The Crookston Visitors Bureau board met on Thursday morning inside the Crookston Inn. The 2022 preliminary budget was up for approval, a grant request for a dart tournament was before the board, and new QR Codes were introduced by Chair of the Crookston Visitors Bureau Nell DeBoer.
The board reviewed the August meeting minutes and approval of any bill’s payable and approved unanimously. The board also heard a Treasurer’s report from Jess Bengtson, and the board approved the report unanimously.
2022 PRELIMINARY BUDGET
The 2022 preliminary budget was up for reviewal but tabled for the time being. DeBoer talked about the preliminary budget and some of the things the board has considered during the process. “This is the first budget we’ve had, and we’ve been trying to figure out what the numbers should be,” said DeBoer. “We purposefully haven’t done a budget yet to see where costs are at and what money is coming in each month. It took us this long to figure that information out, and now we feel more comfortable about trying to narrow down where those numbers should be.”
No action was taken, and the budget will be up for approval once again at the Visitor Bureau’s October board meeting.
DeBoer discussed more of why the budget was tabled. “It was a subcommittee that developed it, and I helped create it and present it to the board,” said DeBoer. “We decided it was better to just look at it for today and then spend quite a bit of time at the next meeting looking at it and getting it nailed down.”
DART TOURNAMENT
A grant request was placed before the board for the 2022 Diva Domination Dart Tournament. DeBoer talked about the request more in-depth. “We are in a support role for this event,” said DeBoer. “We are super excited to work with them and give them money to help their event. We hope this event ends up being one we can support every year as it continues to grow.
The board approved the grant request for $3,000 after discussion, and the event will take place February 18-19 in 2022, at the Crookston Inn. The event has been put on before at the Crookston Inn, and as part of the grant agreement for this year, the CVB will have its logo displayed during the event on the screens above and below the dartboards, as well as on any merchandise that is made.
QR CODE STICKERS
QR Code Stickers were introduced at the meeting, and they will provide easier access to Visitor Guides for people visiting Crookston. DeBoer explained how the process will work. “We had 10,000 visitor guides printed out, and they’re wonderful for the hotels and library, but it’s not a great resource everywhere, especially for the younger generation,” said DeBoer. “We talked with people at UMC, and the idea we came up with was to have a QR Code that will take people right to our website. We put a bunch of them up out at UMC, and it will be an easy way to access where to shop, dine, and stay in Crookston.”
OTHER ITEMS
The Ox Cart Days Committee submitted all their bills from their event in August and asked for a $3,000 payment from the CVB for marketing costs. The board approved the request unanimously after DeBoer reviewed all the submitted bills and believed they were all in the correct amount.
A hotel TV group update was presented by Laurie Stahlecker and Cory Dallager, and no decision was made regarding if the board will move forward with purchasing new smart TVs for the hotels. More information will be presented at the next meeting in October, and a potential decision may be reached.
The board also reviewed the “What Brings you to Crookston Campaign.” The goal of the campaign is to try and understand better why people are attending Crookston. Ox Cart Days and Construction work were the two biggest reasons people visited Crookston in August. 78 people visited Crookston in August for Construction and 73 for Ox Cart Days. There were 463 total recorded visitors for August.
Shrpa Marketing was another agenda item discussed by the board, as they work with Explore Minnesota to help market for smaller cities. DeBoer explained more of what they do and the potential benefit of working with them. “Shrpa is a company that will pay bloggers to stay in a city and blog about their experience,” said DeBoer. “They’ll talk about their day and what their experiences were and share it on social media.”
If the board decides to move forward with the company, the cost will be $750 for a full year.
The last item was board member updates. Crookston High School Activities Director Greg Garmen discussed how things are up and running at Crookston High School with classes officially beginning. He’s hopeful things continue to move along without interruption. When asked if masks will be required in the future by the school or Minnesota State High School League, he said things are unknown at this time.
The other board members had nothing new to report.
