San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)
PARTNERS MARKETING TASKFORCE SUMMARY NOTES March 4, 2010 Attendees: Jim Perrine, City of Porterville Nathan Garza, City of Visalia Kim Loeb, City of Visalia
Jesse Langley, SCE
Paul Johnson, SJVCEO Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Time: 9:00 a.m. Next Meeting: Thursday, April 1, 2010 Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Agenda Topics for March 4, 2010 1. Welcome 2. Visalia Spring Fest Home Show Debrief 3. 2010 community events 4. Developing outreach partners brainstorm session 5. Next Steps Summary of Discussion •
The meeting was called to order at 9:14am.
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Visalia Spring Fest Home Show Debrief – The Smart house brochure that was used at the event was great and Courtney Kalashian would like to keep about 1,000 in her office to have on hand. The event feedback from the partner volunteers was that there wasn’t a focus on one singular thing or topic; there was a mixed response to the focus as some people liked this and some people would have liked to have a single focus. Kim Loeb noted that there was quite a different demographic for each day of the home show and that the target of the literature should reflect the different people. Courtney thinks that the booth location across from the solar booth was ideal. The Organizational Support Services staff mentioned in their report that it was nice to be able to go back and forth from the energy and solar booths. Courtney said that we have received a request to sign up for another show. She thinks that the motor coach (MEU) is visually attractive, but the 2nd Unit had more one‐on‐one communication with the public.
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) •
2010 Community Events – the group reviewed the proposed budgets for community events and Courtney looked at what had been put out from the last time and suggested that when there is an event of larger than 250 we should use the MEU. It was noted that farmers’ markets have huge numbers of attendees. Courtney will make a call to see if there are multiple MEUs to use for events. Jesse Langley said the MEU does need to be reserved and he wants us to reserve it for the year for all events. Courtney said only one has been reserved so far but we should see if the second is available. It is estimated that the Iris Festival attracts about 25,000 people – this is a lot of foot traffic, especially for a one day event! Courtney noted that a lot of the events seem to be based in Visalia and she wants to know if it makes sense to be involved in the list of activities provided. Nathan Garza noted that the Visalia Earth Day event was primarily a clean up event and might attract 2500 people. Kim Loeb said there may also be a car show going on before that event which could possibly bring a new group of people to check out our event. Kim wouldn’t be surprised if a thousand people came – but 2500 is stretching it. The Lyons Rodeo in Woodlake was also discussed as it is a big event and you get the ‘rodeo‐type’ demographic – earlier in the rodeo might be better to avoid the later drinking crowds! Courtney said this was the only opportunity to be in Woodlake. Jesse said this is probably a good reach to try and if it doesn’t work then we don’t do it again. Staffing could be difficult but Courtney noted that SJVCEO could provide staffing (Maureen Hoff and herself). PESC staff could also be supplied needed. Courtney thinks jurisdiction volunteers would be good and she asked Jesse how staffing typically works. He said Visalia has a lot happening so we don’t expect them to provide their own staffing; however with Woodlake, Porterville, and the other smaller areas we should ask them to represent their community and it would be great if they brought other people on board to help. Jesse said we need to communicate this to them or we are going to have to stop doing these events. An example of a ‘self‐staffed’ event is the April 3rd City of Lindsay event where Valerie Williams will work and bring one of her Spanish speaking staff. Courtney thinks this works for smaller jurisdictions. Jesse asked about rates for SJVCEO and PESC staffing and Courtney said we would travel together but costs can be discussed. Courtney and Maureen are more than happy to be at events and probably will be at the Woodlake Rodeo. Cruz Dominguez (City of Woodlake) is at his limit for what he is able to do now and Courtney expressed that Woodlake is severely understaffed right now. Kim said Visalia is going to be pretty under‐staffed because they have so much going on right now. In discussing Earth Day, Courtney asked if Visalia would like to get the mobile unit out to their Earth Day event. Kim thinks it is the right audience but the 1000 attendees might only be there for a small period of time. Kim agreed that we need to reach out to all types of audiences and compared Woodlake to Visalia. It was agreed that Courtney would book the MEU for all the times she can and where we can self‐staff, we will. Jim wants the MEU at the Iris Festival and if we can get it we will. The main focus, however, will be getting jurisdiction to self‐staff their events. Courtney also wanted to briefly discuss farmers markets. The summer months on a repeat schedule would be a good opportunity to get the VIEW’s message out and to reinforce the idea that we are here to get the message out and are continually a part of this – this is not just a one time deal. Visalia’s Thursday night farmers’ market typically attracts about 500 people. Kim Loeb noted that this is an event and not just a market because people are cooking food and there is live music. The downtown stores even stay open late. Saturdays, however, get more foot traffic. Generally the same people attend these events. It was noted that the Saturday event is not as much of a lingering
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) event as people go to get their food and simply leave. It was discussed that the City of Lindsay has about 5000 people at their farmers markets. Courtney asked if we want to do more events than what was on the schedule. Jesse said lets go with this for now and then reevaluate later. We aren’t breaking the bank with these events but there will also be staffing costs. To sum up community events in 2010, AgTAC in the community was also discussed as a great opportunity to educate. The Porterville education event was a great success. Courtney noted that it is nice to get to the community events but at the same time if we are getting the education piece out there that is the valuable part. Jesse agreed with this. He thought it might be worth che3cking in with Janelle at AgTAC to see if they can put together a 15 minute presentation on a specific topic (think of the shamwow guy!) it would add value to events. Courtney asked Jesse if she could be the communication to get this started. •
Developing outreach partners brainstorm session – Courtney said that with brainstorming last time, the idea of reaching out to religious community was something she never thought of and asked if the group could take some time at each meeting to think of new groups VIEW could reach out to. Jesse noted that as far as other partnerships he hasn’t seen a success model. Jesse did mention that service clubs and school clubs could work and through their CARE programs people could sign up for a program. The opportunity is here and Jesse knows the person who could present to the VIEW partnership. Courtney’s first thought was to present to a Rotary club because there are business connections to be made. For example, in Fresno Rotary moves the city. Kim said Visalia has at least three rotaries and Jim said there are also three in Porterville. It was discussed that there may be opportunity there but the direct install will not happen this year because of the schedule. This is probably something that could happen in 2011. Courtney said it is important to look forward and if this is something for 2011 we should build relationships now. Kim noted that the city and the chamber are looking to put in a green program and there will be a real opportunity to get out there. Interns will help to bring awareness. This is something Visalia will be forming in the next month or two. As for opportunities and outreach in these communities and groups, Jesse thinks we need to sit down with each partner and say ‘what are the top three groups you would like to reach out to?’ Courtney asked who would be doing this communication. Jesse said it doesn’t make sense for Edison to do this so it would either be SJVCEO or the jurisdictions. The most important thing is that the message gets out there. Kim thinks there might be an opportunity for AgTAC training at Rotary or another organization/location and Jesse could do a mini class. A half hour presentation isn’t in depth but it is a taste. Courtney said religious organizations draw 1,000 to 5,000 regular congregates at some celebrations and events so what would be the approach to get involved? Jesse said we need to build this into the matrix. Courtney will begin making calls to see what is on the calendar.
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The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 a.m.
San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) Action Items 1. Courtney Kalashian will collect about 1,000 Smart House brochures to keep on hand in her office because they seemed to be very popular at the Visalia Spring Fest Home Show. 2. The SJVCEO will communicate to the jurisdictions that everyone is expected to participate and step up for community events. 3. Courtney will book the MEU for all the events she can. 4. SJVCEO will begin to make calls to see what is on the calendar for religious organizations.
“The VIEW Partnership makes me aware of how I can save energy!�