Town of Selma
Marketing Committee Meeting October 11, 2018
Selma Jernigan Building 8:30 AM
ORDER OF BUSINESS
Page 1. WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a. Marketing Minutes - August 9, 2018 Marketing Committee - August 9, 2018
3 - 8
3. NEW BUSINESS a. Financial Reports
b. Upcoming Events in Selma
• 10/13 - Selma Saturdays Arts & Crafts Market @ Gazebo
• 10/16 - Smithfield-Selma Chamber of Commerce Business Expo@Outlets 11a-8p TOS to have a booth
• 10/29 - Truck or Treat @ Gazebo
• 11/10 - Selma Saturdays Arts & Crafts Market
• 11/10 - Selma Wine Train
• 11/25 - Shop Small Saturday - Can we declare this day as an official town holiday? Shop Small Selma?
• 12/4 - Christmas Tree Lighting/Parade/Business Open House
• 12/15 - Santa Train
c. Theatre Train - Bring in people for shopping and a show at the Rudy d. What Tourism Does for Selma - Brochure from JOCO Visitor Bureau e. Cindy Brookshire - Grant Information & 2018 Goals Update
f. Applause Magazine Ad - Melissa Dooley
i. Selma Tracks Newsletter - Can we send electronically to anyone that signs up outside of Selma?
j. Azalea's for Selma at Harrison - Melissa Dooley 4. OLD BUSINESS
a. New Billboard on I-95 at a cost of $800/mo. - Donna Bailey Taylor b. Spook & The Rudy - Commercial Update
c. Selma Merchant Banner for Holidays at Hwy 301 and Railroad Streets d. Tri-Fold Rack Brochure - Donna Bailey-Taylor
e. Marketing Selma Railroad Days - New Webpage with the Visitor Bureau f. Selma to claim Vicks Vapo-Rub birthplace - Melissa Dooley
g. Welcome Center Banner h. Gateway Signs
5. ADDITIONAL COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS 6. ADJOURNMENT
7. NEXT MEETING - NOVEMBER 8, 2018 AT 8:30 A.M
TOWN OF SELMA
Marketing Committee Meeting Minutes Thursday, August 9, 2018 @ 8:30 AM
COUNCIL PRESENT: Member Albert Kensak, Member Donna Bailey-Taylor, Member Marcia Woodall, Event Planner Melissa Dooley, Member Kevin Dougherty, and Mayor Cheryl Oliver
COUNCIL ABSENT: Member Donna Reid, Town Manager Elton Daniels, Member Jeffery Hamilton, Member Dina Flowers, and Member Nathan Lambdin STAFF PRESENT: Deputy Town Clerk Jamie Whitley
1 WELCOME AND CALL TO ORDER
Melissa Dooley called the meeting to order at 8:42 a.m.
2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
a) Marketing Minutes - June 14, 2018
A motion was made by Donna Bailey-Taylor and seconded by Kevin Dougherty to approve the minutes from the June 14, 2018 Marketing Committee Meeting.
Motion carried unanimously.
3 NEW BUSINESS
a) Financial Reports
Donna Bailey-Taylor presented the Year End Revenue for the Town of Selma, which was $114.333.16. She stated that the revenue is down $3,422 from last year but there were huge increases last year due to Hurricane Matthew. The revenue for the year prior had a $12,000 increase, so to be only $3,422 down from last year is good. She provided an outline of the budget for this year. It is basically the same as in the past; half the budget is for billboards, money has been budgeted for printing and advertising, and tourism related revenue for projects.
Albert Kensak gave an update on the Billboard at Exit 75. There was discussion about
Marketing Committee August 9, 2018 dropping it, pending the outcome of the new logo.
Donna Bailey Taylor stated that the issue is that there is a drop shadow on the word antique and it is on a dark background. The issue is the design. The billboard is
$350/month and there are not many billboards on I-95 that go for that rate. She stated that we can drop it and that there is another one from Capital Outdoor that is
$800/month and it is a double stack billboard right past the Benson exit.
Albert Kensak stated that he was ok with dropping the billboard at Exit 75 if there is another one to replace it. He stated that it would be nice to have the billboards tie into the gateway sign projects.
Donna Bailey-Taylor stated that her understanding is that people decide where they are going to stay coming back as they are traveling to their destination, so having south bound billboards are better.
b) Upcoming Events in Selma
8/11 - Dance Marathon - N. Raiford 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.
o Nutrition 2 Fit Dance Studio and Parks and Recreation will be hosting a dancing in the street dance marathon.
8/17 - Chamber Coffee Connections @ Depot - 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
o The Chamber of Commerce will be hosting this event.
8/18 - Backpack Giveaway @Harrison Gym - 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
o Coach Cleades Sanders is hosting a backpack giveaway at the Harrison Campus. Mayor Oliver mentioned that the Harrison Alumni Association will also be having a backpack giveaway from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
at the Harrison Campus.
9/8 - Selma Saturdays @ Gazebo - 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.
o Selma Saturdays will start back up on September 8th at 8:30 a.m.
9/21 - Eastern NC Festival Consortium - 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. (will need help) o It was started by Julie Beck, Mount Olive Chamber Director. This is an
event for Event Planners and Members of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce to come together and bounce ideas off of each other. There was a consortium at Surf City in Pender County. After the speakers spoke, the attendees got to tour Surf City and see what the city had to offer.
Marketing Committee August 9, 2018 Melissa Dooley volunteered Selma for the next Consortium on September 21, 2018. She had some ideas about having the Consortium in the Jernigan Building, the Rudy Theater or outside the train depot, if weather permits. Melissa Dooley stated that Julie Beck offered to find speakers but she has some in mind.
Mayor Oliver stated that Edgerton Church Fellowship Hall could hold 100 people and suggested the Selma Women's Club as another possible venue.
Melissa Dooley stated that feeding the attendants will come out of the Parks and Recreation Budget.
Mayor Oliver mentioned the Mary Atkinson Girl Scout Camp has a nice meeting area, as well.
Melissa Dooley stated that she will be responsible for transporting the attendees once they arrive.
9/29 - Railroad Days Pageant @Selma Elementary School - 7 p.m.
o Melissa Dooley announced the Railroad Days Pageant that will kick off the Railroad Days pageant.
10/5 - Chew Chew Food Truck Rodeo - 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.
o Melissa Dooley stated that she needs two more food trucks and then she will have 5 food trucks and a dessert truck. There will be a band and a BBQ Cook Off.
10/6 - Railroad Days Festival 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
o Melissa Dooley stated that the Railroad Run will be hosted by the Boys and Girls Club this year.
c) Spook & The Rudy - Commercial - Rose Cushing from Cushing Media Production Commercial viewing will take place tomorrow August 10, 2018.
d) Cindy Brookshire - Grant Information & 2018 Goals Update (see handout)
Melissa Dooley read the 2018 goals for the Selma Visitor's Center from Cindy Brookshire.
Welcome Banner for Selma Visitor's Center is on hold pending new logo.
We have the map of uptown Selma.
Broken iron rail in front of Selma Visitor's Center.
Upgrade the men's bathroom in the Selma Visitor's Center. A suggestion was made to make the women's room a family bathroom.
Marketing Committee August 9, 2018
The Selma Visitor's Center now has wifi.
The Selma Visitor's Center has more merchandise and is trying to acquire so more.
The Selma Visitor's Center has paper towels and toilet paper.
The pop up bucket of books was not successful.
There are artists that have been coming in all summer.
There have not been any advertisements for volunteers because Eric Jackson's Sweet Tea and Spicy Talk, he has pick up a volunteer named Morgan with Red Paint Photography.
Cindy Brookshire stated that she wants to do a writer's workshop with two morning sessions and a box lunch from Hula Girl. The workshop will have a speaker, a book signing and an open mic. She would love to have the event at the Selma Civic Center on April 6th; which is a couple of weeks after the food and art gala and a few week before the North Carolina Writers Conference in Greensboro, NC.
There would be two presenters, and the writer would be Emily Wallace, who grew up in Smithfield, and has a book that is coming out soon. Cindy Brookshire stated that she wants to bring all the creativity to Selma. She is currently applying for a matching grant. She is currently recording and transcribing stories into books to preserve the stories. There are two upcoming projects: one is a street art installation with an interactive kinetic park bench that will play music when people sit on the bench and touch fingers and the second project is an art pop-up that will feature artist.
e) Selma Merchant Banner for Holidays at Hwy 301 and Railroad Streets
Melissa Dooley stated that she was approached by businesses at the Shop Small event last year. They wanted to know why there was not a banner that says visit Uptown Selma. The Selma Merchants want a holiday banner with their logos on it for the month of December. There can be a banner put up between the Selma Train and Christmas.
Mayor Oliver asked if people would be able to read all the logos or should it just be a message.
The sign would be on the 301 plywood advertisement board. A generic sign can be used for multiple years by having "Visit Uptown Selma" on the sign and a holiday background.
The Committee agreed that there should be some good examples of what the banner would look like but it shouldn't be a problem to have the banner up before Christmas.
f) Marketing Railroad Days Festival
Melissa Dooley stated that the Railroad Days Festival is the biggest festival for the Town. She wants a Railroad Days website just for Railroad Days.
Marketing Committee August 9, 2018 Kevin Dougherty asked if the North Carolina railroad was involved with Railroad Days and how can we get them involved.
Melissa stated that she would love to get the Railroad involved.
Mayor Oliver stated that she has a contact for the railroad, Cathy Dele, and that she will give that information to Melissa Dooley.
Kevin Dougherty suggested that the trains run and bring people in and that the festival can be centered around the trains. This could be an economic development initiative and have a track put in for commuter purposes.
Donna Bailey-Taylor suggested having a Railroad Days on the Visitor's Center website, www.visitselma.org/railroaddays.
g) Tri-Fold Rack Brochure - Who to design? Who to distribute?
Melissa Dooley stated that the Tri-Fold Brochures need to be updated and distributed.
The Visitor's Center distributed them in the past.
Albert Kensak thought that the Visitor Center Brochure replaced the old brochures.
Melissa Dooley stated that the new brochures will be given out at the events to show people all of the other events going on in Selma. This will fall under marketing in the Budget.
h) Sign for Vicks Vapo-Rub Birthplace - Major Selling point for Selma
Albert Kensak stated that they need to locate Dr. Vicks' actual Doctor's Office because the sign needs to go on the correct building. We can't call it Vick's Vapo-Rub because it was originally called Vick's Pneumonia Cure.
Mayor Oliver stated that we need to be accurate because Greensboro claims that they are the birthplace of Vick's Vapo-Rub.
There was discussion about the origin of Vick's Vapo-Rub. Donna Bailey-Taylor stated that she will talk with Todd Johnston to find out what the appropriate history is and how to apply to cultural resources to get a sign.
Mayor Oliver stated that this would need to go to the Historic Properties Commission in Selma.
4 OLD BUSINESS
a) Selma Rebranding Initiative (Logo Update)
Marketing Committee August 9, 2018
The official decision to accept the new Selma Logo has not been made and it will be decided at the Regular Council meeting on August 14.
b) Welcome Center Banner
Welcome Center Banner is on hold pending new logo.
c) Gateway Signs
Gateway signs are on hold pending new logo.
5 ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.
____________________________________
Jamie Whitley, Deputy Town Clerk
