Members Present
Todd Boggess, Phil Lane, Ansel Ponder, Jeff Disibbio, Bill Regas, Grant Bennett, Susan Williams, Chris Mabe, Jordan Maynor
Members Absent
Greg Puckett, Patrice Belcher, Sam Wolford, Kim Jones, Henry Jones, Candace Wilson,
Guests
Lindsay Fruchtl, Alexa Nagy
Staff
Jamie Null-CEO/Director, Karen Morris-Assistant Director, Valerie Hendricks-Community Marketing Manager
Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 2:05 PM. Welcome and introductions. The board reviewed and approved the minutes from the March 2026 meeting. The financial report for March 2026 were presented and approved.
New Business
A. New office space update and hotel tax money down, presented by the CVB Director
The touch screen kiosk has arrived and is in place. The movable walls have been ordered and the rest of the missing cubicle parts have shipped. Hotel tax is down for the year. Jamie spoke with Chelsea Ruby and she confirmed that all of Southern WV is down right now.
B. Digital Relativity 2026, presented by Alexa Nagy with Digital Relativity
January 1- April 30: Travel guide requests were 936 out of 5,983, Newsletter sign-ups were 710 out of 760 (form & guide opt-in), Internal partner clicks were 5,772 out of 38,613, and external partner clicks were 1.066 out of 9,712. Website marketing efforts are focused on conversions instead of awareness. While users decreased by 58% during January – April, engagement rose 25%. ATV’s, travel guide, Lake Shawnee, Things to Do and Event pages are among the top content on the site, consistent with paid media. One plan with three connected campaigns: Things to do Google search campaign; 10,021 impressions, 1,012 clicks, 10.1% click-through rate, Uniquely Appalachian campaign; 151,908 impressions, 14,259 clicks, 2,208 Facebook link clicks, and 2.07% click-through rate. Social insights – January 1 through April 30, 2026 – Facebook audience grew by 53% and engagements increased 43%. Instagram impressions increased 12% and saves grew by 35%. TikTok had 31,535 video views and 1,442 engagements. Summer photo/video shoot has been scheduled for June 11-14 and will include hiking, waterfalls, ATV riding, streetscapes, sightseeing, camping, mountain coaster, lodging, dining, and arts & culture.
B. Pineapple PR 2026 Report, presented by Lindsay Fruchtl
In March, there were 211M impressions with an editorial value of $5.86M and a quality score of 73%. Several pitches were made and additional writing included Travel Pulse, Afar, AAA, Probe the Globe, and Curated Travel Magazine. In April, there were 849M impressions with an editorial value of $23.5M and a quality score of 69%. Pitches were made for National Park Week Basecamp, The Ramp Renaissance, Millionaire’s Row: Gilded Age of Coal, Arts, Heritage & Creative energy: A Cultural Weekend, Dirt Days & the Off-Road Frontier, and Drive-In Nights + Dark Skies. 2026 YTD: 2.7B impressions with an editorial value of $75.9M and a quality score of 70%. there were 74 pieces of coverage and 83% top-tier coverage. In May, Pineapple PR will be working on the following initiatives: Waterfall Season is Here: Mercer County’s Hidden Cascades at Peak Flow, Celebrate America’s 250th the Appalachian Way: Heritage, Grit, and Living History in Mercer County, and Three Parks, One Trip: Mercer County’s Multi-Experience Outdoor itinerary. Research, identification, and submission efforts for relevant 2026 editorial calendar opportunities will continue as well as coordinating and securing Spring/Summer 2026 media visits.
Mercer County EDA, Jordan Maynor, Director:
Jordan has officially been on the job 1 year since John O’Neal retired in March 2025. Existing projects were discussed and the gas project at exit 1 is being pushed through for completion. The sports complex off of exit 9 will have its first piece breaking in the next month or two. A new project that will be worked on will be the Camp Creek water development project. The EDA owns the lake and parcels around exit 9 and are looking for ideas for development of that area.
Business Listings, CVB Director:
Area businesses need to claim their businesses on all the online platforms and engage the folks who post on them. The Director encouraged all the board members to claim their businesses and to encourage other businesses to do the same. The Director has been in talks with Adam Stoker concerning DMO’s and CVB’s and research. Resident sentiment, Visitor study, Lodging study and Destination Asset evaluation were some of the research projects discussed. No decision was made. The Brushfork Armory will have new offices built and there has been discussion about turning the existing ones into a convention center.
Board Assistance with New Office, Assistant CVB Director
The board was informed that furniture and items for the new office will start arriving soon and that when the CVB employees call for assistance from the board members, for the please make every possible attempt to come help.
Next Meeting: July 13, 2026
Meeting Adjourned at 3:17 PM
Susan Williams, Secretary
Mercer County CVB Board