City of Centralia Tourism Commission met Jan. 18.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
I. CALL TO ORDER- Roach, Chair 5:05PM
II. ROLL CALL
III. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - None
IV. MINUTES –
November 16th, 2021 1st Walsh 2nd Quidgeon
V. TREASURER’S REPORT – Walsh 1st Quidgeon 2nd Schroeder
VI. ONGOING BUSINESS
1. Social Media Data
i. The See Centralia Facebook page had nearly doubled in the last year due to MiMi’s efforts. Coleman wanted to see how far our reach was on our posts with the suggestion to focus on 2 hours away and thought we should investigate increasing the Facebook post boosts. Roach mentioned that we should pay attention to our reactions to determine how far out we should start the post boosting for our events. Additionally, Roach said we need to review all the likes on our posts to invite people to follow our Facebook page. Sherman mentioned that we would like to encourage all our businesses to utilize social media more and to tag us. The Commission brought up getting an intern through Kaskaskia College to run our social media.
2. Christmas Decoration – Removal
i. The Commission decided to remove the Nutcracker Stroll decorations on January 26th at 11AM.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
1. Christmas Decoration & Events – Improvements
i. Christmas Holiday Light Tour did well, but the last hour did not sell well. Next time, Coleman thought we should have someone in costume ride on the trip and maybe decorate the council chambers. Davis suggested that every home participating in the light contest should get a smaller yard sign, so that they would be easy to identify the homes & help grow the event. Coleman suggested we give a prize to the three winners, and we can ask the businesses to donate for the prize. Schroeder suggested that we put a map out after we have the tour stops determined. Additionally, it was mentioned we should put together an online packet concerning all events happening in a season/month (I.E. October & Christmas). For upcoming events, Sherman suggested we focus on improving a single event rather than helping a little bit with each event. Roach mentioned we should focus on a month and a separate focus on activities in Centralia that are available 365 days a year.
2. Annual Event Calendar
i. The Commission thought the calendar was fairly accurate. Roach mentioned there would be new events coming up like Mardi Gras & Gaetti baseball tournaments. Davis asked if we could get all the events over to ILSouth. Sherman confirmed that we can send anything over to ILSouth once we have firm dates.
3. Amtrak Station – Improvements
i. The Commission came up with five (5) large ideas: murals (for photo ops), update sign, landscaping, security, and interior improvements. Sherman suggested everyone come to the next meeting with specific details for each of the large ideas as homework.
4. Locust Street Historic Fair – Planning
i. The Commission decided to continue having the trolley at the event at no cost for attendees to ride. There was discussion about making the trolley tour more structured to hit all our historic attractions. Additionally, the Commission thought we could focus on expanding the footprint of the event by having an activity the night before or the day after to hopefully retain visitors for the whole weekend rather than a day.
VIII. DISCUSSION – None
IX. ADJOURNMENT – 1st Schroeder 2nd Walsh
https://cityofcentralia.org/vertical/sites/%7BFC680FE7-BE5C-4903-A103-67AF5EF51655%7D/uploads/1-_January_18th_2022_Minutes.pdf
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