* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [CALL TO ORDER] [00:00:04] 40 PM UM, ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER THREE, I WOULD LIKE TO GET THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE, UH, MUSIC COMMISSION, UH, TO CALL THE MUSIC COMMISSION MEETING TO ORDER. UM, DO WE HAVE ANYBODY IN, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, SHALL WE? ALL RIGHT. MOVING ON. [APPROVAL OF MINUTES ] APPROVAL OF MINUTES. IF EVERYBODY HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER 6TH MUSIC COMMISSION MEETING, IF SOMEBODY COULD PLEASE MOTION TO APPROVE A MOTION FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER. YEP. BLE. AND, UH, A SECOND. TAKE A SECOND PLEASE. THANK YOU, . NO, I'M GOOD. I'M GOOD. THAT WAS JUST, YEAH, JUST A SENIOR MOMENT THERE. SO, UM, UH, DO WE, DO WE HAVE A SECOND ON THAT? I SECOND? NO, UH, COMMISSIONER PULLIS . I'M NOT GONNA BE FORGETTING NAMES LIKE THAT AGAIN. UM, UH, ALL IN FAVOR? ALRIGHT. UM, MOTIONS APPROVED, UH, UNANIMOUSLY. THANK YOU. [2. Staff briefing on Live Music Fund collections by Kim McCarson, Program Manager, Music & Entertainment Division, Austin Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment.] MOVING ON TO STAFF BRIEFINGS. WE HAVE STAFF BRIEFING ON, UM, LIVE MUSIC FUND COLLECTIONS BY KIM MCC CARSON, PROGRAM MANAGER, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION. ACME. THANK YOU. YEAH. KIM MACARON, PROGRAM MANAGER, UH, ACME. AND, UH, GOING TO GIVE YOU THE LATEST HOT COLLECTIONS REPORT FOR THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX FOR THE LIVE MUSIC FUND. YEP. OH, I HAVE TO DO THE SIDE BUTTON. OKAY. LIKE THAT. OH, THERE WE GO. THERE IT IS. AND THIS IS OUR, OUR NEW LOVELY BRANDING FOR OUR PRESENTATION HERE TONIGHT. SO YOU'LL NOTICE A LOT OF DIFFERENT COLOR COLORS THAN WHAT YOU'RE USED TO, UH, BUT THE NUMBERS ARE THE SAME. UM, ON THE LEFT TWO COLUMNS THAT YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING AT, UM, FROM MOST EVERY MEETING, UH, THE SEPTEMBER COLLECTIONS ARE 26,351. THAT MAKES THE, UM, YEAR TO DATE, UH, 4,404,462. SO THAT WOULD BE THE YEAR END, AND THAT'S A, A, A NEGATIVE 1% CHANGE. ANY QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER? ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THE [3. Staff briefing on FY24 Austin Live Music Fund final reports and future guidelines by Erica Shamaly, Division Manager, Music & Entertainment Division, Austin Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment.] NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS STAFF BRIEFING ON FY 24 AUSTIN LIVE. MUSIC ONE FINAL REPORTS AND FUTURE GUIDELINES. ERICA SHAMLEY, DIVISION MANAGER, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION AT ME. THANK YOU, ERICA. IT'S ON. OH, IT IS NOW. IT'S ON. HELLO COMMISSIONERS. ERICA SHAMALI, MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION MANAGER. IT'S GOOD TO SEE ALL OF YOU TONIGHT. UH, SO I ACTUALLY WILL BE GIVING A, THE REPORTING ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 REPORTS, UH, LIKE WE'VE BEEN DOING EVERY MONTH. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, OUT OF OUR 136 GRAND AWARDS, ALL 136 HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED, AS HAVE SIGNED AGREEMENTS, UM, 135 COMPLETED, UH, ORIENTATIONS IN ORDER TO START THE PROCESS OF GETTING PAYMENTS. UM, 135 COMPLETED FINANCIAL FORMS, UM, AND FIRST PAYMENTS PAID. AND HERE WE ARE WITH OUR SECOND PAYMENTS 101. THAT'S A GOOD CLIP OF 74% OF AWARDEE HAVE RECEIVED THEIR SECOND PAYMENT AND 52 FINAL PAYMENTS, WHICH MEANS THE AGREEMENTS HAVE BEEN CLOSED OUT WITH A FINAL REPORT, AND THAT'S 38%. SO, UH, MAKING GREAT PROGRESS EVERY MONTH THAT WE COME BACK TO YOU TO PROVIDE THESE UPDATES. AND, UH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT FY 24 REPORTING. THANK YOU, ERICA. UM, ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? OKAY, GREAT. AND THEN THERE WAS ALSO, PART OF THE AGENDA WAS ABOUT FUTURE GUIDELINES, BUT AS YOU GUYS KNOW, OUR CURRENT GUIDELINES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE NEXT THREE FISCAL YEARS. SO THAT'S 26, 27, AND 28. UM, BUT WE WILL AS ALWAYS BE TAKING FEEDBACK, ESPECIALLY AS THIS PROCESS CONTINUES AND THE APPLICATIONS CLOSE OF THINGS PROCEDURALLY, THAT WE CAN DO BETTER, THAT AREN'T PART OF THE GUIDELINES, BUT ARE JUST PROCESS ORIENTED. SO WE WANT FEEDBACK FROM EVERYBODY ABOUT WHAT WORKS, [00:05:01] WHAT DOESN'T WORK, AND OR WHERE WERE OUR PINCH POINTS WITHIN THE APPLICATION PROCESS. SO, UM, PLEASE ENCOURAGE, UM, EVERYONE, YOU KNOW, TO PROVIDE THAT FEEDBACK TO ACME. UM, AS, AS WE GO WITH OUR APPLICATION PROCESS, AND AS A REMINDER, IT'S ALL APPLICATIONS FOR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND ARE OPEN NOW. UM, YOU MUST HAVE YOUR INITIAL INTAKE FORMS IN BY DECEMBER 4TH. AND FOR FOLKS THAT HAVE ALL THAT INFORMATION IN BY THE FOURTH, YOU HAVE UNTIL THE 11TH TO, UH, COMPLETE YOUR APPLICATION. THAT'S IT. COMMISSIONER ENGLAND. HI, ERICA. I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU. MM-HMM . UM, AND MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I COULDN'T FIND IT TO BE FAIR, UH, WHEN INDIVIDUAL MUSICIANS, RIGHT, FOR THE TWO SEPARATE, UH, UM, AMOUNTS THAT ARE GRANTED, I BELIEVE IT'S 5,000 AND $20,000, RIGHT? MM-HMM . UM, ARE THERE ANY STIPULATIONS THAT, UH, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THE, THE QUESTIONS FOR THE 5,000 AND THEN FOR THE 20,000, IT'S ADDED QUESTIONS ONTO THE ORIGINAL FOR THE FIVE. RIGHT. UM, IF, LET'S SAY AN INDIVIDUAL ARTIST DOES NOT END UP GETTING THE 20,000 MM-HMM . ARE THEY STILL VIABLE TO GET THE 5,000 OR IS IT SHOOT THE MOON EITHER WAY? NO, IT'S, IT IS, IF YOU CHOOSE 20 OR FIVE, THAT IS WHAT YOU'RE APPLYING FOR. OKAY. GOTCHA. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . I APPRECIATE THAT. MM-HMM . ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU. UH, COMMISSIONER, CAN YOU PROVIDE ANY UPDATES? I GUESS JUST HOW THE RESPONSE HAS BEEN SINCE OH, YEAH. ON TRACK COMPARED BEFORE? ACTUALLY, LAURA, UH, ODEGAARD, WHO IS, UH, THE DIVISION MANAGER OVER ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER WILL PROVIDE A UPDATE AT THE END. YOU KNOW, SHE HAS AN AGENDA, HER OWN ITEM ITEM, AGENDA ITEM. LOVELY. LOVELY. YEAH. OKAY. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU, ERICA. YOU'RE WELCOME. THANKS. UH, I [4. Staff briefing on Austin-Bergstrom Airport (AUS) live music performances/booking by Erica Shamaly, Division Manager, Music & Entertainment Division, Austin Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment. ] THINK THE NEXT ITEM IS ALSO YOURS, UH, STAFF BRIEFING ON, UH, UH, THE AIRPORT LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCES, BOOKING BY RICO SHAMALI. I THINK THAT'S, IS THAT THE WAY TO SAY YOUR LAST NAME? ALL AS WELL. I'VE BEEN SAYING IT FOR ALL. IT'S SHAM OR SHAMALI OR SHAMLEY, BUT NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO SPELL IT. IF I SAY SHA I THINK THAT'VE BEEN SAYING SHAMALI, SO I'M TO SHAMALI. I SEE. YEAH. MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION. UM, ACME. THANK YOU. UM, OKAY. SO GIVING THE REPORT ON THE MUSIC PROGRAM AT THE AIRPORT, WE'RE MAKING GREAT PROGRESS. UM, THE COMMUNICATION THAT PEOPLE WHO REACH OUT TO THE CURRENT MUSIC COORDINATOR ARE GETTING IS A REFERENCE BACK TO GREG GONZALEZ AND ME. AND WE ARE IN THE PROCESS NOW OF, UH, HIRING THE MUSIC COORDINATOR THAT WILL OVERSEE, YOU KNOW, THAT WILL COORDINATE ALL PROCESSES AT THE AIRPORT. AND GREG GONZALEZ WILL BE OVERSEEING AND MANAGING THIS PERSON. SO, ALL IF, IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT BOOKING, BECAUSE BOOKING, WE'VE, I THINK EVERYTHING'S BEEN BOOKED THROUGH THE END OF DECEMBER. AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS NOW ARE THE NEW PROCESSES. SO WE CAN PICK THE BOOKING BACK UP AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, UM, SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S OBVIOUSLY NO, UH, DELAY. AND THAT IN JANUARY YOU WILL KILL, STILL SEE MUSIC AT ALL EIGHT STAGES AT THE AIRPORT. SO WORKING THROUGH ALL OF THE PROCESSES NOW. WONDERFUL. THANK YOU. THANKS FOR THE UPDATE, ERICA. UM, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? MM-HMM . COMMISSIONER A AH, HI. HOW'S IT GOING, ERICA? UM, QUICK QUESTION. AND I KNOW THAT, UH, AS FAR AS FOR THE MUSICIANS THAT, UH, YOU GUYS BOOK AT THE AIRPORT, ASIDE FROM ORIGINAL CONTENT, DO YOU GUYS BOOK COVER BANDS? I DON'T KNOW THE STATISTICS ON, UH, NO. BUT DO THEY, DO THEY BOOK COVER BANDS? IS THAT, UH, IS THAT ALLOWED, UH, WAS ASKED RECENTLY ABOUT THAT. OKAY. BRINGING UP GREG GONZALEZ. GREG GONZALEZ, PROGRAM MANAGER OF THE MUSIC, UH, ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION. UH, SO YEAH, THE, THE GUIDELINES THAT I'VE BEEN SHOWN FROM THE, UH, MUSIC COORDINATOR WHO'S CURRENTLY WORKING IS THAT THE BANDS THAT PERFORM HAVE TO BE PRIMARILY ORIGINAL MUSIC. OKAY. BUT THEY'RE ALLOWED TO PLAY COVERS, OF COURSE. OKAY. BUT IT CAN'T BE PURE COVERS. OKAY. SO, YEAH, THANK YOU SO MUCH. NO PROBLEM. STAY. THANK YOU. YES. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS ON THIS TOPIC? UH, THANK YOU. THANKS, ERICA AND GREG. UH, COMMISSIONER ADA, PLEASE GO AHEAD. HEY THERE. I JUST, UM, A QUESTION JUST POPPED INTO MY MIND. SO FOR, ARE THERE LIKE TIPPING CONTAINERS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? AND THEN WHAT DO THOSE DOLLARS GO TO? DO THEY, THEY JUST GO DIRECTLY TO THE BANDS? YEP, THAT IS CORRECT. THERE'S, UH, BOTH TIPPING CONTAINERS AND [00:10:01] VENMO, UH, YOU KNOW, QR CODE SITUATION AND, UH, BANDS ARE ALSO ALLOWED TO SELL, UH, MERCHANDISE. SO, YEAH. AND WE, YEAH, WE GET NO CUT OF THAT. I MEAN, TYPICALLY THE BANDS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING SIGNAGE FOR THEIR QR CODES, UM, AND TIPPING CONTAINERS, I ASSUME, BUT I'M NOT SURE ABOUT THAT. I BELIEVE THAT THEY'RE PROVIDED TO THE AIRPORT. OKAY. GREAT. AND SO, YES, THE CITY DOES NOT TAKE ANY PERCENTAGE OF THAT. JUST WANTED TO SAY, THEY ALSO OFFER, UH, EQUIPMENT FOR BANDS. YES. SO IN A REALLY GOOD QUALITY AMPLIFIERS, KEYS, KEYBOARD STANDS WILL MAKE IT REALLY EASY FOR THE, ESPECIALLY GOING THROUGH TSA. SO IT'S FANTASTIC. YEAH, IT'S GREAT. IT'S GREAT PROGRAM. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER POST. I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR THAT. IT'S A LOT OF WORK. THANK YOU. WELL, WE HAVE A LOT TO DO TO, YOU KNOW, GET THE PROCESSES FORMULATED FOR ACME, BUT THE AIRPORT HAS BEEN A WONDERFUL PARTNER IN WORKING WITH US TO DO THAT. UM, WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO POST THE MUSIC COORDINATOR POSITION. WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THAT JOB IS, UM, POSTED SO THAT YOU GUYS CAN SPREAD THE WORD FAR AND RIDE. 'CAUSE THAT WILL BE AN EXTERNAL HIRING PROCESS. GREAT. AND, UM, AS, UH, THERE ARE ANY UPDATES TO THE BOOKING, UH, METHODS OR, YOU KNOW, IF, HOW FOLKS COULD EXPRESS INTEREST IN WANTING TO PLAY AT THE AIRPORT AS TO ANY UPDATES AS THOSE ARE FORMULATED, IF YOU COULD PLEASE COME BACK AND SHARE THAT HERE. UH, THAT I THINK THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL AND WE COULD PUT THE WORD OUT AS WELL. YEAH, DEFINITELY. I MEAN, BASICALLY IT WOULD BE OUR PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES APPLICATION, BUT WE NEED TO MOVE THAT OVER TO AN ACME APPLICATION PORTAL. OKAY. SO, BUT EXPECT THAT THE TYPES OF QUESTIONS WE ASK THERE AROUND, YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF GENRES ARE YOU, HOW MANY PEOPLE IN YOUR BAND, WHAT TYPES OF THINGS DO YOU LIKE TO PLAY? WE'LL BE ADDING THE AIRPORT AS AN OPTION TO THAT, TO THOSE QUESTIONS. UM, AND SO EVERYBODY THAT'S ALREADY IN THE SYSTEM THAT GREG HAS, YOU KNOW, CAN BE CONSIDERED, UM, AS WELL AS NEW PEOPLE THAT WERE INTAKING IN. AND SO WE'LL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO LIKE, KIND OF DO A REGULAR BLAST TO FOLKS OF LIKE, YOU KNOW, DON'T FORGET, YOU KNOW, OPPORTUNITIES OPEN. UM, AND THEN WE'LL SETTLE THROUGH THE PROCESS OF ACTUALLY BOOKING. 'CAUSE IT'S A LOT, IT'S A LOT OF BOOKINGS, YOU KNOW, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER OLI. IT SEEMS LIKE, UM, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT FESTIVALS AND PLATFORMS THAT ARE NOW ASKING FOR SPOTIFY NUMBERS MM-HMM . AND THINGS LIKE THAT. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE DOING? YES. ACTUALLY, IF YOU GO TO OUR MUSIC OPPORTUNITIES PAGE, SO YOU CAN GO TO THE ACME, UH, HOMEPAGE, WHICH IS, UH, AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV/ACME. GO TO THE MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT WEB ICON AND THEN, YOU KNOW, GO TO PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES. AND YOU CAN SEE ABOUT OUR SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS. AND SO WE ALL, WE PROMOTE NOT ONLY OUR AWARDEES THROUGH A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST, UH, BUT, UH, WE WILL BE DOING THAT TOO FOR, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE THAT NORM THAT PLAYED FOR THE CITY. AND, UM, AND THERE ARE INSTRUCTIONS THERE FOR MUSICIANS ABOUT GETTING INCLUDED IN THE SPOTIFY PLAYLIST, WHAT THE RULES ARE. AND, AND SO WE'LL PICK THAT BACK UP AS WELL. THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE HAD CREATED IN AUSTIN AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT. AND SO WE HAVE TO TRANSFER ALL OF THOSE PROCESS, UH, PROCESSES OVER TO ACME AS WELL. I GUESS I'M KIND OF QUESTIONING THAT BECAUSE SPOTIFY ISN'T ACTUALLY REALLY SUPPORTIVE TO ARTISTS. AND SO IT'S SORT OF LIKE WE'RE FEEDING THE MACHINE, UH, YOU KNOW MM-HMM . IS THERE, MAYBE I AM. I MEAN, IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE? I MEAN, WE'RE OPEN TO ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE MUSIC COMMISSION. IT WAS, UH, A PLATFORM THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WAS ALLOWED TO USE. RIGHT. BECAUSE THERE IS A, YOU KNOW, THERE'S POLICIES AROUND EVERY NETWORK THAT WE ARE ABLE TO USE, AND THAT WAS ONE OF THEM. AND SO WE JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE ANY NETWORK MM-HMM . THAT ADDED, ADDED ADDITIONAL PROMOTION FOR AUSTIN MUSICIANS AND BANDS. IT JUST SEEMS SORT OF LIKE SHOOTING OURSELVES IN THE FOOT TO ME. COMMISSIONER POLICE, IF I MAY. UM, SO IS YOUR QUESTION AROUND IS, ARE SPOTIFY NUMBERS BEING USED TO, UM, KIND OF DETERMINE QUALIFICATION TO PLAY AT THE AIRPORT? OR ARE WE SAYING, ARE WE USING THAT AS A TOOL? I THINK IT WAS THE EARLIER, THE FORMER, RIGHT? YOU'RE ASKING IF IT'S BEING USED AS A CRITERIA YES. TO, UH, PICK ARTISTS? YES. OH, NO. WHO GET THE OPPORTUNITY? NO. NO. OKAY. JUST TO PROMOTE THE ARTIST, NOT TO PICK THEM AT ALL. YES. RIGHT. OKAY. BUT THAT STILL, STILL, IT'S, IT'S MORE OF A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST FROM LIKE AN AUSTIN AIRPORT PLAYLIST. I DUNNO WHAT IT'S CALLED, BUT IT, I JUST, I GUESS I STILL FEEL THAT THE, UH, THE PLATFORM ISN'T REALLY HONORABLE TOWARDS ARTISTS, AND I JUST WAS WONDERING IF THERE WAS AN ALTERNATIVE. THAT'S ALL. IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK INTO WITH OUR CENTRAL, UH, PIO DEPARTMENT TO SEE WHAT NETWORKS ARE YEAH. LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES. YEAH. LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES. WE JUST HAVE TO GET, GO THROUGH THE APPROVAL PROCESS. SURE. [00:15:01] BUT AGAIN, SO MUCH WORK AND THANK YOU. YEAH, OF COURSE. THANK YOU. ALSO, AGAIN, TO ESTABLISH IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT THE SELECTION CRITERIA. NO. IT'S JUST AN ADDED ADD-ON BENEFIT. YOU KNOW, WE JUST TRY TO PROMOTE ANY WAY, WAY, BUT IS A BENEFIT. UH, COMMISSIONER I CUT IN THIS, ANYTHING I THINK THAT GOES, 'CAUSE I SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, IT'S JUST TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS. THERE'S MULTIPLE MUSIC PLATFORMS THAT EVERYBODY USES. SPOTIFY, IT IS VERY USED BY EVERYONE. YOU'VE GOT SOUNDCLOUD, APPLE MUSIC. MM-HMM . YOUTUBE. I MEAN, WHERE DOES IT END? AND YOUR RESOURCES AND YOUR BANDWIDTH ONLY GO SO FAR. SO I APPRECIATE, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. I SEE BOTH SIDES. AND YOU KNOW, THAT'S ANOTHER KIND OF SUBJECTIVE, I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, PAYING THEM PENNIES FOR PLAYS, BUT AT LEAST IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS HELPING AND NOT HURTING THEM IN THAT SENSE. ABSOLUTELY. WHICH IS SUPER COOL. BUT WE ARE TRYING TO LIFT THE VOICES OF OUR MUSICIANS IN OUR CITY AND OUR STATE. AND I JUST, AGAIN, I FEEL LIKE SUPPORTING THEM IS SORT OF A, AND I THINK YOU'RE USING IT MORE AS A RESOURCE FOR DISCOVERY, NOT FOR NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM THEM. SO I THINK THEY'RE USING IT AS A TOOL IN THAT WAY. I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S A BIGGER, BUT IS THE DISCOVERY HINDRANCE OR NOT? IT'S NOT A HINDRANCE. WELL, WE'LL, WE'LL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO WHAT OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKS WE HAVE AVAILABLE TO US TO PROMOTE THE MANY, MANY MUSICIANS WE WANNA PROMOTE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS. AND, UH, I UNDERSTAND THERE, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE, THE STRONG, UM, SENTIMENTS AND OPINIONS AROUND, UH, VARIOUS PLATFORMS RIGHT NOW AND HOW THE, UH, INDUSTRY ITSELF IS EVOLVING. UM, SO, AND, AND KIND OF TRADITIONAL MODELS ARE KIND OF GETTING REALLY DISRUPTED OR AL ALREADY HAVE BEEN DISRUPTED. SO UNDERSTAND THE SENTIMENT AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING THAT AS WELL. UM, I WOULD, I WOULD JUST HOPE THAT, YOU KNOW, ALONG WITH THAT WE ARE JUST LOOKING AT MULTIPLE PLATFORMS AND, AND, UH, ONCE ESPECIALLY A COORDINATOR ROLE IS THERE, IF MAYBE THEY CAN PLAY THE FUNCTION AS WELL ON HOW TO EVEN, EVEN MORE BROADLY USE AVAILABLE PLATFORMS, UH, TO KIND OF, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDE THE VISIBILITY HERE. UH, BUT ALSO GLAD TO HEAR THAT THAT'S NOT LIKE A, SOME KIND OF A PRIMARY SELECTION CRITERIA ON THE FRONT END. NOT AT ALL. UH, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT A LOT OF ENTITIES ARE ACTUALLY LOOKING AT THOSE NUMBERS AS WELL. SO. YEAH. UM, SO UNDERSTOOD. UH, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH. UM, ANY OTHER, UM, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? COMMISSIONERS? OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, ERICA. UM, MOVING ON. [5. ACME funding staff briefing by Erica Shamaly, Division Manager, Austin Arts, Culture, Music & Entertainment. ] UM, ACME FUNDING, STAFF BRIEFING BY, UH, I BELIEVE IT'S LAURA . NO. OKAY. UH, DIVISION MANAGER. ACME. THANK YOU. THANK YOU LAURA. AND THANKS ERICA. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. AND GOOD EVENING. UM, MY NAME'S LAURA ODEGAARD. I AM ACTING DIVISION MANAGER OF ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS, UM, WHICH IS A NEW ONE. SO I PREVIOUSLY, UM, I KNOW SOME OF YOU, BUT PREVIOUSLY, UM, I WAS THE ACTING DIVISION MANAGER OF THE CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION. SO OBVIOUSLY SPENT A LOT MORE TIME OVER WITH THE ARTS COMMISSION, BUT SUPER EXCITED, UM, TO BE HERE WITH YOU ALL THIS EVENING WITH THE MUSIC SIDE OF THINGS. UM, AND I GUESS I'LL JUST SAY NEXT SLIDE PLEASE FOR THIS. PERFECT. THANK YOU. UM, SO WE ARE IN A NEW UNIVERSE, UM, WITH OUR ARTS CULTURE, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT, UM, DEPARTMENT. AND WE HAVE RECENTLY GONE THROUGH A REALIGNMENT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. UM, IT IS STILL EVOLVING, SO JUST ALL THE CAVEATS IN THE WORLD. UM, BUT SIMILAR TO, UM, THE CREATIVE RESET, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS COME OUT OF THAT WHERE WE'RE TRYING TO OPTIMIZE, UM, OUR PROGRAMMATIC FOCUS THROUGHOUT THE DEPARTMENT, UM, TO BETTER SERVE COMMUNITY. AND SO ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE ARE DOING THAT IS WE ARE PUTTING ALL OF THE, UM, FUNDING PROGRAMS UNDER ONE DIVISION. SO THAT MEANS ALL THE CULTURAL ARTS GRANTS, THE LIVE MUSIC FUND GRANTS, THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANTS, THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR SPECIAL PROJECTS. SO THINGS THAT ARE FUNDED THROUGH ARPA FUNDS, UM, OR CITYWIDE HOT CULTURAL CONTRACTS. THOSE ARE ALL NOW GONNA BE UNDER ONE UMBRELLA, UM, UNDER, UNDER ME FOR RIGHT NOW. UM, SO NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UM, SO JUST WANTED TO REMIND EVERYONE WHERE WE CAME FROM WITH ALL OF THIS. SO THE CREATIVE RESET, YOU ALL WERE VERY, VERY, UH, INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER. UM, SO THIS IS NOT NEW. JUST ALWAYS GONNA PUT A PLUGIN FOR THE, THE ANALYSIS AND THE VISUALS HERE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND THEN OBVIOUSLY OUT OF THE CREATIVE RESET PHASE ONE, [00:20:01] WE LANDED WITH THE FUNDING PROGRAM GUIDELINES, UM, TO HAVE CLEAR DEFINITIONS, CLEAR CRITERIA, SIMPLIFIED PROCESSES, AS WELL AS MORE ACCEPTABLE, MORE ACCESSIBLE RESOURCES ACROSS ALL OF THE PROGRAMS. AND SO THIS, UM, LEADERSHIP DECISION TO ALIGN ALL THE PROGRAMS UNDER ONE DIVISION IS, IS PART OF THIS PROCESS. UM, SO THROUGH THE LINKS UP HERE FOR EASY ACCESS TO THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH GUIDELINES AND OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS SITE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UH, SO THIS WAS WHERE WE CAME FROM WITH THE FUNDING PROGRAMS LAUNCHED. SO THERE WAS THE MEMO TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL ON THE EIGHTH, AND THEN THE FORMAL LAUNCH OF INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE AND DIRECT COMMUNICATIONS. THERE'S GONNA BE A BIG PUSH, UM, MARKETING WISE FOR ALL OF OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS STARTING LATER THIS WEEK. UM, ALSO WANTED TO REITERATE WHAT THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS. SO THERE'S THE FIRST PART, WHICH IS THE INTAKE FORM AND THE ELIGIBILITY FORM. AND THEN THE SECOND PART, WHICH IS THE APPLICATION FORM. UM, DON'T WANT ANYONE TO GET, I KNOW THERE WAS SOME CONCERNS, UM, ON THE ARTS COMMISSION SIDE THAT PEOPLE WOULD DO JUST THE INTAKE FORM OR JUST THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY FORM. SO JUST WANTED TO REITERATE TO COMMUNITY THAT YOU HAVE TO DO ALL THREE PARTS TO BE, UH, CONSIDERED FOR THESE FUNDS. UM, AND ERICA ALREADY MENTIONED THIS, BUT KEY DATES, UM, TO REMEMBER DECEMBER 4TH. THAT'S THE BIGGEST ONE, UM, TO REMEMBER FOR, FOR THE DEADLINE. UM, AND THIS IS THE DEADLINE FOR THE APPLICATION INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY FORMS. SO IF YOU HAVE NOT STARTED BY THE FOURTH, YOU WILL NOT GET THAT EXTRA WEEK, UM, TILL THE 11TH TO FINISH YOUR APPLICATION. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO THIS IS JUST, UM, ON THE WEBSITE, A QUICK REMINDER OF THE APPLICATION TIMELINE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OKAY, SO THIS IS OUR CURRENT APPLICATION STATUSES FOR ALL PROGRAMS. UM, SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO UPDATE THIS, UM, OBVIOUSLY TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL. BUT SO FAR AS OF, UM, THE END OF THE DAY ON FRIDAY, WE HAD 657 INTAKE FORMS SUBMITTED, AND FOUR OF THOSE WERE IN SPANISH. AND THEN WE HAVE IT BROKEN DOWN BY PROGRAM. AND SO FOR AUSTIN LIFE MUSIC FUND IN ENGLISH, WE HAD 249 ELIGIBILITY FORMS SENT AND TWO SENT IN SPANISH. AND THEN OF THOSE THAT WE SENT BACK OUT, WE HAD 178 ELIGIBILITY FORMS SUBMITTED. AND THEN AFTER REVIEW, 174 WERE THEN SENT TO THE APPLICATIONS. AND OF THOSE, WE'VE ALREADY HAD 30 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED FOR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND. SO I THINK THOSE ARE PROBABLY THE BIGGEST HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS GROUP. UM, BUT ALSO WANTED TO JUST MENTION THAT WE HAVE HAD, UM, 15 ELIGIBILITY FORMS SUBMITTED FOR THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AS WELL. LEAVE THIS FOR A FEW MORE SECONDS. THANK YOU FOR NEXT SLIDE. UM, THANK YOU. UM, SO JUST WANTED TO HAVE A FEW FUNDING PROGRAM APPLICATION REMINDERS. AND THESE ARE SOME FROM SOME COMMENTS THAT WE'VE HEARD, UM, FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS. UM, THE INTAKE FORM, SO THIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN THE PROCESS, RIGHT? MULTIPLE CATEGORIES CAN BE SELECTED AT THIS STAGE. AND THE INTAKE FORM, THIS IS WHAT'S GONNA DETERMINE WHAT ELIGIBILITY FORMS YOU THEN RECEIVE AS AN APPLICANT. SO YOU CAN SELECT MULTIPLE THINGS IN THE INTAKE FORM. THEN THE OTHER PIECE, UM, TO MENTION HERE FOR, THAT'S AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND SPECIFIC. UM, JUST A REMINDER, AND ERICA MENTIONED THIS ALREADY AS WELL, BUT PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS CAN APPLY IN THIS CYCLE. UM, WE DIDN'T HAVE AWARDS LAST YEAR IN THIS PROGRAM, SO EVERYONE IS ELIGIBLE, BUT YOU DO HAVE TO HAVE CLOSED YOUR CURRENT GRANT THAT YOU HAVE BEFORE ENTERING INTO CONTRACT WITH A NEW GRANT. SO THAT IS THE ONLY, UM, LIKE CAVEAT, BUT YOU CAN APPLY IF YOU HAVE RECEIVED IT IN THE PAST. UM, ALSO MENTIONED THIS EVENING, YOU CANNOT APPLY FOR BOTH THE $20,000 AND THE $5,000 LEVELS. YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE AT THE BEGINNING. UM, AND THEN FINALLY, JUST ANOTHER REMINDER, UM, TO EVERYONE, UM, THAT THE MUSIC INDUSTRY ACCOMPLISHMENTS THOSE QUESTIONS AND THOSE SCORING CRITERIA THAT ARE IN THE GUIDELINES, THERE ARE ONLY FOR THE $20,000 APPLICANTS. THEY'RE NOT FOR THE $5,000 APPLICANTS. UM, ALSO JUST QUICKLY WANTED TO PUT IN A PLUG FOR PANELIST RECRUITMENT. UM, SO THIS IS PART OF THE EVALUATION REVIEW AND SCORING OF THE ELEVATE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION PROGRAM. UM, AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS [00:25:01] AS WELL AS ARTS AND CULTURE PROFESSIONALS OF ALL, UM, GENRES. UM, WE DO HAVE MUSIC NONPROFITS THAT APPLY IN THE ELEVATE, UM, CATEGORY. SO PLEASE SHARE WITH ANYONE THAT YOU KNOW THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN BEING A, UM, REVIEW PANELIST FOR US. AND THE LINK FOR THAT. UM, SOME MORE INFORMATION AS WELL AS, UM, THE APPLICATION ITSELF IS LISTED HERE. UM, WE'VE RECEIVED 120 INTAKE FORMS OR INTEREST FORMS FOR THE REVIEWERS, UM, TO DATE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UM, WE ALSO HAVE OUR FINALIZE, WELL, OUR TENTATIVE PLANNED LAUNCH CALENDAR FOR OUR ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS. UM, THIS IS HELPFUL JUST FOR PEOPLE PLANNING OUT, UM, IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, JUST WHAT YOU'RE ABLE TO APPLY FOR. SO JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT, UM, WITH YOU ALL. THIS SHOULD NOT BE NEW. UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. ALSO WANTED TO TOUCH ON OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS APPLICATION ASSISTANCE. UM, SO I'VE PUT A FEW OF OUR UPCOMING, UH, VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS THAT WE HAVE COMING UP. UM, SO WE HAVE ONE THIS WEEK THAT'S VIRTUAL ON THE FIFTH IN THE EVENING, AND THEN WE HAVE ONE ON THE 17TH MIDDAY. UM, SO BOTH OF THOSE ARE VIRTUAL. THE WORKSHOPS WORD IS HYPERLINKED AND IT WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR EVENTBRITE PAGE, UM, WHICH IS THE COLLECTION OF ALL, UM, WORKSHOPS FOR OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS. UM, WE ALSO HAVE A FEW IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS COMING UP AND OF NOTES. UM, JUST WANNA SHARE THAT THE ONE ON THE 18TH WILL BE A SPANISH LANGUAGE WORKSHOP, AND THE ONE ON THE 20TH WILL BE WITH AN A SL INTERPRETER. UH, AND WE'RE ALSO IDENTIFYING SOME ASIAN LANGUAGE SUPPORT FOR THE EVENT ON THE 15TH. SO JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT IN CASE YOU KNOW, FOLKS, UM, THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN THOSE SPECIFIC, UM, WORKSHOPS. UM, ADDITIONALLY WE ALWAYS HAVE OPEN OFFICE HOURS EVERY TUESDAY. UM, THERE'S A LINK TO JOIN. UM, AND WE'LL HAVE SPECIAL SESSIONS, UH, FOR ONE-ON-ONE HELP WITH THE STAFF FROM 10 TO FOUR, BOTH VIRTUAL AND IN PERSON AS WE GET CLOSER TO BOTH THE INTAKE ELIGIBILITY FORM DEADLINE, AS WELL AS THE FINAL APPLICATION DEADLINE ON THE 11TH. THERE'S ALSO, UM, ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS THAT COMMUNITY MEMBERS CAN CLICK ON THE LITTLE BOOKING LINK AND CAN JUST SLAP A MEETING DIRECTLY ONTO STAFF'S CALENDAR IF THEY WANNA TALK THROUGH SOME QUESTIONS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE. UM, AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, OBVIOUSLY THE LONG CENTER ARE PARTNERS FOR ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS. UM, YOU CAN REACH OUT TO THEM DIRECTLY AND WE'LL ALSO HAVE STAFF AT DIFFERENT COMMUNITY EVENTS, UH, OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL WEEKS AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO THIS IS JUST, UM, JUST WANTED TO ALSO SHARE JUST OUR LANGUAGE ACCESS SUPPORT FOR THE DIFFERENT FUNDING PROGRAMS, UM, WHETHER THAT'S THE APPLICATION SUPPORT THAT'S ALWAYS AVAILABLE, BUT WE TAKE OTHER LANGUAGES ON REQUEST. SO PLEASE REACH OUT IF THERE'S EVER A NEED FOR ANY OF THAT. UM, WE HAVE EDITABLE FILLABLE APPLICATION FORMS THAT ARE GOING TO BE ON THE LONG CENTER'S. CREATIVE AUSTIN OR AUSTIN CREATES RESOURCE PAGE, UM, CREATE AUSTIN, I SAID IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME, JUST JOKING. UM, AND SO THOSE WILL BE IN ENGLISH, SPANISH, SIMPLIFIED CHINESE, VIETNAMESE, AND KOREAN. AND IF THERE'S OTHER LANGUAGES THAT, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS NEED, WE'RE HAPPY TO SUPPORT THAT AS WELL. UM, WORKSHOP RECORDINGS, ENGLISH, SPANISH, UM, AND OTHERS UPON REQUEST. UM, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING A FEW MORE, UM, HANDOUTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT ON AUSTIN'S CREATIVE COMMUNITY RESOURCE PAGE THAT THE LONG CENTER HOSTS WITH US. SO TIPS AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT, UM, TRANSLATED INTO ALL OF THOSE LANGUAGES AS WELL. AND I THINK THAT IS IT, AND HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MIGHT HAVE IF I CAN ANSWER THEM. STILL LEANING HEAVILY ON ERICA AND KIM AND, UM, OUR HERITAGE TEAM AS WELL. BUT HAPPY TO TRY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MIGHT HAVE. THANK YOU, LAURA. CONGRATULATIONS ON THE NEW ROLE ON TAKING ON ALL THE GRANT PROGRAMS. UM, UH, AND WELCOME, UH, LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU ON THAT FRONT. UM, AND, UM, UH, SUE, THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING SOME OF THE CLARIFICATIONS. ACTUALLY LET ME YIELD IT TO, UH, COMMISSIONERS HERE AND, UH, I'LL COME BACK WITH SOME QUESTIONS AS WELL. UH, COMMISSIONERS. ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS AT THIS POINT? I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION. COMMISSIONER . UM, I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU. SO WITH THE WORKSHOPS, LIKE IF SOMEONE, WHAT, I GUESS WHAT CATEGORIES OF YOU LIKE, COULD THEY COME TO THE WORKSHOP FOR OR SHOULD THEY HAVE? SHOULD THEY ALREADY BE PREPARED? SHOULD THEY'VE ALREADY FILLED OUT CERTAIN THINGS JUST FOR SOMEONE WHO'S MAYBE NEVER DONE IT BEFORE AND JUST TO KIND OF HELP THEM WITH THE PROCESS? YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT. UM, SO [00:30:01] IT'S FOR ALL PROGRAMS. SO USUALLY WE HAVE SOMEONE ON POINT FOR EVERY PROGRAM, AND ALSO WE'RE WORKING TO MAKE SURE ALL STAFF MEMBERS ARE ABLE TO SPEAK TOWARD ANY OF THE PROGRAMS. UM, YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE EVERYTHING FILLED OUT AHEAD OF TIME. IT'S HELPFUL MAYBE TO HAVE LOOKED IT OVER A LITTLE BIT. UM, BUT THE WORKSHOP, THE WAY THAT THEY'RE USUALLY STRUCTURED IS, IT'S KIND OF LIKE AN OVERVIEW OF ALL THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. UM, STAFF GIVES SOME, UM, JUST A, PRETTY MUCH A DEEP, A DEEP DIVE INTO ALL FOUR OF THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE OPEN RIGHT NOW. UM, AND THE MOST VALUABLE PART, HONESTLY, IS THE Q AND A PART AFTERWARDS. UM, AND SO THAT'S REALLY WHERE, WHERE PEOPLE CAN ASK SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE, UM, AROUND THEIR PARTICULAR PROGRAM, UM, CLARIFICATION ABOUT WHAT MIGHT BE ELIGIBLE OR INELIGIBLE IF THEY HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING FIGURED OUT YET. UM, SO I THINK OF THAT AS LIKE A REALLY GOOD FIRST STEP, UM, TO GET MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE PROGRAMS. AND THEN ALSO I, I DO ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO, UM, TO REACH OUT TO HAVE A ONE-ON-ONE WITH STAFF IF NEED BE, IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THEIR ELIGIBILITY OR THINGS LIKE THAT, THANK YOU. BUT THEY DON'T HAVE TO COME PREPARED TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER. UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER ENGLAND, CONGRATULATIONS ON THE NEW POSITION AND THANK YOU. I KNOW THIS IS A LOT. UM, QUICK QUESTION AND UH, I, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU AND UNFORTUNATELY I'M MIGHT HAVE TO ASK ERICA THIS, BUT, UM, BECAUSE OF THE THREE PART THIS YEAR WITH INTAKE ELIGIBILITY AND THE APPLICATION, RIGHT, UM, DID I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY THAT, UM, LET'S SAY FOR ANY OF THE, THE, THE GRANTS I CAN FILL OUT, UH, INTAKE, RIGHT, AND ELIGIBILITY FOR, LET'S SAY ALL OF THEM, RIGHT? AND THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT I'M ACTUALLY ELIGIBLE FOR AND THEN CHOOSE WHICH GRANT I WANNA FILL OUT THE APPLICATION FOR. IS THAT CORRECT? SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION TO HELP CLARIFY. SO YOU CAN FILL OUT THE INTAKE FORM AND SAY, I'M INTERESTED IN ALL OF THESE THINGS, AND THEN YOU'LL GET ALL OF THOSE ELIGIBILITY FORMS. YOU'LL HAVE TO THEN FILL OUT EACH SEPARATE ELIGIBILITY FORM. THERE'S A SEVERAL STEP REVIEW PROCESS OF THE ELIGIBILITY FORMS. SO THERE IS A TEAM THAT'S REVIEWING THE LIVE MUSIC FUND ELIGIBILITY TEAMS THAT ARE REVIEWING THE HERITAGE AND TEAMS THAT ARE REVIEWING ALL OF THE PROGRAMS. UM, SO IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR ALL OF THE PROGRAMS, YOU WILL THEN RECEIVE THE APPLICATION FOR THEM. UM, IT IS ON, IT IS, I I WANNA SAY IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO ACTUALLY BE ELIGIBLE FOR ALL FOUR OPEN PROGRAMS. YOU COULD MAYBE RECEIVE TWO APPLICATIONS EASILY, BUT ALL FOUR NOT, NOT REALLY LIKELY. NO. THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION. I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. MM-HMM . THANK YOU. UM, IS THERE A, UH, IS THERE AN ESTABLISHED TURNAROUND TIME FOR WHEN, UM, THE RESPONSE TO THE ELIGIBILITY FORM THE YEAR NA WILL SHOW UP? IS THERE LIKE AN THAT'S A QUESTION. SLA ESTABLISHED? SO IT'S, UH, I WANNA SAY IT DEPENDS ON THE PROGRAM FOR ELIGIBILITY REVIEW. SOME OF THEM ARE MUCH MORE IN DEPTH. SO FOR THE HERITAGE, UM, GRANT, THAT IS A MUCH MORE IN DEPTH REVIEW OF THE ELIGIBILITY. SAME WITH FOR, I WANNA SAY FOR CSAP, FOR CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE, THERE'S ACTUALLY A REVIEW OF THE LEASE AGREEMENTS AND A REVIEW OF THE ADDRESSES. UM, SO IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DEPTH THAN JUST LOOKING AT, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT AN INDIVIDUAL ARTIST OR A NONPROFIT ARTS GROUP, FOR EXAMPLE. UM, I AM HAPPY TO FIND OUT THE ANSWER TO THAT. I KNOW IT, IT SEEMS LIKE STAFF ON THE LONG CENTER SIDE AND INTERNALLY IS PRETTY QUICK WITH HOW THEY'RE REVIEWING THINGS. UM, BUT I DON'T HAVE A, IT IS DONE WITHIN 48 HOURS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. 'CAUSE IT, IT DEPENDS ON THE PROGRAM, BUT I'M HAPPY TO LOOK INTO THAT AND SEE IF THERE ARE ANY TRENDS FOR TURNAROUND TIME ON THAT. YEAH. YEAH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. YEAH, I MEAN, I UNDERSTAND THIS IS AGAIN, A, A NEW PROCESS THIS YEAR. SO I THINK, UM, IN THE FUTURE IS, IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THERE IS AN ETA ESTABLISHED AND THERE IS A RES IN THE RESPONSE, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE GET TO HEAR, UH, THAT YOU WILL HEAR BACK WITHIN SEVEN DAYS OR TWO WEEKS, WHATEVER IT IS, BECAUSE IT'S MUCH FASTER. YEAH, I AGREE. OR TWO DAYS. AGREE. YEAH. IT'S, IT'S MUCH FASTER THAN THAN THAT. UM, ESPECIALLY AS WE THINK ABOUT AS WE GET CLOSER TO, TO THE CLOSING TIME TO THE DEADLINE. EXACTLY. YEAH. YEAH. LIKE DECEMBER 4TH IS WHEN EVERYONE HAS TO HAVE THEIR ELIGIBILITY FORMS SUBMITTED, AND SO THAT'S GONNA BE A REALLY BIG PUSH FROM EVERYONE ON THE TEAM YEAH. TO [00:35:01] TRY TO GET THOSE ELIGIBILITIES TURNED AROUND WITHIN A DAY SO SOMEONE HAS ENOUGH TIME TO ACTUALLY WORK ON THE APPLICATION IF THEY HAVEN'T STARTED BY THEN. BUT BIG PUSH TO PLEASE START EARLY JUST YES, BECAUSE THAT COULD CREATE EARLY A BOTTLENECK ON DECEMBER 4TH. SO HOPEFULLY A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE DONE BY THEN. UM MM-HMM . UH, AND, UM, ON THE, ON THE INTAKE FORM, THIS IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO SELECT MULTIPLE, UM, MULTIPLE, UH, GRANTS, UH, OF, OF, YOU KNOW, TO SHOW THAT YOU'RE INTERESTED IN MULTIPLE GRANTS, I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL ALREADY HAVE IT, BUT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THAT'S VERY CLEARLY SPECIFIED, EVEN JUST IN PLAIN ENGLISH IN PARENTHESIS THAT SAYS YOU CAN PICK ONE OR MORE PROGRAMS. BECAUSE I DID HAVE SOME FOLKS FROM THE COMMUNITY REACH OUT, UH, THAT SAID, WHO SAID THAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY COULD PICK UP MORE THAN ONE PROGRAM. SO, UH, MAYBE JUST SPELL THAT OUT ON THE APPLICATION ITSELF THAT PICK ONE OR MORE, YOU KNOW, UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, UM, COMING TO THIS, UM, POINT AROUND PREVIOUS APPLICANTS BEING ABLE TO, UM, APPLY FOR THE FI 26 GRANT. SO I THINK, SO LET ME KIND OF JUST REITERATE MY UNDERSTANDING OF THAT AND WHY THAT IS. SO, AND PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, SO THAT WE, WE CAN ALL LEVEL SET HERE. AND ALSO, UM, WITH THE PREVIOUS APPLICANTS BEING ABLE TO APPLY FOR THESE GRANTS THIS YEAR, WHICH MEANS BASICALLY WE ARE LOOKING AT THE 2024 APPLICANTS ALSO BEING ABLE TO, UH, OR FFY 24 APPLICANTS ALSO BEING ABLE TO APPLY FOR I 26 GRANTS. I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE CAN COMMUNICATE OUT TO ALL THE PRIOR GRANT RECIPIENTS THAT THEY ARE ELIGIBLE BECAUSE, UM, THAT UNDERSTANDING I DON'T THINK BROADLY EXISTS RIGHT NOW. AND, AND FOR GOOD REASONS, BECAUSE WE'VE HAD THE CREATIVE RESET. SO THE GRANT IS ACTUALLY, THE APPLICATIONS ARE BEING ROLLED OUT LATER THAN THEY WOULD BE IN A REGULAR YEAR, RIGHT? SO WHAT HAS HAPPENED IS WE HAVE BASICALLY SKIPPED OUT OF Y 25 AND WE ARE LAUNCHING THIS APPLICATION IN FY 26, WHICH IS WHAT, EVEN THOUGH THE PREVIOUS GRANTS WERE FOR TWO YEAR TERM, THEY'RE STILL ELIGIBLE TO APPLY BECAUSE WE SKIPPED THE YEAR OUT AND ROLLED IN THOSE DOLLARS AND SPLIT THEM EQUALLY BETWEEN FY 26 AND FY 27. SO THAT'S WHAT HAS HAPPENED. THAT'S WHY THE GRANT AMOUNTS THIS YEAR AND NEXT YEAR WOULD BE HIGHER THAN WHAT WE SAW IN F NOT THE GRANT AMOUNTS. THE TOTAL GRANT BUDGET DOLLARS WOULD BE HIGHER THAN WHAT WE SAW IN FY 24. SO THE I 25 BALANCE IS BASICALLY IS BEING SPLIT EQUALLY BETWEEN 26 AND 27. AND, AND BECAUSE WE ARE IN OCTOBER, THESE, THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THAT PORTION OF FI $25 AND ALL OF FI $26 THAT ARE GOING INTO THIS, UH, GRANT, UH, BUDGET BASICALLY. AND NOW THAT CREATES A TWO YEAR GAP, EVEN THOUGH WE ARE IN THE SAME CALENDAR YEAR, WHICH IS WHAT MAKES THE 24 APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE. UH, IS THAT ALL CORRECT, WHAT I'M STATING? YES, THAT'S CORRECT. SO WE HAVE SOME FY 24 GRANTEES THAT MAY HAVE FINISHED WITHIN A YEAR, AND WE HAVE SOME THAT MAYBE THEY'RE HALFWAY THROUGH AND THEY'RE GONNA FINISH NEXT SPRING. UM, SO THE, THE FY 24 GRANTEES, IT COVERS A, A BROAD TWO YEAR PERIOD. YES. UM, BUT AS LONG AS THEY'VE CLOSED OUT, THEY ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY IN THIS FY 26 GRANT CYCLE. SO THAT'S THE OTHER, WHAT YOU SAID WAS CORRECT, THE OTHER THAT THANK YOU. THAT'S THE OTHER POINT I DO WANNA MAKE BECAUSE THIS IS AN OFF CYCLE IN SOME WAYS, GRANT, RIGHT? BECAUSE WE ARE GOING AT A DIFFERENT TIME OF THE YEAR. SO WHEN THE FY 24 GUYS GOT THEIR GRANT, THEY HAD AN UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY COULD USE IT FOR A TWO YEAR PERIOD AND THEN APPLY FOR THE NEXT ROUND, RIGHT? SO NOW INSTEAD OF ROLLING OUT IN SUMMER NEXT YEAR, WHICH THIS YEAR WE WOULD'VE SKIPPED IT OUT AND APPLIED FOR FFY 26 MAYBE IN SUMMER, RIGHT? SO I THINK IT SHORTENS THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT THE 24 APPLICANTS WILL BE ABLE TO USE THE GRANTS. IF YOU PUT A CONDITION THAT SAYS YOU HAVE TO FINISH USING THE GRANTS BEFORE, UH, YOU CAN SIGN A CONTRACT, I THINK WHAT WOULD BE MORE IDEAL WOULD BE LETTING PEOPLE SIGN THE GRANT, BUT PERHAPS ALLOWING THEM TO COMPLETE USING, UH, THE DOLLARS FIRST BEFORE THEY CAN ACCESS THE DOLLARS FROM THE NEXT GRANT. AND YOU MIGHT JUST HAVE TO CONSIDER MAKING THAT EXCEPTION FOR THIS ROUND, GIVEN THAT, YOU KNOW, THE TIMINGS ARE DIFFERENT. UH, ERICA, PLEASE GO AHEAD. YEAH, THAT'S ACTUALLY MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE GRANT AGREEMENT CAN BE EXECUTED IF YOU'RE AWARDED FOR FY 26. YOU JUST CANNOT GET YOUR FIRST PAYMENT UNTIL YOU CLOSE OUT YOUR PREVIOUS AGREEMENT. AND SO THAT'S ON THE AWARDEE OF THEIR TIME CONSTRAINTS OF WHAT THEY'RE PUTTING ON THEMSELVES. BUT THE, YOU [00:40:01] KNOW, WE WOULD ENCOURAGE, I MEAN, MOST PEOPLE SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, AS YOU SAW OUT OF THE STATISTICS YEAH, WE'RE AT A VERY GOOD CLIP. YEAH. SO IT WOULD JUST BE A VERY MINUSCULE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT IF THEY WERE AWARDED AGAIN, WOULD HAVE TO, THEY COULD SIGN IT, BUT THEY JUST WON'T BE ABLE TO GET THEIR NEXT PAYMENT. AND THAT'S HOW WE HANDLED IT LAST YEAR IN TERMS OF LIKE AN SOP OR A STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR IT. OKAY. AND SO JUST KNOW THAT YOU CAN APPLY, YOU CAN GET AWARDED, AND MY SUGGESTION IS APPLY TO EVERYTHING YOU'RE ELIGIBLE FOR BECAUSE THESE ARE VERY COMPETITIVE PROGRAMS. THERE WILL NOT BE ENOUGH MONEY FOR EVERYBODY WHO NEEDS IT AND HAS A WORTHY APPLICATION FOR, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST NOT ENOUGH FUNDS. SO WE ENCOURAGE EVERYONE, IF YOU ARE ELIGIBLE, YOU GET THAT CONFIRMATION APPLY. YEAH, NO, THANK YOU FOR THAT BECAUSE THAT, I THINK THAT IS FAIR IN THAT PREVIOUS APPLICANTS WHO HAD THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY HAVE A TWO YEAR PERIOD TO COMPLETE USING THE GRANTS WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO DO THAT AND THEN ACCESS THE FY 26 GRANTS IF THEY DO GET THAT GRANT. UM, BUT SO THEY CAN SIGN A CONTRACT, BUT THEY CAN ACCESS THE DOLLARS LATER AFTER THEY HAVE COMPLETELY CLOSED OUT, INCLUDING DOING THE FINAL REPORT ON THE, ON THE CURRENT GRANT THAT THEY HAVE. UM, SO, SO I THINK, AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING THIS CLARIFICATION BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY, I MEAN, I DON'T THINK IT'S PARTICULARLY INTUITIVE, UM, THE FACT THAT THIS IS STARTING IN A NEW FISCAL YEAR. SO, SO THE UNDERSTANDING THAT PEOPLE MIGHT BE, UM, ELIGIBLE TO APPLY, UM, I HAVE HEARD FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT HAD THE GRANTS BEFORE AND BASICALLY THOUGHT THEY DIDN'T, THEY DID, THEY DIDN'T, UH, QUALIFY THIS ROUND. SO I THINK THE CALENDAR AREA, FISCAL YEAR CONFUSION EXISTS VERY MUCH SO. THANK YOU FOR ACTIVELY SENDING OUT, UM, YOU KNOW, AND LETTING PEOPLE KNOW, THE PRIOR RECIPIENTS KNOW THAT THEY CAN APPLY. AND ALSO PROVIDING, UM, IF YOU COULD PLEASE CLARIFICATION AROUND HOW DO THEY, AND BY WHEN DO THEY NEED TO EXPEND CURRENT GRANT DOLLARS TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS, UH, THE NEW GRANT DOLLARS IF THEY DO END UP GETTING THE GRANT AGAIN. UM, I THINK ALL OF THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL. AND, UH, I WOULD REQUEST, UH, COMMISSIONERS AS WELL AS THEY SPEAK WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY TO MAKE THEM AWARE THAT, UH, THIS, THIS POSSIBILITY, THIS IS, THIS IS ACTUALLY, UH, REAL TRUE THAT PEOPLE WHO GOT THE GRANT IN 24 CAN APPLY AGAIN. SO YES. AND THEN ALSO REMEMBER, IF YOU ARE AWARDED FOR FISCAL YEAR 26, OUR NEXT APPLICATION ROLLS IN JULY OF 26. NOT TO CONFUSE YOU, BUT YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THAT BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THE APPLICATION PROCESS WILL BEGIN IN JULY, THEY WILL TAKE PLACE, THE GOAL IS TO START FUNDING THEM ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, LIKE WHEN THE NEW FISCAL YEAR STARTS. AND SO THE NEW FISCAL 27 FUNDS ARE WHAT'S FUNDING THOSE AWARDS FOR THAT JULY APPLICATION. SO NO ONE'S AT, IF THE FY 26, THE CURRENT APPLICANTS THAT MAY GET AWARDED NOW CANNOT APPLY IN JULY. BUT IF YOU APPLIED AND DID NOT GET AWARDED, YOU CAN APPLY AGAIN. YEAH. SO THE TWO YEAR PERIOD FOR THE 20 K GRANTS OR THE 30 K GRANTS EARLIER STILL HOLDS VERY MUCH. UH, THE FISCAL YEAR STARTS IN OCTOBER, UM, FOR THE CITY. SO THAT'S WHEN YOU START, UH, COUNTING THE NEW YEAR BASICALLY. YEAH. BUT FOR $5,000 GRANTS YOU CAN APPLY IT'S YEARLY. YEAH, ANNUALLY. SO THAT IN JULY, IF YOU'RE AWARDED $5,000 FOR FY 26, YOU CAN APPLY AGAIN IN JULY FOR $5,000 OR FOR 20,000. AND IF YOU'RE AWARDED 20,000, THEN YOU HAVE TO SKIP A YEAR, JUST LIKE, UM, AND THE VENUE GRANTS ARE ALSO YEARLY? YES. OKAY. ALRIGHT. UM, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONER ? SORRY, ONE MORE QUICK QUESTION. I'M ASKING FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE NOT DONE THIS BEFORE THAT ARE ASKING ME THESE QUESTIONS. SO THE INTAKE AND THE ELIGIBILITY FORM AND THE APPLICATION FORM, YOU KNOW HOW WHEN YOU FILL OUT AN APPLICATION, YOU'RE ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING, IT'S LIKE, HEY, THIS ALLOCATE, YOU KNOW, 30 MINUTES TO AN HOUR TO DO THIS. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN QUANTIFY TIME FOR THOSE. I KNOW THE APPLICATION, OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE TO HAVE SPECIFIC THINGS THAT YOU HAVE TO SHOW, YOU KNOW, PROMOTED AND THINGS LIKE THAT. BUT IS THERE ANY WAY TO QUANTIFY HOW MUCH TIME THEY SHOULD KIND OF ALLOCATE IF SOMEONE'S WORKING AND THEY'RE LIKE, OKAY, I CAN DO THIS ON A SATURDAY, I NEED TO ALLOCATE X AMOUNT OF TIME TO PUT TOWARDS AT LEAST THE INTAKE FORM, LIKE YOU SAID, TO GET THAT DONE SO THAT WAY AT LEAST THEY KNOW LIKE, IS IT DAYS OR IS IT HOURS OR WHAT COULD, IS THERE ANY KIND OF RIGHT ANSWER TO THAT? , , I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE IS AT THE MIC RIGHT NOW TO SPEAK ON THAT. THE INTAKE FORM, QUICK AND SHORT AND EASY, PERFECT ELIGIBILITY, A LITTLE BIT MORE INVOLVED DEPENDING ON WHICH PROGRAMS YOU'RE TRYING TO BE SEEN AS ELIGIBLE. UM, SO FOR, YOU KNOW, WHETHER IF FOR [00:45:01] CSAP, YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR LEASE AGREEMENT FOR, UM, FOR THE ELEVATE PROGRAM, YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR IRS, UM, YOUR NINE 90, NOT YOUR NINE 90, BUT YOUR, UM, YOUR NONPROFIT STATUS CERTIFICATION. UM, SO IT DEPENDS ON THE PROGRAMS. AND I HAVEN'T, I HAVEN'T PERSONALLY TIMED THE LIVE MUSIC FUND. I DON'T KNOW IF KIM OR ERICA, YOUR DOWN THERE AND YOU HAVE A ESTIMATED TIME FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR LMF. HELLO EVERYONE. SO INTAKE FORM FIVE MINUTES, IT'S JUST BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT YOU AND YOU CLICKING OFF WHICH PROGRAMS YOU'RE, UH, INTERESTED IN. IF YOU CLICKED OFF LIVE MUSIC FUND, THE ELIGIBILITY FORM WILL ASK FOR THOSE DOCUMENTATION FOR TWO YEARS AS A PROFESSIONAL MUSICIAN, TWO YEARS AS A PRO, UH, AS A PROMOTER. AND, UH, PROOF TO SHOW THAT YOU FIT FIVE OF THE SEVEN PARTS OF THE LIVE MUSIC FUND DEFINITION. FRANKLY, MOST PEOPLE HAVE THIS, THEY'RE EITHER LINKS OR DOWNLOADS THEY CAN EASILY, YOU KNOW, INCLUDE IN THE ELIGIBILITY FORM. SO I WOULD SAY 30 MINUTES FOR THE ELIGIBILITY FORM FOR LIVE MUSIC FUND BECAUSE IT'S ALL PRETTY ACCESSIBLE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER. THANK YOU, ERICA. UM, ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT, UM, UM, THE MU INDEPENDENT ARTISTS WILL GENERALLY QUALIFY FOR, UM, THE LIVE MUSIC FUND. THEY WILL QUALIFY FOR ELEVATE GENERALLY AND ALSO FOR NEXUS. THOSE ARE THE THREE THINGS THAT, UH, I THINK WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR ALL OR MOST INDEPENDENT ARTISTS, UM, AND VERY DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS. UM, THE MUSIC APPLICATION TENDS TO BE VERY STRAIGHT UP OBJECTIVE. UM, GENERALLY, UH, I, I HAVE TO COMPLETELY LOOK THROUGH THE CURRENT ONE AGAIN, BUT, UM, UM, BASED ON, BASED ON THE RESPONSES YOU DUE DOCUMENTATION TO PROVIDE PROOF FOR WHICHEVER YOU ARE SAYING THAT YOU, YOU, WHATEVER CRITERIA YOU MEET. AND THEN, UM, THE LONG CENTER, MY UNDERSTANDING IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT THEY'RE DOING FOR THE LMF IS LOOKING AND MAKING SURE THAT THE PROOF IS ATTACHED AND THAT IT'S ALLEGED. AND THEN ANYBODY THAT SAYS THEY MEET THE CRITERIA, SHOW THE PROOF, THEY GET THE POINTS, UH, MORE LONG FORM ON THE, UH, ON THE ELEVATE FORM. IT'S MORE WRITTEN, UH, CONTENT, UH, FOR ELEVATE. UH, SO DIFFERENT, FAIRLY DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS. YEAH. AND THEN JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT IF YOU GO TO OUR WEB PAGES, UM, THAT THERE'S, IF YOU GO TO THE APPLICATION ASSISTANCE SECTION OF EACH PROGRAM, IT TELLS YOU WHAT THE QUESTIONS ARE AND WHAT'S ACCEPTABLE DOCUMENTATION. SO I WOULD, BEFORE EVEN GOING AND DOING THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY FORM, PLEASE GO, JUST READ WHAT'S REQUIRED SO THAT YOU CAN GATHER IT UP. UH, JUST KNOW WHERE IT IS SO THAT YOU CAN QUICKLY JUST COPY AND PASTE LINKS OR, OR UPLOAD A DOCUMENT. YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS EITHER FROM YOUR PHONE OR FROM AN A LAPTOP OR WHATEVER IT IS. UM, BUT JUST, UH, READ OVER THE WEBSITE, CHECK OUT A WORKSHOP, UH, TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE. BUT ALL OF THE INFORMATION IS ON THE WEBPAGES, UH, INCLUDING THE APPLICATION QUESTIONS AND SPECIFIC DOCUMENTS REQUIRED. THANK YOU. THANKS, ERICA. COMMISSIONER ENGLAND. UH, LAST QUESTION FOR CLARIFICATION, ERICA. UM, WITH THE REINTRODUCTION OF THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, UH, WHICH FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, MUSIC VENUES ARE ALSO, UH, DEPENDING ON ELIGIBILITY OF COURSE, UH, CAN APPLY FOR, UM, CAN MUSIC VENUES BE AWARDED A C SAP AND ALSO AN LMF GRANT IN THE SAME YEAR? AND THEN ALSO, SINCE THEY ARE BOTH 12 MONTH TERMS ON, UH, BOTH OF THEM, CORRECT. CAN THEY ALSO THEN REAPPLY THE FOLLOWING YEAR? YES. YES. THANK YOU. AND THAT'S THE CASE, NOT JUST FOR LIVE MUSIC VENUES, BUT FOR ANY OF THE FOUR DE DEFINED CREATIVE SPACES FOR CSAP. SO THAT WOULD APPLY TO ELEVATE OR TO NEXUS OKAY. OR WHATEVER. GREAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS. THANK YOU, ERICA. THANK YOU, LAURA. ANY OF THE QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER? I HAD A QUESTION. COMMISSIONER AGUILAR, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR LAURA. AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR BEING THOROUGH AND, UH, ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS. UH, IN THE PRESENTATION EARLIER, THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT, UH, MAYBE LOOKING FOR PANELISTS, UH, TO REVIEW APPLICATIONS. WHO IS ELIGIBLE, WHO'S NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THOSE, UH, FOR THE, THAT TYPE OF, UH, VOLUNTEER? I'M ASSUMING IT'S VOLUNTEER WORK, UH, THAT YOU NO, IT'S ENTIRELY, I'M SORRY. I'LL LET YOU FINISH BEFORE I PICK UP. NO, NO, THAT'S IT. IS IT VOLUNTEER IS, I'M JUST MORE CURIOUS BECAUSE 'CAUSE SOMEONE WHO'S APPLYING FOR THESE GRANTS, COULD THEY REVIEW THESE APPLICATIONS? I, THAT'S MY QUESTION. GOOD QUESTION. GOOD QUESTION. SO THING ONE, IT IS NOT A [00:50:01] VOLUNTEER POSITION. SO THERE IS A $300 HONORARIUM FOR SELECTED PANELISTS. UM, THE REQUIREMENTS, THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE AND THEN IN THE INTAKE FORM ITSELF, BUT IT'S FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS WELL AS FOR ARTS PROFESSIONALS, MUSIC PROFESSIONALS, HERITAGE PROFESSIONALS, ET CETERA. UM, YOU HAVE TO BE OVER 18 YEARS OLD. YOU CANNOT BE A CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEE, FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE. SO THOSE THINGS WOULD RULE YOU OUT. UM, WITHIN THE INTEREST FORM TO BECOME A PANELIST, YOU HAVE TO IDENTIFY WHICH, UM, CATEGORIES YOUR EXPERTISE FALLS IN. UM, YOU CANNOT BE A REVIEWER FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU ARE APPLYING TO. SO IF YOU WERE, UM, APPLYING TO LIVE MUSIC, FOR EXAMPLE, AS A MUSICIAN, YOU CAN THEN BE A REVIEWER FOR ELEVATE. UM, BUT YOU CANNOT BE APPLYING AS, UM, YOU KNOW, A THEATER ORGANIZATION IN ELEVATE AND ALSO TRY TO REVIEW THEATER APPLICATIONS WITHIN ELEVATE. UM, THERE'S A VERY, UH, CLEAR CONFLICT OF INTEREST FORM THAT EVERYONE HAS TO FILL OUT BEFORE THEY'RE EVEN, UM, ASSIGNED CERTAIN APPLICATIONS TO REVIEW AND GIVEN ACCESS TO THAT. AND THEN JUST AS A REMINDER, THERE ARE NO PANELISTS FOR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND THAT IS ONLY FOR ELEVATE AND, UM, A HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT. SO YES, I MEAN, IF YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED IN BEING A PANELIST, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO APPLY. UM, BUT ALSO WE ALSO ENCOURAGE YOU TO APPLY FOR AS MANY THINGS YOU'RE ELIGIBLE FOR, UM, BECAUSE IT'S JUST SO COMPETITIVE. AND SO JUST TAKE THAT ALL INTO CONSIDERATION. THANK YOU, LAURA. THANK YOU, ERICA. APPRECIATE IT. MM-HMM . THANK YOU. APPRECIATE YOU SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT NEEDING PANELISTS. MM-HMM . YOU'RE ALL CREATIVE, SO SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS. WILL DO. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UH, COMMISSIONERS OR COMMENTS? THANK YOU, LAURA. THANK YOU ERICA, SO MUCH. WE ARE LOOKING FOR, UH, FORWARD TO, UH, YOU KNOW, HELPING THE COMMUNITY, UH, WITH, UH, WITH THESE GRANTS, UH, AS MUCH AS WE CAN. LOOKING FORWARD TO FURTHER MARKETING OF THIS EFFORT. UM, AND, UH, JUST VERY THRILLED THAT, UH, THIS IS, UH, THIS IS OUT IN THE WORLD NOW. SO, UH, THANK YOU AGAIN TO ACME FOR, UH, THE WORK FOR THE COMMUNITY, FOR COMING IN AND PARTICIPATING AND GIVING FEEDBACK AS WELL AS TO ALL COMMISSIONERS FOR, UH, ENGAGING IN, UH, PROVIDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO IT. THIS AGAIN, UM, MOVING [6. Visit Austin Music Marketing overview presentation and general destination updates with Omar Lozano, Director of Music Marketing and Tom Noonan, President & CEO of Visit Austin.] ON TO DISCUSSION ITEMS. WE HAVE, UH, VISIT AUSTIN, MUSIC MARKETING OVERVIEW PRESENTATION AND GENERAL DESTINATION UPDATES WITH THE MARZANO DIRECTOR OF MUSIC MARKETING AND TOM NUNAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF VISIT AUSTIN. THANK YOU, TOM. AND, UH, OMAR. UH, HELLO AND GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HOSTING US AND, UH, GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHAT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, WHAT I HOPE TO BE, UH, A, A GREAT REFRESHER, UH, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO, UH, MAY NOT BE AS FAMILIAR WITH VISIT AUSTIN, UH, AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR ACTIVITIES, UH, THAT WE ENGAGE WITH, UM, UH, MUSICIANS WITH. SO, UH, THE GOAL OF THIS PRESENTATION, UH, IS TO PROVIDE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HOPE THAT YOU WALK AWAY UNDERSTANDING HOW DEEPLY WE CONSIDER MUSIC IN LOCKSTEP WITH, UH, EACH OF OUR MARKETING EFFORTS. UM, AND ADDITIONALLY EXCITED TO SEE, UH, ALL THE GREAT WORK THAT ACME'S DOING AND ALL THE GREAT PROGRAMS THAT ARE BEING FUNDED THROUGH THE VISITOR ECONOMY. UH, OUR GOAL IS TO, UH, GROW WITH Y'ALL AND TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT, UM, THOSE EFFORTS WITH OUR MARKETING. SO, THANK YOU AGAIN. UM, SO JUST TO CHAT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, VISIT AUSTIN. UM, WE ARE A PRIVATE NONPROFIT 5 0 1 C SIX ORGANIZATION. WE'RE CONTRACTED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO MARKET AUSTIN AS A PREMIER, UH, INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL, UM, DESTINATION. UH, FOR BUSINESS AND LEISURE. WE ARE TASKED WITH INCREASING DEMAND, NOT JUST FOR HOTEL ROOM NIGHTS, BUT FOR ATTRACTION VISITS, FOR PACKAGE TOURS, FOR PEOPLE VISITING OUR MUSIC DISTRICTS, FESTIVALS, UM, EVERYTHING THAT'S REALLY AFFECTED BY THE MUSIC, UH, BY THE VISITOR ECONOMY. SO, UM, WE ARE ALSO VERY KEEN ON SUPPORTING THE ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF AUSTIN'S GROWING FILM, MUSIC, CREATIVE, UH, AND SPORTS INDUSTRIES. AND THROUGH OUR, UM, COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT, UM, WE STRIVE TO GENERATE NATIONAL, INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE FOR AUSTIN'S DIVERSE ATTRACTIONS, AS WELL AS, UH, THE HISTORY AND CULTURE THAT WE HAVE HERE. UH, WE ARE FUNDED THROUGH A PERCENTAGE OF LOCAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY REVENUES, UH, ALSO KNOWN AS, UH, HOT TAX, UM, AS WELL AS PRIVATE. UM, AND AS TOM WILL SPEAK TO LATER, UH, UH, THE TOURISM PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT. SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE MUSIC OFFICE. UH, WE ARE SITUATED WITHIN THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT OF VISIT AUSTIN. UH, OUR GOAL [00:55:01] IS TO, UH, THROUGH CAMPAIGNS, EVENTS, MUSICIAN BOOKINGS, PARTNERSHIPS, UH, MEDIA COVERAGE AND CONTENT, REALLY SHOWCASE AUSTIN AS A, AS A PREMIER MUSIC AND LIVE EVENTS DESTINATION. UH, WE, UH, AS AN ORGANIZATION OWN AND OPERATE THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, REGISTERED TRADEMARKS. SO WE PROTECT, UH, THE BRAND. AND WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE VERY KEEN ON THAT. UM, WE ALSO ARE TASKED TO MAINTAIN, UH, RELATIONSHIPS WITH LOCAL STAKEHOLDERS. WE WANT TO ENSURE COLLABORATION WITH, UM, AND POSITIVE IMPACT OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY WITHIN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT BOTH SIDES ARE TALKING TO EACH OTHER. AND THAT'S A BIG PART OF, UH, OF MY ROLE. ONE OF THE BIG, UH, UMBRELLA PROGRAMS THAT, UH, WE MARKET, UH, A LOT IS OUR HIRING AUSTIN MUSICIAN PROGRAM. THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT YOU CAN FIND ON OUR VISIT AUSTIN.ORG, UH, WEBSITE. UM, ESSENTIALLY WE, UM, REFER MUSICIANS TO CONVENTIONS, MEETING GROUPS, AND OTHER THIRD PARTY EVENT PLANNERS. UH, WE RUN A INCLUSIVE DATABASE, WHICH ANY ARTIST, UH, HERE BASED LOCALLY, UH, CAN APPLY TO. UH, IT'S 800. WOW, THAT JUST WENT INFINITE . THERE WE GO. UM, UH, SO WE HAVE 800 ARTISTS IN OUR DATABASE, UH, FOR THE YEAR, UH, 20, UH, THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR, WE WERE ABLE TO HIRE ABOUT 136 ARTISTS TOTALING OVER 289,000 DIRECTLY PAID TO MUSICIANS. WITHIN THE LAST YEAR, 10 YEARS OF THE PROGRAM, UH, WE'VE HIRED 1300 ARTISTS, UH, FOR DESTINATION MARKETING EFFORTS AND THIRD PARTY REQUESTS, UH, SUPPORTING OVER 2.4 MILLION, UH, IN DIRECT PAYMENTS TO LOCAL ARTISTS. UM, AND JUST TO CLARIFY, THIS IS, UH, A COMPLIMENTARY SERVICE THAT WE OFFER THROUGH VISIT AUSTIN. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WHEN WE HAVE CLIENTS AND, AND, AND DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONFERENCES IN TOWN, THAT THEY ARE, UH, PRIORITIZING LOCAL TALENT, UM, THAT WE'RE ABLE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE NOT HIRING OUT OF CITY OUTTA STATE. UH, SO THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT TO US. UM, AND ADDITIONALLY TO, UH, PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, WE ALSO LICENSE MUSIC, UH, PHOTOS, AND WE COMPENSATE ARTISTS FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION IN OUR CONTENT. AND WE'LL SHARE SOME EXAMPLES HERE SHORTLY. HERE ARE JUST SO YOU CAN GET AN IDEA OF, UH, SOME OF OUR CAMPAIGN, UH, ADS THAT HAVE BEEN RUNNING. UM, AGAIN, THESE ARE, THESE ALL GO BACK TO OUR WEBSITE. UM, AND, UH, JUST SO YOU CAN SEE SOME CREATIVE WAYS IN WHICH WE MARKET LIVE MUSIC. UM, I HAVE SOME WEBSITE STATS HERE, UH, THE LIVE MUSIC HOMEPAGE, WHICH IF YOU ALL HAVEN'T, UH, VISITED, UH, IT'S ACTUALLY GETTING A FACELIFT, UM, THIS WEEK, I BELIEVE. UH, SO IT'S GONNA LOOK REALLY AMAZING. UH, BUT THE LIVE MUSIC SECTION OF OUR ACCOUNT IS THE THIRD VISITED, UH, MOST VISITED ON OUR WEBSITE. UM, THE LIVE MUSIC SESSION ACCOUNTED FOR 1.1 MILLION PAGE VIEWS AND, UH, 462,000 USERS. SO FOR US, IT'S A GREAT PLACE TO HELP VISITORS AND, UH, BUSINESS TRAVELERS DIGEST, UH, OUR AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE AND KNOW HOW TO NAVIGATE IT. UM, AND, UH, AS FAR AS CONTENT AND LICENSING, UM, WE, IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, LICENSED, UH, 18 COMPOSITIONS FROM, UH, VARIOUS, UH, LOCAL AUSTIN ARTISTS FOR DIFFERENT CONTENT PROJECTS. THERE'S A, A, A LIST OF SOME OF THE FOLKS THAT, THAT WE'VE WORKED WITH, AND, UH, WE'LL SHARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SOME OF THOSE VIDEOS AS WELL. UH, UH, SO THIS IS OUR, THIS IS OUR MAIN, UH, CENTRALIZED DESTINATION CONTENT PIECE. THIS IS WHAT WE'VE GONE TO MARKET WITH. UM, IT'S CALLED THE SOUND OF AUSTIN. WE WORKED WITH A LOCAL, UH, BOUTIQUE, UH, COMPANY HERE CALLED ARTS AND LABOR. AND ESSENTIALLY, I REALLY LOVE IT 'CAUSE IT'S, IT'S ESSENTIALLY A MULTI-TRACK OF, UH, OF A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT AUSTIN MUSICIANS, UH, ALL OVER THE CITY. UH, IT SHOWCASES, UH, OVER 20, UH, LOCAL BUSINESSES, MANY VENUES, WHICH YOU'LL RECOGNIZE. UH, BUT ESSENTIALLY THESE ARE ALL, UM, FIELD RECORDINGS THAT WERE MIXED INTO ONE TRACK, UH, THAT SORT OF CREATES THE, THIS LIKE PULSING TRACK, UH, WHICH YOU'LL SEE. AND THAT'S WHAT WE CALL THE SOUND OF AUSTIN. SO, UH, JUST SO YOU CAN GET AN IDEA OF, UM, OF THE WAYS THAT WE, UH, WORK WITH CONTENT AND LICENSING MUSIC. [01:01:46] YEAH, HOPEFULLY Y'ALL RECOGNIZE, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF YOUR PEERS IN THAT ONE. UM, DANIEL FEARS, HOW ARE YOU? AWESOME. COOL. UH, SO THIS IS THE SIMPLEST WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT. MOST PEOPLE IGNORE THIS , UH, THE AD VERSION. ALL GOOD. UH, SO YEAH, JUST SO YOU CAN GET AN IDEA OF, UH, OBVIOUSLY THIS, THIS IS, UH, LINKED OUT, UH, IN MANY ON OUR WEBSITE, ON, UH, ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL, UM, ON MANY OF OUR RICH MEDIA UNITS THAT WE USE, UM, WHEN WE GO OUT FOR MEDIA BUYS AND STRATEGIC PLACEMENTS FOR, UH, FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO MARKET TO, UH, UH, POTENTIAL VISITORS. UM, ALRIGHT. AND THEN, UH, SO THIS IS OUR NEW MEET MORE AUSTIN CAMPAIGN. UH, THIS IS, UH, MORE FOCUSED WITH SPECIFICALLY CLIENTS THAT ARE MEETING PLANNERS, UH, CORPORATE EVENT PLANNERS, AND, UH, HOW WE REACH OUT TO THEM. UH, THIS WAS A PRETTY FRESH VIDEO. UM, YOU KNOW, IN ANTICIPATION OF THE CONVENTION CENTER, UH, YOU KNOW, BEING OFFLINE FOR A FEW YEARS, WE WANTED TO ENCOURAGE, UM, CLIENTS THAT THERE ARE, THERE'S SO MUCH MORE IN AUSTIN. UH, THERE'S SO MANY MORE OFFSITE VENUES. WE WANNA ENCOURAGE, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS, DIFFERENT MUSIC, DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS, DIFFERENT, UM, DIFFERENT ENGAGEMENT, UH, ON THE LEVEL. SO WE'RE REALLY, UH, TAKING THIS AS AN ADVANTAGE, UH, FOR THE VIDEO ITSELF. WE, UM, WORKED WITH LOCALLY BASED ARTISTS, UH, ARTISTS, UH, THE BROS FRESH, UH, THEY ACTUALLY DID THE VOICEOVER, WHICH YOU'LL MAYBE, UM, YOU'LL MAYBE HEAR. AND, UH, WE ALSO LICENSED ONE OF THEIR SONGS, UH, YOUR ENERGY 2.0 TO REALLY DRIVE, DRIVE THE MESSAGE HOME. SO, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL PLAY THAT HERE FOR YOU, AUSTIN, WHERE EVERY MEETING COMES WITH MORE FROM HOTELS TO ROOFTOPS. DESIGN YOUR SESSIONS ACROSS THE CITY WITH THE FIRST EVER ZERO CARBON CONVENTION CENTER OPENING IN 2029. YOU'LL HAVE MORE ATTENDING ENGAGEMENT WITH MORE AUSTIN FLAVOR ALONG THE WAY. THIS IS HOW OUR CITY CONNECTS. WE'LL GIVE YOU OUR BEST AUSTIN WELCOME PLAN, YOUR MEETING, WHERE THERE'S MORE TO EXPERIENCE. MEET MORE AUSTIN. SHORT AND SWEET. UM, LET'S SEE. OKAY, SO, UH, I'M GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES THAT WE'VE, UH, THAT WE HAD OUR LAST FISCAL YEAR, UH, 24 25. UH, BY NO MEANS COMPREHENSIVE, BUT, UH, WE, WE PICKED SOME REALLY GREAT KEY EXAMPLES. UM, SO YOU CAN SEE HOW WE ENGAGE WITH, UH, WITH MUSIC, BOTH, UH, IN MARKET AND OUTTA MARKET. UH, SO THIS SUMMER WE, UH, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE ACME OFFICE AS, UH, AS WELL AS SOUTH BY AUSTIN AND C3, UH, SUPPORTED THE PLANNING AND LOGISTICS FOR TWO AUSTIN ARTISTS, WHICH, UH, WE TOOK OVER TO THE INAUGURAL SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST LONDON EVENT. UH, WE HAD, UH, DEASY BROWN AND JAKE LLOYD FROM GHETTO GALA AND GRACE SORENSON. UH, EACH ARTIST PERFORMED AT AN OFFICIAL SHOWCASE AND, UH, AND A COUPLE OFFSITE SPOTS SUCH AS THE TEXAS HOUSE AND THE HERE EAST MEDIA TECH CAMPUS. UM, WE ALSO HAD, UH, MAYOR KIRK WATSON [01:05:01] AS PART OF THE DELEGATION. HE DID THE PANEL DISCUSSION, UH, WITH THE TIMEOUT EDITOR. UM, SO THIS WAS A REALLY COOL, I THOUGHT COLLABORATION WITH THE CITY, UH, TO BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, SHOWCASE OUR TALENT DURING, UH, THIS REALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, PIVOTAL TIME IN, IN A, IN A KEY MARKET FOR US, UH, IN, IN THE UK. UM, SO I THOUGHT THAT THIS WAS, UH, REALLY AMAZING, UM, TO BE ABLE TO TAKE SOME, SOME AWESOME LOCAL TALENT. UH, THIS SUMMER ALSO, WE WORKED, UH, WITH ANTONE'S ON THEIR MILESTONE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EVENTS. UM, WE SUPPORTED THEIR EVENTS IN, UH, IN NEW YORK CITY. ANTONE'S HAS OBVIOUSLY, UH, BECOME, UH, A BIG BUCKET LIST AND, UH, A BIG, UH, CONVERSATION POINT FOR US AS WE'RE OUT IN, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS MARKETS OF, UH, OF A RECOGNIZABLE INDEPENDENT VENUE THAT, UM, THAT PEOPLE ARE REALLY EXCITED TO CHECK OUT. SO, UH, WE USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT THEIR NEW YORK EVENTS. SO IT WAS A CLUB NIGHT, UH, WITH THE ANTONS ALL STARS PERFORMING AT BOWERY ELECTRIC, UH, IN MANHATTAN, AND ALSO SUPPORTING THEIR LINCOLN CENTER SUMMER FOR THE CITY PERFORMANCE. UH, ESTIMATED ABOUT, UH, 2,600 TOTAL ATTENDEES. UM, WE ALSO HAD, UH, CAMPAIGNS GOING ON WITHIN MARKET. UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY LIKE TO DO IS, UM, CREATE, UH, A TOUCH POINT FOR POTENTIAL VISITATION. AND, UH, THE FLYAWAYS ARE REALLY GREAT ON THAT. SO, UM, WE WORKED WITH ANTONS TO BUILD A, A REALLY AMAZING PACKAGE, UM, FOR THEIR 50TH ANNIVERSARY EXPERIENCE. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, BIG HENRY'S GIFT CARD AND, UH, AND, AND RESTAURANTS AND STUFF LIKE THAT, UM, THAT THEY CAN ENJOY. WE HAD OVER 1600 FLYWAY ENTRIES FOR THAT. UM, AND WE WERE ABLE TO HOST SOME KEY CLIENTS, UH, IN MEDIA, BOTH EVENTS. UM, A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW WE WORK WITH CONFERENCES AND, UH, AND DIFFERENT ASSOCIATION AND MEETING GROUPS THAT COME INTO TOWN TO MEET, UM, VISIT AUSTIN WORK WITH CORPORATE EVENT MARKETING ASSOCIATIONS, CMA. THESE ARE SOME OF THE, UM, MOST, UM, RESPECTED, UH, EVENT PLANNERS, UH, IN, IN, IN OUR INDUSTRY. AND ESSENTIALLY, IT'S KINDA LIKE COOKING FOR CHEFS, YOU CAN SAY. UM, WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO PROGRAM SOME AMAZING TALENT THROUGHOUT THEIR CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE. IN JULY, UM, WE BOOKED, UH, 10 AWESOME ARTIST PERFORMANCES THROUGHOUT THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM. WE ALSO WORKED WITH A SONG CONFESSIONAL, UH, WHO DID A ACTIVATION. THEY HAVE A LOCAL, THEY HAVE LIKE A PHONE BOOTH, UH, ON SITE. AND, UH, THEY TOOK ATTENDEE STORIES. AND, AND WE ACTUALLY WORKED WITH A COUPLE, UH, LOCAL SINGER SONGWRITERS. UM, AND, UH, ONE OF WHICH, UH, HAYDEN BUTLER ACTUALLY PERFORMED A SONG DURING ONE OF THE CONFERENCE KEYNOTES, UH, OUR AUSTIN VISITOR CENTER. SO I WOULD REALLY ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO CHECK IT OUT. UH, IT'S RIGHT DOWN THE STREET. UH, WE OPENED UP A NEW LOCATION OVER ON 1 0 3 EAST FIFTH STREET IN MARCH. UM, ESSENTIALLY, UH, THERE'S A REALLY NICE BREAKOUT SPACE, UH, IN THERE. AND, UH, WE HAVE A, A SERIES CALLED LOCAL AND LIVE, WHICH WE DO, UH, ONE OR TWICE A YEAR, UH, WITH FIVE TO SEVEN BANDS EACH TIME. WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF OUR BEST LOCAL EMERGING TALENT IN THIS SPACE. UM, THE VISITOR CENTER IS, UH, IS SUCH A TOUCH POINT OFTEN FOR THE FIRST AUSTIN EXPERIENCE THAT, UH, MANY VISITORS HAVE. SO, UH, ALSO OUR TOURING, UH, THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF, UM, UH, TOUR BUSES AND, UH, THAT, THAT DROP OFF AND PICK UP THERE. SO, UH, THERE'S ALWAYS A NICE, UM, A NICE BUILT IN, UH, AUDIENCE THERE. UH, AND OFTEN THEY DON'T REALLY KNOW WHERE TO GO, HOW TO START, HOW TO SEE MUSIC. SO, UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO PROVIDE, UH, ONGOING MUSIC. UH, AT OUR VISITOR'S CENTER, WE WERE ALSO A HAM DAY 2025 PARTICIPATING VENUE. UM, WE HAD A COUPLE ARTISTS PERFORM, AND A PERCENTAGE OF OUR SEPTEMBER SALES, UH, WAS DONATED TO HAM DAY TO SUPPORT, UH, UH, MUSICIAN HEALTHCARE. UM, AND LASTLY, UH, JUST THIS PAST MONTH, WE, UH, WE'VE BEEN SINCE THE SPRING, UH, WORKING WITH THUNDER HOUSE PUBLISHING. UH, THEY'RE, UH, A PUBLISHER THAT, UM, PRESENTED, UH, THIS AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE FIELD GUIDE BOOK, WHICH, UH, TO OUR KNOWLEDGE IS ONE OF THE FIRST OF ITS KIND. UM, AND WE CONSULTED THEM ON, UM, ON WHAT VISITORS LOOK FOR ON, UH, ON ARTISTS, ON CONTACTS, ON PEOPLE THAT THEY NEED TO SPEAK TO, TO GET A PROPER CONTEXT ON THE, ON THE BOOK ITSELF. UM, AND WE ALSO, AT OUR VISITOR CENTER HOSTED, UM, A NETWORKING RECEPTION AND MEDIA LAUNCH PARTY FOR THEIR, FOR THE BOOK. UM, WE'RE ALSO SELLING IT AT OUR VISITOR CENTER. UM, WE ALSO HOSTED A PANEL, UM, WITH SOME GREAT MUSICIANS SUCH AS TAMIKA JONES, MADAME RADAR GUY, FORSYTH, UH, MALOTT, UH, AND THE CEO OF HAM. UM, REALLY TALKING ABOUT THE STATE OF AUSTIN MUSIC, WHAT WE'RE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE GREAT ASPECTS OF THE BOOK. SO, UM, WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO, UM, USE OUR VISITOR CENTER FOR A GREAT TOUCHPOINT FOR THE MUSIC COMMUNITY. UH, AND UP NEXT I'M GONNA PASS IT OVER TO TOM NEWAN, UH, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF VISIT AUSTIN. HE'S GONNA TELL YOU ABOUT SOME, UH, KEY DESTINATION UPDATES AS [01:10:01] THEY RELATE TO, UM, TO EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE ALL WORKING TOWARDS. OMAR, GREAT JOB. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I'M TOM NUNAN, PRESIDENT, CEO OF VISIT AUSTIN ADAM CHAIR. GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. GREAT TO BE IN FRONT OF ALL THE COMMISSIONERS TONIGHT. UM, WITH, WITH ME, WE HAVE TIFFANY KERR. SHE'S OUR CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, SO IF YOU HAVE ANY MARKETING QUESTIONS, SHE WAS IN THE OFFICE, WE DRAGGED HER ALONG. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. BUT SHE'S REALLY THE PRO WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING. SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO AT OUR VISIT AUSTIN, AT, UH, QUARTERLY BOARD MEETINGS, THE FIRST THING WE DO IS WE LOOK AT HOTEL TAX COLLECTION. 'CAUSE WE KNOW THAT'S A LIFEBLOOD FOR SO MANY THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, THE HERITAGE COMMUNITY. UM, AND SO THIS IS JUST GIVES YOU A, A LIFELINE FROM 1990 THROUGH 2023, I THINK IT IS. YEAH. AND SO THE TWO BLUE BARS WERE WHEN THE CONVENTION CENTER WAS BUILT, WHEN IT WAS EXPANDED, THE, YOU START SEEING THE OTHER COLORED BARS, EXCUSE ME, ARE RED GREEN COLORED BLIND. SO FOR ME THEY'RE GOLD, BUT IT MIGHT BE GREEN FOR YOU. UM, BUT THAT'S WHEN THE HILTON WAS BUILT. AND YOU'LL SEE, UH, BACK IN 2015 WHEN THE JW MARRIOTT WAS BUILT IN 2018 WHEN THE FAIRMONT WAS BUILT, AND THEN 2021, UH, WHEN THE A MD WAS BUILT DOWNTOWN. AND THE, THE STORY I LIKE TO TELL IS, IF YOU LOOK AT FROM 2025 TO 2014, BASICALLY 10 YEARS, WE GO FROM $68 MILLION IN HOTEL TAX COLLECTION TO $163 MILLION IN HOTEL TAX COLLECTION. UH, THE ARCH SHARE BACK IN 2014 WAS ABOUT $7 MILLION. THAT'S NOW $20 MILLION A YEAR. UM, HERITAGE WAS GETTING ABOUT 2%. THEN, UH, NOW YOU'RE SEEING, UM, UH, OBVIOUSLY 20% BOTH FOR ARTS AND FOR HERITAGE. SO THAT'S ABOUT $40 MILLION A YEAR THAT'S GOING IN THOSE TWO BUCKETS. AND, AND PART OF THE ARTS, OBVIOUSLY, IS THE LIVE MUSIC FUND. SO WE TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN THIS 'CAUSE WE WANT TO SEE THE HOTEL TAX COLLECTION GROW, UH, AND WE WILL LOVE SEEING THAT THE ARTS AND HERITAGE COMMUNITY PART OF THAT IS GROWING AS WELL AS, UM, YOU ALSO SEE ON HERE THE NUMBER OF JOBS ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOSPITALITY TOURISM INDUSTRY AND THE TAX COLLECTION EACH OF THOSE YEARS. SO IT'S JUST SOMETHING WE TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN AND WE TRY TO PUSH AND MAKE SURE IT GROWS. AND I, I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, YOU'LL SEE HOW MUCH THAT HOTEL INDUSTRY DOWNTOWN THAT'S GROWN, HOW IT'S HELPED WITH OUR HOTEL TAX COLLECTION. 26 OUT OF THE TOP 30 HOTELS IN THE HOTEL TAX COLLECTION ALL COME FROM DOWNTOWN. UM, AND THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE THE MEETINGS MACHINE IS. SO OBVIOUSLY WITH THE CONVENTION CENTER IN THOSE HOTELS WHEN THEY'RE, WHEN THEY'RE OPERATING, WE'RE DOING INCREDIBLY WELL IN TERMS OF HOTEL TAX COLLECTION. SO I WANTED YOU TO SEE THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WE STARTED THE PROJECT THIS YEAR. WE STARTED TEARING IT DOWN IN APRIL OF 2025, AND IT'LL BE FINISHED IN LATE DECEMBER, 2028 OR EARLY 2029. THE FIRST PIECE OF BUSINESS WE HAVE ON THE BOOKS IN 2029 IS SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST. UH, WE ALSO HAVE 14 OTHER BOOKINGS SO FAR. WE HAVE 65 OTHER TENTATIVES FOR THE NEW BUILDING THAT ARE LOOKING AT MULTIPLE YEARS. WE HAVE ONE GROUP THAT'S, UM, A VERBAL DEFINITE, BUT IT'S BASICALLY TELLING US THEY'RE COMING IN 20 30, 20 32, 20 35, AND 2039. SO, UH, WE'RE STARTING TO TURN A LOT MORE BUSINESS FOR THIS NEW BUILDING. AND YOU'VE SEEN SOME OF THE DRAWINGS. THIS IS THE FIRST CARBON ZERO BUILDING CONVENTION CENTER IN THE WORLD. UM, AND IT'S, UH, ABOUT 350,000 SQUARE FEET OF EXHIBIT SPACE BELOW GROUND AND A HUNDRED THOUSAND SQUARE FOOT RING HALL, SWING HALL, ROUGHLY. UM, AND IT HAS ABOUT $18 MILLION WORTH OF ART THAT'S GONNA GO INTO THIS NEW BUILDING AS WELL. AND THIS JUST GIVES YOU SOME OTHER VIEWS. THE OUTDOOR PLAZA, UM, OBVIOUSLY YOU'LL SEE THE WATERLOO GREENWAY THAT RUNS THROUGH HERE AS WELL. AND THEN THIS IS, THIS IS SECOND STREET CURRENTLY, AND IT'LL BE A PASS SALE. YOU'LL BE ABLE TO WALK THROUGH THE BUILDING AND YOU CAN SEE IT. THIS IS A GRAPHIC DISPLAY. I WOULDN'T SAY IT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE ART'S GONNA LOOK LIKE, BUT IT'S, IT'S KIND OF THE THEME THEY'RE LOOKING AT. SO, UH, THAT'S THE CONVENT CENTER. SO THE NEXT THING THAT WE'RE WORKING ON IS THE AUSTIN TOURISM PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT. SO THAT WAS PASSED THIS LAST YEAR IN JANUARY. THE DISTRICT WAS CREATED, IT'S A 2% FEE THAT GUESTS PAY, UH, THAT'S USED FOR SALES AND MARKETING. WHILE THE DISTRICT WAS STARTED IN JANUARY, WE DIDN'T ACTUALLY START COLLECTING UNTIL APRIL. SO WE GOT THE FIRST CHECK FROM THE T BID JUST IN THE, UH, BEGINNING OF OCTOBER. AND WE USE THOSE DOLLARS FOR ADDITIONAL SALES AND MARKETING ACTIVITIES. SO OUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS, TIFFANY WILL TELL YOU, WE USED TO HAVE MONEY ONLY TO DO A SUMMER CAMPAIGN AND A WINTER CAMPAIGN IN MOST OF OUR MAJOR MARKETS. AND THAT WAS IT. NOW WE'RE ALWAYS ON WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING AND ALL OF OUR MAJOR MARKETS AND OUR DRIVE MARKETS AND IN, UH, UH, IN OUR SECONDARY MARKETS. SO THIS IS A GAME CHANGER FOR US HAVING THIS TOURISM PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT. 'CAUSE WE CAN MARKET THE CITY EVERYWHERE WE WANT TO BE INCLUDING SOME INTERNATIONAL WHENEVER WE NEED TO, AND WE'VE NEVER HAD THAT LUXURY BEFORE. UM, AND, UM, SO WE THINK THIS WILL GENERATE ABOUT $20 MILLION A YEAR TO START, AND WE'LL GROW, UH, ALSO AS WE BUY BUSINESS FOR THE CITY. AND DURING THE CLOSURE YEARS, WE'RE DOING IT FOR SUPPORTING EVENTS LIKE ACL, UH, SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, UH, FORMULA ONE AND OTHERS THAT HAVE CITY COSTS. UM, THOSE DOLLARS WILL ROLL INTO THE CITY, AND WE'RE GONNA SEE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN FOUR AND $5 MILLION [01:15:01] A YEAR TO HELP THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY, WHICH WE LOVE THAT IDEA. AND THEN ONCE THE BUILDING REOPENS, AS WE BUY BUSINESS FOR THE NEW CONVENTION CENTER, THOSE DOLLARS WHEN THEY'RE USED WILL GO TOWARDS THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY. SO THIS TEE PIT'S GONNA PROBABLY GENERATE SOMEWHERE AROUND 50, $60 MILLION FOR THE HOMELESS CAUSE OVER THE NEXT DECADE. UM, AND IT WAS A PARTNERSHIP, LIKE THE HOTEL SAID, IF YOU, IF YOU, IF YOU BUILD, IF WE BUILD THE CONVENTION CENTER, WHICH WILL FUND WITH HOTEL TAX, WE'LL CREATE THE TOURISM PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, AND WE'LL HELP MARKET AND SELL THE CITY. SO IT'S, THEY, THEY'RE HAND IN HAND, THEY GO TOGETHER. AND IT'S REALLY MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR OUR ORGANIZATION BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE THE MARKETING BUDGET THAT TIFFANY'S NEVER HAD BEFORE. UM, AND IT'S HELPING US, UM, UH, FILLMORE HOTEL ROOMS. SO HOW IT WORKS IS 20% IS SET ASIDE IN THE FUTURE FOR CONVENTION CENTER BUSINESS TO BUYING BUSINESS FOR THE CONVENTION CENTER. ANOTHER 60% IS GOING FOR ADDITIONAL SALES AND MARKETING OUTREACH, EITHER CONVENTION SALES, MOSTLY TOURISM MARKETING AND OTHER SALES TRIPS. SALES BLITZ IS TRYING TO GET MORE OF THAT CONVENTION BUSINESS. THERE'S A, THERE'S A BUCKET USED FOR HOTEL ACTIVITIES, SO THE HOTELS CAN INCENTIVIZE BUSINESS, SO THEY CAN PULL BUSINESS OUT OF OTHER DESTINATIONS. AND THE NEXT, THE LAST 10% WE'RE USING FOR RESEARCH AND ADMINISTRATION. SO WE CAN LOOK AT OUR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS AND SAY, COULD WE HAVE DONE THAT BETTER? SHOULD WE DO DIFFERENT THINGS? WHERE SHOULD WE GO TO DIFFERENT PLACES? UH, AND THEN JUST THE ADMINISTRATION OF THIS NEW ORGANIZATION. I WILL TELL YOU THIS, THIS YEAR IT WAS LIKE CREATING A SECOND ORGANIZATION INSIDE OF OUR ORGANIZATION BECAUSE YOU WERE CREATING A, A NEW, UH, NONPROFIT. THE, UH, THERE ARE 13, UH, BOARD MEMBERS BY STATE LAW. THEY HAVE TO ALL BE HOTELIERS. UM, AND THEY MEET ON A QUARTERLY BASIS. THEY'VE BEEN MEETING MONTHLY SO FAR, BUT THEY'RE GONNA GO TO QUARTERLY. AND, UH, THEY, THEY'RE THE ONES THAT DETERMINE HOW TO USE THE SALES AND MARKETING BUDGET TO GENERATE MORE HOTEL ROOM NIGHTS, WHICH GENERATES MORE HOTEL TAX FOR THE COMMUNITY. AND, UH, IT KIND OF FINALLY GETS VISIT AUSTIN'S, UH, BUDGET LEVEL WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, THE DALLASES AND HOUSTONS AND SAN ANTONIO'S, OTHERS WE COMPETE WITH AROUND THE COUNTRY. AND THEN PART OF THIS IS WE ALSO PUT A COMMITTEE TOGETHER CALLED THE 25 30 COMMITTEE. AND WITH 25 BEING 20, 25 AND 2030, HOW ARE WE GONNA SELL THE CITY BEFORE THE CONVENTION CENTER WENT DOWN DURING THE YEARS FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION AND AFTER THE BUILDING REOPENS AT 20 29, 20 30. SO WE HAVE A, A WHOLE PLAN PUT TOGETHER. SO NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE OUR ANNUAL MARKETING PLAN THAT WE GIVE TO THE CITY, WE HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN, WE HAVE A, UH, PLAN FOR THE, UH, TOURISM PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT, AND WE CREATED THIS STRATEGIC PLAN WITH, UH, WITH OUR HOTEL PARTNERS TO MAKE SURE WE'RE MAXIMIZING THE INPUT WE CAN HAVE ON THE COMMUNITY. UM, I KNOW I SAID A LOT QUICKLY, UM, BUT I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT EVERYTHING THE VISIT AUSTIN IS DOING, AND WHAT QUESTIONS YOU HAVE ABOUT EITHER THE T BID, THE COMMIT CENTER, WHATEVER. THANK YOU SO MUCH, TOM. AND, UH, MA, UH, IF I, I, YES, THANK YOU. HI, UH, YEAH, I'M TIFFANY, AND, UM, NO, I'M JUST, I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE AND HAPPY TO SEE THE IMPACT THAT OUR WORK IS DOING. WHILE TOM WAS ABLE TO SHARE A LOT OF WHAT WE'RE DOING ON THE MEETINGS AND CONVENTION SIDE, I HOPE THAT WHAT OMAR SHARED GETS YOU A GOOD, GOOD TASTE OF WHAT WE'RE DOING ON THE LEISURE SIDE, MARKETING ALL THE DIFFERENT ASSETS YOU WANNA TALK PTG, YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT SOME OF THAT STUFF YOU'RE DOING. I THINK THAT'S PRETTY AMAZING. I'D BE HAPPY TO. UM, SO ONE OF, ONE OF OUR BIG PRIORITIES FOR THIS YEAR IS TO EXPAND OUR PRESENCE AND OUR SHARE VOICE IN THE MEXICO MARKET. SO WE BROUGHT ON A REP FIRM IN MEXICO FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER WHO REPRESENTS AUSTIN, UM, IN PRIORITY MARKETS SUCH AS MEXICO CITY, MONTEREY, WHERE WE HAVE NONSTOP CONNECTIVITY, AND THEN ALSO IN GUADALAJARA WHERE WE HAVE, UM, SOME OPPORTUNITY TO BRING THAT FLIGHT BACK. WE HAVE REALLY ONLY BEEN UNDER CONTRACT WITH, UH, THEY'RE CALLED PTG FOR ABOUT, I GUESS, SIX OR SEVEN MONTHS. UM, AND WE HAVE FAR EXCEEDED ALL OF OUR GOALS IN THAT MARKET. WE'VE TRAINED MORE THAN 600 TRAVEL AGENTS IN MEXICO. WE'VE HOSTED MEDIA FROM, UH, THE LIKES OF TRAVEL AND LEISURE OF MEXICO, FOOD AND WINE, MEXICO, UM, TO COME INTO THE MARKET AND WRITE ABOUT AUSTIN. AND THE MARKET IS REALLY EXCITED ABOUT AUSTIN WORKING CLOSELY WITH ALL OF OUR AIRLINE PARTNERS WITH ADO, MEXICO AND VIVA AS WELL, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE KEEPING THOSE FLIGHTS HEALTHY AND TO MAKE SURE THAT AUSTIN IS REPRESENTED AS A WELCOMING DESTINATION TO OUR MEXICAN VISITORS AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE CHOOSING AUSTIN WHEN, WHEN THEY'RE PLANNING THEIR TRAVEL. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. UH, QUESTIONS, UH, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER, POLL. I ACTUALLY HAVE A QUESTION FOR OMAR. UM, BACK TO THE, UM, I DIDN'T GET TO ASK WHEN THE, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE VISIT VISITING CENTER AND, UM, THE LOCAL LIVE. IS THERE A PLACE WHERE, UH, MUSICIANS CAN APPLY FOR THAT? AND WHAT IS THE CRITERIA FOR THAT, PLEASE? YEAH. UH, SO HONESTLY, THERE'S NO CRITERIA. THE ONLY CRITERIA IS, UH, SHARE THE LOVE. WE TRY TO WORK WITH, UH, OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES, STAKEHOLDERS SUCH AS Y'ALL SELVES TO, UH, MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS. UM, SO IT'S COMPLETELY OPEN. I [01:20:01] MEAN, UH, MM-HMM . MY EMAIL'S AVAILABLE. I FREQUENTLY MEET WITH, UM, UH, ALL SORTS OF ARTISTS, UH, WHO ARE STARTING OUT AS WELL AS, UH, ONES THAT ARE MORE ESTABLISHED TO, UH, TO SEE HOW WE CAN INTEGRATE THEM WITHIN OUR, OUR PROGRAMS. UM, YEAH, BUT THEY HAVE TO BE IN HERE IN AUSTIN. YEAH, YEAH. YEAH. THAT'S THEIR CRITERIA. THAT'S RIGHT. THEY HAVE HAVE TO BE BASED, UH, IN AUSTIN. THAT'S REALLY, UM, AND THAT'S ON THE VISITOR CENTER WEBSITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN, UH, APPLY FOR THAT. UM, IT ISN'T, UH, BUT I CAN CERTAINLY SHARE MY EMAIL, UH, AND MY EMAIL AND FOR, UH, ON OUR HIRE AN AUSTIN MUSICIAN, UM, OH, SUPER COOL PORTION. ALL RIGHT. YOU CAN, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND VISIT THAT. AND, UH, THERE'S A WAY TO, UH, GET A PART OF OUR, BE A PART OF OUR DATABASE. AGAIN, ANYBODY'S WELCOME. UH, WE TRY TO SPREAD THE LOVE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. OBVIOUSLY WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, LIMITED STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES AND, UH, AND OFTEN BUDGET, UH, BUT, UH, WE DO OUR BEST TO, UH, INTEGRATE MUSIC INTO EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. AWESOME. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WHAT'S, WHAT'S NICE ABOUT THAT NEW SPACE IS THAT NELLY A COFFEE SHOP THERE AS WELL, BUT THERE'S A VENUE, THERE'S ABOUT A HUNDRED PEOPLE IN THERE, HAS A STAGE IN THEIR SOUND SYSTEM. SO IT'S, IT'S BUILT TO BRING MUSICIANS INTO PLAY IN THERE. AND THAT'S WHAT THE LAST VISIT CENTER LACKED WAS TO HAVE THAT ABILITY TO HAVE PEOPLE COME IN AND DO EVENTS INSIDE THAT SPACE AND HAVE LIVE MUSIC IN THERE. AND SO THAT'S JUST A COUPLE TIMES A YEAR, RIGHT? THAT YOU DO THAT OR DO IT ON A REGULAR BASIS? UH, SO THE SERIES ITSELF IS A COUPLE TIMES A YEAR. RIGHT. UH, BUT WE, UH, FREQUENTLY INVOLVE MUSICIANS AND PERFORMANCES, UH, THROUGH, UH, THROUGH ANY, UM, THAT'S AWESOME. IMPORTANT KIND OF EVENT, OR SOMETIMES BUSY, UH, SEASONS FOR OUR VISITOR CENTER. UH, WE OFTEN TRY TO TIME THEM WHEN, UH, THERE'S SOME BIG TOURS LEAVING AND THEY'RE COMING BACK MM-HMM . SO THAT'S A GOOD WAY WE ENGAGE. AND THAT'S ALL THROUGH THE SAME WEBSITE, UH, TO PEOPLE TO, UH, THAT'S CORRECT ON, ON OUR HIRING AWESOME MUSICIAN, UH, PROGRAM. UH, IF THERE'S A LINK WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY GO AHEAD AND APPLY AND, UH, YOU JUST SHARE A BIT OF YOUR INFORMATION, IT'S A GOOGLE FORM. AWESOME. ALL ARE WELCOME. AND, UH, THAT OPENS YOU UP TO CONSIDER, UH, TO BE CONSIDERED FOR ANY OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE'RE DOING. UM, THEY COULD ALSO EMAIL ME ANYTIME. AWESOME. THANK YOU. YES, THANK YOU. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER. COMMISSIONER ENGLAND. HI Y'ALL. THANK YOU FOR THAT. THAT WAS LOVELY. UM, I ALSO GOT TO SEE AND GOT A COPY OF THE BOOK FROM SLENDER HOUSE, WHICH WAS FANTASTIC. YEAH. UH, I BELIEVE I WAS THE INITIAL INTERVIEWEE FOR OH, AMAZING. THE BOOK AS WELL WITH TOM. UM, A QUICK QUESTION FOR YOU. UH, THE HIGHER AWESOME MUSICIAN, I WAS JUST LOOKING ACTUALLY AT THE, UH, LANDING PAGE THAT YOU WERE DISCUSSING, UM, AND ALSO LOOKING AT WHAT THE VENUE LIST, UH, THAT'S BEEN PROVIDED AS WELL. UM, MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS, AS FAR AS, UH, ADVOCACY FOR THE MUSIC COMMUNITY, RIGHT. THAT OBVIOUSLY EVERYBODY CAPITALIZES OFF OF, HENCE WHY WE HAVE HOT TO BE ABLE TO PUT SOME MONEY BACK INTO THAT TO KEEP IT THERE. YES. UH, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY WITHIN EVERYONE'S INTEREST JUST TO FUND ARTS AND CULTURE, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN CAPITALIZE OFF OF THAT AND KEEP EVERYONE HEALTHY, I UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR THAT. RIGHT. UH, WITH THE CONVENTION CENTER PLAN, UH, OVER THE, THE TERM WHEN IT IS BEING BUILT, UH, BEFORE IT OPENS. UM, ALSO WITH THE CHANGES IN MUSIC PROGRAMMING WITH MULTIPLE DIFFERENT ENTITIES AND FESTIVALS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, NOT JUST WITH SOUTH BY MM-HMM . UH, BUT ALSO WITH THINGS LIKE LEVITATION BEING MOVED TO THE LONG CENTER, UM, I WONDER IF THERE MAYBE, UH, IS A WAY OR A NEED TO BE ABLE TO HIGHLIGHT INDEPENDENT OPERATING MUSIC VENUES, UH, TO BE ABLE TO SERVE AS, UH, AN OFFSHOOT, UH, FOR OTHER, UH, CORPORATE ENTITIES. MM-HMM . PRIVATE ENTITIES, BUYOUTS. UH, I OFTEN FIND THAT VENUES, UH, AND OPERATING ONE MYSELF, BUT ALSO BEING A MEMBER OF THE MBA IS THAT VENUE OWNERS SOMETIMES FEEL LEFT OUTTA THE CONVERSATION UNLESS THEY HAVE DIRECT REPRESENTATION. UM, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE DISTRICT, FOR EXAMPLE, WITH RED RIVER, UM, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE VENUE REPRESENTATION. UH, FRANKLY, EVEN ON YOUR LIST, THERE'S NOT VERY MANY PHOTOS OF WHAT THOSE VENUES ARE, AND A LOT OF 'EM ARE ALSO OUTDATED TO, TO, OKAY. UM, SO I THINK, I THINK IT, IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER IT'S NOT JUST THE MUSICIANS IN THAT ECOSYSTEM. IT'S NOT JUST THE MAJOR PLAYERS WITHIN THAT ECOSYSTEM, BUT THE INCUBATORS ARE ALSO WITHIN THE VENUES AND CAN OFFER, UH, AT LEAST IN THE MEANTIME, IF NOT ALWAYS A BIT MORE OF A RESPONSE FROM THAT. I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT QUESTION AND WOULD LOVE TO RESPOND. UM, SO A BIG PART OF OUR BOOK, AUSTIN NOW MESSAGE IS THIS IDEA OF NEIGHBORHOOD STYLE, CAMPUS STYLE EVENTS. UM, I'VE PERSONALLY GONE ON THE ROAD TO, UM, YOU KNOW, CONFERENCES OF EVENT PLANNERS WITH SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST DEMONSTRATING HOW USING THE CITY AS A CANVAS [01:25:01] AND USING, UM, YOU KNOW, UNEXPECTED VENUES LIKE OUR MUSIC VENUES TO PROGRAM YOUR MEETING CAN BE AN EXTENSION OF THE CONTENT. IT CAN HAVE TREMENDOUS IMPACT ON OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY, AND ADDS BRING SO MUCH MORE OF THE CHARACTER OF AUSTIN INTO THOSE EVENTS. SO I'VE SHARED THE STAGE WITH THE SOUTH BY MARKETING TEAM MAINLY TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THAT'S THE PROOF OF CONCEPT. WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS TOGETHER FOR 40 YEARS, RIGHT? AND SO LEAN ON OUR TEAM TO HELP YOU DO THE SAME THING WITH YOUR EVENTS, ESPECIALLY DURING THE YEARS WHEN THE CONVENTION CENTER IS OFFLINE. SO THAT IS VERY CENTRAL TO THE MEETING STRATEGY. UM, SO I'M GLAD YOU ASKED. HMM. AND THEN ON THE LEISURE SIDE, ONE OF THE WEBSITE STATISTICS THAT OMAR DIDN'T MENTION IS OUR REFERRALS. UM, SO IN THE PAST YEAR, THERE WERE MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND DIRECT REFERRALS TO AUSTIN MUSIC VENUES FROM OUR SITE. BEAUTIFUL. SO WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE IS A USER HAS SERVED AN AD ABOUT THE LIVE MUSIC SCENE IN AUSTIN. THEY CLICK THROUGH TO OUR WEBSITE, THEY SPEND TIME IN THE LIVE MUSIC SECTION OF OUR SITE. THEY CLICK ON A VENUE, IT'S A DIRECT REFERRAL, EITHER DRIVING TO THAT VENUE'S WEBSITE, CREATING TRAFFIC FOR THEM, OR TO THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLES. UM, AND I THINK THE, THE FACT THAT THE MUTE, THE LIVE MUSIC SECTION IS THE NUMBER THREE MOST VISITED ON OUR SITE, I DON'T TAKE THAT LIGHTLY. 'CAUSE NUMBER ONE IS THE HOMEPAGE, RIGHT? LIKE, WE'RE GONNA CAPTURE THAT. AND THEN NUMBER TWO IS THINGS TO DO. SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT A VISITOR MINDSET, OBVIOUSLY THEY'RE GONNA LAND ON THE HOMEPAGE, THINGS TO DO SEEMS LIKE A NATURAL NEXT STEP. BUT THE FACT THAT LIVE MUSIC IS THE THIRD MOST VISITED SECTION ON OUR SITE JUST KIND OF DEMONSTRATES THAT WE'RE STILL DOING THAT JOB OF STEWARDING AUSTIN'S, YOU KNOW, REPUTATIONS LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, BUT ALSO PUTTING RESONANT, YOU KNOW, MUSIC MARKETING OUT INTO THE MARKET. SO, UM, I WILL, BEFORE WE LEAVE, I WILL FIND WHERE YOU WOULD GO TO MAKE SURE THAT VENUES ARE LISTED, HAVE A LISTING ON OUR WEBSITE. I DON'T HAVE IT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I'M GONNA LOOK FOR THAT. YEAH. AND THEN JUST TO ADD TO THAT, UM, OUR, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT FEEDBACK, COMMISSIONER. VERY, VERY IMPORTANT. OBVIOUSLY, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE TO, UH, TO HIGHLIGHT THESE, UH, WE DO HAVE AN INTERACTIVE VENUE MAP, UM, UH, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY LOOKING AT WITH OUR NEW WEBSITE LAUNCH, UM, DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH WE CAN MAKE THAT MORE APPEALING VISUAL. UH, SO WE'LL MAKE SURE TO PASS THAT FEEDBACK DIRECTLY TO OUR DIGITAL MARKETING TEAM, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, ON OUR DESTINATION SERVICES SIDE. UH, WE WORK WITH, UH, VENUES, UH, A COUPLE YEARS BACK. UM, WE DID, UH, A REALLY GREAT PROJECT WITH, UM, UH, ESSENTIALLY SUPPORTING MUSIC VENUES, UH, AND DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS WITH, UH, 360 VIDEO, UH, OF THEIR SPACE. SO A LOT, A LOT OF, A LOT OF TIMES, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH INDEPENDENT VENUES, UH, THERE ISN'T THE BANDWIDTH TO HAVE A PRIVATE ADVANCED PERSON. UH, SOME OF THEM DO HAVE THAT CONTACT. UM, BUT OUR, OUR DESTINATION SERVICES, UH, TEAM WORKS TO FILL THAT, UH, KIND OF VOID AND OFTEN DOES A LOT OF WALKTHROUGHS. UM, AND, UH, AND WE WORK WITH, YOU KNOW, RED RIVER CULTURE DISTRICT AND OTHER SPACES, UH, TO, UH, TO GENERATE LEADS THAT ARE, UH, WITHIN THE, WITHIN THE RENTAL SPACE. UM, SO, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT JUST ANECDOTALLY FROM, UH, FROM VENUE, UH, TEAM, THAT IS CERTAINLY, UH, A PRIORITY AND THAT MANY, UH, THAT IT'S, IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PART OF THE, OF THE, OF THE BALANCE BOOK, UH, FOR FINANCIALLY ANNUALLY, UH, WHAT, WHAT REALLY KEEPS A LOT OF THESE SPACES, UH, AFLOAT. SO, UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO PASS ON THAT, UH, THAT FEEDBACK. AND THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER. THANK YOU. UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER CASADA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. I THINK IT'S A GREAT EDUCATION, UM, FOR ALL OF US, UM, THAT, THAT ARE SITTING UP HERE, UM, THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS OF, UM, LOOKING AT THE LIVE MUSIC FUND, UM, A BIG QUESTION THAT HAS CONSISTENTLY COME UP IS LIKE, NOW THAT WE'VE DONE ALL THIS WORK FOR MUSICIANS AND, UM, HOW DO WE MARKET THIS OUT? THAT, AND THEN NOW BEING ABLE TO SEE WHAT ALL YOU ALL ARE DOING, I THINK IS EXTREMELY HELPFUL. AND, UM, WE VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THE DIALOGUE AND, AND HOPE IT CONTINUES. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT WILL WITH THIS AMAZING TEAM. UM, ONE QUESTION I HAVE IS ABOUT AIRBNBS. DO YOU, CAN YOU SPEAK TO THE AIRBNB COMMUNITY, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, UM, AND ANYTHING TO THAT? AND THEN PERHAPS WE CAN ASK SOME MORE QUESTIONS. I'LL TALK ABOUT THE WEBSITE. YEAH. BEFORE I HAND OFF, TOM IS PROBABLY BETTER SUITED TO ANSWER THE AIRBNB QUESTION, BUT, UM, NO, IT'S, IT'S FUNNY BECAUSE I THINK WE TAKE FOR GRANTED THAT LOCALS DON'T SEE OUR ADVERTISING. AND SO WE HAVE TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO SHOW UP TO CONVERSATIONS LIKE THIS FOR YOU TO SEE IT. BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT WE DO IS OUTSIDE THE MARKET, RIGHT? LIKE EVERYTHING THAT [01:30:01] WE DO IS IN VISITOR FACING MARKETS TO GET THEM TO COME HERE, STAY HERE, AND DRIVE UP THAT HOTEL TAX COLLECTION. UM, SO REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE OUR WORK LOCALLY WITH ALL OF YOU. UM, AND THEN OMAR MENTIONED THIS IN THE SETUP, BUT, UM, I WOULD LOVE FOR EVERYONE AT THE END OF THIS WEEK TO SWING BY VISIT AUSTIN.ORG BECAUSE WE ARE REALLY HAVING A, WE SPENT THE PAST PROBABLY 13 MONTHS WORKING ON A WEBSITE REDESIGN AND REFRESH THAT. I THINK EVERYONE'S GONNA BE REALLY PROUD OF HOW WE SHOW UP. THERE MIGHT BE SOME BUGS ON WEDNESDAY, SO THAT'S WHY I'M TELLING YOU CHECK IT OUT ON FRIDAY, , UM, BECAUSE THE TEAM IS WORKING. YEAH, THE TEAM IS WORKING, UM, WORKING REALLY HARD ON THAT. AND THEN TO THE, THE PREVIOUS QUESTION, UM, IF YOU, IF THERE'S ANYONE THAT YOU'RE TALKING TO THAT IS, UM, A VENUE STAKEHOLDER, PLEASE DIRECT THEM TO LISTING INQUIRY@VISITAUSTIN.ORG JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THEIR VENUE IS SHOWING UP IN THOSE LISTINGS SO THAT WE CAN BE DRIVING TRAFFIC TO THOSE, LIKE THE SUCCESS THAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE PAST YEAR. NOW, YOUR AIRBNB, AIRBNB QUESTION, WE HAVE A VERY LIMITED LISTING OF AIRBNBS ON OUR SITE, OBVIOUSLY RIGHT NOW. BUT, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IS OBVIOUSLY THE FULL COLLECTION OF AIRBNB NOW. AND I THINK THAT'S ONLY GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, WE THINK IT'S, WE THINK IT'S PROBABLY $20 MILLION IN THIS FIRST YEAR MORE THAN WE WEREN'T COLLECTING LAST YEAR 'CAUSE WE WEREN'T COLLECTING FROM AIRBNBS. AND SO I THINK THAT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYBODY THAT WE'RE DOING THAT IT'S GONNA HELP BUILD MORE MUSIC FOR THE LIVE MUSIC FUND AND FOR THE ARTS FUNDING AND FOR HERITAGE FUNDING AND EVERYBODY ELSE. SO, UH, I'M JUST HAPPY THAT WE FINALLY, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE DON'T LOVE AIRBNBS NECESSARILY ALL THE TIME, AND I GET THAT, BUT WE WERE TAKING ALL THE PAIN AND GETTING NONE OF THE BENEFIT. SO AT LEAST NOW WE'RE GETTING THE BENEFIT OF IT, AND THAT THOSE DOLLARS ARE GONNA BE SHOWED UP AND THEY'RE GONNA BE USED JUST LIKE HOT TAXES BEING USED. 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT'S, AND, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE PAYING THAT. SO IT'S A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD BETWEEN NOW THE AIRBNBS AND THE HOTEL COMMUNITY. WHETHER IN THE PAST IT WAS THE HOTEL COMMUNITY MOSTLY PAYING THE AIR, THE, UH, THE HOT HABITATS. SOME AIRBNBS WERE, BUT IT WASN'T AS A, AS A COMMUNITY, WE'VE SEEN THE DIFFERENCE WHAT WAS DONE WITH THIS NEW COLLECTION. SO THAT'S WHAT'S GREAT ABOUT IT. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER. JUST A QUICKLY ADD TO, UH, UH, UH, COMMISSIONER CASSELA, HOW YOU WERE SPEAKING TO, UH, WHAT, WHAT DO WE DO NOW THAT ALL THE, ALL THE AWARDS ARE, ARE GIVEN, UM, AT LEAST ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, UH, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, UM, AS FAR AS, UH, UH, CAD AND, UH, AND, UH, LIVE MUSIC FUNDER CONCERNED. UH, WE HAVE A, A MICRO SITE THAT THEY'RE REQUIRED. PART OF THE REQUISITE IS TO, UH, MARKET ON OUR CALENDARS. SO, UM, THOSE, UH, THOSE EVENTS, UH, LIVE ON OUR CALENDAR ON A REGULAR BASIS. AND, UH, A APPLIES TO, UH, TOURISM MARKETING, UH, ON THAT BEHALF. SO, UM, REALLY, UM, YEAH, HAPPY TO, UH, ANSWER MORE QUESTIONS ON THAT, UH, WITH OUR TEAM, IF ANY COME UP. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER. UM, UH, I'M JUST CURIOUS, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO HOTEL TAXES, UM, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE KEY EVENTS IN TOWN? I WOULD IMAGINE SOUTH BY, AND MUSIC INDUSTRY EVENTS SUCH AS SOUTH BY AND ACL WOULD CREATE AN AUTOMATIC SPIKE IN, UH, THE HOTEL TAX COLLECTIONS. KIND OF, COULD YOU, UM, UH, I MEAN, JUST MAYBE I CAN JUST REQUEST MAYBE TOP FIVE EVENTS THAT HAPPENED THROUGH THE YEAR IN TOWN. SO FORMULA ONE? FORMULA ONE? YEAH. FORMULA ONE PROBABLY IS OUR, JUST FROM A, FROM A THREE TO FOUR DAY WEEKEND, IT'S THE HIGHEST RATES WE SEE ALL YEAR LONG, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU PUT A GEORGIA FOOTBALL GAME OVER IT LIKE WE DID LAST YEAR, . SO THAT WAS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY IN SOME WAYS. 'CAUSE WE COULD HAVE TWO, TWO WEEKEND, BUT IT WAS AN AMAZING ONE WEEKEND. UM, THEN I'D PROBABLY SAY SOUTH BYS UP THERE, ACL WEEKENDS. UH, ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE NOW STARTING TO SEE BIG IMPACTS IS UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOOTBALL. YOU KNOW, WHEN IT WAS SEC, WE'D SEE SOME TRAFFIC, BUT NOW THAT YOU'RE SEEING PEOPLE COMING IN FROM ALABAMA OR GEORGIA OR FLORIDA, THEY'RE GENERALLY MAKING A TWO OR THREE DAY WEEKEND OUT OF IT. UM, AND YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO PLAN FOR THAT. YOU HAVE THE SCHEDULE GETS RELEASED, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY'RE COMING IN. SO THAT, THAT GENERALLY LIFTS RATES. SO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT FALL AND YOU GO FROM A-C-L-A-C-L, FORMULA ONE, SOME SPRINKLING OF FOUR OR FIVE UT FOOTBALL GAMES IN THERE. WHAT REALLY HELPS OUR FALL, UH, AS WELL. AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU JUST, DEPENDING ON WHAT CONVENTION BUSINESS YOU MIGHT HAVE IN TOWN, THAT THAT WAS A BIG DRIVER ALL THE TIME, YOU COULD ACTUALLY LOOK ON SUNDAY, MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, AND AND SEE WHERE THE, WHEN WE HAD A BIG GROUP IN TOWN. 'CAUSE YOU'D SEE THE OCCUPANCY AND THE RATES LIFT IN DOWNTOWN. YOU'D SEE THAT. UM, I'M THINKING, AM I THINKING ABOUT ANYBODY ELSE? MAYBE MARATHON WEEKEND SPORTING EVENTS. MARATHON? YEAH. WHAT MARATHON? I, MARATHON. YEAH, MARATHON. SOME SPORTING EVENTS WILL DRIVE THAT AS WELL. SO NOT ONLY ARE WE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, WE HAVE FIVE BOARDS BY THE WAY. WE HAVE OUR MAIN BOARD OR OUR, OUR OUR, UM, EXECUTIVE BOARD, UH, OUR, UH, FOUNDATION BOARD, OUR SPORTS COMMISSION BOARD, AND NOW OUR TPI BOARD. SO WE HAVE LOTS OF FOLKS ASK US LOTS OF QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT IT IS WE DO, AND WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THAT. BUT IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT ONLY JUST [01:35:01] THE, THE, THE CONVENTION OF VISITORS BUREAU. WE ARE THE SPORTS COMMISSION. WE ARE THE MUSIC OFFICE AND WE ARE THE FILM OFFICE. SO WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO DRIVE IT ANY WAY WE CAN. SO, AND I'M GRATEFUL FOR THOSE, UM, MARQUEE EVENTS. YEAH. BUT THE BULK OF MY TEAM'S WORK IS REALLY DRIVING VISITATION DURING WHAT WE CALL A NEED PERIOD. RIGHT. UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT IT'S EVERGREEN WHEN WE GO AND WE'RE, YOU KNOW, TRAINING, TRAVEL, TRADE AND THINGS LIKE THAT. WE, WE PULL OUT A FULL YEAR EVENTS CALENDAR TO SHOW THEM HOW EVERY SINGLE MONTH OF THE YEAR THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S WORTH VISITING, UM, IN AUSTIN. AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, END OF DECEMBER, JANUARY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE OUT THERE PROMOTING THINGS LIKE FREE WEEK AND THINGS LIKE THAT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, UM, MAXIMIZING THOSE NEED PERIODS WHERE WE MAY NOT HAVE MAJOR EVENTS DRIVING VISITATION. ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT'S WE ALWAYS KNOW, KNEW AS A DRIVER, BUT IT'S BECOME EVEN MORE IS, IS MICHELIN AND THE FOOD. MM-HMM . YOU KNOW, THOSE, THOSE RANKINGS THAT WE RECEIVED LAST YEAR, AND THEN AGAIN THIS YEAR WERE THE NUMBER ONE CULINARY DESTINATION IN THE STATE OF TEXAS. UH, AND BUY A LOT. AND, AND THAT'S, AND WE ALWAYS KNEW THAT. WE ALWAYS KNEW WE HAD A CULT GREAT COALITION, BUT TO HAVE THEM COME IN AND TELL THAT STORY AND LOOKING AT OUR PEERS GOING, WOW, WE HAD NO IDEA. I'M LIKE, WELL, WE KNEW. SO NOW EVERYBODY KNOWS. SO WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THINGS WE MARKET, WE'RE MARKETING MUSIC, WE'RE MARKETING CULINARY, WE'RE MARKETING, YOU KNOW, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. OBVIOUSLY WE'RE MARKETING MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS OBVIOUSLY TOO, BUT WE'RE THE, THE THINGS THAT PEOPLE WANT TO TRAVEL FOR, MUSIC, FOOD, OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES ARE SOME OF THE BIGGER THINGS THAT WE PROMOTE. OBVIOUSLY. THAT WAS NICE. THAT WAS A NICE WIN. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE INSIGHTS. UH, THAT'S, THAT'S AMAZING. AND UH, ALSO, UM, IT CONTINUES TO BE, UM, JUST, JUST AWESOME NEWS THAT MUSIC ALSO, UM, IS REALLY ONE OF THE PRIMARY DRIVERS FOR HOTEL OCCUPANCY AND IT CONTINUES TO BE THAT WAY. YEP. UM, IN AUSTIN, I HAD, UM, UM, QUESTION AROUND HOW, YOU KNOW, IN, IN OVER THE YEARS AND AS WE LOOK FORWARD, KIND OF THE BOUNDARIES AROUND AUSTIN OR GETTING DILUTED, RIGHT IN THAT A LOT OF MUSICIANS HAVE MOVED INTO THE MSAS. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE SAN MARCOS, AUSTIN, UM, CORRIDOR, SAN ANTONIO, UM, AUSTIN CORRIDOR. AND, UM, IT'S A VERY BROAD QUESTION. UM, BUT I THINK, UM, AS THE CITY BECOMES MORE OF AN INTERNATIONAL CITY, UM, THE ROLE THAT VISIT AUSTIN PLACES, UH, IT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO GROW AND IT'S JUST GONNA BE SO PIVOTAL TO, TO HOW THE CITY OPERATES. AND, UH, VERY BROAD QUESTION, BUT WHAT KIND OF ENGAGEMENT MODELS, UH, DO YOU HAVE, LIKE, WHEN IT COMES TO ENGAGING WITH THE MSAS, UM, OR WITH THE, THE SAN ANTONIO OFTEN BUSINESS CORRIDOR THAT'S SHIPPING UP, UM, HOW DO YOU ENGAGE AROUND THESE ENTITIES? WELL, A COUPLE THINGS. FIRST OF ALL, UH, TOURISTS DON'T KNOW WHERE THE CITY LINE STARTS AND STOPS, RIGHT? SO THEY'RE GONNA BLEED OVER FROM IN THE CITY OUT TO THE COUNTY. AND SO YOU'RE GONNA GO ON OUR WEBSITE AND YOU'RE GONNA SEE THINGS LIKE THE SALT LICK AND PLACES OTHER, OTHER VENUES THAT ARE, THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY. UM, SO YOU, YOU KNOW, IF IF YOU LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE SPAS ARE, WHERE GOLF MIGHT BE, AND THOSE OTHER ACTIVITIES, I MEAN, THAT'S MORE, NOT JUST CITY OF AUSTIN, THAT'S MORE, THAT'S MORE OF A REGIONAL DRAW. AND SO YOU REALLY NEED TO PROMOTE THOSE THINGS BECAUSE YOU WANT TO MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU WANT, RIGHT? THAT, THAT, THAT HAVE SOME DESIRE TO VISIT AUSTIN. LIKE, OH, I'M, I'M NOT A MUSIC GUY, BUT I'M A GOLF GUY, AND THAT THEY HAVE GREAT GOLF DOWN THERE, OR, YOU KNOW, THOSE KIND OF THINGS. SO YOU WANNA, YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR REGION. AND WE DO SOME PARTNERSHIPS FROM A TOURISM PERSPECTIVE, EVEN WITH LIKE FREDERICKSBURG, YOU KNOW, WE'RE THE, WE'RE THE CITY. THEY'RE THE KIND OF THE RURAL, AND THAT MAKES GREAT SENSE. 'CAUSE YOU, YOU, YOU'RE GONNA COME HERE AND SPEND THREE OR FOUR DAYS WITH AUSTIN, MAYBE GO SPEND TWO OR THREE DAYS THERE. SO IT MAKES GREAT TO PARTNER WITH THEM FROM A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE. SO WE'RE ALWAYS GONNA MARKET THE REGION, OBVIOUSLY, UM, UH, AS, AS WHAT THERE IS TO SEE AND DO, BECAUSE IT'S GONNA DRAW MORE PEOPLE INTO AUSTIN. THEY'RE GONNA SPEND SOME OF THEIR TIME HERE AT LEAST, RIGHT. OFTEN FOR INTERNATIONAL VISITORS, THEY'RE, THEY'RE, THEY'RE VIEWING IT AS, UH, AS REGIONAL. AND THEY'LL OFTEN RENT CARS AND, UH, GO DO THE GREAT AMERICAN ROAD TRIP, AS YOU COULD IMAGINE IN OUR SPACE. YEAH. THANK YOU FOR THAT. LIKE, BECAUSE EVEN WHEN I THINK OF MUSIC, YOU KNOW, MORE AND MORE IT'S, IT'S OFTEN MUSIC, BUT YES, IT'S ALSO KIND OF CENTRAL TEXAS MUSIC BECAUSE OF ALL HOW, WHERE ALL THE ARTISTS ARE LIVING NOW AND, YOU KNOW, AND THERE'S STILL SO MUCH CROSS ENGAGEMENT. YOU, YOU LOOK AT WORLD CUP SOCCER THIS NEXT SUMMER, WHY WE DON'T HAVE ANY MATCHES AND DALLAS AND HOUSTON DO AND MEXICO DOES MM-HMM . WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA SEE A LOT OF THAT TRAFFIC COME THROUGH AUSTIN, THROUGH SAN ANTONIO, JUST 'CAUSE THEY, THEY TRAVEL REGIONALLY. AND IF I'M GONNA GO THERE, I'M GONNA GO SEE A LOT OF THE CITY OR A LOT OF THE STATE. I'M GONNA GO SPEND 10 DAYS THERE OR WHATEVER. SO WE EXPECT THERE'LL BE SOME BLEED OVER FROM EVEN THE WORLD CUP GAMES, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE NOT HOSTING A MATCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INSIGHTS. UH, COMMISSIONERS. ANY MORE QUESTIONS, [01:40:01] COMMENTS? ? THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. UH, I THINK THIS WAS, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT IT. MM-HMM . WE FELT LIKE IT WAS A LITTLE OVERDUE. SO FOR, THANK YOU FOR COMING IN AND, UH, OFFERING TO GREAT, SEE YOU PROVIDE INSIGHTS, PROVIDE VENUE, OTHER BUILDING HERE IN TOWN. RIGHT. THANKS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND, UH, PLEASE, UH, WE, WE WOULD LOVE TO JUST REGULARLY ENGAGE WITH ANY ONE OF YOU. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, CONCERNS, WAYS THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DO BETTER WORK FOR Y'ALL. UH, JUST PLEASE, UH, KEEP US IN MIND. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND, UM, WHENEVER, UH, IT'S, UH, THE RIGHT TIME, WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE YOU BACK HERE. THAT'D BE GREAT. THANK YOU. YOU'LL BE HERE. THANK YOU. THE NEXT [7. Downtown Commission update on priorities and recent actions by Parliamentarian Silva. ] AGENDA ITEM IS, UH, DOWNTOWN COMMISSION UPDATE ON PRIORITIES AND RECENT ACTIONS BY PARLIAMENTARY SILVA. COMMISSIONER SILVA IS NOT IN ATTENDANCE TODAY. HE HAD INFORMED US THAT HE COULDN'T ATTEND, UH, DUE TO TRAVEL. UM, SO WE WILL, UH, MOVE PAST THIS AGENDA ITEM UNLESS SOMEBODY HAS ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS AROUND IT. ALRIGHT. UM, SO WE'LL JUST ADD IT BACK TO NEXT MONTH'S AGENDA. THE LAST ITEM IS [8. Approval of recommendation on 2026 Bond Proposal for Rally Ausin. ] DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. APPROVAL OF RECOMMENDATION ON 2026 BOND PROPOSAL FOR RALLY AUSTIN. SO I SHARED THE RECOMMENDATION, UM, IN SUPPORT OF THE BOND PROPOSAL THAT RALLY AUSTIN HAD PRESENTED TO US IN THE LAST COMMISSION MEETING. UM, AND THIS CAME IN IN THE AFTERNOON TODAY, SO, OR, OR EARLY AFTERNOON. SO, UH, I WANTED TO CHECK IN WITH COMMISSIONERS IF, UH, YOU ALL HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO READ THROUGH THIS OR IT'S A BIT LENGTHY, BUT, UM, ESSENTIALLY IT'S REITERATING THE ASK, UH, WHICH IS IN THE AMOUNT OF ABOUT $259 MILLION FROM RALLY AUSTIN TO BE INCLUDED IN THE 2026 BOND PROPOSAL. AND, UM, I CAN GO AHEAD AND READ THROUGH THIS, UM, IF, UH, ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS WOULD, UH, LIKE THAT BEFORE WE MOTION TO VOTE ON IT. OKAY. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND MOTION TO VOTE ON THE, UH, RECOMMENDATION TO SUPPORT, UH, RALLY AUSTIN'S 2026 BOND PROPOSAL THAT WAS PRESENTED TO US IN THE LAST COMMISSION MEETING. AND EXACTLY AS HAS BEEN, UM, WRITTEN UP IN THIS RECOMMENDATION THAT WAS, UH, SHARED, UH, WITH THE COMMISSION AND IT'S IN BACKUP, UH, AL IT'S BEEN UPLOADED ALREADY, RIGHT. TO SHARE A BACKUP, BUT WE ALL HAVE IT. OKAY. ALRIGHT. SO WITH THAT MOTION, DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND. WOW. OKAY. , I HAVE A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER CASADA. ALL IN FAVOR? ALL RIGHT. THE MOTION IS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER SPOR MAKING, UH, THAT REALLY SIMPLE . OKAY. UM, FUTURE AGENDA [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ] ITEMS. UM, WE WILL HAVE, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, APPROVAL OF MINUTES, STAFF BRIEFINGS UNDER STAFF BRIEFINGS. WE HAVE STAFF BRIEFING ON LIVE MUSIC FUND COLLECTIONS. UM, WE'LL HAVE STAFF BRIEFING ON FY 24 AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND, FINAL REPORTS. UH, WE'LL HAVE A STAFF BRIEFING ON THE AIRPORT, UH, LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCES AND BOOKING. AND WE'LL HAVE AN UPDATE ON ACME FUNDING STAFF BRIEFING BY LAURA ARD. ANYTHING THAT THE COMMISSIONERS WANT TO ADD RIGHT NOW UNDER DISCUSSION ITEMS, UH, OTHER THAN OF COURSE, THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION UPDATE ON PRIORITIES AND RECENT ACTIONS BY PARLIAMENTARIAN SILVA. ALRIGHT, WITH THAT THEN, UM, ANY OF THE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? OF COURSE THE COMMISSIONERS COULD SEND AN, UH, PLEASE GO AHEAD. OH, I JUST WANTED TO, I MEAN, IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, IT'LL BE OUR LAST MEETING OF THE YEAR MM-HMM . SO IT'S JUST KIND OF NOTE TO SELF, THAT'S THE LAST MEETING OF 2025. IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT OR DO WE NEED TO DISCUSS ANY KIND OF STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR 2026? YES. SO THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S FANTASTIC BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS, UM, UH, DEFINITELY WE, UM, I, AS SARAH HAD PROVIDED, UM, SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR, UM, I CAN BRING THAT DOCUMENT TO REVIEW. UM, I THINK, UM, WE CAN DEFINITELY KIND OF LOOK BACK AND, UH, SEE THE WORK, UH, THAT WE HAVE DONE THROUGH THE YEAR. AND ALSO THAT DOCUMENT IS NOT BINDING TO THE POINT WHERE WE CANNOT ADD NEW AGENDA ITEMS. SO IF COMMISSIONERS HAVE SPECIFIC AREAS OF INTEREST THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD, UH, TO 2026 AGENDA, UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND [01:45:01] PROPOSE THAT, UM, IN THIS, IN THIS NEXT MEETING. SO LET'S CREATE AN AGENDA ITEM, UH, JUST A DISCUSSION ITEM AROUND, UM, LOOKING BACK AT 2025 MUSICAL MISSION WORK, AS WELL AS, UM, FUTURE PROPOSED AGENDAS, AGENDA ITEMS. YES. FOR THE NEW COMMISSIONERS AND FOR ALL OF US, I THINK IT'S ALSO A GOOD TIME TO JUST KIND OF THINK OF WHO DO WE WANT TO COME SPEAK, YOU KNOW, WHO DO WE WANNA HEAR FROM IN THE COMMUNITY? UM, SO WE CAN KIND OF HAVE A LITTLE SHORT LIST OF PEOPLE BECAUSE WE LIKE OUR MEETINGS NICE AND TIGHT AND LEAN AND MEAN . SO, YOU KNOW, WE CAN SPREAD 'EM OUT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THE CALENDAR NEEDS. THAT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD YEAH. YEAH. STRATEGY. SOME OF THIS, I WAS LOOKING TO START IN JANUARY, BUT I THINK DECEMBER, LIKE YOU SAID, IS, IS PERFECT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE CAN COME IN, UH, INTO JANUARY WITH, UH, WITH, WITH KNOWING WHAT WE WANT TO WORK ON IN THE NEW YEAR. AND SOME OF THESE WILL BE CONTINUATION, UH, BUT YOU KNOW, I WOULD BE THRILLED TO ALSO SEE SOME, SOME NEW, NEW ACTION ITEMS FROM THE COMMISSION. UM, WITH THAT, UH, COULD WE GO AHEAD AND, UH, MOTION TO APPROVE ALL OF THE ABOVE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THAT WERE DISCUSSED SO FAR? COMMISSIONER CARVALHO, DO I HAVE A SECOND? OKAY. UM, I'LL TAKE, UH, COMMISSIONER PULLIS. UH, SO FUTURE RICHARD ITEMS ARE APPROVED AS DISCUSSED. AND, UH, MOTION TO ADJOURN. COMMISSIONER AGUILAR, DO I HAVE A SECOND? COMMISSIONER PRIZE. ALL IN FAVOR? COMMISSIONER CARDENAS, YOU DON'T WANNA GO? . UM, MEETING IS AJO. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU STAFF. THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS. AND, UH, THANK YOU FOR A COMMUNITY THAT CAME AND PARTICIPATED TODAY, OR IS PARTICIPATING ONLINE. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.