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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Museum Of Science And History Advisory Committee - 02/04/2010 E WED MAR 0 12010 MINUTES Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History CRY SECRETARY'S OFFICE Advisory Committee Meeting February 4, 2010 The Museum Advisory Committee met in the Museum's DeDietrich Conference Room at Noon on Thursday, February 4, 2010. Members Present: Pablo Garza, Jonda Halcomb, Robert Hatherill, Kathy Juneau, Tom Kimes, Shannon Madden, Jim Moloney, Luci Sosa, and Linda Tomo. Upon motion by Kathy Juneau and seconded by Linda Tomo, the minutes of the January 7, 2010 regular meeting were approved as presented. Upon motion by Linda Tomo and seconded by Pablo Garza the absences of Jonda Halcomb and Rob Hatherill were excused. Rick reported the resignation of Nelida Ortiz from the Committee. Business: a. Due to concern that Museum attendance was not growing, the Committee requested a report and discussion on the Museum's marketing and PR efforts. In response to that request, Bonnie Laya and Rick Stryker presented the 2010 Marketing Plan alongside the actual marketing expenditures ($15,173.13) in 2009 by the Friends of the Museum. It is anticipated that the Plan for 2010 will be very similar taking advantage of ad placement and financial investments that have historically proven to be fruitful uses of the Friends' financial resources. Rick reported on the changing Museum audiences based on the following data he compiled: • Tourist Audience: in 2009 67% of Museum attendance was tourists. This percentage is down significantly from 85 —90% average annual attendance by tourists through the decade of the 1990's. Given the fact that the Lexington and the Aquarium had record attendance in 2009, this is an indication of the vastly diminished role that the Museum plays in tourism marketing in Corpus Christi. • Attendance: The reduction in tourist attendance coincides with a 33% drop in average annual attendance from the average annual attendance in the 1990's. • Paid attendance: Through the 1990's, both before and after the Columbus ships began joint operation with the Museum in mid 1995,paid attendance averaged 65,425 (61,832 before ships,68,299 after ships). Paid attendance through the last decade averaged 30,170 (28,426 in 2009). This drop in attendance leaves the Museum more than $200,000 below the earned revenue that might be expected. This is the central reason that the Museum could not afford the maintenance budget needed to maintain the Columbus ships. • Marketing: Although the Museum is a City department and a key resource in the tourism economy, the City does not provide funding for marketing except in the context of the contract with the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). After the closure of the Columbus ships from October 1999 through May 2001, the CVB shifted their marketing SCANNED t strategy to a much greater emphasis on co-op advertising which requires that those included in CVB efforts have matching funding. This plan works well for hotels and attractions such as the Aquarium and the Lexington. It does not work well for the Corpus Christi Museum, Art Museum of South Texas, and the Botanical Gardens with whom the Museum frequently pools limited resources. This CVB business strategy left the Columbus ships, once seen by the CVB as one of the major tourism assets of the community, in marketing obscurity throughout the last decade. Although the CVB is very focused on nature tourism, the resources of the Museum are minimally marketed. For instance, although the Museum has extensive exhibits on natural history and the environment, it is not included in the CVB's list of"Top 25 Nature Sites", not listed as a"nature activity", and not listed on their new"Bird the Bend" web site, and in fact, not even listed as an "attraction". Although culture and heritage tourism is considered one of the major statewide tourism strategies, the CVB does not market to the extensive audience interested in culture and heritage tourism. Public Relations: Bonnie detailed how the Museum spends its marketing budget and explained how the Museum's PR effort uses free opportunities to publicize the Museum through the web site, distribution of discount coupons, and collaboration with KEDT and various other media outlets. The Museum is also an active participant in the Texas Tropical Trail Region, a cultural and heritage tourism collaborative covering 20 counties in south Texas. Rick Stryker is chair of the Regional board of directors. b. Committee members requested a report and discussion on the work that the Museum does to include Native American topics in its exhibits and programming. The most recently completed exhibit on Native Americans was the Cultural Encounters exhibit which incorporated the research done by Museum archeologist Bob Drolet over the last ten years along the lower Nueces River near Old San Patricio. In 2009 the Museum named Jose Medina an adjunct curator to support his research effort on the contemporary Native American cultures still found in south Texas. He will be resident at the Museum through summer 2010. He has sought ways that Native American stories might be integrated into the public programming of the Museum. In September 2009 Ruben"White Horse" Cordova and his wife set up a Tipi in the Plaza and displayed their Apache memorabilia for visitors. In November 2009 the Museum hosted a Pow Wow sponsored by the Lipan Apaches. There are three events coming up Spring 2010: an Apache War Dance will be demonstrated, an Apache story teller will come to share his stories, and a variety of Native Americans will be invited to show their personal collections. A special concert by a Native American singer is being planned for June that will be simulcast to Indian Reservations. c. There was a brief discussion regarding ideas for revenue generation that might be useful in the face of upcoming budget reductions. The Committee was briefed on the impact of the mid-year budget reduction. The fee changes approved in January are pending approval by the City Manager. d. Staff Reports - There was a report on the construction schedule for the ongoing Bond 2008 project and its impact on Museum operations - The La Belle Collection Inventory Project is underway with a temporary full time staff person working on it(Eric Ray) - The Journey Program Planning Committee is putting together the plan for the Voyage exhibit related programming that will take place next school year - February is the Land & Sea Partnership which provides reciprocal membership privileges among six local attractions The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.