The Hot Springs Village POA Communications Committee met on Tuesday, April 23, at 2:00 p.m. at the Coronado Community Center. The committee discussed several topics, including how to capture visitor data from various packages, visitors on Eclipse weekend, and much more.
Committee Members attending were Chair Mark Smith; Vice Chair Clara Nicolosi; Secretary Steve Korotash; Jim Rice; Chuck Miller and Golf Committee Liaison Okey Bess.
Staff Attending were Kevin Sexton, Director of Business Development, Public Affairs, and Land; Terry Wiley, Director of Parks and Recreation; Pam Avila, Communications/Revenue Growth Specialist; and Mindy Maxwell, Business Development and Client Relations Manager.
Notified absences were Gary Belair, Board Director and Committee Liaison, and Susan McCarty. Belair was attending the Board Retreat.
Election of Officers
Mark Smith was re-elected to the Chair position, Clara Nicolosi was chosen again as Vice Chair, and Steve Korotash will continue as Secretary.
Staff Report – Maxwell
All committees present reports to the Board semi-annually. Korotash will write the presentation for Smith to give.
Maxwell will work on developing packages for groups to hold meetings and golf outings at the Village. “I feel like we need to ‘Paint, Polish and Preserve’ the entire building [Coronado Community Center] and invest in making it a bit higher quality if we want to attract companies to hold their meetings in the Village. It needs to be updated in a big way.”
Maxwell will talk to General Manager Kelly Hale about what markets the advertising focus will be.
Maxwell stated that we need to focus on other amenities besides golf. “We are super-golf-focused and need to expand and focus on pickleball, tennis, and water amenities…getting other people here to appreciate all we have to offer.”
“Golf is a huge feature, and it excites many people at the golf shows, but I feel like we should dabble in other shows, like pickleball tournaments,” expressed Maxwell.
Maxwell also updates marketing materials such as photos, brochures, videos, etc.
Leftover eclipse glasses will be donated to Astronomers Without Borders.
Staff Report – Sexton
Two hundred thousand people visited the state parks for the eclipse.
Sexton said there is a great opportunity this year with the Natural State Golf Trail, part of Arkansas Parks and Tourism. They will take photos and video footage at our Natural State Golf Trail (Isabella Golf Course). “We obviously should have access to that media.”
“We only average 170 to 200 Discovery Packages a year. This is better than when we first started in ’18. We were getting 30 or 40. The program has continued to grow. We know the conversions of Day Tours and Discovery Packages; Stay and Play – not so much,” explained Sexton.
A lot of people are moving to Arkansas. Sexton said this is because of the affordability, low property taxes, and safety.
Staff Report – Avila
Avila thanked Bess and the Camera Club’s efforts to educate the community by writing eclipse articles and holding a seminar on how to film the eclipse.
Avila announced that next Tuesday, April 30, will be her last day as a POA employee. On Wednesday, May 1, she will start as a POA consultant. Avila and Maxwell will work together with the committee.
Chair Report – Smith
Patricia Chandler-Faust is rolling off of the committee.
Board Member Mark Quinton has arranged for the Senior Archery Olympics in Hot Springs Village. Quinton was unable to attend the meeting due to the Board Retreat.
Eclipse Weekend Report
Wiley said they try to do a lot of events on the Fourth of July, and it never works. “People are here for the fireworks.” He said it was the same concept during the eclipse weekend, where visitors were, for the most part, not here for the events. Attendance at the eclipse event was less than expected. The biggest event was the Colt and the Old 45s concert, with around 600 attendees.
Around 350 to 400 people attended the Friday night NASA speaker event.
Wiley continued, “The good thing is that we could set up a projector screen outside the Woodlands Auditorium, and now we know that we can film concerts inside the Woodlands and still show them outside.”
Many Villagers stayed home. Kevin Sexton said, “The governor declared a tourism emergency, which scared the locals.”
Bringing in Outside Golfers
Due to other obligations, Miller will roll off the committee in May.
Miller will have a booth at the Rotary 6150 and 6170 District Meeting on Friday and Saturday (April 26 and 27). Miller will talk with 79 clubs and explain the golf box promotion. The clubs can use these boxes as an auction fundraiser, which will bring new golfers into the Village. The box includes golf balls and a complimentary foursome after 1:00 p.m. from June 1 to December 31.
Korotash asked Miller if arranging for someone to speak at the club meetings would be possible. Sexton said he would be willing to do this.
Miller will work with Maxwell to arrange for golf writers to visit.
Capturing Information
We are not using updated methods to capture visitor information. Avila said that we fail to capture all kinds of data. Capturing the data helps us to understand what advertising is working and what is not. “Without it, we’re just throwing money. That is a silly thing to do when the capability is out there to capture all of that…Work smart instead.”
Maxwell will work with the golf team to capture visitor data. She also said they need to capture how people hear about us so we know what works and where to invest advertising dollars.
Sexton asked Rice what the Hot Springs and Little Rock Convention Centers do to capture information.
Additionally, Rice explained that both convention centers invest heavily in bringing in writers from publications with many subscribers.
Rice will try to arrange for a statistician from Little Rock to speak to the committee on capturing information.
Banner Update
Nicolosi has been working on installing banners at the gates. She contacted a local banner company to examine the existing banner poles and recommend a banner size. She should have an answer next week.
Golf Committee Update
Bess shared that Isabella-Pinta is now open with new bunkers, and the crews have started replacing the sand in Isabella-Nina.
The Balboa Golf Course renovation will begin in November. The bunkers, cart paths, fairways, and irrigation will be worked on.
The Golf Committee has discussed how to fill up the afternoon Tee times. Bess said many of the surrounding locals aren’t aware they can play golf in the Village. The Golf Committee would like to have “City Days,” where the different cities are invited to visit and use our amenities. Avila said the first action should be obtaining GM’s approval for the concept.
Sexton said the Chambers of Commerce could send email blasts to businesses advertising “City Days.”
The next Communications Committee Meeting is on Tuesday, May 28, at the Coronado Community Center.
By Cheryl Dowden
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