Month: September 2008

Hurricane Ike Update – Houston Bound

Hurricane Ike has slowed as it has traveled over Cuba, but is expected to regain some strength in the Gulf of Mexico.

Currently a category 2 hurricane with winds at 100 mph, this storm is moving fast at a sweeping 14 mph west-slightly-north.  The current track is pointing it directly at Houston.

As reported on weather.com:

Hurricane Ike made landfall around 9:45 p.m. EDT Sunday evening, near Punto De Sama in the Cuban province of Hoguin with winds estimated near 125 miles per hour.

As of 11 a.m. EDT today, Ike was located about 45 miles WSW of Camaguey, Cuba, and moving westward at 14 mph. Due to being over land for the last 12 hours or so, Ike has weakened to a Category 2 hurricane with winds near 100 mph. Some slight strengthening may occur today since it appears the center of Ike will move into the Caribbean Sea shortly, then turn west-northwestward, skirting the south Cuban coast.

Hurricane warnings are posted for much of Cuba. A hurricane watch is in effect for the Florida Keys. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Andros Island in the Bahamas, the Little Cayman and Cayman Brac in the Caribbean, and the Florida Keys. A tropical storm watch is posted for Grand Cayman and Jamaica.

Ike will continue to unleash heavy rains on Cuba with life-threatening flash floods and mudslides a distinct possibility.

After battering Cuba, Ike is forecast to swirl into the southeast Gulf of Mexico late Tuesday or early Wednesday and in all probability, re-strengthen. Its course after that point remains uncertain, but residents all along the U. S. Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida should stay apprised of this dangerous storm.

Be sure to be prepared.


Fix our Beach, THEN advertise.

Here are the thoughts I summed up for the TDC board after comments Tuesday.
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1. Advertising Budget

We should not advertise until the “product is fixed.” What is wrong with our product?

* Lack of Cleanliness
* Lack of Safety
* Lack of Proper Marketing Research distributed to all Tourism Businesses
* Lack of Sports Complexes to meet Demand
* and above all – A broken image. Our current advertising cannot improve an image. An image must be improved by providing a great product and service… which starts with clean, safe beaches.

I realize Mr. Rowe and Staff are aware of many of these issues and are working to improve them. But if we put our advertising budget into our problems, they will be resolved more quickly.

Another problem I have with spending tax dollars on advertising – no matter what event or message you promote, you’re going to be held accountable by the community. If you quit advertising, and just provided infrastructure support, marketing research and public relations, no one could blame the TDC on problems such as Spring Break disasters, drownings, etc. Can you imagine having TDC meetings without people like Charles Mason, Bryan Durta and myself because we have nothing to complain about? ;c) Get rid of advertising, replace it with tangible research and infrastructure, and get rid of complainers.

So, if we did not advertise, how would we promote our destination?

a. Market Research. This is being done with our existing guests (400 surveys per month), but much more could be accomplished in this area. Imagine giving a report to all local businesses that show who is most likely to visit, where they live, and how to reach them. Then let the hotels, condos, restaurants, fishing boats, retail, attractions and events do their own advertising.

b. In-house creative: Imagine the CVB/TDC offering a beautiful catalog of stock photography and video of Bay County that small businesses could use in their own advertising.

c. In-house Public Relations: I am thankful there is now an in-house marketing team; they should be able to handle Public Relations.

d. Most Importantly – provide a reason for our guests to return home and say “Panama City Beach is a great place to vacation.”

But since we do have an agency, and we are advertising and outsourcing Public Relations…

* Please hold our agency to REMARKABLE standards. The White Sale did not provide remarkable results, and quite honestly, wasn’t even remarkable out of the gate. It was status-quo. Mr. Yesawich said that himself, basically, when he said others are doing “coupon / value / sales” campaigns and it worked for his clients in the past.

* Please consider that we pay this agency hundreds of thousands of dollars that go out of Bay County into Orlando’s economy. With an in-house marketing team, and the ability to outsource tasks (website development, photography, video, press release writing and distribution), we do not need to spend that kind of money on an agency when we have such a small budget. Perhaps one day when our beaches are clean, beautiful, and Richard even has a little problem filling up all our new sports arenas… then we can afford to invest in advertising

2. Trash

I am thankful you realize this is a serious problem. The method we use is not working, and the county should review other options.

My comment I say often about our beaches and trash … “Do you think Buddy Wilkes lets someone walk through his park with a glass bottle? Do you think he lets a diaper sit around in a public space? Are there cigarette butts everywhere? Is there trash floating in his wave pool? Of course not! So why can’t we protect our beaches just as a private attraction would protect their park?”

We must implement a process of prevention instead of cure when it comes to trash on our beaches. When/if the time does come to discuss new trash ideas, I request that I am notified so I may either assist in planning or pitch my own proposal for beach cleanup.

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I also made comments in the meeting that $6 per website visitor is too much to pay for our particular tourism industry. I have seen great numbers of people seeking information online for Panama City Beach, and a proper ad campaign can drive thousands of visitors to a PCB vacation website for $1-2.

TDC Meeting Agenda – New Marketing Committee?!?!?

Getting back in the swing, Tuesday’s TDC meeting guarantees spirited discussion.  In a surprise move, the TDC Marketing Committee was released late last week 15 months after they were originally appointed.  The reasoning was cited as the year being up.  I guess they didn’t want to release them at the beginning of the summer?  There are a few conspiracy theories floating around, but I’ll leave that to your imagination.  We’ll also see an update on the Panama City Beach Seafood, Wine and Music Festival, in addition to the Fall Marketing Campaign by the lovely Ms. Susan Estler.  Game On!

Download the agenda.

AGENDA

COMBINED BOARD MEETING
Bay County Tourist Development Council
Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc.
Panama City Beach
Tuesday, September 9, 2008                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 the August 12, 2008 Meeting

III.    REQUESTS TO ADDRESS THE BOARD ON AGENDA ITEMS (3 Minutes)

IV.    UPDATE ON BED TAX COLLECTIONS, Ms. Charlene Honnen, Tourist Development Tax Specialist

V.    BOARD ACTION ITEMS

A.    Discuss and Consider for Approval CVB/TDC Financial Statements Dated July 31, 2008, Mr. Dan Rowe, President
B.    Discuss and Consider for Approval Revised FY 2009 – FY 2010 TDC Plan Ordinance, Mr. Dan Rowe, President
C.    Discuss and Consider for Approval Coastal Planning & Engineering Invoice #80826, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

VI.    BOARD DISCUSSION ITEMS

A.    Marketing Committee Update, Mr. Buddy Wilkes, Chairman, Marketing Committee
B.    Update on Panama City Beach Seafood, Wine & Music Festival, Mr. Jack Bishop, Eventertainment Group, LLC
C.    Update on Fall Promotion, Ms. Susan Estler, VP of Marketing

VII.    PRESENTATIONS

A.    Presentation of the Bay County Tourist Development Council/Panama City Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau Strategic Plan, Mr. Dan Rowe, President

VIII.    PRESIDENT’S REPORT

IX.    AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

X.    ADJOURNMENT

PCBDaily gets a facelift

In case you didn’t notice, we’ve got a who new look.  We’ve been growing by leaps and bounds and it was time to clean everything up and refresh the look.

There are several new features that will make your visit here at pcbdaily more enjoyable:

Panama City Beach to get new Library

Members of various civic and community groups have joined with the City of Panama City Beach to plan, design and built a new library building. Chairman Doug Gilmore has met with the approximately 30 members and plans are being made to involve all interested community members in the project.  Gilmore also represents the Beach on the Bay County Library System board.

The Panama City Beach library is a member of the Bay County System and presently serves more patrons than any other branch library in the system.  With only 4500 square feet, the library provided service to 72,590 people during the past year.

Continue reading “Panama City Beach to get new Library” →

TDC Director Dan Rowe to Host Friday at the Beach

Panama City Beach, FL (September 2, 2008)— On Friday, September 12th, join Dan Rowe, Executive Director of the TDC/CVB, at the Chamber’s monthly Friday at the Beach for a special presentation on the 2009 Convention & Visitors Bureau Marketing Initiative.  Net-working at the event, held at Edgewater Beach Resort, begins at 7:30 am with the presentation running from 8:00 to 9:00 am.  This Friday at the Beach is sponsored by Edward Jones Investments, Comcast and Thunder Beach Productions.

Friday at the Beach is designed to share ideas and opportunities that will affect the beaches area and local businesses.  Each program presents community and business leaders in a casual, “face-to-face” setting.  This event is open to the public at no charge, however RSVP is required.  Please contact Bertie Reynolds or Joyce Kidd at The Greater Panama City Beaches Chamber of Commerce, at (850) 235-1159.

9/2/08 TDC/CVB: Budget Approved Without Any Changes

8 of the 9 board members were present for the special meeting that was called last Friday. Absent was Mike Nelson. Public attendance was probably the smallest it has been in the last year. It’s anyone’s guess whether this was due to the unusual scheduling of the meeting, a lack of public interest, or the public just agreeing with the priorities of the TDC/CVB as set out in the budget.

The board unanimously approved the FY 2009 budget which begins on October 1st. The budgets were accepted as proposed by staff and no motions were made suggesting any changes. Final approval will now be up to the Bay County Commission which is scheduled to take up the matter on Setember 16th.

Continue reading “9/2/08 TDC/CVB: Budget Approved Without Any Changes” →

Hurricane Gustov offers storm surge, but little else

On Panama City Beach, we saw wind gusts up to 26 mph, and a storm surge of around 3 feet, but that’s really about it.  We didn’t even get that much rain.  At Pier Park yesterday morning, the water was covering the beach about 50% more than it usually does, and the waves were probably 6 to 8 feet, but everything died down quite a bit by evening.

Check the video after the break.

Continue reading “Hurricane Gustov offers storm surge, but little else” →