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County approves $90,000 for fairgrounds marketing after debate over staffing and measurable outcomes
Summary
Clallam County Parks won a $90,000 allocation to develop a marketing and style guide for fairgrounds and park assets, but committee members pressed staff to return with clearer metrics, staffing plans and realistic projections for room nights and revenues.
Clallam County Parks received approval for a $90,000 marketing and implementation scaffold intended to boost year‑round use of fairgrounds and county camps, but the vote followed detailed questioning from advisory committee members about execution and measurement.
Don (speaker 18), Parks staff, presented the proposal and said the funds would pay for a professional marketing scope — a style guide, video assets, improved web presence, crisis communications templates and exploration of ticketing systems — to make venues such as the county fairgrounds and Camp David Junior more attractive for conferences, weddings and off‑season rentals. “We need to get the social media and the search engines in order so we can show people what we have,” he said during the presentation.
Committee members acknowledged the fairgrounds’ revenue potential but urged caution. Several asked for a clearer staffing and sales plan so the county can convert marketing into actual bookings rather than an unstaffed strategy. One member asked whether a commissioned sales contractor would be more effective than a one‑time marketing framework; others said the county needs a roadmap demonstrating how marketing expenditures translate into additional room nights and revenue.
Parks staff acknowledged the gap and said the master plan update now underway will include a marketing element. Staff also said Camp David Junior currently operates at a deficit and that improved bookings could help close that gap. “It costs the county about $250,000 to $300,000 to run the camp,” Parks staff said, noting camping fee revenue of roughly $80,000–$115,000 in recent years.
The committee approved the $90,000 proposal by voice vote, with the caveat that parks and staff return with measurable benchmarks and a follow‑up presentation on how the marketing work will be implemented and sustained. Members asked for interim deliverables (ticketing recommendations, baseline analytics, and a two‑ to five‑year staffing/implementation outline) before releasing the full balance of funds to marketing contracts.
