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Visit Marshall asks council to support new tourism entity agreement, details 2024 marketing spend
Summary
Visit Marshall’s executive director and board representatives urged the Marshfield Common Council to support a new tourism entity agreement and described recent marketing activity, staffing and a proposed vendor relationship.
Matt McLean, executive director of Visit Marshall, appeared in public comment at the Marshfield Common Council meeting on Aug. 12 to request the council’s support for a forthcoming tourism entity agreement and to provide financial and program updates.
McLean said Visit Marshall has two staff positions and that the organization treats its contracted agency as a "third employee." He told the council that the contracted agency, Pilch and Barnet, was founded by two former state tourism employees and specializes in web development, media, PR, video and social media. "We spent $144,678 in 2024," McLean said, specifying that roughly $117,678 of that amount was marketing spend for paid advertising and related projects and that a staff retainer or leftover retainer to the agency was about $27,000. He said the agency is based in Madison, which explained some out-of-town payments.
McLean described recent and planned activities, saying Visit Marshall hosted a city partners meeting with Mackey, Main Street and other stakeholders; that the organization placed a $5,000 sponsorship for the state fair; that Maple Fall Fest vendor slots "sold out"; and that staff are pursuing sports tournament recruitment, noting two prospective site visits by sports rights holders.
Al Cheney, also speaking in support, said Visit Marshall has partnered with the city for 33 years in various forms and listed past contributions, including monetary support for the bear exhibit, Wenzel Plaza improvements and the Central Wisconsin State Fair. "I would encourage you to support the tourism agreement with Visit Marshfield," Cheney said.
The council later voted to adjourn into closed session on several negotiation items; the closed-session agenda included "tourism entity agreement with Visit Marshall." No final contract or public vote on a new tourism entity agreement was taken in the open session.
McLean’s remarks and the closed-session agenda indicate the city and Visit Marshall intend further negotiation of a formal agreement; the council did not take a public vote on the tourism entity agreement during the meeting.
