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 Among the many items on the agenda was a request
from the Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival for $5,000 to be used in
promoting this year’s event.
The request was made by the Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of
Commerce. Chamber director Andi Hake, who is also a member of the
Tourism board, and abstained from voting on the request.
She did explain the request and tell the board how the money would
be used.
In the past the bureau has supported the festival through a balloon
sponsorship. That sponsorship cost the bureau $2,500.
Hake said in recognizing the new vision and mission of the Tourism
Bureau, this year the chamber was asking for dollars to promote the
festival in areas outside the 50 mile radius of Lincoln.
She said each year the chamber does the advertising for the festival
throughout the region, but concentrates a portion of that
advertising in a specific area. She said this year the concentrated
focus would be on Bloomington and Peoria.
She said the $5,000 would be used to purchase advertising, including
30 second and 60 second television commercials. She said the
commercials would be designed to draw attention to all of the events
going on during the weekend.
 She also said the request included the use of both of the tourism
billboards on Interstate 55.
During discussion, the board wanted more definition on the use of
the billboards. The bureau recently gave the billboard space to the
Lincoln College Museum, but the museum paid the cost of the
advertising that was placed on them. Hake said it would be the same
situation.
The group also talked about the size of the request, noting it was
twice what it had been in previous years.
During that discussion, Andy Meister remembered the Logan County
Fair had requested that same amount, and had been given half. But,
Keith Snyder noted the balloon festival is a huge draw in Logan
County. Jean Brunner-Jachino supported that saying, for the motel
industry in Lincoln, it is by far the biggest weekend they have.
The group also discussed the fact that the chamber covers all the
advertising for all the events. This includes the balloon launches
and glows, the Art in the Park, the Oasis Flea Market, the Art of
Wine, the 1800’s Craft Show at Postville Courthouse, and the
barbeque competitions.
Darlene Begolka noted, “When you break that all down, it really
isn’t much money.”
When the motion to approve came to a vote, six voted yes, with Hake
abstaining.
The chamber had also submitted requests for support for the chamber
golf outing and an Art Fair Patron Pledge. Both requests failed for
a lack of motion.
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 Later in the evening, Snyder brought up a request for $5,000
specifically for the Up in Smoke Barbecue competitions.
He said in meeting with Chris Graue, who annually heads up the
barbecue competition committee, they had spoken about an
opportunity to bring a celebrity host to the event.
The committee has heard from Mark D’Carlo that he is willing to
come to Lincoln and host that event as well as the Art of Wine.
He is also going to be doing some comedic entertainment during
the Art of Wine.
D’Carlo is currently the host of Windy City Live, a morning
television show in the Chicago area. In addition, he has been a
host on the Travel Channel's, Taste of America. Snyder said
D’Carlo will promote the barbecue on his morning show.
In addition, D’Carlo hosts an online show called, “Fork on the
Road,” and has written a book by the same title. He has told the
committee he will film an episode of that show in Lincoln during
the event.
D’Carlo is also willing to host his comedy cooking show
competition in Lincoln. Snyder said the competition includes a
five day trip to the Caribbean for the winner.
And finally, D'Carlo would do interviews with local chefs and
“interesting” sponsors.
Snyder said he thought this would be beneficial, and take the
barbecue event to a new level. He said he would also suggest
that if it proves to be beneficial, it might be something the
bureau would consider sponsoring in the following year as well.
Andy Hake said she thought it was a great idea. She said Graue
had approached the chamber two years ago to do this. “We racked
our brains to try and figure out how to make it happen,” but in
the end Hake said the chamber couldn’t do it. She said she
thought this was an exceptional promotion opportunity.
Tom O’Donohue also noted that D’Carlo has his own following, so
it is going to be in his best interest to promote the event as
its host.
Snyder said he liked the idea of adding a personality to the
event saying it would bring a new draw to the community.
When the motion was made it passed with a vote of six “yeses”
and 1 abstain. Because the chamber will be the pass-through for
this funding, Hake once again abstained from voting.
[By NILA SMITH] |
