SANDWICH BUSINESS GROUP
February 5th, 2007
Minutes

Attendance: Lisa Shambaugh, Don Brown, Elaine Peaslee, John Davis, Sarah Zuccarelli, Don Sutton, Robert and Judi Dunlap, Bob Rowan, Joyce Lund, Janina Lamb, Tony Leiper, Julie Deak, Diane Johnson, Ben Adriance, and Patsy Carega.

President Lisa Shambaugh called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report -- Julie Deak:  Julie reported that we have a balance of $81.85 in our account. Her report is attached. A motion was made to accept the financial report, seconded and approved.

Marketing -- Don Sutton:  Don S. presented the Marketing Committee Report. A copy of the report is attached. He and his committee worked hard collecting data, talking to members and analyzing the findings. The committee found that the SBG is essentially made up of two groups: One group is focused more internally (works full time with local residents, summer people and surrounding towns) and the other group is focused externally with an emphasis of getting people into Sandwich. Of all advertising tools, word of mouth works best for everyone. The brochure is the common thread between the two groups as well as a common marketing source. The marketing needs are different for each group. Don outlined potential marketing activities and made recommendations for membership categories. He also made other recommendations such as improved signage in town and being more involved in town events such as the Sled Dog Races, Christmas in the Village and the Fishing Derby. The board thanked Don for an excellent report.

Discussion::  Don Brown brought up the need to drive people to our website and to the brochure. These are our most effective tools. The group felt that $75.00 was a fair membership fee. It allows us a cushion to promote the SBG as opportunities arise. Advertising in magazines is too expensive. We should take advantage of press releases to attract people to Sandwich. Last year we printed 20,000 brochures. Approximately 16,000 to 17,000 were handed out or distributed. Janina will work on a logo to propose. Diane is happy to forward all press releases to local papers and to include our information in her column. She will print any news of our businesses.  Papers will also write articles and send photographers, as they want to know about these groups. Julie Deak offered to write the first draft of a press release to coincide with the New Brochure. Reminder: Good pictures make the papers happy. A discussion followed on the possibility of having calendar of Sandwich events that people could refer to. It was felt that the Sandwich Board provided such a repository.

New Brochure -- Janina spoke about how the brochure could be enlarged. Last year the print was getting hard to read as the membership increased. The new mock up included a three-fold piece instead of two. There would also be room for a calendar of events: “What’s going on in Sandwich”. She recommended that we move to two color instead of one color as in the past two years. Janina needs our work by March 15th for a May 1st delivery. We will ask members to join by March 1st.

Membership:  The Sandwich Business Group approved a $75 membership fee for 2007 (1 Jan - 31 Dec) at the general membership meeting held last Monday, Feb 5th.  The fee is based on the recommendations of the marketing committee after evaluating the marketing needs and opportunities for the general membership. While the fee is high than last year, what is covered is more extensive and provides a base for doing the kinds of things members wanted without having to keep going back to ask for more money.  Specifically, the membership fee includes money to do the following things:

• Sandwich Brochure
• Update as needed for 2007
• Print 20,000 copies
• Distribute in the Lakes Region Area (6 months)
• Mail to Sandiwch property owners (new)
• Provide a member listing on www.discoversandwich.com
• Have a group membership in the Lakes Region Association which allows the SBG to be listed in the LRA Where-To Guide as well as listed and linked on their website (new)
• Place an Ad in the Sandwich Fair Book that lists all SBG members (new)
• Develop a generic logo to be used in the future for ads and other marketing opportunities (new)

Two options over and above the membership fee are available

Option 1:

• Enhanced Web Listing on discoversandwich.com will include:
• A photo or logo image
• Prominent Ad Placement
• Bold Business Title and Contact Information (Address, Phone, Fax, Email, Website link if applicable
• Paragraph text to describe your business (500 characters max)

There is an additional fee of $50 (total $125) for Option 1.

Option 2:

• Enhanced Web Listing as noted in Option 1
• Advertisements in selected publications (web and print) as agreed upon by the members who sign up for this option. This option allows a smaller group to have some seed money to look at various opportunities to get the most bang for the buck out of additional advertising. An example of a possibility will be an article in Summer World. The marketing committee has identified other potential publications that may be of interest to this group. The scope of potential advertisements will be dependent upon the pool available. The type of advertisement (sandwich generic, identification of specific businesses, or something in between) will be determined by the members who sign up for this option.

There is an additional fee of $125 (total $200) for Option 2.

New Business: -- By Laws: Lisa and Don will start to write the bi laws for the SBG.

It was decided to meet in the evening every other month. THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE MARCH 5TH AT 8:30 A.M. AT THE CORNER HOUSE.  Meetings are the first Monday of every month.

Respectively Submitted

Patsy Carega

[2.05.07]