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Table of Contents

Page 2 Agenda

Pages 3 – 6 Minutes

Pages 7 – 11 July 2016 Financials

Pages 12 – 14 Website Analytics

Page 15 DestiMetrics Topic Memo

Page 16 RT Committee Guidelines

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Agenda Visit Big Sky

August 18, 2016 406-995-3000

www.visitbigskymt.com

I. Roll Call II. Public Comment III. Chamber Liaison report

Action Items

IV. Approval of Minutes Tim

V. Approval of Financials Tim

VI. Digital Technology Sub-Committee Recommendation Krista/Glenniss

VII. Continuation with DestiMetrics Alex Discussion Items

VIII. Resort Tax Committee Kitty

Staff Reports

IX. Marketing Update Alex a. Website Usability Study b. Advertising

X. Guest Services App Lander

XI. Other Non-Agenda Items

XII. Adjourn

Upcoming Important Events: BAH with Pine Cove Consulting (at the Chamber) – TONIGHT! Ribbon Cutting at Luminous Audio & Video – August 25 20th Annual Chamber Golf Tournament – September 9 Annual Business Expo – September 27

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Visit Big Sky Meeting Minutes Visit Big Sky 55 Lone Mountain Trail | Big Sky, Montana 59716 406-995-3000 July 21, 2016

www.visitbigskymt.com Present: Glenniss Indreland, Ryan Hamilton, Dan Martin, Ennion Williams, Tim Drain, Crystal Snook (teleconference), Krista Traxler (teleconference) Not Present: Steven Rager, Julie Grimm Staff Present: Alex Mansfield, Kitty Clemens Call to order: 8:35 a.m. No Public Comment

Chamber Liaison Report Kitty Clemens, Executive Director

Kitty Clemens announced the three new Chamber board members: Ken Lancey with Grizzly Outfitters, Greg Lisk with the Riverhouse, and Britt Ide with Ide Energy & Strategy. The last Chamber board meeting was pretty extensive in reviewing Chamber projects like transportation and housing and this year’s Resort Tax appropriations.

Ryan Hamilton asked how long it takes to conduct the transportation corridor study. Kitty Clemens said that MDT does not expect to start until April 2017. Ryan Hamilton asked how long it will take to complete. Kitty Clemens said the study is very extensive, so likely over one year.

Ryan Hamilton asked about the situation of the lease. Kitty Clemens said there is no update. She said that Brian Dolan is going to list the property the Chamber is on for a substantial amount of money.

Dan Martin asked what the size of the lot is. Ryan Hamilton said about 4.5 acres. Kitty Clemens said a large portion is not developable. Dan Martin asked if we have anywhere to move if we get evicted. Kitty Clemens said possibly the old hardware store as it is still vacant. She expressed the importance of staying on the highway. Dan Martin asked how many square feet the Chamber needs. Kitty Clemens said we have about 3,000 square feet at this location, but could probably work with less if it was a better layout.

Ryan Hamilton said when the Chamber was up in Town Center there were only about 2,000 visitors per year and at this location there are about 20,000 visitors per year. Ryan Hamilton said VBS and the Chamber are the VIC. Kitty Clemens corrected him saying that the Chamber is the VIC. The mission of VBS is to increase visitation to Big Sky.

Ryan Hamilton restated that he is very passionate about having the Chamber stay at this location and there is a community effort to keep it here. Dan Martin asked what the price of the property is. Ryan Hamilton said around $3.2 million. Kitty Clemens said when the Chamber had the property appraised, less than a year ago, it was appraised at around $850k.

There was more discussion about the property and the importance of the Chamber staying at this location. Kitty Clemens said the highest and greatest use for the lot is for the Chamber to be here.

Dan Martin asked what our role is. Kitty Clemens said the Chamber has the Gateway Foundation that is comprised of a strong group of committee members. Kitty Clemens said that the Gateway

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Foundation had a meeting that Kevin Germain arranged. She said the Huntley family is engaged and Sharon Huntley is very interested in making sure Chet Huntley’s legacy does not die.

Ryan Hamilton said there are certain setbacks with the lot, but there is still potential for the other buildings, like a museum. Glenniss Indreland wanted to clarify that the Gateway Foundation would lead the effort and the Chamber, VBS, and CVB would be in support. Kitty Clemens said the Gateway Foundation has the most power behind fundraising as a 501c3 and the Chamber would be the tenant. Ryan Hamilton talked about funding the foundation, options include: private, loans from local banks, resort tax, financing, etc. Ryan Hamilton suggested VBS take a hit in our Resort Tax requests. Dan Martin said it seems disingenuous in respect to the recent appropriations from Resort Tax because VBS is saying we need these funds and we’re going to do all of these projects outlined in our request, but instead we take the money and use it elsewhere. Ryan Hamilton agreed, but said what we’d do with the money is so big. Kitty stated that not having an advertising budget results in not much need to help visitors.

There was discussion about being a tenant versus a landowner. Kitty Clemens said that the Chamber has already made an offer to Brian Dolan to be a long-term tenant, but he did not accept it.

There was more discussion, which concluded as this topic is more suitable for the Chamber and Gateway Foundation.

ACTION ITEMS

Approval of Minutes

A motion to approve the minutes was moved by Dan Martin and seconded by Glenniss Indreland. With all in favor the motion passed unanimously.

Approval of Financials

Dan Martin, Treasurer

Dan Martin discussed the CVB financials and the combined budget. He pointed out that there is still about $25k left in the CVB budget that was supposed to go towards the advertising co-op with MOTBD, but we never got invoiced, so it is still unspent.

VBS still needs to discuss the $25k winter commitment to Dallas advertising and where to spend the additional $25k that was not spent in the summer campaign. Glenniss Indreland suggested we talk with the Resort and see if we want to spend $50k in one year or spend $25k in the winter campaign and the other $25k somewhere else.

A motion to approve the June financials was moved by Glenniss Indreland and seconded by

Ennion Williams. With all in favor the motion passed unanimously.

Nominating Committee

Glenniss Indreland, Dan Martin, and Ryan Hamilton

The Nominating Committee did not address that Ennion William’s term expired in June 2016 at the last meeting. He expressed interested that he would like to re-up for another three-year term as a director.

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A motion to accept Ennion Williams onto the VBS Board was made by Glenniss Indreland and seconded by Dan Martin. With all in favor the motion passed unanimously.

Elect Executive Officers

Glenniss Indreland, Dan Martin, and Ryan Hamilton

Glenniss Indreland asked if anyone on the board wanted to be Chair. There was discussion about having Ryan Hamilton as Chair and Dan Martin as Vice Chair. Dan Martin said that he will play whatever role is needed. More discussion followed. Ryan suggested a co-chair position.

Crystal Snook mentioned that she reached out to Eric Corliss from Lone Mountain Ranch who was interested in begin on the VBS board. Kitty Clemens said that the board is full right now, but it’s always good to have an idea of who is interested in being on the board, especially when vacancies occur.

Glenniss Indreland made a motion to present the slate of Executive officers to be Ryan Hamilton as Chair, Dan Martin as Vice Chair and Tim Drain as Treasurer/Secretary. Krista Traxler seconded the motion. With all in favor the motion passed unanimously.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

Revisit Committee Meetings Glenniss Indreland and Kitty Clemens

Kitty Clemens said that VBS has a Marketing Committee already and she and Alex Mansfield thought it would be good to have a Digital Technology Committee in place that would do some heavy lifting and make recommendations to the board regarding the websites, app, and kiosks. They would also make a recommendation if it is best to combine BSIA into visitbigskymt.com and possibly not collect BSIA partner funds, so VBS wouldn’t have to be tracking what the IRS considers Unrelated Business Income and therefore, pay taxes.

Glenniss Indreland asked if there is a need for a Resort Tax Committee. Dan Martin suggested that the Executive Committee also serve as the Resort Tax Committee. Kitty Clemens said that David O’Connor said we need to be continuously educating Resort Tax with what the tax collectors are doing. Glenniss Indreland suggested we have a Digital Technology Committee and a Resort Tax Committee.

Glenniss Indreland asked if there is anyone on the board that would be interested in joining the Digital Technology Committee. Glenniss Indreland and Krista Traxler said they’d be on the committee. Alex Mansfield and Kitty Clemens will also be on the committee and if anyone else wants to join, they’re welcome.

Ryan Hamilton suggested the Resort Tax Committee send or present a quarterly report from VBS to the Resort Tax board. Glenniss Indreland would like to have guidelines for the Resort Tax Committee at the next VBS meeting.

Kitty Clemens said that Ken Lancey might be interested in getting on the Resort Tax Committee.

Dan Martin said that it’s important to bring up our accomplishments and important meetings as it shows what the Resort Tax funds have produced.

Secretary to Sign Revised Bylaws

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Glenniss Indreland, Dan Martin, and Ryan Hamilton

As Tim Drain is the new Secretary, he will sign the bylaws after the meeting.

STAFF REPORTS

Marketing Update Alex Mansfield, Marketing Manager

Alex Mansfield said that they’ve received the full report from the usability study and will be arranging a meeting for Destination Analysts to present the report to the Digital Technology Committee.

She gave an update on the summer advertising campaign. She said that Fuse recommended we shift a portion of our commitment from the vendor LiveIntent to Amobee as LiveIntent is under-performing and Amobee is performing well. She reported on the Facebook ad performances and the analytics for the site.

We finally have enough Big Sky lodging partners to receive a complete report from DestiMetrics for the month of June. The report shows that the aggregate occupancy in Big Sky is lower in June 2016 than it was in June 2015. Hopefully all lodging partners will continue to report on time so we can continue with DestiMetrics.

Alex Mansfield presented the Press Relations Report she prepared for the board, which highlighted journalists who have contacted VBS for potential stories and also links to specific stories or mentions of Big Sky. Ryan Hamilton suggested sending something like this to the Resort Tax board.

Guest Services App Marci Lewandowski, Visitor Services Manager

Marci Lewandowski gave an update on the kiosks. We’ve received the testing documents and the targeted launch date is the first week of August.

Non-Agenda Items

Glenniss Indreland said that Vine and Dine is coming up on August 18-21.

Kitty Clemens introduced the Chamber’s new staff member, Kristina DeVries

Adjourn

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Glenniss Indreland and seconded by Dan Martin. The meeting adjourned at 10:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted, Alex Mansfield Marketing Manager

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Date: August 18, 2016

To: Visit Big Sky Board of Directors

From: Alex Mansfield, Marketing Manager

Subject: DestiMetrics (DMX) Continuation Action Item

1. Do lodging properties that participate in the DMX monthly data submissions utilize the reports, webinars, and data provided by DMX to make strategic decisions in their own companies?

2. Should VBS continue supporting the DMX program? Summary Explanation VBS began working with DMX in August 2015 and initially received participation from a number of lodging properties in Big Sky. As BSR has the largest number of units, there is a certain number of additional units needed to provide statistically correct and non-transparent data. Initially, VBS was able to get enough properties to submit data, but with a change in ownership of a business and a few other factors in January 2016 the number of submitting properties decreased and DMX could not ensure that each property’s data was protected. We stalled the program until May 2016, when Ralf Garrison came to Big Sky to talk to participating and potential properties to try to get the program back up and running. His visit seemed to interest a few other properties, however there have still been discrepancies with the data and not all properties do not report on time (by the 5th of each month). The data will annualize this month (August 2016), which may be helpful in seeing “on-the-books” reservations and how those are pacing compared to last year. Supportive Information DMX invoices are paid quarterly at a rate of $5,092.95 per quarter. VBS has paid for Q1 on July 1, 2016. The next quarterly payment will be October 1, 2016. Cancellation of contract states that agreement shall terminate upon completion of all services provided for herein, or sooner as mutually agreed upon by the parties. If notice of cancellation is provided this Agreement shall be wound down and terminated by the parties and Client will reimburse DMX for any/all work performed to date, including reimbursement for any/all unpaid startup fees. Participating properties include: Big Sky Resort, Big Sky Luxury Rentals, Big Sky Vacation Rentals, Buck’s T-4, River Rock Lodge, 320 Guest Ranch, and Lone Mountain Ranch (7 total) Recommendation We would like to see the data from August 2016, so that we can look at the first annualized data set; however, if less than the majority (3:7) of lodging properties utilize DMX resources, our recommendation is to terminate the contract. But, if 4:7 properties utilize the resources, we would recommend continuing with Q2 and re-assessing participation and progress in November/December.

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Resort Tax Committee for Visit Big Sky The Resort Tax Committee will be responsible for keeping the Resort Tax board up to date on Visit Big Sky projects, recent accomplishments, and community support. Guidelines

Formally and continuously document to RT board community support for VBS

Quantify partner investments in VBS, community marketing, and aggregate number of

donations to nonprofits (cash and in-kind)

Present a quarterly report to RT board highlighting VBS projects, accomplishments, and any

other relevant news.

Converse with local tax collectors in the area regarding VBS advertising

Develop speaking points related to the role of the “tax collectors” as the economic base for the

community. In other words, why would anyone be here without the tourism product?

Track down numbers for peer group advertising budgets.

Resources:

Colorado Tourism Sets All Time Record for Visitor Spending