St. Ann's Bay Development Association

Meeting of 4 June 2013

Present: Janet Dauphney, Loreto Doyle, Anne-Claude Pépin, Jitka Zgola, Paul Weinberg, Angelo Spinazzola

Regrets: James Murphy, Rosie Smith

1. Approve Agenda
2. An agenda was made and included OneNS, Destination Cape Breton (DCBA) "Industry Days" report, web site progress, Cabot Trail Steering Committee report, Fundraising Workshop, Protected Areas, and the Cabot Trail Acoustic Festival.
3. Motion: to approve the agenda (moved: Loreto; seconded: Jitka; carried.)
4. Approve Minutes of 22 April 2013
5. Motion: to approve the minutes of 22 April 2013 (moved: Loreto; seconded: Janet; carried.)
6. Old Business
   • Jitka and Loreto wrote a paragraph to describe the community, for use in publications created or managed by Destination Cape Breton (DCBA). It has been sent as a press release to Destination Cape Breton, Tom Wilson, etc.
   • Committee Networking
   • Angelo attended Destination Cape Breton's Industry Day held on Friday 3 May, at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion. He reported to the board that the event was a success (report appended as Appendix I).
   • One Nova Scotia
   • The Nova Scotia Commission on Building Our New Economy (an independent body mandated by the Premier's Advisory Committee on the Economy, also called One Nova Scotia or OneNS) is looking for input on what communities need to further economic development.
   • One Nova Scotia will be in Cape Breton on June 12.
   • Jitka contacted OneNS to advise them that we are unable to meet with them at this time, but she did submit the community survey done by SABDA in 2008 to One Nova Scotia as a first step in responding to their call for input.
   • Motion: to create a steering committee to work on a submission to OneNS that would elaborate on the concept of having a resource centre for the community (moved: Loreto; seconded: Paul; carried)
   • Anne-Claude, Loreto, and Jitka will report on progress made at next SABDA meeting.
   • Motion: to invite Eileen Lannon Oldford to meet with us to learn about how the RDA, in its new incarnation, can support us (moved: Loreto; seconded: Anne-Claude; carried)
   • Action: Loreto will contact Eileen.
   • Letter from SABUC Regarding Green Gym
   • St Ann's Bay United Church has approached SABDA for future financial and other support with maintaining the Green Gym Project. They have not provided specific information.
   • Action: Jamie will reply, requesting more information regarding the amount and type of support SABUC is seeking.
   • Community Web Site Progress
     • Bill Danielson agreed to write a monograph on our climate.
     • James Bridgland agreed to write about natural history; Clarence Barrett will be a reviewer.
     • Bonnie Thornhill is unavailable to write about local history, awaiting response from James MacDonald.
     • Rosemary McLean has agreed to be our social media marketing person.
     • Loreto made a package to distribute to local businesses and groups with information about listings on the web site. It is available for download from the SABDA web site, along with a signup form.
     • Action: The following board members will continue to ask businesses in each area if they are interested in participating in the web site:
       • Janet—Indian Brook to Englishtown
       • Angelo—St. Ann's loop
       • Jitka and Rosie—base of Smokey to Indian Brook
     • The look of Mike Targett's proposed web site was discussed. It was agreed that the organisation works, but the overall image of the web site is not as expected. For instance, there was no inclusion of photos of local activities. The proposed logo is also not entirely representative of the community, and we feel it should be secondary to the photos. The photos could act as the banner or logo, with different photos appearing when the browser is refreshed. These photos do not need to be used on the business listings pages, where something more like Mike's original design would work.
     • Mike Target is performing slowly and we are still awaiting feedback as per our original proposal.
     • Action: Loreto will continue to contact.
     • Motion: to create a committee that will work on initial web site content (moved: Jitka; seconded: Janet; carried)
     • Angelo, Loreto, and Anne-Claude will work on content for web site.
     • Action: Loreto will re-send the listings blurb to Angelo.
7. New Business
   • Cabot Trail Acoustic Festival
   • Cabot Shores is hosting an acoustic festival with talents from Cape Breton and local business on July 26-28, and is asking for SABDA's support.
   • Motion: to write a letter of support from SABDA stating that we believe music festival draw people in the area.
   • The Cabot Trail Steering Committee met in Cheticamp; Paul Weinberg is the representative for St. Ann's Bay area. He reported that they are an unincorporated not-for-profit committee, and that they will be using remaining Cabot Trail Working Association funds to update the web site cabottrail.travel. Upgrades are under weigh. Being a part of this organisation is a great way to keep in touch with other communities and not duplicate work. The next meeting will be after Celtic Colours. Minutes of the last meeting are appended to these minutes as Appendix II.
   • Council recently voted against protected area proposal from Nova Scotia Environment, a project that SABDA had previously supported. Our understanding is that the vote took place the same day that one of the council made a presentation against it and that councillors should have asked to vote at their following meeting and take the time to consult with members of the community.
   • Action: Jamie will talk to Merrill.
8. Next Board Meeting: Tuesday 6 August at 7:00 pm at Simply Pizza.
9. Meeting Adjourned (moved: Loreto)

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Appendix I—Destination Cape Breton "Industry Day"

Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA) was pleased to celebrate the Cape Breton Tourism Industry Day & Hall of Fame Awards on Friday, May 3rd at the Joan Harriss Pavilion. 150 people attended this annual event including representatives from Cape Breton Island tourism operators, municipal, provincial, and federal government bodies. The day started off with a bang as fife and drum from the Fortress of Louisbourg handed the stage to the high-energy, precision drum group "Squid", who announced that they will be performing in Louisbourg this summer in conjunction with the Louisbourg 300 celebrations.

Ian McNeil provided MC duties for the day, welcoming guests to an event that would not only profile the progress to date and 2013 goals of Cape Breton Island's Destination Marketing Organization, but also provide a snapshot of some of the Louisbourg 300 festivities that will take place this summer.

Mary Tulle, CEO of DCBA, and Noelle MacLean, Director of Marketing, delivered a presentation of DCBA's 2013 Strategic Plan, which focused on DCBA's three pillars of operation: Visitor Services, Product Development, and Marketing. Noelle also provided a sneak peek of the new creative message for the season, along with the new tag line, "Your Heart Will Never Leave."

A rare but exciting opportunity was offered to guests when a panel of Industry Leaders took the stage to answer questions in reference to the Strategic Plan, in addition to industry questions that had been submitted previously via a DCBA survey (distributed to industry at large). The panel consisted of Tom Plumridge, Director General of Community Economic Development at ECBC, Rob McCloskey, Director General at Tourism Atlantic (ACOA), Patrick Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer at the Nova Scotia Tourism Agency, and Michele MacKenzie, President and CEO of the Canadian Tourism Commission. The panel participants urged operators to continue with their research and product development efforts in order to ensure future successes in an industry where "travel patterns can oftentimes change as quickly as the weather".

Key note speaker Adrian Brijbassi, Managing Editor at vacay.ca, spoke of his Cape Breton experience and elaborated on why vacay.ca designated Cape Breton as "the most romantic destination in 2012", and the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site as "the place to be in 2013".

Chip Bird, Field Unit Superintendent for Parks Canada, and Maria O'Hearn, External Relations Manager, then provided attendees with a preview of the types of events and activities that can be expected to take place in this milestone year. Complete details of Louisbourg 300 events and activities are at louisbourg300.ca.

Over an 18th century-themed lunch menu provided by Ardon Mofford at Governors Pub & Eatery, guests were treated to a special performance by one of Cape Breton's favourite musicians, JP Cormier, and, during dessert service, the Hall of Fame awards were presented.

Award recipients were as follows:

• Visitor Services Award 2013 presented to Rodney Chaisson with the Highland Village Museum
• Marketing Award 2013 presented to Lori Burke and Carol Beaton with the Cape Breton Centre for Craft & Design
• Product Development Award 2013 presented to Linda Kennedy with the Beggars Banquet
• Hall of Fame Award 2013 presented to Scott MacAulay with Cape Breton Resorts

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Appendix II—Cabot Trail Steering Committee Minutes

Cabot Trail Steering Committee, May 15, 2013
Village Commercial Centre

The first meeting of the Cabot Trail Steering Committee was held Wednesday, May 15 at Village Commercial Centre in Cheticamp, as well as on line.

Present: Tom Wilson (Victoria County), Donna MacDonald (Inverness County), Lucille Timmons (Cabot Trail Façade & Streetscapes), Paul Weinberg (Cabot Shores), Lisette Bourgeois (Cheticamp), John Stinson (Margaree).

On line: Donald Jardine (Ingonish), Lyn Duchesney (Baddeck).

1. Meeting called to order at 6:05 by Tom Wilson.
2. Appointment of Chair and Secretary: Paul Weinberg agreed to chair, John Stinson to act as secretary.
3. Agenda was approved with power to add.
4. Cabot Trail Map and Brochure:
5. The distribution of the Cabot Trail Map and Brochure was discussed. All ads are sold. Tom Wilson indicated 80,000 copies will be printed but are for two years, 2013 and 2014. So only 40K copies will be distributed this year. The map and brochure will also be uploaded to the Cabot Trail web site. In the past, 50,000 copies were printed each year. So in 2013, distribution has to be limited in order to make it through the year. It was agreed to distribute to DCBA Visitor Information Centres (VICs) at Margaree, Cheticamp, Baddeck, and Cape Breton Highlands National Park, and at the Provincial VIC at Port Hastings. Brochures would be given to Port Hastings each month and monitored. Lucille Timmons agreed to contact Kim Lemky to see what was given in the past to Port Hastings.
6. Action: Lucille Timmons
7. Cabot Trail Web Site:
8. See attachment for details of hits. Web site requires an update. Have quote for $3,450 + HST to do this from Rivendell Software—our current webmaster and hosting provider. The quote includes a facelift to the current site to bring it up to current standards, as well as a mobile web site. Discussion ensued on how to make the site sustainable and there was general agreement that it should be so, with business listings and banner/display ads.
9. Wilson said money is available under CTWA funds and that would be discussed later in meeting. It was decided we accept the quote and go ahead with the web site improvements. Unanimous agreement.
10. Action: Tom Wilson
11. Travel Cape Breton Guide and Doers and Dreamers Guide:
12. The Travel C.B. guide is published by City Printers with assistance from DCBA. There were errors in the text this year and just caught at the last minute. In the past, areas were able to review text before going to print. The Doers and Dreamers Guide this year had a big picture of Cabot Links golf course on the Cabpt Trail. In the past, DCBA had a Doers and Dreamers committee that would review text and recommend changes.
13. It was unanimously agreed that the committee write a letter to City Printers and DCBA on Travel Cape Breton Guide requesting input into the text of 2014 Travel Guide on the Cabot Trail Section. It was also unanimously agreed that a letter be written to DCBA & Nova Scotia Tourism Agency requesting input into the text of the Cabot Trail section in next year's 2014 Doers and Dreamers Guide.
14. Action: John Stinson agreed to write letters and to circulate to committee for comments.
15. Priorities for Committee—Cabot Trail Workshop and Roger Brooks Report
    • Representative on DCBA Marketing and Product Development Committees
    • This was a priority identified in the Cabot Trail Workshop report.
    • It was agreed to write a letter to DCBA asking for a representative to sit on the DCBA Marketing Advisory Committee and DCBA Product Development Committee. It would be sent to Ms. Noelle MacLean, Director of Marketing, Ms. Kelsey Peters, Product Development Officer, Mary Tulle, CEO, and Ray Kavanagh, Chair.
    • Action: John Stinson volunteered to write letters and circulate to committee for comments.
    • Cell Phone Coverage and Roadway Improvements—ongoing problems.
    • Tom Wilson indicated the Municipality of Victoria County is currently working with Aliant to deal with cell phone coverage, which will also involve Inverness County. A report will be given at next meeting.
    • Road improvements—Point Cross to Cheticamp being paved this year, but no paving in Victoria County on the Cabot Trail.
    • Repairing Kiosks—Mireille Fiset, Nova Scotia Tourism Agency, has indicated they would assist municipalities in helping to repair existing information kiosks. Approximately 36 in total have been identified along the Cabot Trail.
    • Action: Wilson and MacDonald.
16. New Business
    • Washrooms on Trail—Question by John Stinson. Lucille Timmons showed the signs that will be used and explained the web site would list these facilities and hours open.
    • Remainder of "Old" CTWA Money—Approximately $7,000-$8,000 left. This was originally to be transferred to Strait Highlands RDA "in Trust" to be used for signage, web site and other projects. It was never transferred. Strait Highlands RDA is now winding up operations. Ms.Paula Blascheck, formerly with CTWA, has the cheque. A new cheque would have to be written. It was agreed to ask the Municipalities to see if they would hold "in trust".
    • Action: Tom Wilson.
    • Incorporation—The CTWA is no longer incorporated; its society status under Joint Stocks expired over 3 months ago. CTWA is listed as defaulted. Wide-ranging discussion ensued on what should be done with incorporation, cooperative, or what. It was felt there would be little credibility without some type of "official" status. It was, however, also felt that this committee, itself, was not in a position to make that decision. 'Another organisation' was a concern, It was also felt that, although the Trail is well served by area tourism associations, a blanket association would be a benefit, if for nothing else but to help distribute information between the groups and keep everyone up to speed on "issues". It was decided to defer this discussion to another day, but the consensus was that, if an organisation were to evolve, we need to incorporate at some point, in some form.
    • Paul Weinberg filled in attendees on the Cabot Trail Acoustic Festival, upcoming July 26 to 28. Information may be accessed at cabottrailacousticfestival.com.
17. Next meeting was set for Wednesday Oct. 23, time and place to be determined.
18. Adjourned at 7:12pm.

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