Workshop organisationPresent: Donna Barnett, George Clark, Duncan Leece, Alison McKenzie, Bob Peden, Joan Rennie Apologies: Alison Simpson arrived at 13:30 after Harbour Trust meetings Workshop organisationDonna had taken the bull by the horns and presented on fundraising at the Leisure and Recreation Workshop at the Princess Royal Building on Thursday evening. She did so well that she has been asked to repeat the talk to a meeting of Portsoy groups (the emerging Portsoy and District Community Association) this Thursday. There was thus no need for her previously planned presentation on databases. The turn out at the Workshop was disappointing – ten people and most from only two groups. Reflection on this experience, and planning for future workshops, thus formed a large part of this training session. A note about the Leisure and Recreation Workshop had gone out with minutes of the last BPL meeting and Donna had followed up with letters to 20 groups that were likely to be interested. She had also phoned around on the day of the meeting but did not find many people who were in. There is need to sell the workshop as very clearly meeting the needs of specific individuals and groups. We should budget a fair bit of time for clarifying what we want to do and then publicizing it (the pre-workshop planning phase). It will not be time wasted if it increases attendance at, and the impact of, workshops. Duncan has a lot of experience in the Tourism Business. He suggested that our area has a lot going for it but it is not well enough organised and managed. He gave the example of his parents who are about to go to Alaska. They made one phone call to a local Alaskan Tourist Board and they have since been flooded with information from a range of local organisations about what to do and where to stay. Obviously the telephone call to the tourist board caused a message to be sent to many different tourism related businesses who then acted on the enquiry by sending information packs. His parents are delighted with the response and are now thinking that they will have to stay longer to fit everything in! ACTION – Donna to email and ask for info on how they do it in Alaska. The task is to turn ‘sales leads’ into ‘conversion rates’. This involves the double whammy of advertising and marketing i.e.
Bob noted that there are over 100 tourism related businesses within a 10 mile radius of Portsoy. Duncan noted that the Tourist Board already has a brochure listing many events but they do not market it outside the area. Obviously it takes money to mount a good advertising campaign but we could make a fundable project if we got enough local businesses together to pool resources and co-ordinate our ‘products’ (Anything within a 90 minute driving distance.) The tourism workshop might be called, ‘Putting Banffshire on the Tourist Map – skills training for the tourist industry’. Initial topics might include ‘how to generate and respond to enquiries’, ‘how to gather and package existing materials’. The problem of when to hold the workshop was not resolved. We might need two meetings in the first instance to cover the private sector ‘Where to stay’ side of things (during the day) and the more community run ‘What to do’ side (in the evening). There is the possibility of a weekend meeting. Duncan noted that he had increased the booking rate for self catering cottages from 14 to 35 weeks purely through good marketing and customer care. There is much underused potential in the area! Bob noted that as the Sustrans initiative kicks in there is the possibility of targeting a whole new set of potential customers. The Workshop for Community Councils We need to figure what might attract Community Councilors to the workshop. Some possible topics include:
CED – a greater benevolenceGeorge distributed his handout (unbranded) from the Leisure and Recreation Workshop. It was intended as a stimulus to creative thinking about the possibilities for leisure and recreation activities. The idea was to use it first to help make a comprehensive list of the types of activities and groups which already exist and then to generate ideas for new types of activities and groups - or of possible linkages between them. The subtitle Possibilities through Partnership pointed to the idea that major funding these days is targeted on facilities that are multi-purpose and multi-user. The workshop generated neither comprehensive lists of what presently exists nor of new and exciting possibilities. This might have been due either to lack of time or to the purpose not having been adequately explained! The BPL group raised the following points:
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day (Charity) Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime (CED)
There are many well intentioned and enthusiastic people and groups working in old fashioned ways and expecting to achieve great things. BPL’s job is to open up routes for such people to see the need for change and to embrace it. This can be a slow process which is unfortunate when the goal posts shift as quickly as they do! Lessons can be learned from those who have gone before so we must encourage people from different groups to get together. But, when all is said and done, enthusiasm is vital. Being systematic and professional definitely helps but there is little that can be done without brass neck and oomph! Notes recorded by George Clark |