SMALL GROUP FLIP CHART NOTES  

Group 1:  Downtown Businesses (Facilitator: Ita Meno)

 Group 2:  Festivals/Events/Attractions A (Facilitator: Kirsten Merrimen)

 Group 3:  Festivals/Events/Attractions B (Facilitator: Becky Cassidy)

Group 4:  Institutions & Non-Profits (Facilitator: Lori Smith)

 Group 5:  Business Services (Facilitator: Lesli Blount)

Group 6:  Business Services/Real Estate & Development (Facilitator: Cyndi Christensen)

 Group 7:  Tourism/Hospitality A (Facilitator: Beth Ruzansky)

Group 8:  Tourism/Hospitality B (Facilitator: Gail Shampnois)

SMALL GROUP SUMMARY

 

Group 1:  Downtown Businesses (Facilitator: Ita Meno, CEDO)

How and What Should We Use to Market Burlington:  

• Market Burlington with the products that we sell
• Create an experience for the traveler so that they will stay in the City
• Use the Marketplace
• Use Lake Champlain and its history
• Create more outdoor sports events and activities
• Use buildings and places as symbols

Best Ideas:  

• Trumpet Burlington, VT as an “Award Winning City”
• Build ties with the local community (create authenticity for locals; re-connect with the local community; create community appeal)
• Pool marketing efforts
• Create publicity; editorials
• Tie in Vermont Attractions through better packaging

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Group 2:  Festivals/Events/Attractions A (Facilitator: Kirsten Merrimen, CEDO)

How do you use Burlington in your marketing efforts?  

• The downtown Street Outreach Program helps all in the community – with a decrease in the perception of problems and increased safety (a success story)
• We focus on community health
• WPTZ/ECHO/UW(?) have a Volunteer of the Month Award
• ECHO promotes the waterfront, State, and New England to attract people from around the world

Chart and Rankings of Best Ideas:  

BEST IDEAS	RANKING (Note: asterisks denote the top ideas)
Create partnerships and packaging	*
We need distinctive images of Burlington and the ability to use them license free; we need a media data bank (including video) that businesses can access	*
Move away from strictly recreational images and promote cultural images and opportunities	*
Create a unique physical landmark (i.e., Golden Gate Bridge)
Create cultural district signs for the highways
Rest area video presentations (1 minute vignettes on key topics)
Move and draw people throughout the downtown and the waterfront
Create partnerships to improve the image of Burlington
Decide if there should be a separate office for marketing Burlington
Put more focus on packages with natural, cultural, and economic aspects
More emphasis on cross marketing between stakeholders
Need for a 24/7 collaborative effort locally and with the State
Burlington must be the image/the brand

 Next Steps:  

• Branding!
• Find out who owns photos, video, audio royalty free
• Find out who manages and what the location is of the FTP site of Burlington Telecom
• Put video news releases on the web
• Create a central office and position for marketing Burlington
• Create a profile on members for partnering and packaging

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Group 3:  Festivals/Events/Attractions B (Facilitator: Becky Cassidy, Becky Cassidy Creating Partnerships)

Themes:  

• Business-City collaboration and sharing
• Business collaboration (egs., cooperative advertising; photography bank)
• Heart and Soul – people here are tied to the place (the arts, sense of place; diversity of the community – cultural; …)
• Continued enthusiasm – have monthly meetings for interested people to get together and continue the momentum
• We have a breadth of offerings, we need to create some depth
• We have the arts; high-quality healthcare; education – these are the things that attract new businesses
• Common theme could be – hills, lake, University, hospital: the uniqueness of the area
• Visionary Marketplace
• Paint a broad stroke to create an identity for the City – e.g.: “Smallest Big City in the U.S.A.

Target Markets:  

• Businesses throughout Vermont
• Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility: 50% of its members are in Burlington
• FAHC patients; employees; perspective employees
• Burlington community and beyond Burlington
• YMCA – kids, families (narrow focus)

Best Ideas:  

#1: Branding

#2: List of web site links (inventorying web site; creating a clearing house)  

Next Steps:  

• Establish an infrastructure that includes the City, BBA, the Church Street Marketplace, and other partners
• Identify markets
• Create business collaborations

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Group 4:  Institutions & Non-Profits (Facilitator: Lori Smith, Community Health Improvement, Fletcher Allen)

Assets of Burlington:  

• High quality of life
• Provides an experience of a city
• Perception that Burlington is not Vermont (pro: uniqueness of city in a rural state; con: distrust of the City by Vermonters)
• Wholesome, affordable activities
• Safety
• Regional tourism market

Brainstorm of Ideas:  

• Partnering on marketing efforts (e.g., create links to websites
• Create a campaign around “Burlington, Vermont for Vermonters” (cultural qualities – music, theater, art, museums - and dining variety …)
• Queen City theme
• Market city as “young and vibrant” and “where rules don’t apply”
• Target the market: tourists; businesses; relocating families; residents (local and statewide); students; employees and potential employees

Best Ideas:  

#1: Partnering with other businesses

#2: Create a campaign around “Burlington, Vermont for Vermonters”

#3: Link web sites

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Group 5:  Business Services (Facilitator: Lesli Blount, KeyBank)

Best Ideas:  

• We need to cross-reference other Burlington businesses and attractions (“I’m not selling houses, I am selling Burlington” – Deb Olson, Lang)
• Create an affiliations page on our web sites if appropriate

Next Steps:  

• Create an infrastructure: Advocate for an umbrella organization to market Burlington (we are a mature market and we are ready for this)
• Advocate for one go-to web site … central resource (this resource should include events, brochures, …)
• Advocate for a place for employers to market together to attract employees; start an Employers Marketing Group
• Address the physical obstacles of tourists to the City – make it easier for them to get to attractions and activities -  more pedestrian friendly streets; loop trolley; eco-friendly cars; free bicycles; …
• Nurture the philosophy of “cooperative competition” (cross-reference businesses for e.g.)
• Create an affiliations page on our web sites if appropriate

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Group 6:  Business Services/Real Estate & Development (Facilitator: Cyndi Christensen, CEDO)

Brainstorm of Ideas:  

• Have more events; make them more focused (target specific markets); increase sponsorships and business support; and tie them in city-wide (e.g., Dragon Boat event)
• Have a consistent marketing message
• Update existing marketing
• Embrace existing networks and organizations
• Improve business resources, i.e., images (more variety)
• Create a joint Burlington and business partnership for relocation and development

Best Ideas:  

#1: Embrace and improve existing networks and organizations

#2: Create a Marketing Council

#3:  Create marketing resources for businesses (photo archives; education; participation)

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Group 7:  Tourism/Hospitality A (Facilitator: Beth Ruzansky, CEDO)

Brainstorm of Ideas:  

• Optimize use of the website (RSS; viral marketing; use e-mail list to visit 3 times in an 18 mo. Period); need one place to go – should that be through the Burlington Free Press?)
• Put together Best Practices for marketing the area – there is lots of material, but need to unify
• Support the LCRCC branding study
• Why come: We are activities driven; Burlington has natural beauty; energetic people – identify and publicize these; begin with a few key positioning points that all BBA members use
• Look at a theme like UVM uses for Burlington – “the nation’s smallest big city” or  another one like “we’re a small city with a big attitude”
• We are looking at more than City boundaries – use Burlington as the “brand” or do we use the term “Greater Burlington”
• Make use of major events like the Quadricentennial to highlight Burlington and put it on the national/international stage

Best Ideas:  

#1: There are lots of activities and materials – need to unify them

#2: Branding Study

#3: Continuity of positioning of “Greater Burlington”

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Group 8:  Tourism/Hospitality B (Facilitator: Gail Shampnois, UVM)

How do you use Burlington in your marketing efforts?  

• We create and distribute a map dedicated to Burlington (Blue Map)
• We staff the information booths in the downtown and on the waterfront (Note: during the tourist season, the waterfront booth is now as busy as the downtown booth)
• The Visitor Center kiosks have a 30 second slide show “Windows of Vermont” that includes slides of Burlington
• The Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce (LCRCC) includes Burlington in its publications, web site, and PR activities
• The LCRCC is working on a branding initiative for the Burlington area
• At Soapdish the owners market Burlington to their customers pointing out activities to do while they are in the city (like see the sun set over Lake Champlain); they feel it is important to provide their customers with a snapshot of Burlington so that they want to come again and again

Gaps in Marketing Effort for Burlington:  

·        Struggle with how to package the Burlington area and what to package (there is a need for branding the city)

·        Need better ways to gauge the effectiveness of marketing efforts; for e.g., how do you measure things like how web hits result in trips to Burlington

·        Marketing is not resulting into many return trips – see too many people only once a year; what can we do better to increase the visitations

·        How the city looks greatly impacts tourism – with the city budget under stress, it will be hard to provide the services to maintain parks, the waterfront, … and to continue to provide the structure for the many events that we do

·        We don’t always capitalize on where the people are – for e.g., a lot of people camp (many come from between Burlington and the Canadian border) at North Beach – how can we market to them what is going on in Burlington (share lists of camper names; market with the Parks and Rec. Dept.; …)

·        There is a need to have a stock of photos available of Burlington images for marketing efforts

·        Need more collaboration around marketing the city  

Dynamics We Need To Pay Attention To:  

• Burlington has originality – there is a good mix of national and local businesses that we need to nurture and sustain
• Burlington has a dynamic street scene that contributes much to its vitality
• Burlington has a historic downtown that contributes to its uniqueness, drawing attention to this in how we market the city could have many benefits
• Shop and restaurant owners and staff hear a lot from customers about what they are looking for in their visit to the city; they are also potential ambassadors of the city – we should be intentional about working with owners and staff to (1) hear from them about what the market is (who do they see in their businesses; what are they doing when visiting the city; what are their expectations;  …) and (2) to be ambassadors (recruitment; training; walking tours with highlights; …)
• Many hotel front desk staff are asked by visitors about what they should do during their stay.  We should also strategize on how to engage them and recruit them as ambassadors (familiarization trips, …).  We should also think about producing a “This Week” calendar of events to send to hotels to post for visitors or an attractive calendar we can deliver to them to display.
• The business community needs to communicate and partner with the city administration (Mayor’s Office, City Council, department heads) about creating opportunities to think strategically about economic development and to develop a vision and strategic plan

Chart and Rankings of Best Ideas:  

BEST IDEAS	RANKING (Note: each person had just 3 votes to cast)
Create an image backed up by action that we are a friendly city with a positive attitude (e.g., create a pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, including bumper stickers/signs that say “I (we) brake for tourists”)	9 votes
Branding	7 votes
Create a strategic, integrated marketing plan	4 votes
Derive strategies that come from a visitor/consumer perspective and not from our assumptions about why visitors/customers come to Burlington	4 votes
Provide resources to keep us competitive (for e.g., trainings to business owners about new technology; sharing survey results about tourism nationally and locally)	2 votes
Work with all interfaces to talk to visitors about Burlington and what it has to offer	1 vote
Create more packaging, collaboration, and co-advertising in the business community	0 votes
Create a year-round waterfront-downtown connection	0 votes
Get involved in the Quadricentennial Celebration	0 votes
Share photos	0 votes

   

SMALL GROUP SUMMARY

CHART OF TOP THEMES CULLED FROM ALL GROUPS

Do a Branding Study: Brand “Burlington” Brand “Greater Burlington”

Create a Marketing Infrastructure: ·        Create a Marketing Council Establish an infrastructure that includes the City, BBA, the Church Street Marketplace, and other partners Create a central office and position for marketing Burlington Create a strategic, integrated marketing plan Embrace and improve existing networks and organizations Increase communication and partnerships with the city administration (Mayor’s Office, City Council, department heads) to create opportunities to think strategically about economic development and to develop a vision and strategic plan

Improve and Enhance Marketing Efforts: Pool marketing efforts Cross-reference other Burlington businesses and attractions Create more publicity and editorials Partner with other businesses to co-advertise Nurture the philosophy of “cooperative competition” Put together Best Practices for marketing the area – there is lots of material, but need to unify Create better ways to gauge the effectiveness of marketing efforts; for e.g., how do you measure things like how web hits result in trips to Burlington Strategize how to engage and recruit hotel front desk staff as ambassadors for Burlington (familiarization trips, …)  Produce a “This Week” calendar of events to send to hotels to post for visitors or an attractive calendar we can deliver to them to display Strategize how to engage and recruit shop and restaurant owners to (1) learn from them “who” the market is (who do they see in their businesses; what are they doing when visiting the city; what are their expectations;  …) and (2) to be ambassadors (techniques: training; walking tours with highlights; …) Incorporate Burlington’s historic roots in marketing efforts (it contributes to the City’s  uniqueness; “Queen City”) Nurture and sustain Burlington’s mix of national and local businesses – it brings originality to the City Derive strategies that come from a visitor/consumer perspective and not from our assumptions about why visitors/customers come to Burlington

Use the Web More Effectively: Create a list of all business; non-profit; and community web sites Link websites Inventory websites and how they market Burlington Create a clearing house Create an affiliations page on our web sites if appropriate Advocate for one go-to web site … central resource (this resource should include events, brochures, …)

Use Packaging: Create more packaging Improve the packaging we have Put more focus on packages with natural, cultural, and economic aspects (move away from strictly recreational images and promote more cultural images and opportunities) Tie in Vermont Attractions through better packaging Create a profile on members for partnering and packaging

Provide Resources to Keep Us Competitive Conduct trainings to business owners about new technology Share survey results about tourism nationally and locally Create marketing resources for businesses (egs., distinctive images of Burlington and the ability to use them license free; a media data bank, including video, that businesses can access

Create an image backed up by action that we are a friendly city with a positive attitude: Create a pedestrian-friendly image, including bumper stickers/signs that say “I (we) brake for tourists”) Move people seamlessly to and from the downtown and the waterfront Address the physical obstacles of tourists to the City – make it easier for them to get to attractions and activities -  more pedestrian friendly streets; loop trolley; eco-friendly cars; free bicycles; …

Get involved in the Quadricentennial Celebration

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Updated March 20, 2006