A Safe Alternative to Mardi Gras
Chamber Meeting Notes
Ellicottville Chamber discusses Mardi Gras, Fall Fest and Influence Marketing with merchants
File photo/Mardi Gras 2019
The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce hosted a membership meeting Friday, Feb. 19th with in-person participation at the Wingate and virtual participation via Zoom.
MARDI GRAS / WINTER CARNIVAL
Barb Pump, the Chamber’s Project Development Manager, announced that this year’s Mardi Gras Parade is cancelled due to Covid restrictions. However, the Chamber’s thoughts for this year are to tag onto Holiday Valley’s Winter Carnival celebrations and promote the entire weekend of March 13th-14th as “Ellicottville’s Winter Carnival”.
One activity the Chamber is looking to feature is having Eric Jones create a snow sculpture on the lawn of the 1887 Building where the photo frame cutouts currently stand. Brian McFadden, Executive Director of the Chamber, suggested that perhaps Holiday Valley or HoliMont could transport a big pile of snow for Eric to work with.
The current cutouts, which reflect a Christmas theme, are being taken down. The Chamber suggested to have new cutouts with more of a general winter theme created and erected next to the ski tree. Cathy Pritchard (Team Pritchard, ERA) suggested a snowboarder and a skier theme.
Barb asked those in attendance if anyone had other ideas for downtown activities for Winter Carnival Weekend, such as window decorating or special contests. Anyone with suggestions can email Barb at barb@ellicottvilleny.com
FALL FESTIVAL
Barb reported that the Chamber has eliminated 25 vendor booths for this year’s Fall Festival, which is scheduled for Oct. 9th-10th, but is still pending at this time. New this year, business owners located on Monroe and Washington Streets who are members of the Ellicottville Chamber will be offered booth space on the street in front of their business at no charge.
Brian expressed that the Chamber’s long-range plan is to cut down on the size of Fall Festival over the course of the next several years. The committee also agreed to proceed with the elimination of the carnival rides beginning in 2021.
CONTESTING
Barb introduced the name, Roger Brooks, a tourist and destination consultant known around the country. In his latest videos, Roger Brooks discusses influencers, working with influencers, and as businesses, doing things differently to help boost business growth during a pandemic.
In response to these Roger Brooks videos, the Chamber has decided to take part in a couple of different sponsorships and run some contests/giveaways featuring local businesses as a way to develop a better presence for Ellicottville and increase interaction amongst our visitors and community members.
An example that Barb gave is a promotion they are currently working on with Saisons Inn. The B&B is giving away a one-night stay through the Chamber’s new marketing plan. The Chamber will be promoting “Enter to Win” posts on both Facebook and Instagram.
Barb expressed to members that businesses can offer something on their own, or partner together with other member businesses to create a unique package.
POP-UPS AND PARTNERSHIPS
As Brian and Barb expressed, “We’re not sure what we’ll be able to do with our events this year,” so they are currently working to come up with ideas for pop-up activities for things like Winter Carnival. Another suggestion they had was an Open House Wedding Weekend which would invite future brides/grooms to check out all sorts of vendors and businesses in our area.
As Brian explained, pop-ups aren't events, but rather open-invites where people can come at their leisure. “We won’t have to worry too much about limitations, and gatherings can be controlled.”
The Chamber has developed partnerships with Buffalo Rising and Step Out Buffalo to help promote pop-ups and feature short videos on things like, “Top 5 activities for those who don’t ski” and “The best of Ellicottville in the summertime”.
“It’s all a part of Influence Marketing,” Brian commented. “Roger Brooks guides you on how to redevelop and rethink your town post-Covid.”
Another partnership the Chamber is securing is with Griffis Sculpture Park. The park is receiving a number of new sculptures this summer, one of which they are offering to Ellicottville to display downtown.
The sculpture, which is of Cheryl Strayed (writer/feminist), is expected to arrive in June or July, and the Chamber is planning to market it with a “women-owned business” theme. According to Brian, “Approximately 80% of businesses in Ellicottville are women-owned. Let’s make a women’s business month. I think it will be a good thing for Ellicottville and have a big draw.”
The Chamber plans to get together next month to begin working out details on how to promote its women’s business month.
TRAINING
As Barb explained, one of the things Roger Brooks mentions in his workshops is the value of using Trip Advisor to see what customers have to say about the businesses in your town. This way, it’s not YOU saying these things. It’s a third party.
Barb spent some time on Trip Advisor, researching reviews on our local businesses. Although there were more positive comments than negative, she expressed that the negative comments were all pretty much the same across the board:
… no customer service
… how to ignore your customers
… extremely disappointed
Barb mentioned that last year, the Chamber hired a “secret customer” to experience Ellicottville, and the message reported back was: “employees weren’t welcoming or helpful.”
As a result, the Chamber is considering offering a training for business owners and their employees. If there is enough interest, the Chamber will look into bringing in consultants and guest speakers to discuss various topics such as customer service, social media, etc.
“We think it will be helpful,” Barb said. “If people are interested, the Chamber will organize it.”
If interested, please let Barb know by emailing her at barb@ellicottvilleny.com or calling the Chamber office at 699-5046.
WEBSITE
Barb asked members to take a few moments and check their listing on the Chamber’s website; make sure your contact information is correct and images appear as you’d like them to. Barb mentioned that members can add their social media handles and video clips to their listing as well. (Videos must be provided as a YouTube link).
Barb also expressed that if anyone wants to do a Facebook Live or has a video to share, feel free to reach out to her. It could be a promotion your business has going on, a new release, or just a general tour of your business.
FROM THE FLOOR
Closing out the meeting, Frank Maduri (Monroe St. Brick & Brew) asked if the Village has set any rules for outside dining this year. Brian replied, saying he is going to be meeting with the village soon to discuss.
