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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOktoberfest - Community Advisory Council - 2018-09-18 A CTION M INUTES C OMMITTEE: Community Advisory Council D ATE: Tuesday, September 11, 2018 L OCATION: Concordia Club – Jägerstube T IME: Noon C HAIR: Tim Beckett R ECORDER: Carol Tucker Neil Aitchison, Monica Anstett, Larry Blundell, Patti Brooks, Paul Buttinger, Mike Collins, Murray Costello, Diane Freeman, Henning P RESENT Grumme, Gary Hallam, Richard Hepditch, Margo Jones, Rob Kerr, Kim Kugler, Owen Lackenbauer, Bryan Larkin, Alfred Lowrick, Ian McLean, David Mendler, Bill Poje, Werner Schlueter, Minto Schneider, Paul Schneider, Nicky Schroder, Tracy Van Kalsbeek, Berry Vrbanovic, Glen Walker, Kirstin Wever, Don Willcox, Carl Zehr, Peter Zinck R EGRETS Tim Anderson, Tim Beckett, Stephanie Egan, Brenda Halloran, Karl Kiefer, Geoff Lorentz -?, Shannon Weber, A BSENT Mike Abbott, Bill Creighton, Greg Durocher, Brian Hopkins, Bil Ioannidis, Alex Kinsella, Michael Melling, Lois Peterson, John Rehill, Rhonda Richmond, Reinhard Schmidt, Dave Schnider, Carol Sherban, Lucinda Wallace, I TEM D ISCUSSED K EY D ISCUSSION P OINTS & A CTION R ESPONSIBILITY T IMELINE nd Welcome &  On behalf of Tim Beckett, 2 Vice-President, Alfred Lowrick welcomed everyone to today’s meeting. Introductions  Round table introductions were done. Hope everyone enjoyed the summer with some R&R. President’s Report Weather this week is really starting to feel like October and with October comes my favourite time of (Margo Jones) the year … Oktoberfest!!  Last week the Oktoberfest Golf Experience was held at Deer Ridge. We had an amazing day – st started out with some drizzle but ended with little humidity and sunshine. For the 1 time I can recall at a “hole in one” we had a winner from Polarfoam who receives a Porsche for one year. A really happy participant!! th  All the planning for the 50 Anniversary celebrations are now in execution mode …  A new culinary event has been added this year similar to the “Taste of the Region”. The Taste of thth Oktoberfest will take place on Saturday, Oct 6 and Saturday, October 13 and will involve 6 buses travelling throughout Waterloo Region making pre-arranged stops at various restaurants. Each bus will make 2 – 50 minute restaurant stops with a final stop at a Festhalle where the participants will receive a couple hours of VIP treatment. Twelve (12) different Waterloo Region restaurants get featured. There will be 3 hosts per bus and 35 tickets @ $135 each per bus will be sold. The bus excursion will include games and fund-raising activities such as raffles and auctions. The website and social media will build the hype for this.  Timeteller in UpTown Waterloo is being refurbished and we have proceeded to get the 18 bell carillon moving. Melloul Blamey have also started the demolition process. The internal components have been removed and the German-Canadian Remembrance Society was on site to get some items. A new roof will go on shortly followed by the glass removal. The city has trimmed up the trees already and the project is moving along well. The structure renovations should be done by the I TEM D ISCUSSED K EY D ISCUSSION P OINTS & A CTION R ESPONSIBILITY T IMELINE middle of September. Unfortunately, the timeteller will not be working for the festival but Verdin Bells have committed to having to running by Mid-November.  A special commemorative coin is being created by CIBC. It will be available in their local branch offices as well as the Oktoberfest official store. Price $100 th  The KWO office also has available, to the community, pages of the 50 anniversary stamp. A great th way to be involved with the 50 anniversary for businesses and personally.  Upcoming dates to include on your calendars  Schools Program taking place at the Schwaben Club – September 26 & 27 th  Gala Ball – Friday, September 28 th  A Blooming Affair Fashion Show – Sunday, September 30 st  Women of the Year – Monday, October 1 – keynote Tara Sloan (home town hockey) th  Looking forward to a fabulous 50 Anniversary Executive Director’s  In the downtown core, we will have Rogers Hometown Hockey on the Opening weekend. Report (Alfred  Working through financials; sponsorship is close to reaching the budget target. Lowrick)  Ticket sales have been really good, which is primarily due to the early launch. thnd  The 50 Anniversary Concert will be held on Saturday, September 22 in the Concordia Tent featuring Dallas Smith, Cold Creek County and the Golden Keys. If you would like to get tickets, see Carol following the meeting. Dallas Smith won Male Artist of the Year at the CCMA Awards last Sunday. th  The special commemorative 50 Anniversary Coin, created by CIBC, is available in their local branch offices and our retail store. th  KWO and the Kitchener Rangers will commemorate the KWO 50 Anniversary with issuing a special th jersey to be worn by the Rangers on Friday, October 5. The jerseys will be auctioned off either on- line and at the game.  Festhallen are putting their offerings together.  Festhallen will be offering Erdinger Weissbier. Also some special offerings from Molson including a craft beer and Oktoberfest Lager.  Oktoberfesthaus will be a cashless venue with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology. Alfred explained what this is all about. We have a good partnership with Intellitix but there is a lot of work to be done with this project.  Ride Dine ‘N’ Stein will be running on the first Saturday in UpTown Waterloo. th  The 50 Anniversary Committee has been very busy with many projects including: Porsche lottery, book, stamps, 50 accordionists, OktoberCorps (band), new parade floats (included Schneiders).  Porsche Boxster Dream Car Lottery Tickets are now sale now at a cost of $100 per ticket or 3 for $250. At this point we are a little disappointed with the ticket sales. If anyone is interested in getting some tickets to sell, please contact Annette at the Oktoberfest Office.  The Grainbach Dancer Group, from Germany, will be here this year. There will be preforming at openings ceremonies and will at various Festhallen. th  Lots going on for the 50, with lots of communication going on in the next 2 or 3 weeks. I TEM D ISCUSSED K EY D ISCUSSION P OINTS & A CTION R ESPONSIBILITY T IMELINE  There are 9 Miss Oktoberfest Candidates this year. Margo and Alfred had an opportunity to meet the candidates at Wildcraft last night. There many candidate activities this week and the judging takes place the following Wednesday.  Alfred was in contact with the representatives from Craftoberfest. Unfortunately they will not be part of the Festival this year.  Arc Media will be taking video of each of the Festhallen for marketing purposes.  We will also be looking at re-jigging the website. Any questions / Comments: Q – Will the Parade route be changing this year due to the construction? A – The route will be the same will be the same as last year. Bryan Larkin indicated we are not expecting any issues and we are good to go.  Mike Collins was recently on a conference call regarding Rogers Hometown Hockey, which will be set up prior to opening in the Carl Zehr Square. This is the first time they have come back to a city and the first time they have done it for 3 days. There is lots of excitement and very high expectations. It was a great event 3 years and Kitchener still has the record for the highest attendance. Keeps your fingers crossed for good weather. Pass Distribution  Passes can be picked up from Carol after the meeting. Kirstin Wever: Last year the keg tapping on the opening was late last year and it would be good if we Round Table / Other could push for the keg tapping to be at 12:30. Alfred and Margo noted this. There will be weeklong Business special coverage on CTV News at 5 featuring food, tracht, dance, etc. Filming will begin next week. Any other ideas, please pass them on to Kirsten. Monica Anstett: Is the CTV coverage going to be in the same area as last year? Kirsten said the broadcasting will be down in the same area and staging for the floats will be moved back a little. Dave Mendler: People barely got on their float last year and the cameras were in their face. Kirsten noted some signs will be posted this year Berry Vrbanovic: If that is the area where the filming will start, we should urge the public and families to go in the area to fill the area. Kirstin said the station will also put the call out for that as well. Alfred noted we may see about putting some of our assets (i.e. maypole) in the area st Carl Zehr: What is KWO going to do for the 51 year to keep the momentum going? Carl assumes this planning has already begun. Alfred indicated that Tim already has some things in mind and also noted that a number of the 50 initiatives could continue and or be expanded on depending on how successful the program. Larry Blundell: Attended the OktoberCorps rehearsal on Sunday and it is really spectacular. This group is a gathering of 300 old drum corps people from Ontario. There will be 2 floats with band members playing on the floats and they will be positioned close to the big band. Members and organizers appear to be very eager Owen Lackenbauer: Is KWO collecting names of individuals who would be interested in getting on-going st information on what plans are in the works for the 51 Oktoberfest? Perhaps sign-up lists could be at the festhallen, etc. Owen also noted that the Rotary is very good at selling high end tickets Paul Buttinger: The KWO Productions team is very pumped about the RFID technology at I TEM D ISCUSSED K EY D ISCUSSION P OINTS & A CTION R ESPONSIBILITY T IMELINE Oktoberfesthaus. We are pleasantly surprised by the uptake because it speaks to the demographic (Tech Community). All Oktoberfest volunteers are encouraged and welcome to go to Oktoberfesthaus. We are also welcoming other groups to be engaged. There will be a keg tapping every night. Monica Anstett: How does RFID technology work to tip a waitress?? Paul explained how the RFID (wristband) technology works. There will be top-up stations throughout the hall. Carl Zehr: Is RFID technology at all Festhallen this year? No, it is only at Oktoberfesthaus this year. Minto Schneider: Will an Economic Impact Study, which was last done in 2013, be done this year? Yes. Monica Anstett: Last year during Oktoberfest, a TVO Children’s segment was filmed. The show called th “It’s My Party” will be airing the on September 18 – Monica is going to get the word out through facebook. Rob Kerr: Asked if there is a problem with Souvenirs this year? Alfred indicated that lots of merchandise arrived late this year. Alfred will ask Natalie to call Sara as soon as possible. nd Werner Schlueter: Has KWO been invited to go to Ottawa for German Heritage Month on October 2? Tim Beckett was in contact but KWO is not invited this year. German Pioneers Day will be on Tuesday, th October 9. Tour of Lot 42  For those interested in going for a walk through, Alfred will meet you over there to see the facility.  There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:11 p.m. Next Meeting  The next meeting of the Community Advisory Council will take place on: Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Noon Concordia Club – Jägerstube