South Central Reporter

City of Centralia Tourism Commission met March 21.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

I. CALL TO ORDER- Coleman, Chair: Meeting called to order at 5:00PM.

II. ROLL CALL

_X_ Jessiycka Nix Coleman

_X_ Mary Davis

___ Shannon Cooney

_X_ Rob Jackson

___ Rachel Wallace

_X_ Greg Sutton

_X_ Kelsie Smith

_X_ Terri Finn

___ Tom Walsh

Ex-Officio Members

___ William Smith, City Manager

___ Marcus Holland, Chamber of Commerce Director

_X_ Advisory Staff -Derek Sherman, Economic Development Director

Others Present: None

III. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – None

IV. MINUTES – A motion was made to approve both the minutes as presented: 1st Jackson 2nd Sutton. With all present voting yes in favor and none opposed.

February 21,2023:

March 8, 2023

V. TREASURER’S REPORT – Walsh: A motion was made to approve the treasurer’s report as presented: 1st Finn 2nd Jackson. With all present voting yes in favor and none opposed.

VI. ONGOING BUSINESS

1. Website Data

i. Serpentine should have a Google Analytics account set up for the See Centralia website, and Sherman is awaiting confirmation and access to it from Serpentine. Sherman is expecting to have the data for the Commission at the upcoming meeting.

2. Social Media Data

i. Sherman provided the last month’s social media data. Facebook has been down, but Sherman believes the decrease in engagement is probably down due to the new algorithm and the nature of late winter being a little slower in the tourism industry. Instagram had an increase, but Sherman believes that is due to more frequent posts and the posts following the new algorithm. Sherman mentioned that our St. Patrick’s Day reel received a 900 views and feels that is good as St. Patrick’s Day is probably more regional holiday as people don’t travel super far for this holiday. Overall, post frequency & consistency was up, and median post interaction decreased like other tourism websites.

VII. NEW BUSINESS

1. LSF Booth

i. Volunteers

1. Tom & Karen will open with Derek for the first two hours. Shannon & Rob will cover the last two hours with Derek for cleanup.

ii. Contents of Booth

1. It was suggested for our booth to have a focus on email acquisition for a future Tourism Newsletter. Nix-Coleman is going to try to find sponsors for a gift basket give away probably focused on Only in Centralia. Additionally, we are going to try and get some Centralia Made content to add to the booth. Nix-Coleman suggested getting an iPad or Laptop to make the email registration easier and more accurate as people would have to insert their email into the program. Another suggestion was for us to get people to check into the event in Centralia to help raise awareness and increase marketing. There was the suggestion to put QR codes on the picnic tables and around the Downtown Event space to have multiple touch points besides our single booth. Davis wanted to review the list we have of Centralia Made Businesses, which consisted of the following: Midwest Sandbags; Country Bob’s; Intermountain Electronics; Conagra; Quality Sports Nets; Big 3 Precision Products; Graphic Packaging; Engineering Fluid Inc; Duratech Corporation; Swanstone; Hawkins Inc.; Kaskaskia Workshop; Mid America Building Supply; iNVent (WTB); Green’s Machine Shop; Sentinel; Shopper’s Weekly; Schwartz Orchard; Straith’s Jewelry. Nix-Coleman said the goal is to have something on display of their products, their business cards; or content of their enterprise. If anyone were to acquire videos from these businesses you can send them to Sherman as an MP4 file. Sherman reported the handouts still need updated, but asked if anyone is willing to take a shot at constructing one themselves.

2. Subcommittee Updates

i. Marketing

1. The subcommittee suggested completing business cards with the See Centralia website QR code to handout as they are affordable to print and may stay in a visitor’s pocket as they fit easier than a trifold.

2. The subcommittee recommended only boosting social media posts with purpose. 

ii. Programming

1. Nix-Coleman asked if we had downloaded all the suggested photos from Centralia Online, and Sherman confirmed that they have been downloaded and are awaiting direction to upload them. Davis said Programming Subcommittee reviewed Hodges contract and stated that we need to be more direct with our actions to best utilize his services. Additionally, Davis said to put the Centralia Online Photos in a scrolling gallery on See Centralia, so that they are published per the agreement. Nix-Coleman mentioned that she has a friend that does marketing videos and is interested in producing some tourism content to add to their portfolio and are willing to do it at a lower rate. It was suggested to make reels out of the existing Centralia Online downloads to make sure they are published and make content out of something we already have acquired.

iii. Celebrate Centralia

1. Jackson wants to reach out & form committee for Tourism to have more manpower at Celebrate Centralia to facilitate the event better. Additionally, he would like to have the Chairperson be someone from the committee. Davis mentioned reaching out to Shopper’s Weekly for some flyers to send out with vendor registration. Nix Coleman mentioned making sure the event and all our events have a presence on See Centralia Facebook. Sherman stated that he would prefer for Programming to ask the non-city event organizers for permission to have calendar events on Facebook, so as not to market incorrect information or step on their toes. Sutton mentioned making a Terms & Conditions section for events submitted to See Centralia to grant Tourism consent to post the event on See Centralia Facebook page, too.

VIII. DISCUSSION

1. Sherman mentioned 618 Sports Academy told him tournaments will be starting soon, and he wanted to see if the Tourism Commission was alright with a small board near setting & pedestrians that have the QR code and website for visitors to learn more about Centralia while they are watching the tournaments. Sutton mentioned that digital billboards have become more affordable and utilize solar, and that we may want to consider adding them to the parks and attraction areas to help market our city. Sherman mentioned he can think of two locations that would work well, and that he will do some follow up to determine costs for next year’s budget.

2. Upcoming Agenda Items

i. LSF Booth

ii. Subcommittee Updates

iii. Summer Market

iv. 4th of July Parade & Carnival

v. Juneteenth

vi. Trolley

vii. Farmer’s Market

IX. ADJOURNMENT - A motion was made to adjourn the meeting: 1st Finn 2nd Davis. With all present voting yes in favor and none opposed.

https://cityofcentralia.org/vertical/sites/%7BFC680FE7-BE5C-4903-A103-67AF5EF51655%7D/uploads/3-_March_21_2023_Minutes.pdf