HomeMy WebLinkAboutVisitor Services and Information Advisory Committee Minutes May 1, 2008_201402041408009415
Minutes of Visitor Services Advisory Committee
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Land Bank Conference Room
In attendance: Kate Hamilton, Director, David Sharpe, Office Administrator,
Kevin Dugan, Assistant Administrator, Toby Greenberg, Gene Mahon, David Place and
Louise Swift.
Gene called the meeting to order at 2:10pm and made a motion to waive the
reading of the minutes of the previous meeting and the motion was carried.
Kevin gave a report on lodging and indicated that Daffodil Weekend was good for
both the lodging establishments as well as the merchants. The weather was co-operative
and the crowds of people who came seemed to enjoy themselves. This year was the first
for the “Doggie Parade” which proved to be a hit and also helped to keep many
visitors in town. Gene suggested that perhaps next year Main Street could be kept closed
for the entire day in an effort to keep as many people in town as possible, thereby
benefitting the merchants as well as the restaurants. Kevin also noted that inquiries
regarding lodging for the Wine Festival were somewhat slow but that the interest in
Memorial Day Weekend has been very high. Toby stated that the Chamber of
Commerce has received a large number of inquiries from people who are thinking about
coming to Nantucket.
David reviewed the statistics which were included in the hand-out information.
He noted that most of the stats were in line with a year ago with the exception of the
mailings which were up considerably due to a large number of T&L brochures sent out at
the request of the Nantucket Lodging Association.
Kate then spoke regarding the update on the renovations to the bathrooms. The
money has been appropriated and the work will commence in the fall. She also
mentioned that she had spoken to Al Peterson at the airport. She had offered to assist in
the training of the airport ambassadors that the airport will be hiring in order to help
passengers during the chaos of the airport construction this summer. A possible
“partnership” between Nantucket Visitor Services and the airport may also be considered
when the new terminal opens.
Kate further stated that the office on Federal Street will be closing at 5:00pm from
this point forward. Toby expressed concern about closing an hour earlier but Kate said it
needed to be done for budgetary reasons. Kate said we would remain open until 6:00pm
during some special events and also for some holiday weekends.
Kate then informed the Committee that we will be opening up an “annex” office
through the partnership of the Schmidt Foundation at the former Island Spirits location
and it will be open 4 days a week, Wednesday thru Sunday, 8:00am – 5:00pm. The office
is tentatively scheduled to open near Memorial Day and will be contingent upon final
approval by the Board of Selectman at their next meeting. Gene suggested that some sort
of a survey should be done at the “annex” with the result being to determine if people are
coming to the building for NRTA information or for Visitor Services assistance. Kate
also brought up that this will be the 10th annual “Do The Ride Thing” anniversary from
June 9 – 15, and that this years’ festivities will be held at the “annex” along with an
opening of the building.
Under new business it was voted that Gene would stay on as the representative to
the Chamber of Commerce from NVS. Kate also stated that the fireworks for the 4th of
July are all set. The final order of new business was from Toby who feels that we should
have 1 or 2 meetings during the winter to keep everyone informed as to what is
happening. It was unanimously that it would be a good idea.
Gene then made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:05pm.