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HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.2 StPatDay 2002CITY CLERK FILE # 950-40 AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: August 21, 2001 SUBJECT: Production of 2002 St. Patrick's Day Festival Report Prepared by Paul McCreary, Recreation Supervisor ATTACHMENTS: None RECOMMENDATION: /9 l _t~ppr°ve the concept of producing the St. Patrick's Day Festival in- ^ / \~/wV' house and direct Staff to prepare an event plan and budget for the  /~, Council s approval. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: None DESCRIPTION: In September 2000, the City Council authorized the Mayor to renew the agreement with Terry Pimsleur & Company for the production of the 2001 St. Patrick's Day Festival. Terry Pimsleur & Company was first awarded the five-year contract in September 1998 and produced the 1999 and 2000 festivals. On January 30, 2001, the City received a letter from Ms. Terry Pimsleur explaining that Bright Moments Event Production, LLC, had acquired the assets of Terry Pimsleur & Company, Inc. On February 20, 2001, the City Council authorized the Mayor to execute an amendment to the Agreement with Terry Pimsleur & Company consenting to the assignment of the Agreement to Bright Moments Event Production. Ms. Pimsleur continued with Bright Moments as the executive producer and coordinated the 2001 St. Patrick's Day Festival. On July 23, 2001, Bright Moments Event Production ceased operations. Staff is working with the City Attorney to resolve any outstanding issues from the 2001 festival and terminate the agreement with Bright Moments. pRODUCTION OF 2002 ST. PATRICK'S DAY FESTIVAL The 2002 St. Patrick's Day Festival is only six months away and planning for the festival should begin as soon as possible. Two options are available for planning the festival; contracting with another event production company or producing the festival in-house as is being done for Day on the Glen, the City's new fall festival. Staff recommends producing the 2002 St. Patrick's Day Festival in-house. As there is currently insufficient Staff time available to successfully produce the Festival in-house, Staff proposes fimding additional hours for the part-time Recreation Specialist that was hired to assist with the production of the Day on the Glen. 'In addition, Staff proposes pursuing contractors to solicit sponsorships and recruit artisans for the festival as the City has done for the Day on the Glen Festival. In the past specialty contractors have been extremely effective at securing sponsorships and high-quality art and craft vendors. Contracting for these specialty services will allow Staff to concentrate on event planning and local coordination. Under the leadership of the Recreation Supervisor for special events, a team of staff and contractors would handle all of the event production and management. G:\COUNCIL\8-21-01 st pats-dl.doc COPIES TO: ITEM NO. Staff is confident the planning team would be able produce a highly successful St. Patrick's Day Festival for the community. In the 18-year history of the event, City staff has successfully planned 14 of the festivals in-house. When the City expanded the St. Patrick's Day Festival in 1997, the decision was made to contract with a professional event production company rather than hire additional staff. With only one festival at the time, it seemed more advantageous to contract the work. Some of the expected benefits of contracting included a reduction in Staff time and expenditures, increased sponsorships, higher quality vendors, and better advertising and promotion. Staff has found that while the contractors have excelled at increasing sponsorships and improving the quality of the vendors at 'the festival, the Staff time associated with managing the contractors has actually increased. Coordination with local businesses and non-profit groups has been problematic and the contractors have not been consistent in marketing the City's festivals in a timely and effective manner. Consistency is imperative to the success of a festival. As the City has learned in the past, changes in event location or production companies can have a detrimental impact on the festival. Bringing the planning in-house would eliminate this risk and restore local coordination and control of the festival. Staff has done an initial analysis of the cost of producing the festival in-house versus contracting with a production company and found the costs would be roughly the same. Currently the Recreation Specialist is' funded for 20-hours per week to assist with planning for the Day on the Glen, Spring Eggstravaganza and Fun Run. For Fiscal Year 2001/2002 Staff proposes adding 10 additional hours per week to the part- time Recreation Specialist position and reassigning the planning of the Spring Eggstravaganza and the Fun Run. The additional 10-hours per week will cost approximately $12,500. In addition to the costs associated with Staff, there are additional costs associated with the specialty contracts and other festival production costs. If the Council concurs that the event planning should be handled in-house, Staff will prepare an event plan and budget for the Council's approval at a subsequent meeting. CONCLUSION With only six months remaining until the festival, time is of the essence. Therefore, Staff recommends funding additional hours for the part-time Recreation Specialist and contracting for specialty services, thus allowing for planning to begin immediately. Over the next six months, Staff would evaluate the planning and management of both the Day on the Glen and St. Patrick's Day festivals. Following the festivals, Staff would prepare a plan for the Council addressing how the City would handle the production of these events on a permanent basis. Should the Council wish to contract with' another event production company, Staff would develop and circulate a Request for Proposals '(RFP) to event production companies in Northern California. Staff estimates the process of developing the RFP, selecting a contractor and negotiating an agreement could take up to two months, which could have a detrimental impact on event planning. It should be noted that past RFP's for the St. Patrick's Day and Pasta Festivals have resulted in only two proposals for each RFP. RECOMMENDATION Approve the concept of producing the St. Patrick's Day Festival in-house and direct Staff to prepare an event plan and budget for the Council's approval. -2-