Tourism Commission — Agenda Packet

MEETING: REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOURISM COMMISSION DATE & TIME: Monday, March 9, 2026 at 5:30 PM LOCATION: Germantown Village Hall Board Room N112 W17001 Mequon Road Any member of the body and/or citizen may attend the meeting virtually through the WebEx platform, Meeting #: 2559 846 4406 Password: PJqpXZBX272 which can be accessed by phone at 408-418-9388 or by clicking the link below: https://villageofgermantown.my.webex.com/villageofgermantown.my/j.php?MTID=mb5048da6a98e0718f4995ec8c720e6d6 NOTICE: Citizens not wishing to attend the meeting personally or virtually may submit any public comments by sending an email to comments@germantownwi.gov by 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting so that it can be provided to the members of the body for their consideration. Previously recorded Meeting Videos can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOYp0EgELzTCa9X_iCohyhQ AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER: This meeting has been given public notice in accordance with Section 19.83 and 19.84, Wis. Stats, in such form that will apprise the general public and news media of subject matter that is intended for consideration and action. II. ROLL CALL: III. CITIZEN INPUT: (Please be advised per 19.84(2) that information and comment will be received from the public. It is the policy of this municipality that public input be limited to a four (4) minute period per person with a time extension granted at the discretion of the Chairperson. Be advised that there may be limited discussion of the information received but no action will be taken under public comments.) Comments that may be injurious to village personnel or other individuals will not be allowed. IV. MEETING MINUTES: A. January 12, 2026 (ACTION) V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: VI. NEW BUSINESS: A. Request for funding from the Parks and Recreation Department for the 2026 Fourth of July Celebration (ACTION) B. Request for funding for Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation's Maifest (ACTION) C. Request from Economic Development Commission for Tourism Commission Takeover of Germantown Marketing Campaign (ACTION) VII. ADJOURNMENT: UPON REASONABLE NOTICE, efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of disabled individuals through appropriate aids and services. For additional information or to request this service, please contact the Village Clerk at (262)250-4745 at least 2 days prior to the meeting. Notice is hereby given that a possible quorum of other boards, committees, and/or commissions may attend this meeting to gather information about an item over which they have decision-making responsibility. This may constitute a meeting of these bodies per State ex rel. Badke v Greendale Village Board, even though these bodies will not take formal action at this meeting. Page 1 of 30 MEETING: REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOURISM COMMISSION DATE AND TIME: Monday, Janu ary 12, 2026 5:30 PM LOCATION: Germantown Vi llage Hall Board Room N112 W17001 Mequon Road MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER: This meeting has been given public notice in accordance with Section 19.83 and 19.84, Wis. Stats, in such form that will apprise the general public and news media of subject matter that is intended for consideration and action. The Tourism Comm ission meeting was called to order by Trustee Rick Miller at 5:30 PM. II. ROLL CALL: Present: Trustee Rick Miller, Village President Bob Soderberg, Member Joletta Kerpan, Administrator Steve Kreklow Absent: None Excused: None Also Present: Chief Deputy Clerk Kasie Miller III. CITIZEN INPUT: (Please be advised per 19.84(2) that information and comment will be received from the public. It is the policy of this municipality that public input be limited to a four (4) minute period per person with a time extension granted at the discretion of the Chairperson. Be advised that there may be limited discussion of the information received but no action will be taken under public comments.) Comments that may be injurious to village personnel or other individuals will not be allowed. There were no citizen comments. IV. MEETING MINUTES: Motion : Approve the November 10, 2025 and November 17, 2025 Tourism Commission meeting minutes as presented Motioned By: President Bob Soderberg Seconded By: Member Joletta Kerpan Yes: Trustee Rick Miller, President Bob Soderberg, Member Joletta Kerpan, Administrator Steve Kreklow No: None Abstain: None DRAFT Page 2 of 30 Page 2 Motion Passed by Voice Vote (Yes 4, No 0, Abstained 0) A. November 10, 2025 (ACTION) B. November 17, 2025 (ACTION) V. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: VI. NEW BUSINESS: A. Financial Update Administrator Kreklow provided a financial update to members, including 2025 expenditures/allocations and revenues. Kreklow explained that as of this meeting, the Tourism Commission allocated more funds than what had been brought in. However, the Village is still collecting fourth quarter 2025 payments, which those funds would be placed directly into the Tourism Commission's fund as the General Fund has already received its statutory portion. B. Request for Funding for the 2026 Calendar Year by the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce (ACTION) Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Joletta Kerpan presented the request for funds by the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce for the 2026 calendar year. Kerpan provided a line-by-line breakdown of the request for funds, noting many similarities to the previously approved 2025 request. Noted decreases in funding were for the Community Guide, as it is done every other year, and the Tannenbaum Trail, as less signage will need to be replaced. New for 2026 is that the Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the 4th of July Parade, which increased their request for funds. Motion: Approve the request for funds by the Germantown Area Chamber of Commerce in the amount of $35,000 for the 2026 Calendar Year. Motioned By: Administrator Steve Kreklow Seconded By: President Bob Soderberg Yes: Trustee Rick Miller, President Bob Soderberg, Administrator Steve Kreklow No: None Abstain: Member Joletta Kerpan Motion Passed by Voice Vote (Yes 3, No 0, Abstained 1) C. Request for Funding from the Economic Development Commission for their Celebrate Germantown Video Campaign (ACTION) Village Administrator Steve Kreklow submitted the request for funds on behalf of the DRAFT Page 3 of 30 Page 3 Village of Germantown Economic Development Commission for their "Celebrate Germantown" video campaign. Kreklow explained that the campaign would be a series of short videos to encourage residents and visitors to patronize local businesses and to promote the Village of Germantown and events. Member Joletta Kerpan abstained from voting as she is a member of the Economic Development Commission. Motion: Approve the request for funds by the Village of Germantown Economic Development Commission in the amount of $10,000. Motioned By: President Bob Soderberg Seconded By: Administrator Steve Kreklow Yes: Trustee Rick Miller, President Bob Soderberg, Administrator Steve Kreklow No: None Abstain: Member Joletta Kerpan Motion Passed by Voice Vote (Yes 3, No 0, Abstained 1) VII. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned by Trustee Rick Miller at 5:52 PM. DRAFT Page 4 of 30 Page 5 of 30 Page 6 of 30 GERMANTOWN TOURISM COMMISSION REQUEST FOR FUNDING CALENDAR YEAR 2026 Funds may be requested by groups for events or projects that will bring visitors to the Village of Germantown 1. Event Name Maifest Group Name Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation Address N112 W16240 Mequon Rd., Germantown, WI 53022 Telephone Number & Email (414) 403-8427 maifestgermantown@gmail.com or mstone0965@gmail.com 2. Responsible persons name Charlie Hargan and Marcy Stone Telephone (if different from above) (262) 894-0168 and (414) 403-8427 3. Amount requested $ 29,764.69 4. Date by which funding is desired: if possible by June 30, 2026 Please complete the information requested on the back of this form regarding the project or event. Please submit an estimate for the project for approval. Upon completion of the project, receipts submitted will be matched against the detail costs to verify the final expenditure. 1) All receipts must be received by the Village Clerk within 60 days of approval or the day of the event. 2) Upon approval, any advertising and projects must display: Sponsored in part by Village of Germantown Tourism Commission. 3) Plan for a representative from your organization to attend the Tourism Commission meeting when funds are requested. You will be notified by email of the date and time of the meeting. Page 7 of 30 Funding Request Form Page 2 Please complete the following regarding your request from the Tourism Commission: Event or project description: (Please provide details regarding your event or project) Our 2026 celebration will be held at Firemen’s Park, Germantown on May 15, 16, & 17. This German Celebration of Spring opens at 5 pm Friday, May 15 with German music, delicious food, (including a fish fry), beverages, and Gemutlichkeit. Bella Cain, the hottest “Top 40 Country Group” will take the stage at 8 pm to heat up the night. Saturday, the celebration continues from 11 am to midnight with food, dancing, featuring the DANK choir and dancers, the ceremonial tapping of the first keg, a Sheepshead tournament, a children’s craft and activities tent, and music by Ed Wagner’s Lustige Blaskapelle, Bierman, and The Toys who will perform at 8 pm. On Sunday, from Noon to 8 pm, enjoy dancing by the Pommersche Tanzdeel Freistadt Dancers and music by Edelweiss and the Kenny Brandt Band. Proceeds from Maifest are returned to the community in donations and scholarships. The weekend will be full of fun and Gemütlichkeit for people of all ages. Maifest is sponsored by the Deutschstadt Heritage Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation. Goals of your event/project: The goal of Maifest is to provide a celebration that attracts Germantown residents and visitors from the surrounding area, other parts of Wisconsin and Illinois to raise money to support the mission of the DHF and reinvest these proceeds back into the Germantown community. In addition, we strive to benefit the Germantown community by offering local charitable organizations and businesses an opportunity to promote their organization, and raise funds, as part of our Maifest celebration. Cost details: Our fixed costs continue to increase annually due to inflation and the need to rent a floor to cover the grass at Firemen’s Park. We are also adding a smaller tent this year to hold Children’s crafts and activities. Our overhead expenses for this three-day event are over $60,000. These expenses include, but are not limited to entertainment, tents, lights, electrical, tables & chairs, event signage, marketing and advertising, insurance, portable toilets, and sinks etc. 2nd or 3rd year applicants - please describe the results of the previous year’s event/project: We had a successful Maifest in 2025, although not as successful as 2024 because of some inclement weather. Our advertising campaign last year was a tremendous success and drew attendees from all over the state of Wisconsin and Illinois. Our expenses were over $73,000 and we were thankful to see a profit of $12,869.94; this was before the much needed and appreciated reimbursement check we received from the Tourism Commission. We are very grateful and thankful for this Tourism reimbursement. The profit we made over the past three years, plus the Tourism reimbursement check has allowed us to give money back to multiple community events and programs in 2024, 2025, and a few already in 2026. We can provide a list of these donations if you wish. Page 8 of 30 2026 Maifest Germantown Celebration Tourism Funding Request Breakdown of Costs o Digital Billboards – Clear Channel Marketing $7,050.00 o Develop and run Facebook paid ads throughout southeastern Wisconsin & northern Illinois $ 1,025.00 o Radio spots on WTKM, reaching Washington, Dodge, Waukesha & Jefferson Counties $ 520.00 o Radio spots on Radio stations WRYU-AM, WVTY-FM, and WMBZ-FM. $ 3,311.69 o Radio spots on 99.1 WMYX reaching all of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha and other surrounding counties. $ 2,000.00 o One full page ad in Polka Notes magazine distributed throughout Wisconsin and Illinois. April-May edition $ 40.00 o 250 schedules and 250 one-page advertising flyers. $ 535.00 o 800 – four color tri-fold brochures to be distributed at hotels, businesses such as Cabela’s, Chamber of Commerce, banks, restaurants and other establishments throughout the area $ 485.00 o Advertisement in the DANK German-American Journal printed publication and e- newsletter $ 90.00 o Maifest 18x24 Coroplast Yard Signs – 100 pack - $ 760.00 o Ads in the Discover Hometown newspapers advertising Maifest prior to the event. $ 1,100.00 o Our Wisconsin Magazine advertisements placed in the April/May 2025 edition. $1,248.00 o A portion of the cost of our Maifest tent rental: $7,000.00 (total amount for tent & floor = $16,234.81) o Fee for using Firemen’s Park – paid to Germantown Park and Recreation Dept. = $4,600.00 TOTAL AMOUNT REQUESTED: $ 29,764.69 Page 9 of 30 BUSINESS OF THE TOURISM COMMISSION MEETING DATE: March 9, 2026 PLACEMENT: Action Item ITEM TITLE: Request from Economic Development Commission for Tourism Commission Takeover of Germantown Marketing Campaign (ACTION) SUBMITTED BY: Maddy Laufenberg, Deputy Clerk SUMMARY EXPLANATION: At the October 28, 2025, meeting of the Economic Development Commission, the proposal of a social media marketing campaign to highlight Germantown businesses and events was discussed as a potential avenue for stimulating economic growth in the Village. This item remained a project of the EDC for several months. The Village's Communications Coordinator, Brenton Schimp, provided a sample social media video for review, as well as the attached Germantown Video Project presentation and overview of marketing campaigns in neighboring municipalities. He advised that, while each municipality has unique funding sources and campaign limitations, most see this kind of marketing as an extension of their tourism outreach instead of their economic development outreach. EDC members were asked to provide their thoughts on the goals and scope of the campaign, as well as suggest names for the campaign; their answers are also attached below. After reviewing their answers at the January 13, 2026, meeting, EDC members collectively decided that the proposed marketing campaign is better aligned with the goals of the Tourism Commission, and unanimously voted to request that the Tourism Commission take on the project. It should also be noted that at the January 12, 2026, Tourism Commission meeting, $10,000 was granted to the Economic Development Commission to jump start this marketing campaign with a 3-0 vote (1 abstention). ATTACHMENT: 1. EDC Tourism Campaign Request STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approve the EDC's request for Tourism Commission takeover of the Germantown marketing campaign ACTION BY COMMITTEE: Page 10 of 30 GERMANTOWN VIDEO PROJECT Page 11 of 30 SETTING THE FOUNDATION What is the name of the project? What is the end goal of the project? Do you want to direct traffic to a website, social media platforms, or both? Is this a joint project between economic development and tourism? How many platforms do you want to be on? (Facebook? Instagram? Tik Tok? Youtube?) Will the project be run on its own social pages? Is this project fully organic (not ad content) or paid content (ad content)? How is the project being funded? Q U E S T IO N S ? Page 12 of 30 SETTING THE FOUNDATION C O M M E N T S If you create your own social media accounts, this requires upkeep and strict following of a specific content strategy. I would not recommend posting videos until full plan is established. If only using organic (not ad content), you need more content and consistent oversight of platforms if you want to gain followers. Page 13 of 30 M Y R E C O M E N D A T I O N FOUNDATIONAL STEPS (IN ORDER) The project is a campaign. Create a branding package including colors, logo, and design elements. Create a communication strategy that identifies target audience, campaign goals, SWAT analysis, and social platform analysis. Make this a joint project of Economic Development and Tourism. Both groups can contribute and create a funding source. Make proper connections within the Village that will work to promote the project by resharing the videos on their pages. Prepare Approx. 5 - 10 videos before launching the campaign. Page 14 of 30 P O S S I B L E V I D E O S Christmas Parade Maifest Local Restaurants Local Parks Music at the Pavilion Germantown Coffee Shops Octoberfest Community events Library events Local Entertainment (concerts, sports establishments) Local Retailers or specialty service providers New Development / New Business Projects Loan Pool Applicants (Process of Development) Page 15 of 30 EXAMPLES FROM OFOTHER COMMUNITIES: Page 16 of 30 F a c e b o o k I n s t a g r a m P i n t e r e s t ( I n a c t i v e ) Y o u t u b e ( I n a c t i v e ) G r e a t b r a n d t e m p l a t e G o a l : L i n k b a c k t o T o u r i s m W e b s i t e Page 17 of 30 C O N T E N T E X A M P L E S F a c e b o o k I n s t a g r a m G o o d s i m p l e s h o r t f o r m v e r t i c a l v i d e o t h a t h i g h l i g h t s b u s i n e s s e s a n d l o c a l h a p p e n i n g s M i x t u r e o f l o c a l p r o m o t i o n V i d e o s a n d p h o t o s M y R a t i n g : 1 0 / 1 0 Page 18 of 30 F a c e b o o k I n s t a g r a m P a s s a b l e b r a n d t e m p l a t e G o a l : L i n k b a c k t o T o u r i s m W e b s i t e Page 19 of 30 C O N T E N T E X A M P L E S F a c e b o o k I n s t a g r a m G o o d s i m p l e s h o r t f o r m v e r t i c a l v i d e o t h a t h i g h l i g h t s b u s i n e s s e s a n d l o c a l h a p p e n i n g s M i x t u r e o f l o c a l p r o m o t i o n P h o t o s a n d V i d e o s M y R a t i n g : 7 . 5 / 1 0 Page 20 of 30 T h e F a c e b o o k P a g e L i n k s B a c k t o V i l l a g e O f f i c a l S o c i a l M e d i a B r a n d T e m p l a t e i s j u s t t h e V i l l a g e l o g o . E v e r y t h i n g i s o n w e b s i t e . N o o f f i c i a l v i d e o o r s o c i a l m e d i a c a m p a i g n f o r “ E x p l o r e M e n o m o n e e F a l l s ” V i d e o s s h a r e d c o m e f r o m “ F a l l s C a b l e A c c e s s ” P r o d u c t i o n s M y R a t i n g : 4 / 1 0 Page 21 of 30 ents C G T H E I D E A L S I T U A T I O N 2. Create a Brand! with Logo C e l e b r a t e G e r m a n t o w n Celebrate Germantown 6. Create Social Platforms 3. Create Communication Strategy 4. Make Connections to promote pages 5. Film 5 - 10 videos 7. Run the Campaign. 8. Have someone to manage it. 9. Have website or other source to direct traffic 1.Identify Funding Source Page 22 of 30 Jan Miller: 1. Your thoughts regarding the goal(s), scope, and strategy of the “Celebrate Germantown” marketing campaign The main purpose for my report/ideas is to preserve the foundation of the Village of Germantown from our 2050 Comprehensive Plan. I believe that we need to maintain the following foundational ideas and preserve the quality of life for our current residents and future residents. These are portions of the 2050 Comprehensive Plan under Economic Development, etc. that I believe are important. From the 2050 Comprehensive Plan: Vision: Germantown’s ethnic heritage, high-quality of life based on its rural and suburban character, and desirable location in the greater metropolitan area create our competitive advantage. We will work together, with respect for each other, maintain that character and ensure Germantown’s future as a neighborly and safe place to live, work and play. Mission: The Village of Germantown is responsive to our citizens and businesses, embracing our heritage while working together to provide quality services in a fiscally responsible manner that will enhance the quality of life in our community. Guiding Principles: As the Village of Germantown works to realize their collective vision through implementation of this Comprehensive Plan, three core guiding principles should always remain at the center of decision making, policies, programs, and development. These three principles were first outlined in the Village of Germantown’s 2020 Smart Growth Plan, which was adopted in 2004, but they are still relevant today. The Village of Germantown is responsive to our citizens and businesses, embracing our heritage while working together to provide quality services in a fiscally responsible manner that will enhance the quality of life in our community. Preserve and enhance the environment: Germantown is committed to preserving the natural resources and physical features of the community and landscape through regulations and partnerships, through quality new development , and by focusing on historic property and Germanic architectural features. Invest in people, neighborhoods and communities: Germantown will balance land uses, preserve agricultural land, provide for diverse and supportive public facilities, and encourage safe and efficient transportation. The Village Page 23 of 30 will also implement effective and responsive administrative practices, and coordinate actions between departments and adjacent communities. Build a strong economic base: Germantown will support development that provides a diverse array of goods, services, and employment opportunities in the community. Germantown will also focus on encouraging infill development and promoting the Village as a tourist destination to bolster the Village’s fiscal wellbeing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Economic Development Section: Introduction: The Village of Germantown takes a proactive view of economic development as an important facet of community vibrancy and success. A focus on economic development aids in creating jobs and income in the community, contributing to an overall sense of well-being and community stability. Objectives: This section will provide an overview of economic development within the Village of Germantown. This section will identify the economic characteristics and market conditions of Germantown and, using this information and data, project the Village’s economic competitiveness within the region. In addition, this section will outline the recent economic development activities, policies, and programs as well as goals and strategies that can help initiate continued success of the Village’s economic development initiatives. The Village has an Economic Development Commission consisting of seven active members. The work of the Commission is intended to guide the development of the industrial and business parks and overall economic development in the Village. The Commission makes loan decisions under the Business Loan Pool program, discussed below. Germantown Business Development Loan Program: See Attached Brochure. This is on the Village of Germantown Website. We will continue to work with Bank Five Nine on this Project. We were able to approve 4 - $25,000 Loans to 4 Germantown Businesses. 2. Your ideas for a new name for the campaign “Go to” Germantown Welcome to Germantown Germantown “Gemutlichkeit” Page 24 of 30 Jeff Voyer: 1. Your thoughts regarding the goal(s), scope, and strategy of the “Celebrate Germantown” marketing campaign Personally, I think they are doing too much and complicating the process. Businesses go a good job of marketing, and all we need to do is build a landing page, and let each company promote to the amount that they want to spend. It keeps things simple and stream line. 2. Your ideas for a new name for the campaign Explore Germantown Page 25 of 30 Melanie Smythe: 1. Your thoughts regarding the goal(s), scope, and strategy of the “Celebrate Germantown” marketing campaign Purpose: Awareness of Germantown for people from elsewhere. Strategy: We are an active community - sports, music, Oktoberfest, Mai fest, other family oriented events hosted by Park & Rec, Kiwanis and the chamber. We have a very active library community and school district. Our parks are quite well used. We have active churches. We like to get together in gatherings and we like to do things together. Link to chamber events calendar https://www.germantownchamber.org/events/calendar/2025- 05-01 We are a giving, generous community. https://www.germantownchamber.org/volunteering and the Germantown Leadership projects. The strategy can be two pronged - videos produced by village that are more professional, and "snapshots" of people doing things in the village or with people in the county as a sort of scrapbook online. There are several categories of activities and events that can be the more formal video subject matter to highlight. A couple videos a month could be produced to start, for the first 3 months to get the operations/production and logistics sorted out. After that 5 a month can be produced for posting and sharing with chamber and Washington County convention and visitor bureau, besides being on the village website. This arrangement would be tested out for a year, to see if there are visits from outside the area, and other parts of Washington County. Tracking this should be factored in. Categories of possible businesses or other unique spots/events in Germantown: Restaurants Hotels and event places like The Florian Taverns with live music Coffee shops Spa services & beauty Unique shopping - Pilgrim Antiques, Pets' services Children's services Park and Rec concert series Sporting events Page 26 of 30 Church events Farmers' market Bell Museum Dheinsville & historical society Our historical houses with photos in the village hall lobby Parades and holiday activities Germantown leadership projects Other charitable events Bingo at the Legion Ceremonies at the memorial Public safety fair at the fire department The snapshot side of this would be a continuing request of the village to residents for sending in selfies, short videos and other pictures of people doing things, at events/places in the village. These would be highlighted when associated with a business or event in the village. For instance, web page and social media accounts have a pinned message asking for people to send in their pics, which means that they allow the village to use, with a short description of who they are, what they are doing and what fun they are having. Not all photos will be posted. There should be quality standards, briefly described and an example photo to start, later point to an example of a good one. It could be turned into a competition for likes or number of photos selected due to quality, or some other characteristic. The newspaper in MKE does/did this. There could also be a limited number selected on a monthly or weekly basis so as not to have to post everything. Pre-requisite would be that it must depict something happening in Germantown. Comments may need to be turned off. The same photo could be resubmitted later, if not selected first time, but there should not be a need to discuss why a picture was not selected - at the discretion of the person running this and based on quality and other standards. The goal is to not replicate what the chamber and WCCC&VB are doing, but to make our village's imagery more about happy people doing things, and be more prominently talking about what is going on. There are comments from some locals that there is nothing to do here, but if you look at the chamber's events calendar there is a lot going on all the time. Not all the things are everyone's cup of tea, but we are a busy place. The allotted time based on Brenton's efforts and knowledge. He can provide number of hours for each video shoot, edit and management of posting. He can easily estimate with the chamber and WCCC&VB time to handle the sharing, which probably is not difficult. We would need to decide how many hours a month would be appropriate for Germantown snapshot site for management, once the standards and logistics are outlined. Page 27 of 30 We would also need to confirm this approach with the chamber and WCCC&VB. I had an initial discussion with Kathy and Joletta, who did not mind the idea of more content. The success of the efforts would need to be evaluated quarterly with a report on clicks, postings, visits etc. How this is done at WCCC&VB is not known by me. Page 28 of 30 Kristen Borst: 1. Your thoughts regarding the goal(s), scope, and strategy of the “Celebrate Germantown” marketing campaign We need to keep our economic development initiative small and straightforward. We first need to agree that we’re not looking to spend a large amount of money on this—think under $500, maybe up to $1,000 at most. That way, we keep the scope limited and manageable. I saw an agenda item for the Tourism Committee for $10,000 for videos. This is way too much money to spend on this topic that is still undefined. First, we need to define a clear goal. If we just want to make a video, that’s fine, but we should remember that a video alone won’t succeed without a plan to share it effectively. Instead, we should treat this as a small pilot project. We can partner with the Chamber of Commerce and pick one local business—by something like a raffle system—to see how much it costs to attract just one new customer from outside the village. This gives us a practical test run to see if this kind of small-scale campaign is effective before we think bigger. To summarize: We should begin with a low-cost, limited pilot to see if we can drive even one extra out-of-town purchase, and that will help us figure out if it’s worth doing more in the future. 2. Your ideas for a new name for the campaign We need to clearly define our target market for the entire campaign. Are we looking only for people outside of Germantown or mostly people that live in Germantown or already visit Germantown to expand what they do within the village? Both could be very effective, but may not work simultaneously as the tag line would be quite different. Discover your Germantown Willkommen to Germantown Simply Germantown Step into Germantown Our Village, Your Germantown Page 29 of 30 Joletta Kerpan: 1. Your thoughts regarding the goal(s), scope, and strategy of the “Celebrate Germantown” marketing campaign If we are using this initiative to bring in new businesses to Germantown – that is the purview of the Economic Development Commission I don’t think this commission has the time with everything this means. So if we don’t have the time, does that get dumped on village staff…or then we hire people to do this – find open space, market it to the outside, to realtors etc. Make videos of opportunities which can come and go quick. If we don’t have the space available are we finding people to build more office space in the VIllage. Where does that money come from to hire people to promote economic development. Tourism funds don’t cover that type of stuff. If we are using this initiative to bring people to Germantown to enjoy our businesses, hotels – that is the purview of the Tourism Commission and should be on their shoulders…not Economic Development. If we are using this initiative to give our own citizens knowledge of the businesses here – That is something that the Chamber does (for their Chamber businesses). If the Village wants to take this on as well, this also is not an expense that tourism funds cover or Economic Development should do. If we are using this initiative to celebrate major events that are in Germantown – That is something that those that have the events take care of and get tourism funds to do. 2. Your ideas for a new name for the campaign I guess the name goes with the scope. I feel like Celebrate Germantown is pointed at those already living here, to get them out and see what is going on. I would say Discover Germantown/Experience Germantown can be directed at both an initiative to bring in new businesses and to bring in outside people to Germantown. Page 30 of 30