St. Ann's Bay Development Association

Meeting of 30 May 2017

Present: Loreto Doyle, Brenda Duschene, Patsy Leblanc, Anne-Claude Pépin, Paul Weinberg, Yvonne van der Zanden, Jitka Zgola

Regrets: Merrill MacInnis, Jay Rawding

Call to order
Approve agenda with small changes in ordering, to assist with attendees' timing.
Approve minutes of the meeting of 28 March 2017 (moved: Anne-Claude; seconded: Loreto; carried.)

Financial Report (Anne-Claude)

As at 27 May 2017:

Balance:	$16,234.43
	10,139.60	allocated to Time Bank project
	2,500.00	allocated to Jay Rawding, web site coordinator
	500.00	allocated to Lisa Finney, site listings coordinator
Net:	$ 3,094.83	unrestricted assets

Motion: to approve the financial report as read (moved: Jitka; seconded: Yvonne; carried.)

Old Business
- Community Web Site
- Jay (coordinator) proposed two approaches for the web site moving forward; one generating fees from listers and the other not—see Appendix I. After discussion, we decided in the future to charge $25 annually per listing with the basic strategy Jay proposed for a non-revenue-generating site. This approach will require a coordinator for about 6 months/year at about 10 hrs/week.
- We will try to recruit new people to create a healthy Web Site Committee beyond just the SABDA board. Anne-Claude agrees to be first contact for the new committee.
- Action: All board members will continue to fundraise to pay for coordinator position through grants.
- Action: Anne-Claude will write up something for the Events sheet to announce/promote the web site, and to recruit committee members.
- Action: Loreto will write to Tom Wilson about our site being near completion, and ask if he can link to it on Victoria Tourism site and/or other partners.
- Action: Anne-Claude will ask Jay and Lisa to ask all of our listers to add a link to theshoresofstanns.ca site and Follow Our Story Facebook page on their personal web sites.
- Action: Anne-Claude will ask Brenda for permission to use the link to our site instead of, or in addition to, the Google Calendar link in all Events sheet announcements.
- It was also discussed and agreed that people need to give regular feedback on the web site, and channel it through Anne-Claude to pass along to Jay.
- Action: All board members will continue to review the web site and provide feedback monthly.
Committee Reports
- Political Action Committee
- Englishtown Ferry:
- Since the hike in fees, ferry usage as remained stable in the summer but decreased in the low season. Loreto is trying to get the stats breakdown on revenues as well.
- Transportation Committee
- County Transit Strategy:
- A meeting is planned with County Councillors Perla MacLeod, Merrill MacInnis, and Fraser Patterson, and Loreto and Jitka as well as other County representatives; the meeting has been postponed several times, but is still in the works.
- Training Committee
- Business Training:
- Not enough demand materialised for our most recent 40-hour sponsored programme (a minimum attendance is required); it was cancelled, and the money advanced by the Department of Labour and Advanced Education has been returned to them.
New Business
- New Horizons Grant
- The Health Centre approached SABDA to brainstorm ideas to apply for a New Horizons Grant. The current offer targets Seniors (requires them to create or manage or benefit from the proposal), requires the funded programme or project to be "complete"-any grant fully expended-within 12 months, and supplies up to $25,000 in total to one or multiple proposals from the same community.
- Different ideas were discussed revolving around benefitting the Time Bank project, expanding it or making it better, etc. A Meals-on-Wheels type of programme seemed both interesting and necessary, and could certainly be done by Seniors (cooking, distribution, management) to encourage intergenerational transfer of knowledge, social gathering, etc.
- The deadline to apply is June 23. No decision on a project or programme was taken at this meeting. Patsy LeBlanc (Time Bank coordinator) and Ruth Schneider (Health Centre liaison) will continue working on a proposal, and may consult with us for refining a concept, creating the application, etc.
- New Tourism Committee
- This motion has been circulated via e-mail to the board, and reviewed before today's meeting.
- Motion: to strike a Tourism Committee to become a channel for communication among the tourism operators of North Shore/St Ann's, to connect with neighbouring communities on matters affecting tourism, to serve as liaison between SABDA, the community, and the Victoria County Tourism Strategy Committee, and to become the voice of the North Shore/St Ann's tourism sector.
- The Tourism Committee will include at least one member of SABDA's current Board of Directors; it may appoint new members as it so desires. The Committee will report to the SABDA board at each SABDA board meeting, and as either group shall otherwise deem necessary. The Committee will elect a Chair and Secretary, set its own schedule of meetings, and maintain meeting minutes for its own use and to assist in reporting to SABDA's board. The Committee will set its own agenda, although the SABDA board may offer questions or suggestions from time to time.
- The Committee will keep SABDA apprised of changes in committee officers and membership. Should the Committee come to believe that its purpose has been served, or be unable to retain or recruit sufficient membership, it may be dissolved at its discretion.
- There will be no budget assigned, but the Committee may request such, as and when a need arises. The Committee will have no authority to make acts on behalf of, or otherwise bind SABDA; it will act in an advisory capacity.
- The Committee will at all times remain respectful of the privacy, business information, and reputation of all those with whom it interacts. Its ongoing mandate will be reviewed every two years, at the first general business meeting of the SABDA board after that board's biennial election.
- Purpose of the Tourism Committee
  - To be the core of a coherent community of tourism operators who share ideas, offer guidance to each other, and work to develop and expand the industry in North Shore/St Ann's.
  - To maintain a dialogue with the community's tourism operators, ensuring that they are engaged with Victoria County's Tourism Strategy, and remain informed on such opportunities and options as may be made available by governments and tourism bodies.
  - To become the voice of North Shore/St Ann's tourism sector.
  - To monitor, liaise with, and advise the Victoria County Tourism Strategy Committee and Tourism Department on behalf of North Shore/St Ann's.
  - To connect with operators or tourism organisations in nearby communities, to share ideas, build on each others' successes, and increase opportunities for all.
  - Moved: Loreto; seconded: Yvonne; carried.
  - Action: Loreto will send out an invitation to join the committee to a list of community operators. If necessary or desired by the new committee, a general call via the Events sheet may be added.
Next Meeting
Tuesday 26 September at 19:00 hrs, in the Health Centre meeting room.
Meeting Adjourned (moved: Anne-Claude; seconded: Paul)

Appendix I: Options for Managing the Community Web Site

Non-revenue Generating Site

Management tasks:
- seek out new events, news, and info
- connect with people who have listings on the site
- make edits, develop new content like blogs
- connect to anyone willing to share information (promotional)
- 5–10 hours per week; can be left for certain periods of time

Why it is useful:
- acts a navigator to tourists, residents, visitors, potential immigrants
- shows people what SABDA does, what is available in their community
- provides a business directory—one place where every business can be listed
- illuminates who/what our community is made of, along with other nuances
- has promotional value—can be shared, accessed, used as a reference by both individuals and the community
- centralises information and clarifies the region/boundaries of the community
- creates a membership to engage via e-mail (listers give permission to be contacted—these lists are very useful)

Revenue Generating Site

Management tasks:
- as above, but with more emphasis on content creation (write 2–3 blogs a month, create social media ads, etc.)
- as above, with more of an emphasis on connecting with listers (a much higher expectation)
- develop social partners—organisations and businesses who will "partner" with SABDA to become almost like an ambassador for St Ann's Bay by sharing news on their social media, including announcements in newsletters, and other methods. An example would be the Centre for Craft and Design. Social partners help counter not having our own social media or other vehicles of promotion except for the web site. If content does not go out, traffic does not come in!
- constantly develop pages, features, and timely posts (for example, featuring a business before their grand opening or 20th reunion—constantly refreshing features)
- develop pricing and marketing strategies to maintain listings—a 2–3 year plan (how do we keep listings?)
- create budgets based on operating costs and listings projections
- convert/sell the current free profiles into paid listers; creating/fulfilling paid lister benefits
- collect/process payments for listings, create receipts, etc.
- track analytics and social reach (how many views social partners get for certain posts)
- develop marketing tools to measure the impact the site has (reach, analytics, results)
- 13+ hours per week, year round

Why it is useful:
- it's a clear strategy toward generating revenue, which can ultimately grow and develop the site into a better tool that competes with larger sites (Destination Cape Breton)
- is equal parts navigator and promotional tool, so it has a much larger audience and engages other audiences the first model will not reach
- has more potential to define the community further as a tourism destination, and invite new residents

^ top