Tuesday’s combined TDC/CVB meeting at City Hall covered topics such as the impact of extra sporting events and sports marketing on Panama City Beach, (numbers are up and new events keep coming!) approval and discussion of various financial items, an update on the Panama City Beach vegetation project (very well executed so far, almost 60% complete with lots of new sea oats and vegetation planted), and, most importantly, the Seafood Wine & Music Festival for 2010.
Jack Bishop, local restaurant owner and former member of the Bay County Tourist Development Council is one of the festival organizers, and took to the microphone at the meeting to put his thoughts and ideas to the board. Mr Bishop talked about how far the festival has come since it’s roots and how he sees further growth and improvement in the future. “The Seafood, Wine & Music Festival has gone a long way towards restoring the image of Panama City Beach.” Bishop stated. “We need something like this, something for people to do in addition to 4th July, especially now we are appealing to an upper level demographic with the arrival of the new airport.”
Mr Bishop continued to say; “We need to make some short term decisions, and some long term decisions. In the short term, let’s think about 2010. We need to address the issues of security, garbage and sanitation, and production, all of which we need to step up, and will need extra resources for. We need extra promotion and sponsorship, extra marketing, and extra financing.” Mr Bishop then asked for an additional $50,000 on top of the current $60,000 the board has already committed in order to execute these changes. “We know exactly where we are now with the Seafood, Wine & Music Festival, and I have learned many lessons along the way. If I am to take on this extra responsibility, then I am going to need more help.”
At this meeting we will learn how successful the new-look Seafood Wine and Music Festival turned out to be. If you attended the event, it seemed as though it was hugely successful, but after all the tickets were counted, how huge was it really and will it translate to a bigger, better event for next year?
AGENDA
COMBINED BOARD MEETING
Bay County Tourist Development Council
Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc.
Panama City Beach
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
9:00 a.m.
Council Room, PCB City Hall
I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
II. ROLL CALL
A. Invocation
B. Pledge of Allegiance
C. Approve Minutes From February 9, 2010
III. REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 Minutes)
IV. PRESENTATION TO 2009 TDC/CVB CHAIRMAN BY MR. MIKE BENNETT
V. UPDATE ON TOURIST DEVELOPMENT TAX COLLECTIONS, Mr. Bill Kinsaul, Clerk of the Court
VI. BOARD ACTION ITEMS
A. Discuss and Consider for Approval CVB/TDC Financial Statements Dated October 31, 2009, November 30, 2009, December 31, 2009 and January 31, 2010,, Mr. Dan Rowe, President
B. Discuss and Consider for Approval Coastal Planning & Engineering Invoice #100203, Invoice #100204, and Invoice #100205, Mr. Dan Rowe, President
C. Discuss and Consider for Approval Amendment 2 to FDEP Grant 07BA2, Mr. Dan Rowe, President
D. Update and Discuss and Consider for Approval Aquatic Plants of Florida Invoice #21029, Mr. Dan Rowe, President
VII. BOARD DISCUSSION ITEMS
A. Update on Sports Marketing Activities, Mr. Richard Sanders, VP of Sports Marketing
B. Discuss Panama City Beach Seafood, Music & Wine Festival, Mr. Jack Bishop, Eventertainment, LLC
VIII. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
IX. CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
X. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION
XI. ADJOURNMENT
To Download the Agenda CLICK HERE
Most of the new City Pier on Panama city beach is up and running. But I’ve been noticing as I’ve wandered about Pier Park that there is some construction happening at the foot of the City Pier. So today the weather was a bit warmer I took a stroll just to see what was going on. What follows are some of the photos I took.
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Shawn is 37. He is well traveled, but until last week he had never visited our Nation’s Capital. Having toured a museum or two with him, I was surprised. I knew he would be intrigued and inspired by what he was going to see.
He started thinking about the trip in late January. He had begun doing research on “Catch Shares” and the impact they could have on coastal fisheries, especially those in our area. It was alarming to Shawn and many others. As he can tell you, if you live or work on the Gulf Coast… or anywhere along the 88,000 miles of coastline that encompasses the United States… Catch Shares, IFQs, Bag Limits, and shortened fishing seasons affect you. If you eat fish, they will impact you. If you like to fish, they will affect you. READ MORE
It’s right around the corner – and this Spring Break, the Panama City Beach Convention & Visitor’s Bureau has taken a slightly different approach. Aimed at sending a serious message in a fun way, the CVB has created new online guides for the thousands of college students heading to Panama City Beach and its warmer temperatures, beautiful beaches, and action-packed nightlife. READ MORE
It’s that wonderful time of year when students from all over the country head south for Panama City’s white sandy beaches, to have a great time with friends and to party, party, party. It is the perfect destination for the breakers. But for locals, Spring Break is the most polarizing event on PCB. Some love it, some hate it; so we decided to put together a list of what we love or hate about the wild and crazy event. So, here goes nothing.
Hate:
Traffic/Scooters
As you know, traffic during spring break is awful. That bad traffic isn’t exclusive to the streets and the zillions of colorful scooters zooming across lanes of traffic. Traffic is in every department store, every gas line, every restaurant and every bathroom on the beach. The depth of annoyance can only be described in the brilliant words of Brandon, a 2009 spring breaker from Athens, “Man, this sucks” Yes, Brandon, it does indeed. READ MORE
Some people will have already heard of Frommer’s, but for those not in the know, Frommer’s is a guidebook series and one of the bestselling travel guides in America. It all began back in 1957 with the publication of Arthur Frommer’s book, Europe on $5 a Day. Since then, Frommer’s has expanded to include over 350 guidebooks across 14 series, as well as other media including the award winning Frommers.com website which covers over 3,500 destinations. READ MORE
Have you ever been deep sea fishing? Until last summer, I hadn’t. Which is rather surprising, since I grew up here on the Gulf Coast and spent most of my impressionable days on the deck of one boat or another. It was a warm day in late May. The first few catches were decent B-liners (Vermillion Snapper). The next week Red Snapper season opened and I’m still not sure who was more hooked, me or the fish. The fight at the bottom of the line made dinner taste that much better. I’m not alone. Offshore fishing is big business.
There are many basic recreational saltwater fishing regulations.
Marketing committee meeting will be January 22 at 9 AM to review and discuss creative execution. Should be fun!
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