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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 1270.001 2006-2008 County of Hawaii Funding Request Narrative Submitted by Alice Moon on behalf of Big Island Resource Conservation & Development Council A. Project Summary: We are seeking funds for an educational summit focused on island-wide festivals and event organizations and businesses to provide and gather information. Goals and objectives: 1. Build the capacity of Hawaii Island festival and event producers in order to improve their product. 2. Develop a method of collaboration and communication between organizations and individuals involved in providing festivals and events for our community and visitors to our island. 3. Foster festival and events businesses and tourism product development on our island. 4. Identify the breadth, depth and number of existing festivals and events and determine the strengths and weaknesses of these events. 5. Conduct a poll to determine issue priorities within the festivals and events industry that are specific to our island and bring together key people to determine what the next steps are to address these issues. 6. Develop a comprehensive database of festivals and events information for Hawaii Island. 7. Provide opportunities for speakers and organizers of the summit and follow-up activities credit for International Festivals and Events Association certification for their presentations and work on the project. 8. Gather all Hawaii Island festivals and events producers together to determine the next steps in order to continue to provide education, networking opportunities, share resources and best practices. The summit will be in October 2008 with recipients of the County Product Enrichment Program grants as well as other event and festival producers invited to attend. We will begin planning in July 2008. We will utilize the County funds to pay for the venue rental, facilitators, supplies and materials, marketing (print ads, posters, fliers, invitations) and graphic design, public relations, website development, travel to IFEA conference for professional development and networking, and BIRC&D administrative fees. Matching funds will be developed through sponsorships and in-kind products and services and will be used to cover all other expenses. We would like to make the summit free to participate and hope to avoid charging any admission fees so that we can bring in the most people as possible. We will consult with IFEA, which is partnering with the Hawaii Tourism Authority and offering their two-year certification coursework in Hawaii, to secure support and advice. We will also seek the IFEA's approval to offer speakers and organizers of the summit and follow-up activities credit for their presentations and work on our project. B. Organization Qualifications: The mission of the Big Island RC&D Council is to assist the people of the Big Island in achieving sustainable development while caring for and appreciating their natural environment; to ensure broadened economic opportunities, enriched communities, and better lives. As cam. %J270. 1 Ref. To. Fred"H-S0G Ref. Date i1W 12 7MR such, the organization serves as a vital nonprofit conduit and partner for individuals and organizations in the County of Hawaii. The BIRC&DC is similar to other non-profits in that it is a registered 50lc3 in the State of Hawaii, but it comes with an entirely unique support system that represents a long standing, nationally based public/private partnership with a locally driven mission. BIRC&DC has assisted hundreds of organizations and individuals in organizing, funding and implementing projects for over 30 years as a nonprofit corporation and continues to serve in that capacity. The BIRC&DC Area Wide Plan contains 9 goals, 18 objectives, and 55 + implementation strategies targeting a wide range of projects in Hawaii County. The BIRC&DC Annual Plan of Work contains 7 organizational goals directed at implementing community generated projects island-wide. The organization specifically targets rural economic development and natural resource management and has managed funds for scores of agricultural, community education, at-risk youth, visitor industry, and cultural projects over the years. The BIRC&D Annual Plan of Work and Area Wide Plan documents are key documents for planning and implementation and are organized and evaluated by the council for the purposes of determining results, defining successes and making future strategic planning decisions. As the fiscal administrator of the project we will develop a contract with Alice Moon & Company, a small business that does community relations and festival and event planning as conference coordinator for the project. The company has produced, directed, coordinated, or promoted such events as the Big Island Slack Key Guitar Festival, Honokaa Town's Western Week, Black & White Night, Hilo Orchid Society Show & Sale, Hilo Chinese New Year Festival, and Hawaii's World Heritage Festival. Company owner, Alice Moon, is an active community leader who is involved with many volunteer programs and activities and has enrolled in the IFEA two-year certification program in order to improve her skills and ability to serve the Hawaii Island community's festival and event planning needs. Relating to this project, we will work with the following organizations and others: # International Festivals & Events Association * Black African Heritage Caucus ~k Hale Ola - Dane Silva * East Hawaii Cultural Council ~k Hui Okinawa * Hawaii Health Guide ~k Big Island Filipino Community Council * UH Hilo Conference Center ~k Big Island Portuguese Cultural Club * The Kohala Center * AstroDay Institute * Imiloa Astronomy Center * Hawaii Volcanoes National Park * Big Island Visitors Bureau * Big Island Film Festival * Friends of the Palace Theater * Lyman Museum * Kona Coffee Cultural Festival * Pacific Tsunami Museum ~k Kona Historical Society * Hilo Downtown Improvement Association * Destination Hilo B. Statement of Need and Justification: The Hawaii Tourism Authority has presented festival and event conferences over the last four years that focus on general issues producers face yet there has been little to address Hawaii Island-specific issues. Our project will build on the HTA's efforts and address such issues on a more frequent basis. The summit and subsequent activities will include producers of events large and small, from those just beginning to festivals that have been around for decades, from "high end" to grassroots, with topics from the basics to more specific. We feel that this will help to build the capacity of our islands' event planners to improve and produce better tourism products. A 40 plus year resident of Hawaii Island, Alice Moon has worked on large and small festivals and events across the island for the last fifteen years and has successfully produced a series of four large events since beginning her business in 2001. Additionally, Alice has written for and compiled event calendars for several publications and keeps a comprehensive list of happenings around the island. Through her work, observations and research, she has determined that there is a lack of collaboration and communication within the festivals and events arena and a need to develop a regular mechanism to address these issues. We are supporting this effort to develop a summit and investigate the viability of developing a professional festivals and events association. We agree that this would be an invaluable asset and economic generator for Hawaii County and the State of Hawaii as we see the growth of more festivals and events. The summit will serve to identify and address common problems and increase productivity and will help to create a unity and strong voice for Hawaii Island event and festival planners in seeking resource support both inside and outside of our island to help insure sustainability and success. The summit will serve as a networking venue and clearinghouse for new and existing event planners to share information and best practices, improve their projects, and identify trends. Next steps will be identified at the summit and the formation of a festivals and events association will be discussed. The summit will serve the County and the State's tourism programs as well as the County Council by creating an island-wide database of events and contacts, which could also include an up to date, comprehensive calendar of events for visitors as well as community members. The value to the County and State visitor industry of this database alone is substantial. The value to our Council members would be clear information about viable events and would serve to assist them in funding decisions. Currently there is no entity and/or organization that addresses all of these issues and each organization or individual developing events faces them independently and often repeatedly makes the same mistakes. At the summit, we will determine how to maintain and update this database and seek support to develop a website where information could be easily accessed. Admission fees support some of the festivals and events on our island but many are free and by far, we suspect that if queried, the majority of the organizations' events, regardless of scope or size, are funded through grants. Many are grants driven that in order to assure economic development we will be filling the need to educate those within our community to diversify their funding sources. As seeking grants becomes more competitive and grant providers are more frequently expecting that organizations' events become self-sustaining, the summit and follow up activities could help identify other methods of funding. As the popularity of producing festivals and events grows, and the competition for grant funds grows, some of the smaller organizations may be forced out of the market and there will be a loss of the important and significant events they create. All events on our island, large or small, sports, cultural or agricultural based, mean a better quality of life because they provide an outlet for our youth, a venue for our elders to share, an opportunity for practitioners to share their work, and a chance for the community to gather. They also often serve to preserve and perpetuate the Hawaii Island agricultural, cultural and traditional values, and offer an opportunity for the residents and the visitors to our island a social interaction not available by other means. We feel that the association and the activities it will provide will EXHIBIT A-2 PROJECT BUDGET Project Title: HAWAII ISLAND FESTIVALS & EVENTS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT County Other In-Kind EXPENSES Funding Cash Contribution TOTAL Requested Sources Value Operating Costs Conference coordinator (professional fees) $ 7,500 $ 7,500 Summit venue rental $ 1,000 $ 1,500 $ 2,500 Summit facilitators $ 1,000 $ 500 $ 1,500 AV Equipment & Technician $ 200 $ 200 $ 400 Travel and accommodations $ 2,000 $ 2,000 $ 4,000 Postage $ 100 $ 100 Printing handouts, programs) $ 200 $ 200 $ 400 Refreshments and food $ 4,000 $ 1,500 $ 5,500 Supplies and materials $ 200 $ 200 $ 400 Marketing Costs Print Advertising $ 500 $ 1,000 $ 1,500 $ 3,000 Public relations (professional fees $ 3,000 $ 1,000 $ 4,000 Graphic artist design services (professional fees) $ 500 $ 500 $ 1,000 Posters, fliers and invitations (printing) $ 300 $ 300 Website development and maintainance $ 1,000 $ 1,000 $ 1,000 $ 3,000 Administrative Costs BIRC&D Administrative fees $ 1,500 $ 1,500 Administrative activities (secretarial, registration) $ 500 $ 500 $ 1,000 TOTAL EXPENSES $ 15,000 $ 12,200 $ 8,900 $ 36,100 County they In-Kind INCOME SOURCES Funding Cash Contribution TOTAL Requested Sources Value Count Council Request $ 15,000 $ 15,000 R&D Grant $ 10,000 $ 10,000 Sponsorships $ 2,200 $ 2,200 In-Kind contributions $ 8,900 $ 8,900 TOTAL INCOME $ 15,000 $ 12,200 $ 8,900 $ 36,100