Board agrees to one-month extension for Experience Texarkana marketing contract, schedules June workshop

Officials and the marketing contractor for Experience Texarkana met to address complaints about delayed deliverables and communications and voted to extend the contract by one month while the contractor readies a website and video campaign.

Commissioners pressed the contractor over the course of the meeting about why the new website has not been launched after roughly a year under contract. "It's been a year, and we've received very little communication," said Speaker 4, who spoke for several commissioners. The contractor's representative, identified in the transcript as Speaker 6, said the project required rebuilding the site on a different platform and that the new site is scheduled to go live on "August 1." Speaker 5 added, "That is almost finished, and almost ready to launch."

The retainer in the contract is $8,000 a month, which commissioners noted totals nearly $100,000 a year; staff reported the commission has paid about $163,000 to the contractor since the account began. Commissioners asked for more detailed billing and metrics. The contractor said videography had been billed in three payments (an item referenced in the invoices), that most video editing is complete, and that the team had prioritized social-media engagement while rebuilding the website.

To allow time for the contractor to present completed materials, Speaker 3 moved "that we allow one month to produce the video to us, present it to us," and to meet in June for that presentation. The motion was seconded and passed on a roll call vote: Holly Bush, Vandergraf, Holmes, Wright, Dodson and Brewer voted yes. The commission set a workshop for June 16 at 4:00 p.m. for the contractor to demonstrate the website and videos and to deliver metrics on social-media reach and website analytics.

Contract details discussed during the meeting included hourly rates and billing categories listed in an appendix to the contract: strategy and planning, content creation, social media management, website management and public relations. During the meeting commissioners requested monthly reports showing where social and website traffic originates and clearer documentation of any charges beyond the $8,000 monthly retainer.

Next steps are a workshop on June 16 where the contractor will present the finished videos and the new website and begin regular reporting; the commission approved a one-month extension pending that demonstration. No repeal or long-term contract renewal was finalized at the meeting.