1999-12-02CITY OF ENCINITAS
ACTION MINUTES OF REGULAR COMMITTEE MEETING
TOURISM AND MARKETING COMMITTEE
December 2, 1999
Present: Council Member Sheila Cameron; Council Member Dennis Holz; City Manager Kerry Miller; Recreation Superintendent Pam Alexander, John Mclsaac, Carolyn Cope,
Jerry Brooks, Julian Duval, Bob Rauch; Michelle Hayes; Jim Clark; Sid Shaw; Paul deSmit; Mary Trimmins; Paula Kirpalani; Therese Vallaincourt; Jeanette Stone; Steve Aceti.
DIRECTION /ACTION
# 1
Meeting called to order at 8:10 A.M. by Council Member Sheila Cameron. Thank you for coming.
Call to Order
Council Member Cameron announced today's guest speaker is Julian Duval, Executive Director,
Quail Botanical Gardens. Also, Bob Rauch/Hotel -Motel Assoc., will give a presentation.
Ms. Cameron announced that the December 16, 1999 meeting has been cancelled.
ITEM # 2
Julian Duval, Executive Director, Quail Botanical Gardens, gave a presentation on the Garden of
Guest Speaker: Julian Duval: Quail Botanical Gardens'
Lights event.
Garden of Lights
Mr. Duval stated this is their P season for the Garden of Lights event. He noted that the idea of lights
in the garden came from his experience in working at the Indianapolis Zoo during the 1980's. The
Indianapolis Zoo had a light show which brought in many people to the zoo who otherwise would not
have visited there. The event established a good family tradition for the young kids who would begin
to look forward to visiting the zoo at the holiday time.
Mr. Duval indicated that the Garden of Lights lasts for 15 nights. A core area of the gardens is
decorated. On some of the evenings, Santa will be there; some nights there will be opportunity to
have a lighted supper. There are also lighted wagon rides available — which will be their feature entry
in the Holiday Parade. Mr. Duval feels that the Garden of Lights gives The Quail the opportunity to
introduce the community to the gardens.
Mr. Duval introduced Paula Kirpalani who works in the Public Relations area of the gardens. Ms.
Kirpalani reported on the various press releases, which include feature articles in "Sunset" magazine,
the Union Tribune, and KPBS. They anticipate that with the Sunset Magazine feature, there may be
visitors to Encinitas from outside of North County.
Mr. Duval added that their emphasis is on the family. They have tried to keep it very affordable —
most items are under $5. He also added that getting the word out about the lights event is their
greatest concern. He would like to work with the City in getting a banner placed over Encinitas Blvd.
as other cities have for their upcoming events.
# 3
Everyone introduced themselves.
Oral Communications
Syd Shaw announced that he now keeps lights up all the time now at his business. He indicated that
Welcome and Announcements
he got the idea from a gentleman in Coronado. He noted that the person might be a good speaker for a
(Taken our of order of Agenda)
future meeting.
Carolyn Cope announced that there will be a Family Christmas Celebration at the One -Room
Schoolhouse. There will be holiday music and Christmas Carols with refreshments. Mac Hartley,
Author of "Encinitas History and Heritage," will be doing a book signing at that time as well.
Jerry Brooks announced that they now place a list of local events in all of their rooms at The Ocean
Inn. He also noted that his Inn almost sold out at Thanksgiving. He feels that this shows that visitors
are interested in family events, which the City needs to emphasize with its Tourism & Marketing.
Mary Trimmins also noted that the same thing occurred at Leucadia Inn. They were forced to open on
Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years when they had intended to be closed.
Council Member Dennis Holz noted that in October or November of next year, all the committee
members need to bring in a list of all their holiday events so they can all be put together into one
calendar.
ITEM #4
Ms. Cameron introduced Pam Alexander, Recreation Superintendent, for presentation on the Encinitas
Presentation on Encinitas Holiday Parade
Holiday Parade.
Ms. Alexander noted that the Community Services Department has a special events brochure which
hits all the major events in the City. She suggested that the committee members also provide their
special events information to them for input in the brochure.
Ms. Alexander gave a presentation on the Holiday Parade. It will take place on Saturday, December 4,
1999 at 6:00 p.m. There are 108 entries this year; there will be 6 school bands along with additional
bands; over 20 floats; many vehicles. The parade route runs on Hwy 101 from D to J Streets. They
have encouraged the downtown businesses to remain open. There will be shuttles available. The
streets close at 5:00 p.m. and cars will be towed beginning at 5:30 p.m. The tree lighting will take
place at 5:30 p.m.
ITEM #5 Bob Rauch, President of the Hotel/Motel Association, presented a live demonstration on the H/MA's
Hotel/Motel Association Presentation Website. All the local hostelries have links on the site. The site shows a little of Encinitas' History —
much of this information was taken from the Encinitas Brochure. Other features of the website
include: Flower Capital, Moonlight Beach, some of the Chambers, and a Calendar of Events. He also
noted that many of the hoteWmotels have bookable website links. The website was developed by San
Diego.Com. Eventually they plan on linking with all the local organizations.
The website address is: encinitashotels.org
Mr. Holz added that he would like the committee members to meet with the Chambers and D.E.M.A.
next year for one of their meetings for a website workshop. The members can show their websites and
link up with one another. He also added that Cox is strategizing with the City on what the City can do
to better the infrastructure to develop a -commerce opportunities.
ITEM #6
Ms. Cameron briefly spoke about Millennium Celebrations. She would like the members to think
about how their businesses can develop more millennium events for the next year or so.
Oral Communications
Mr. Holz indicated that he would like to see the committee move forward next year with forming sub-
committees to take strategic action in various areas such as the airport, hooking up with D.E.M.A.
Mr. Miller, City Manager, noted that it does appear the committee is ready to move forward with
strategizing and forming sub - committees. He added that he would be willing to help facilitate this.
Next Meeting
December 16, 1999 meeting is cancelled. Next meeting TBA
Adjournment
Meeting adjourned at 9:05 A.M.
Prepared by Gina Rubottom