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A Letter From
Visit Mount Dora
President Terry Abbott.
I thought at this time of year things would be slowing down for me a little and while the pace of business has slowed slightly there are still things yet to be accomplished, especially for my fellow members. One of those things is this letter to the members done on a quarterly basis trying to keep you informed of how things are going. I last wrote on September 15th, 2010 mentioning how we were all eagerly looking forward to the upcoming season, increased visitation to town, cooler weather and the Fall Craft Show. How it promised to be exciting and full of fun. Well I hope that it was exciting and fun for you because it has most definitely has brought with it cooler weather!
The Fall Craft Show was a roaring success. Not only did it bring an official estimate of 300,000 to 350,000 to town it also saw OUR event bring in much higher ratings than it in the recent past. Our relationship with Cox Events Group has proven to be very beneficial to the association. They help ed bring this record crowd to us by providing more exposure and advertising than the contract with them said they would offer. This combined with the efforts of our advertising committee to form a stronger bond with the Orlando Sentinal brought the most extensive advertising for this community to date by blanketing the Central Florida region.
The Christmas Walk also was a success thanks to these same relationships. We were able to reduce our cost and increase our reach.
Also thanks to city continued support of our events through grants and sponsorships we were able to provide advertising for other events that occur in our city (such as the Christmas Homes Tour) and all of those we have been able to assist have been very satisfied with our efforts.
I don't know if you noticed but I believe there has been a soone and more than normal increase in visitors to our area. We seem to be busier. I also believe this is the direct result of the Board's efforts to launch and maintain our present advertising "campaign". Our ability to "promote and advertise" other events in our city has no doubt helped with this increase. Such advertising shows there is a lot going on and the more there is for people to do the more people will come. As I heard Roy Gress coin the phrase, it provide "Shoppertainment."
As I write this I am troubled that I have to inform you that my efforts to create a new Farmer's Market have hit a major snag. Almost all was in place. We had an expert helping us. We had the insurance in place. We had the ability to advertise. We even had all the vendors ready, in place and eager to start this venture. The problem came in the last hour and was unexpected. The lot that was going to be donated to us for use and improved was no longer available to us. This was because that every time a large vehicle drives on this lot it causes the rock to become unsettled. Every time this occurs the owner would have to bring in a roller and re-roll the lot for use. This of course was not an inexpensive proposition for the landowner. The amount that he would have had to pay for the small amount we would make was not a prudent decision. So, the result is that we will have to delay the start of a Farmer's Market for the time being as we research alternatives for a location. Most who know me will realize that once I believe in something I do not give up and I do not fail.
I returned to the Merchant's Board about 3 years ago and at that time we had a budget of about $100,000. At the time of setting this year's budget we had a budget of in kind sponsorship and operating capital of $318,000. I mentioned because we need to increase this budget for our visitation to increase as well. The increase mentioned also did not include our efforts with the Orlando Sentinal and Cox's voluntary increase. Yet this is still not enough and why I am disappointed with being unable to begin the Farmer's Market.
While the delay in the Farmer's Market proves to be disappointing at the moment we are in full swing for the Spring Show coming in March. Last year we saw a crowd of 55,000 for this event and I am expecting a crowd of at least 100,000 for this year's event. In February I am looking forward to the Art Show. We are also making strides in other efforts to increase our ability to promote and advertise our City. Increasing our ability to promote and advertise means bringing more events and shows to our city. When the Board settled the budget last October for your approval it had the for-sight to set money aside to allow us to create other events for our town. One of these items is the electrification of Evans Park. This will allow us to do many things and one of those is a regularly scheduled series of concerts. It will also allow us to work with the promoters of the Blues Festival to make a larger event. The Board and Association set aside monies to set out for bid certain duties that the association needs to increase its reach and efforts. I am glad to announce that a group of the Board Members had a meeting and selected what they believe was the best contract for these duties. We now have a new event coordinator and clerical administrator who will be working full time for the association. Her position starts now. With the start of our new contractor I am also going to be stepping down as the Events Chair and Brian Young will be stepping up. We also are naming Vivian Rodriquez as our new treasurer.
Other items that our new contractor will be helping with is the needed Policies and Procedures that need to be finished to go along with our re-vamp by-laws. We also are hopefully deciding on a new name for OUR association at our next meeting. Accomplishing these goals I believe will allows us to continue our efforts to increase funding and bring more activities to our town for people to enjoy.
Doing all that I mention allows your board to do what I firmly believe is their real job and that is to bring horses to the gate (or customers to your business) so you can accomplish your job of selling your product. In bringing this to a close I hope that all the efforts (Christmas decorating contest, the new LED Christmas tree, the Marina lights) of everyone (the Chamber, Main Street Leasing, the Marina) who cares about this town made the first half of OUR busy season everything you needed and wanted it to be. I know it has been very successful for Maggie's so far. I also hope that you will be pleased with the ongoing efforts of YOUR BOARD for the rest of the season and far into the summer.
Sincerely
Terrance R. Abbott, RN.
Visit Mount Dora Board President and
Owner of Maggie's Attic.
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