Members Present
Kitt McCarthy, Henry Jones, Candace Wilson, Kim Jones, Carmen Hendrick, Patrice Belcher, Todd Boggess, Ansel Ponder (Zoom), Jeff Disibbio (Zoom), John O’Neal (Zoom)
Members Absent
Greg Puckett, Jim Spencer, Marty Gearhart, Phil Lane, Sam Lusk
Guests
Chris Mabe, Alexa Nagy, Kaylie Trotman, Lyndsay Fruchtl, Melanie Lucas
Staff
Jamie Null, Karen Morris, Valerie Hendricks
Call to Order
Kitt McCarthy, President, called the meeting to order at 2:10 P.M. Guests were welcomed. The December minutes and financials were passed.
New Business
A. DR Update
Alexa presented the new logo, colors and fonts for all marketing and branding efforts for the upcoming year. She also went over the updated brand guidelines. She went over the numbers for the Winter and Holiday campaigns and goal conversions update for 2023. She also explained the spike in the numbers that was caused by the Netflix movie that contained a QR code sending folks to the Lake Shawnee page on the website. Alexa gave the social media numbers; visitors guide request numbers and website numbers. Alexa also said that the Uniquely Appalachian Spring campaign would run from February 29 through May 3.
B. Pineapple PR
Lindsay Fruchtl introduced herself and gave an update on the stories that have been written about Mercer County. She went over the numbers and stats as well as sharing the earned media numbers. She also went over some of the recent stories that have been in publications and what is coming up with articles and travel writers.
C. Air DnA Report
Melanie Lucas introduced herself and explained to the board what Air DnA is and how they collect data on short term rentals. The information they collect will help the CVB to know more about the lodging properties that aren’t included in the STR report. The CVB can then use that information to better market the county.
D. Director’s Report:
Jamie told the board about the budget revision and that she has a call on February 21 concerning the Civil Wara Trail. She will be getting a By-laws committee together to go over and update the by-laws as needed. It is almost time to get Huey back out and around the county. Jamie told the board that the team is working on creating a schedule/flyer that will show when and where Huey will be this year, starting with the Hope Words Conference in Bluefield, WV on April 12th.
Next Meeting: TBD
Meeting Adjourned at 3:21
Ansel Ponder, Secretary
Mercer County CVB Board