Warren County tourism committee awards media-buying contract and extends analytics agreement

The Warren County Tourism Committee voted to award a one-year media-buying services contract, starting March 1, 2025, and to extend an existing data and dashboard services contract with Growth Marketing Inc. for two years.

Heather, a tourism staff member, told the committee the media-buying award covers March 1, 2025, through Feb. 28, 2026, and the resolution presented to the committee set a not-to-exceed amount of $1,138,000. Heather said the committee received 19 bids and selected a firm described in the presentation as Lake Placid advertiser workshop. "We are going to buy media based on a reporting and an analytical standpoint," Heather said, saying the contract will use digital analytics and a reporting platform (Adara) to track impressions, clicks and, for the first time, economic impact such as overnight stays and visitor spend.

Heather described the recommended budget breakdown: $1,000,000 for paid media buys, an annual retainer of $45,000 billed monthly ($3,750), Adara reporting at $33,000 billed monthly ($2,750), and a media-buying fee of 6 percent on purchases. Heather said that arrangement means the committee's $1,000,000 paid-media budget will run through the contractor’s invoices and that the billed total for media buys would be higher because of the markup. The resolution presented to the committee, however, listed the not-to-exceed figure of $1,138,000.

The committee also approved a two-year extension with Growth Marketing Inc. for purchase and subscription of datasets and dashboard reporting. Heather told the committee the platform subscription is "a little shy of $10,000," and that roughly $50,000 is a direct cost for Visa data to measure visitor spending monthly rather than quarterly. The contract includes AirDNA short-term-rental data, mobile-location data to see where visitors go in Warren County, and a visitor-satisfaction study covering about 200 properties. Heather said the monthly reporting and combined dashboard will let the committee and local businesses see occupancy and spending trends and measure the effect of marketing activity.

Committee members asked procedural and timing questions. One member noted a contract item showed a Jan. 1 start date and asked whether the contractor had begun work; Heather said the contract had been on hold for execution and "they haven't done anything," so no payments were owed for the interim period. Another member asked for confirmation about AirDNA; Heather said AirDNA aggregates Airbnb and VRBO data fed from those portals.

Both motions passed by voice vote. The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript; members voiced "aye" during the votes and the chair declared the motions carried.

The committee's staff also reported ongoing projects, including Simpleview website certification for two staffers, business outreach to update listings, a winter video shoot planned for Feb. 13–15, a brand-discovery deliverable due in mid-February, and a yearlong destination-management plan involving stakeholder interviews and a secret-shopper review that will provide guidance for the next three to five years.

Votes at a glance: Award media-buying services contract to Lake Placid advertiser workshop (one-year term beginning March 1, 2025; not to exceed $1,138,000; includes $1,000,000 paid media, $45,000 annual retainer, $33,000 Adara reporting, 6% media-buying fee) — approved by voice vote. Extend Growth Marketing Inc. subscription for datasets/dashboard reporting (two-year extension; 2025 projected costs discussed, with 2026 adding a resident-sentiment survey) — approved by voice vote.

The committee adjourned after the votes and staff updates.