] » Hard to pick out though what the resources are. What resources are

[51:55] » Yeah. which are dedicated specifically placed by

[51:58] » Well, I was looking at their uh their cash,

[52:03] their brokerage account funds and then their cash.

[52:10] [clears throat]

[52:16] The brokerage account almost 6 million

[52:27] And then discretion and say they've got 500,000

[52:59] I don't know that it equates the number of uh

[53:05] of visitors to seaside that we would hope for a new event.

[53:14] Um, it says in 2026 we nearly doubled attendance from prior year. I didn't see

[53:20] what the attendance from prior year was. Maybe I missed that.

[53:26] » Net income was 1.8 million too. And

[53:32] um

[53:36] yeah, I just think that there are other others

[53:40] that might benefit more

[53:45] um not have a backup like that

[53:50] » and they can it's not open to the public.

[53:54] I feel like they're not using interior. They come from the public.

[53:59] » All the other Yeah. All the other are welcome. Everybody is welcome. They're

[54:03] on the beach. They're, you know, they're in a very welcoming salt cruise. You

[54:09] kind of all of it. >> Sorry.

[54:18] » I would recommend not funding uh this request or not. I would second that.

[54:24] All in favor? >> I

[54:26] opposed.

[54:30] » I do not have any new business this month. However, I did want to let you

[54:33] know that um I will be uh creating a draft charter for the TAC based on the

[54:41] spreadsheet you submitted and then I will present it to you. I'll try to get

[54:46] it done for the next meeting and you can vote on if that's what you want to send

[54:50] to city council or we can make changes or whatever. Basically, I've been

[54:54] assigned to take the uh sheet filled out and apply it to a

[55:02] draft template of charter that council has moved forward with and approved. And

[55:07] so I'm going to do that for tax and I guess I have to do that for my own

[55:12] vision which is supposedly um and then we'll discuss it I guess

[55:17] next month. However, I don't have the copy you sent to city hall filled out.

[55:24] If you think about it, could you email it to me?

[55:27] » I would except that was on my computer that died a very severe death.

[55:33] » I can I can have city hall for it because I have it as well, but they

[55:37] don't remember it. >> I can look I might have a paper copy of

[55:42] it. I don't remember [laughter] printed it

[55:46] out and it might be in my folder in my office.

[55:48] » Well, if it's easy, then let me know. If not, they have it for sure. What they do

[55:54] have in the folder that I was given is the the an the like answers, the

[56:00] ultimate answers along the left hand side, but none of the reasoning that

[56:03] went along the right, which I feel like was all the the work that was in it. So,

[56:08] I don't have that filled out copy. I'll get that. But we'll we'll we'll try to

[56:13] discuss that next month. >> And then um

[56:20] » I guess I would like to chat at some point before we start working on

[56:25] budgeting stuff for the year. I would like to chat about us um potentially

[56:31] being the body that requests uh a surf rake. Um,

[56:37] » a surf lake at the beach. Beach. >> Oh,

[56:40] » beach sand. Bony beach. >> Sam.

[56:43] » Okay. [laughter] >> Do you mean through the budget process

[56:46] next year? >> Through the budget process. Yeah,

[56:50] » that could be. >> I just I just want to start early. Yeah,

[56:54] vehicle I think for that >> and then uh also potentially um being

[56:59] the entity that requests a uh and maybe this will just happen through

[57:05] public works too, but uh an entity that requests PT money for the addition of

[57:10] power at Avenue A ramp for the events as well.

[57:18] So, both of those things I already talked to Spencer and public works, but

[57:23] now, of course, since Paul's gone, >> there's no power there.

[57:26] » There's not. The only power is at the base of the round turnound,

[57:32] uh, there's water there, >> but no power. So, the reason that I

[57:35] really ask is that our event alone, um, spent about $9,000 in generators and

[57:43] feeding the generators for the event. So, um, yeah, just with ours and

[57:50] coast and other events that could use power on the beach, um, it seems like

[57:55] that could be a savings overall, make things a lot easier.

[58:07] Public comment. >> What did you just say?

[58:10] » Nothing. [laughter] Anything for you? Okay. Well, then we

[58:16] will uh call this meeting adjourned at 2:54.

[58:20] Right. Is that a record?

[58:24] Good.

[58:27] See you guys. Bye.

08/19/2026: Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee

Transcript