Downtown Lakeland Partnership • Marketing Meeting
June 10, 2008 • MidFlorida Conference Room – 7th Floor

Attending: Julie Townsend, Andy Cowper, Ben Harland, Jim Doig, Freddie DeJesus, Chris @ Harry’s Bar & Grille, Margaret Stevens, Rod Crowley, Bev Hendricks, Kay Morgan, Lori Powell, Ellen Simms.

The meeting was called to order by Julie Townsend at 8:05AM.  Introductions were made.

Events:

Beer Festival:  The idea of a beer festival in Downtown Lakeland has been well received and would be a great opportunity to showcase downtown and provide merchants with new customers.  Rod (Southern Wine & Spirits) gave quite a bit of insight on how to get the process rolling.  Jim Doig brought up the need for the LPD presence and liability insurance.  Who is responsible for damages should something happen as a result of the DLP hosting this event.  Julie will look into the insurance issue and report back next month.

First Friday: Three upcoming First Fridays are posted on the website.  July – Red, White & Kaboom; August – Dogs Days of Summer; September – Salute to Educators.  Some ideas for the July FF would be pie eating contests, watermelon seed spitting; face painting….simple old fashioned fun!  The event will kick off early at 4:00PM.

Downtown @ Dusk:  The next event will be held July 14 at Brooke Pottery.

Taste of Downtown:  This inaugural event will be held in the Lake Mirror Tower on July 17.

Advertising & PR:

Newsletter:  The group discussed mailing to the 250 “opt” in households and to 1,000 Christina area households.  The remaining will be distributed throughout Lakeland.

Website:  New site is up and running.  Members who have not taken the training needed to update their information should call Julie to set up a time.

Goodie Bags: Decision needs to be made on whether or not to continue purchasing bags.

Florida Southern student orientation/parent’s weekend will take place September 22-24.  This could be a possible downtown event on Saturday from 4-6:30.  Coordination with other local universities is being investigated.

Map Brochure:  Discussed incorporating the map into the newsletter to increase the value of the piece and improve the method used to keep up with all the events/changes that take place downtown.

First Friday Marketing: An activity sheet showing where events are taking place would be a help to attendees.  Posters will go out sooner, but it requires a deadline of the Monday after the previous First Friday, so members would have to have their information available earlier as well.

VIP Card: Group discussed promotion like the LDDA’s Day & Night card.  May be added as a feature in the newsletter.  Need businesses to participate with discounts and specials.

Membership:  146 members to date.  Adding “leads” meeting on a quarterly basis as the General Meeting subject.  It gives members an opportunity to learn more about each other.

New Business:

Summer Jamz at the Polk Theater: Freddie DeJesus informed the group about the events being held June 19th; July 18th & August 14th.  All events are 9PM-midnight.  Also, the Rocky Horror Picture Show will be held in conjunction with the Haunted Theater at the Polk Theater, kicking off with a Zombie Crawl thru downtown Lakeland.

ISO: Bev Hendricks announced Music & Martini’s will be held at the Lakeland Center on August 25.  Sponsors are still needed.

With no additional business, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Lori Powell
Secretary