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Board hears update on PlayEasy microsite and lead-generation platform for Mitchell events
Summary
Staff demonstrated the PlayEasy destination microsite used to market Mitchell events, reported early engagement metrics and leads and said the platform’s annual fee will be charged to the 2025 budget.
City staff presented a multi-week update on PlayEasy, a destination microsite platform the Mitchell Sports and Events Authority is using to market events, list local hotels and attractions, and capture leads from event requests.
Staff said the microsite lists about 64 local businesses, 26 participant or spectator facilities and 12 hotels in the BID-for-district area. Each SEA-funded event will receive its own event-specific microsite and QR code to drive attendees to hotel booking, registration links and local information. The presenter said the platform shows initial geographic hits (including single views from Texas and Florida) and that the service reports when a hotel reservation is completed through the microsite.
PlayEasy also surfaced event leads: the presenter said 41 potential leads were in the system with 31 open leads. Staff described several active requests that fit Mitchell’s capacity: an RFP from the American Broomball Alliance (national championship) with a submission deadline in early March; a MOOC United Education Conference that would use multiple local venues; and a high-school football camp that met room-night requirements. Staff and local partners planned to review the broomball RFP before the March 1–4 deadline and said having the platform gave Mitchell visibility to opportunities it otherwise might not have discovered.
The board discussed how hotel bookings appear through the platform and whether reservations are prepaid or booked through third-party channels such as Expedia; staff said they will ask the PlayEasy representative during a scheduled onboarding/training session and report back. The presenter told the board the PlayEasy annual subscription fee is $4,009.95 and said that cost will be charged to the SEA 2025 budget. Board members said the microsite could help market events, show dining and shopping options to visitors, and generate data about where attendees originate and how many rooms are booked.
Staff said PlayEasy’s hotel-booking tracking depends on reservations being made through the microsite and acknowledged many groups book months in advance; the platform is intended to capture late bookings and provide marketing and transaction data that can be reported to the SEA.
