Chris Wissmann sent out the email below to the council detailing his reasons for supporting the choice of Southernmost Illinois over a reconstituted Carbondale Convention and Tourism Bureau:
Should Southernmost do this, the city would benefit in numerous ways, including from economies of scale. Southernmost, for example, already has a capable director, so the Carbondale office would not need a director, but a manager, saving in personnel costs. As part of Southernmost, the office wouldn't need to incur numerous other expenses, like a separate audit- those items would get folded into Southernmost's existing budget.
Should the city council feel it wants more control than that option allows, we still could hire Southernmost as our certified bureau, again for a modest sum, and charge them with including us in their regional tourism mission. Meanwhile, we could set up an independent or in-house local office with its own staff and board. This would, however, require taking on all the expenses required by a fully independent or in-house office, including a director's salary- meaning that less money would get spent on promoting the city- but it doesn't preclude hiring Southernmost as our certified bureau.
Under any circumstance, a local office will require some time to set up. But at least Southernmost can immediately include Carbondale into their ongoing promotion of the region while a local office organizes.
In any event, in my meetings and conversations with them, Southernmost's director and board have expressed how open they are to serving Carbondale. They are polite, respectful, professional, and willing to be flexible.
The mayor and city manager have also met with them; I know that Southernmost's director and board are also willing to meet with you. I hope you'll take the time to do so, and think that you will come away as impressed as I was.
Today I spoke with Jan
Kemmerling at the Illinois Office of Tourism, and she corrected a few
misconceptions I had regarding our situation. Accordingly, I have
revised my reasons for endorsing Southernmost and included them below.
Meanwhile, I hope I can share a few additional thoughts.
Certainly, I understand- and have vocally advocated on behalf of- greater city oversight of how tax dollars allocated for tourism are spent. And I understand the reticence of the council to turn over a sizable sum of money- ranging in recent years to as much as $317,000- to an organization that will not exclusively market Carbondale as a tourism destination. In other words, we should not want a great percentage of Carbondale's tourism budget spent to promote riverboat gambling in Metropolis.
There is a way around this, however- and it is part of Southernmost's proposal: The city would contract with Southernmost to serve as our certified bureau and we would provide a modest sum to them- say, the city's $65,000 in state matching funds- to include Carbondale in their regional marketing efforts. (The city should place conditions on the use of those funds to ensure that we are not funding our competition, but cooperating to everyone's greater good.)
The great majority of the
city's tourism budget could then go to a local office. And
Southernmost is willing to open a semi-autonomous subsidiary with a
Carbondale office, staff, and board that would be exclusively
dedicated to marketing Carbondale events and attractions. (The council
could appoint the board, or even, in a capacity similar to that of the
Local Liquor Control Commission, serve as the Carbondale Tourism
Commission. The latter option would require that the board comply with
the Open Meetings Act, and help foster transparency.)Certainly, I understand- and have vocally advocated on behalf of- greater city oversight of how tax dollars allocated for tourism are spent. And I understand the reticence of the council to turn over a sizable sum of money- ranging in recent years to as much as $317,000- to an organization that will not exclusively market Carbondale as a tourism destination. In other words, we should not want a great percentage of Carbondale's tourism budget spent to promote riverboat gambling in Metropolis.
There is a way around this, however- and it is part of Southernmost's proposal: The city would contract with Southernmost to serve as our certified bureau and we would provide a modest sum to them- say, the city's $65,000 in state matching funds- to include Carbondale in their regional marketing efforts. (The city should place conditions on the use of those funds to ensure that we are not funding our competition, but cooperating to everyone's greater good.)
Should Southernmost do this, the city would benefit in numerous ways, including from economies of scale. Southernmost, for example, already has a capable director, so the Carbondale office would not need a director, but a manager, saving in personnel costs. As part of Southernmost, the office wouldn't need to incur numerous other expenses, like a separate audit- those items would get folded into Southernmost's existing budget.
Should the city council feel it wants more control than that option allows, we still could hire Southernmost as our certified bureau, again for a modest sum, and charge them with including us in their regional tourism mission. Meanwhile, we could set up an independent or in-house local office with its own staff and board. This would, however, require taking on all the expenses required by a fully independent or in-house office, including a director's salary- meaning that less money would get spent on promoting the city- but it doesn't preclude hiring Southernmost as our certified bureau.
Under any circumstance, a local office will require some time to set up. But at least Southernmost can immediately include Carbondale into their ongoing promotion of the region while a local office organizes.
In any event, in my meetings and conversations with them, Southernmost's director and board have expressed how open they are to serving Carbondale. They are polite, respectful, professional, and willing to be flexible.
The mayor and city manager have also met with them; I know that Southernmost's director and board are also willing to meet with you. I hope you'll take the time to do so, and think that you will come away as impressed as I was.
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