[00:00:01]
I CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.[CC Briefings 02032026]
UH, OUR STAFF PRESENTATION TONIGHT IS CHRISTMAS RECAP.I'M MEGAN MAYHAN, DEPUTY CITY MANAGER, AND TONIGHT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE CHRISTMAS SEASON DOWNTOWN.
WHAT WORKED AND WHAT WE'RE KEEPING AS WE'RE HEADING INTO CONSTRUCTION.
OUR FOCUS WAS THREE THINGS TO SUPPORT SMALL AND LOCAL BUSINESSES TO KEEP DOWNTOWN ACTIVE AHEAD OF CONSTRUCTION AND TO TEST LOWER COST EVENTS THAT WE CAN REPEAT.
AND HERE'S WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE.
ATTENDANCE GREW FROM ABOUT 11,000 TO 16,600, WHICH IS A 50% INCREASE.
AND WE SPENT ABOUT 60% LESS MONEY THAN LAST YEAR.
IN TOTAL, WE DELIVERED 28 EVENTS, 20 NEW EIGHT ALREADY PLANNED, PLUS SIX PASSIVE DISPLAYS.
DOWNTOWN SAW STRONG SATURDAY FOOT TRAFFIC.
THE STRONGEST ELEMENTS BY FAR WERE OUR SATURDAY EVENTS.
THE TREE LIGHTING, THE SATURDAY MARKET DAY AND THE PET PARADE WERE ALL, AND THE PHOTO FORD INSTALLATIONS WERE ALL VERY STRONG SUCCESSES.
THEY PULLED PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE CITY AND THE ADDED VISUALS KEPT PEOPLE AROUND LONGER.
AND WE FOUND THAT WHAT WORKED BEST WAS SPREADING THAT ACTIVITY OUT.
MULTIPLE EVENTS PERFORMED BETTER THAN THE ICE RINK AND COST LESS TO RUN.
IN ADDITION TO OUR ANCHOR EVENTS, TOP PERFORMERS INCLUDED THE UPTOWN MOVIE NIGHTS, LIBRARY EVENTS ON THURSDAYS, AND THEN THE CAR SHOWS THAT WE HAD AT THE OLD SONIC.
AND THESE ARE ALL FORMATS THAT ARE GREAT BECAUSE THEY CAN BE REPEAT REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
THEY'RE NOT JUST CHRISTMAS SPECIFIC.
IN ADDITION, MORE THAN A HUNDRED SMALL BUSINESSES AND, AND VENDORS TOOK PART PARTICIPATION WAS STRONG AT THESE MARKETS.
THE BIG TAKEAWAY IS SIMPLE RECURRING EVENTS, DRIVE RESULTS.
ONE THING THAT WE WILL ADJUST IS THAT THE NIGHTTIME RESTAURANT ACTIVITY DIDN'T PERFORM AS WELL AS WE HAD HOPED, BUT HONESTLY, I THINK THE RESTAURANTS WEREN'T EXPECTING SO MANY PEOPLE TO COME.
AND SO THEY DIDN'T, THEY WEREN'T STAFFED UP, THEY WEREN'T OPEN.
AND SO WE THINK THAT NEXT YEAR THEY WILL DO MUCH BETTER.
THEY'LL BE PREPARED AND READY TO GO FOR THAT EVENT.
AND NOW I WILL TURN THIS OVER TO ERIC ALVAREZ, WHO WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE MARKETING EFFORTS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, UH, WE RAN A TV CAMPAIGN.
UH, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE SCREEN THERE, WE HAD 74 TOTAL SPOTS ON NBC 5 74 TOTAL SPOTS ON TELEMUNDO, UH, 39, INCLUDING, UH, A DOZEN BONUS SPOTS ON EACH.
IF YOU REMEMBER IN OUR INITIAL PRESENTATION, THE PRIORITY HERE WAS AM NEWS, SO TO TRY AND REACH, UH, UM, THE FAMILIES WATCHING TV IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE BROADCAST CYCLE.
UM, BUT WE GOT, UH, THE BONUS SPOTS WHICH WERE IN PRIMETIME.
UH, I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS WAS ASKING ABOUT GETTING THAT POSSIBILITY.
AND WE WERE THANKFULLY ABLE TO DO THAT, UH, INCLUDING, UH, THE TODAY SHOW, THANKSGIVING, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE THANKSGIVING SPECIAL, SOME HOLIDAY MOVIES AS WELL.
UH, WE'RE ALSO STREAMING ON PEACOCK AND OTHER PLATFORMS. UH, ALTOGETHER IT'S UH, 1.8 MILLION OVERALL IMPRESSIONS THROUGHOUT THE TELEVISION CYCLE STREAMING.
AND OF COURSE WE HAD, UM, EVERYTHING THAT, THAT YOU SEE RIGHT THERE IN DIGITAL ADS, TEXAS HIGHWAYS.
WE ALSO HAD A DALLAS SITES, AN INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN.
THERE'S $2,999, WHICH YIELDED 68,000 VIEWS.
UH, AND ROUGHLY THAT ADDS UP TO 23 VIEWS PER DOLLAR.
UH, THAT'S YOUR RETURN ON INVESTMENT THERE.
23 VIEWS PER DOLLAR 'CAUSE IT'S GONNA COME UP IN THE NEXT SLIDE AGAIN.
UH, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE THERE ON THE BOTTOM GOOGLE DISPLAY, SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING, ESPN, SOCIAL, UM, THAT WAS MOSTLY DURING, UH, THROUGH THE, THE TOURISM SIDE OF THINGS.
SO THAT WAS THE PAID EFFORTS WE HAD.
NOW I WANNA SHOW YOU THE ORGANIC SUCCESS THAT WE'VE HAD.
SO WITH MEDIA RELATIONS, WE HAD 13 LOCAL NEWS MENTIONS, TOTALING A TV AUDIENCE OF 723,000, UM, VIEWERS, AND AN EARNED MEDIA VALUE OF 62,000.
WE DIDN'T HAVE TO BOOK ANY AIRTIME.
THIS WAS A PRODUCT OF, UM, A CHIP DOWNTOWN SET US UP WITH AN EARLY CYCLE OF THE NEW TREE.
WE WENT UP AND PUT THE CAMERA, WE SENT THAT OUT TO THE TV STATIONS AND THEY PICKED IT UP THE NEXT DAY.
WE HAD 1 MILLION IMPRESSIONS OVER 55 SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS AND WE HAD 10,700 VIEWS ON THE MAIN STREET MAGIC SECTION OF GTX.ORG.
SO WHAT WE LEARNED IN OUR MARKETING CAMPAIGN HERE IS MAKE IT EASY FOR LOCAL MEDIA.
LIKE I SAID, IF YOU SEND THEM HIGH QUALITY VIDEO, THEY'RE LIKELY TO RUN IT WHEN THEIR NEWS CREWS ARE NOT ABLE TO COME OUT AND SHOOT IT THEMSELVES.
THE CITY DRONE PROJECT HAS BEEN A GREAT INVESTMENT HAVING SOMEONE ON STAFF WHO WAS LICENSED FAA LICENSE TO FLY THAT DRONE AND PROVIDE 'EM THAT FOOTAGE, UH, INNOVATION CELLS,
[00:05:01]
THE LED TREE ACTIVATIONS WERE A BIG SUCCESS, INCLUDING, UH, ONE OF OUR LIBRARIES.UM, THE SNOWY STORY TIME GOT PICKED UP, EXCUSE ME, SNOW TIME.
AND LASTLY, SOCIAL MEDIA HAS IMMENSE VALUE.
I WANT YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN THERE.
THESE SIX INSTAGRAM REELS ALONE GOT 538,800 VIEWS.
IF YOU REMEMBER, THE COST OF $1 GETS YOU 23 VIEWS.
THIS IS ALL STUFF WE DID IN HOUSE.
UM, VALUED AT 23,426, ALL IN-HOUSE SOCIAL MEDIA.
THE BOTTOM LINE AND TAKEAWAY IS THIS.
WE NOW HAVE A REPEATABLE ACTIVATION MODEL.
WE'RE GETTING MORE IMPACT AT A LOWER COST AND WE'RE HEADING INTO CONSTRUCTION PHASE WITH MOMENTUM.
I WOULD LOVE TO THANK ALL THE MANY DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED IN THIS.
THIS WORKED BECAUSE THESE TEAMS SHOWED UP AND COORDINATED WITH ENTHUSIASM TOGETHER.
IF YOU WERE INVOLVED IN MAIN STREET MAGIC, PLEASE STAND TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR YOUR GREAT WORK ON THIS PROJECT.
AND AT THIS TIME I'LL TAKE ANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS.
I HAVE A COMMENT THAT I'LL RECOGNIZE.
COUNCIL MEMBER LOPEZ, I WAS UP HERE A NUMBER OF THOSE WEEKENDS AND IT WAS INTERESTING HOW MANY TIMES I LOOKED AT CHIP AND SAID WE WOULDN'T BE SKATING RIGHT NOW.
AND HE SAID, YEAH, WE WOULDN'T HAVE LAST WEEKEND EITHER.
SO I THINK IT WAS WISE, THE SKATING RINK WAS KIND OF A FUN THOUGHT, BUT WHEN YOU COULDN'T EVEN SKATE HALF THE TIME WE WERE OPEN, IT WAS TIME TO GET RID OF IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER LOPEZ, UH, UH, FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS.
UM, WASN'T SURE WHAT TO EXPECT, BUT DEFINITELY IS EXCITING OPPORTUNITY OUR CITY.
BUT ONE THING TO CONSIDER AS WELL IS, UM, AS NOC WAS THAT HUGE, ALL THIS PAST UM, YEAR ONE THING WE NOTICED WHEN THEY WERE GOING DOWNTOWN, UM, THEY HAD LIKE NUTCRACKERS OR THEY HAD TEDDY BEARS AT SMALL BUSINESSES WITH QR CODES, UM, THE QR CODE, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT BUSINESS BUT ALSO TALK ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS.
SO MAYBE DOING THAT TO SUPPORT MORE LOCAL BUSINESSES AS PEOPLE WOULD GO SHOP THERE.
THEY GET THE RESTAURANTS, THEY GET THE RESTAURANTS.
SO, UM, IT JUST GIVES 'EM ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO, TO COME BACK AND LEARN A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT BUSINESS, BUT THEN ALSO SEE WHAT ELSE IS PLANNED WITH WALL HAY OR WHAT'S HELPING YOU LATER IN THE DAYS.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT THE, UM, THE TREES THAT THE G-P-I-S-D HELPED MAKE, WHERE WE STORED THEM AND WE'RE GONNA EXPAND THAT PROGRAM FOR NEXT YEAR.
AND WE TALKED ABOUT POTENTIALLY PUTTING THOSE, I'LL JUST TALK LOUD.
WE TALKED ABOUT PUTTING THOSE AT EACH DIFF AT PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES AND THEY CAN DECORATE 'EM AND WE COULD PUT THAT WOULD BE A GREAT ON IN THE BUCKET THAT WE PUT THE TREE IN.
THAT'S A, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
COUNCIL MEMBER ADAMS, I THINK YOU HAD YOUR MIC ON BEFORE IT WENT AWAY.
SO I DON'T HAVE ANY MIC EITHER.
I JUST WANT FIRST AMAZING JOB.
UM, WHEN YOU START LOOKING AT THE RETURN INVESTMENT WITH THE VIEWS, THAT WAS DEFINITELY VISIBLE.
AND SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT.
UH, I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE MISSILE TOW MARKET.
I KNOW THAT WAS A, A TEST RUN AS WELL.
ANY IDEAS ON HOW YOU'RE GONNA, UM, IMPROVE THAT OR ELIMINATE, WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THAT? 'CAUSE IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVE THOSE, YOU KNOW, SMALL BUSINESS CHAMPIONS.
SO WHEN IT COMES TO THE EMERGING BUSINESSES THAT I FELT LIKE THAT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THEM TO GET OUT THE HOUSE AND GET TO EXPERIENCE SOMETHING, UH, ON THE NEXT LEVEL.
SO ANY IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS THAT YOU'ALL ARE TOSSING AROUND MA'AM? ABSOLUTELY.
NO, I, ONE OF THE THING, WE'VE ACTUALLY ALREADY BEEN MEETING ON CHRISTMAS AND WE WERE, EVERYONE'S SO GOTTEN SUCH ENTHUSIASM SINCE WE'VE HAD SUCH SUCCESS TO TAKE IT AND SEE HOW WE CAN ELEVATE IT NEXT YEAR.
ONE OF THE THINGS ABOUT THE MARKETS WAS WE HAD A LOT OF MARKETS.
THERE WAS A, UM, PEOPLE WEREN'T REALLY SURE WHERE THE MARKETS WERE AND CONFUSING.
AND SO WE'RE THAT WAS VERY CONFUSING.
I CAME UP HERE FOR ONE OF THEM AND I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS IN HERE.
BECAUSE THERE WAS SO MUCH OUT THERE.
AND SO I THOUGHT IT WAS OUT THERE.
AND THEN I'M THINKING, WELL WAIT A MINUTE.
AND SOMEBODY POINTED, WELL, NO, THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON INSIDE TOO.
SO I THINK WE'RE GONNA WORK ON STREAMLINING THAT, MAKING A LITTLE, LITTLE BIT MORE OF A FOCUSED, COHESIVE MAYBE INSTEAD OF HAVING MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS WORKING ON MARK, MY GOD, I TALK SO LOUD.
WE UNIFY AND CREATE MAYBE ONE LARGE MARKET THAT'S LAST LONGER OR SOMETHING.
WE'RE, WE'RE BRAINSTORMING ON THAT, BUT, BUT WE DID SEE THAT THAT WAS A POINT OF CONFUSION AND WE'RE GONNA IMPROVE THAT.
SO WHAT ABOUT AN APP? AN APP IT CREATED SO THAT PEOPLE
[00:10:01]
CAN GO TO DIFFERENT PLACES THROUGHOUT DOWNTOWN? I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK AT.YOU DO ANYTHING TIME AND MONEY?
UM, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO YOU, MAYOR PRO 10.
AND I'LL START BY, I NEED TO PULL ITEM 10 FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION BECAUSE I HAVE A CONFLICT ON ADAM TENS.
WE'LL PULL IT FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION.
SO I WILL NOT LEAVE DURING THE CONSENT AGENDA.
WE WILL MOVE IT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ITEM 10, I MEAN ITEM 21 ON THE ADAMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION.
UH, YOU HAVE ITEMS FROM THREE TO NINE, 10 WILL BE 1120.
YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? QUESTIONS? NO.
I CAN GET WITH STAFF ON, ON ITEM 10.
I JUST HAVE A QUESTION TOO ON THAT ITEM.
SO AFTER NO OTHER QUESTIONS, I'LL PASS IT BACK TO THE MAYOR.
THE CITY COUNCIL MAY CONDUCT QUOTE.
FIRST OF ALL, YOU NOTICE MEL'S NOT HERE.
ANY COUNCIL MEMBER? HE'S NOT HERE.
UM, BOTH ARE OUT FOR PERSONAL REASONS.
UM, AND WE HAVE JULIE TONIGHT, MAYBE TONIGHT END MAYBE HICKS COUNCIL.
IN FACT, WE'RE ONLY GOING TO BE DISCUSSING, DISCUSSING OUT OF FIVE SECTION 5, 5, 1 20 0 8 7 DELIBERATIONS REGARDING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS.
WE HAD PLENTY OF TIME, BUT I THINK IT IS BEST.
I THINK WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME.
UM, BUT IT IS BEST TO PROBABLY GO AHEAD AND GET OUR BILL AND GO INTO THE EXEC ROOM.
AND THEN ONCE WE'RE DONE, THEN WE'LL TAKE THE EXTRA TIME TO DO STUFF.
SO LET'S, WE'RE TAKING A RECESS TO GO IN THE EXEC SESSION.
UH, I'LL SEND Y'ALL BACK BEFORE SIX 30, BUT I WON'T GIVE ONE BACK ORDER UNTIL SIX 30.