Group meets to find effective, accountable way of promoting county activities
by Richard Lamb– Advance Editor
A second informal meeting of various festivals, chamber of commerce, city leaders, event chairpersons and local business people focused on what can be done to improve the promotion of tourism and events in Presque Isle County. A February 20 meeting brought ideas from more than 40 people while the meeting last week had an attendance of around 20 at the Courthouse in Onaway. Onaway mayor Gary Wregglesworth welcomed the gathering to the historic courthouse building, telling about the renovation of the building and some of the history of Onaway.
He said it was important for a gathering like this to be held in Onaway and in all points of the county, to show unity of purpose in the group. Bill Valentine, executive director of the CDC/EDC, served as chairman of the meeting, opening his comments by telling the group that money budgeted for tourism by the Presque Isle County Board of Commissioners has been unused after the commissioners refused to provide funding for the Presque Isle County Tourism Council last year.
?WE FEEL we can?t leave that money on the table. It is important that it is used to promote the county,? Valentine said. ?We will be taking baby steps but we will be moving forward.? How to organize the group to access those funds brought ideas from the group. ?At some point there will have to be a plan to present to the county board to access those dollars,? said Onaway city manager Joe Hefele. He said the county board likely would be very careful with those funds, based on past experiences. He suggested appointing a steering committee to work for the greater group, with appointments to the committee based on location and interests. ?We have to make sure all points of the county are represented and make sure that events are coordinated so they are not overlapping. We have to show the county commissioners that we are not going to fail,? Hefele stressed.
OPEN WAYS of accounting of funds was a common thread in the conversation, as the need for credibility is important, they said. ?There has to be a total public accounting for what you are doing,? said Mark Slown, city manager of Rogers City. ?All funds should go to the county and the county would pay a professional to do the work. And, there should not be an events coordinator position.?
Slown said the local organization knows best how to manage their own event. He suggested not overburdening one person to oversee many events, as that would be too big of a job. The larger umbrella group could be there to promote and assist, but should not micromanage events, he suggested. He said, ?Someone should be paid to keep this thing going. You can?t do it with (only) volunteerism.? In the first meeting, the group talked about producing a promotional piece to promote the county. That concern was addressed through a presentation from Presque Isle Newspapers publisher Richard Lamb, who told about his plans to print 10,000 copies of a full-color, 8 x 10.5? Visitors? and Resource Guide in May. The publication had been done in prior years as a newspaper tabloid. Valentine urged the members to support this publication by providing information about events and through purchasing advertisements. He also asked Lamb to consider printing an extra 5,000 for the group to distribute.
Other ideas discussed included: –Ed Lamb, a real estate broker from Rogers City, presented some ideas on a website which could be used to promote activities in the county.
–The group generally agreed that an organization should be set up to coordinate county activities without taking control over
–Fishing in the county is good, not as bad as has been presented in some media.
–A central calendar of county events would be helpful. –The group should work together with each local chamber of commerce.
–Activities should be promoted year-round.
–Improved lines of communication with all groups and businesses that promote the area should be a goal.
–Some discussion on naming the group took place. –No date was set for the next meeting but Valentine said at least one or two more meetings of the group were needed before approaching the county board.
–County Commissioner Steve Lang was one of those in attendance and gave some background on the history of the board?s dealings with the current tourism council.