San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
PARTNERS MARKETING TASKFORCE SUMMARY NOTES September 2, 2010 | 9:00 a.m. County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California 93277 Attendees: Barbara Marty, City of Hanford Baldo Rodriguez, City of Porterville Lew Nelson, City of Tulare Kim Loeb, City of Visalia Cruz Dominguez, City of Woodlake Gail Henry, County of Tulare Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO
Jesse Langley, SCE Bill DeLain, SCE Brian Thoburn, SCE Cal Rossi, SCE Hammad Chaudhry, SCE Frank Lauro, So Cal Gas
Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Time: 9:00 a.m. Next Meeting: Thursday, December 2, 2010 Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Agenda Topics for September 2, 2010 1. Welcome 2. Recap of Events - Maureen a. Lindsay and Visalia Farmers’ Markets (June and July) b. Visalia Rawhide ‘Christmas in July’ / Holiday Light Exchange (July 25th) th c. Hanford Farmers Market | City Employee Appreciation Night (Aug. 12 ) 3. Upcoming Events - Maureen a. Visalia Home Expo, September 25th – 26th b. Tulare County Health Fair, September 30th c. 2010 Holiday Light Exchange 4. Brainstorming session a. Holiday Light Exchange – Courtney & Maureen i. Ideal locations ii. Media relations and Promotion – develop central message iii. Tracking demand/Coordination of lights b. 2011 Marketing Events and Outreach Ideas 5. 2011 Direct Install Effort 6. Next Steps a. Action Items
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) b. Next meeting – December 2, 2010 Summary of Discussion •
Courtney Kalashian called the meeting to order at 9:10am.
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Maureen Hoff briefly recapped the Visalia Rawhide Holiday Light Exchange that took place in July. The event was a success as the press release was picked up in two publications, the general public had an awareness of the VIEW Partnership and its mission, and several light strands were exchanged. Kim Loeb also volunteered him time at the event. Barbara Marty attended the Hanford Farmers Market | City Employee Appreciation Night where there was the 2nd Mobile Education Unit (MEU). According to the MEU event report, the event was ‘lively’ and the booth had a variety of visitors. Barbara will fill out the MEU satisfaction survey and return it to Maureen to pass along to Organization Support Services (OSS). Volunteers who work an event where there is an MEU will be asked to fill out this short survey.
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The Visalia Home Expo will take place Friday, Saturday 24th through Sunday, September 26th. This year the Partnership will have an indoor booth with the 2nd MEU. The volunteer sign-up sheet was passed around at the meeting and Maureen will send it around again via email. For those that volunteer, you will receive a VIP Admission ticket for entry. Please contact Maureen for any questions or concerns. Maureen will also be in touch with Ronnie to get Gas Company representation at the event. Gail Henry and Maureen Hoff committed to attend the Tulare County Health Fair on Thursday, September 30th. This will be an all-day event for about 4,000 Tulare County employees and will encompass every kind of ‘health’ – financial health, physical health, environmental health, etc. Gail was approached by her HR department and VIEW is looking forward to having a booth! Frank Lauro also volunteered to help at the event.
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Courtney thought it would be a great idea to create a cut-sheet, tailored to each Jurisdiction with their efforts and successes, to place within our VIEW brochures for events. The first customized cut-sheet will be created for the County of Tulare to bring to the September 30th Health Fair.
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Bill DeLain discussed an Edison outreach event, ‘ENLACES: Helping Our Communities Succeed’, where non-profits, particularly those serving the Hispanic community, were brought together to review SCE programs for income-qualified customers. Included was information on SCE’s Business Diversity program to encourage businesses to engage with SCE. He felt it could be a great opportunity for the Partnership to go through these non-profits to reach out to the community.
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Jesse Langley explained how the 2010 Holiday Light Exchange will differ from last year’s exchange. Edison has decided to ramp down the program because it was not an effective means of saving. This year will not be a credit towards kWh savings as it is residential and not municipal savings. It is up to each individual partnership to figure out how they will proceed and the exchange will be considered an actual marketing piece. Lights will also no longer be supplied and each Partnership will have to purchase them on their own. Partners were a little disappointed but took it as positive change that will allow the Partnership more flexibility with the event. Gail Henry noted that this program isn’t really about exchanging lights, but educating
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) and reaching out to the community and spreading awareness. Courtney and Maureen will look at the Marketing budget, run some numbers, and get back to everyone with a plan for how many strands to purchase. Once this has been taken care of, development of marketing pieces can commence. •
Courtney enthusiastically announced that Direct Install will be returning to the area in 2011 and turned it over to Jesse for details. Jesse said with partnerships, the capture rate sometimes doubles or triples and there was great success, over 70 percent capture rate, last time it came through the area. This year there will be a more structured approach with local governments and elected officials in order to get the word out. Regional managers will work with the SJVCEO to get a plan in place. Kim Loeb felt there was a missed opportunity to communicate with small business owners last time around and suggested that the Utilities take the chance to provide information on other programs while doing direct install next year. Courtney suggested a thank you packet for participating businesses that would include thanks from VIEW, thanks from the city, and a general thanks for taking part in the program with additional ways to save and contact information. Jesse noted that a follow up thank you would be best if from city officials. This program could be a good way to make relationships and create community stories to add to our Partners’ success stories on the VIEW website. Courtney will be in touch with Kelsey, a contact she made at the All Partners Meeting, who discussed her Partnership’s success with Direct Install in order to get more ideas.
Action Items: •
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Barbara Marty will fill out the MEU satisfaction survey for the August 12th Hanford Farmers Market and Employee Appreciation Night and return it to Maureen to pass along to Organization Support Services (OSS). Maureen will contact Ronnie to get Gas Company representation at the Visalia Home Expo. Maureen will update the Home Expo volunteer sign-up sheet and email it to all Partners. Maureen and Courtney will work on the cut-sheets with specific Jurisdiction information to place in VIEW brochures for Marketing events, with the first draft focusing on Tulare County for their September 30th Health Fair. Courtney will evaluate the marketing budget for the 2010 Holiday Light Exchange to see how many strands the Partnership can afford. Courtney will also send the marketing budget to Partners for reference. Courtney will contact Kelsey (All Partners Meeting contact) to get ideas for Direct Install. Jesse will look into sending letters from mayors for 2011 Direct Install efforts.
“The VIEW Partnership makes me aware of how I can save energy!”