Committee Report CR-1

The Economic Development, Training and Employment Committee held a public meeting on Tuesday, September 21, 2004 ten o’clock and five minutes A.M. in the Sullivan Chamber.

The purpose of the meeting was to receive a major debriefing on the success and areas of improvement on the events held during the month of July in the City, to determine whether the work of this committee should continue with an eye toward Mac World 2005 and to answer questions on how to institutionalize the City’s future Destination Cambridge abilities.

Present at the meeting were Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves, Chair of the Committee, Councillor E. Denise Simmons, Councillor Timothy J. Toomey, Jr., Mayor Michael A. Sullivan, Robert W. Healy, City Manager, Richard Rossi, Deputy City Manager, Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager for Human Services, Louis DePasquale, Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs, Cynthia Griffin, Purchasing Agent, Mary Hart, MIS Director, Robyn Bell, Executive Director, Office Of Tourism, Maura Cooney, Office of Tourism, James Monagle, City Auditor, Lisa Peterson, Public Works Commissioner, Richard Scali, License Commission, Sandra Albano, Assistant to the City Council, Ini Tomeu, Public Information Officer, Estella Johnson, Director, Economic Development, Community Development Department, Calvin Lindsay, Municipal Cable Director, Dhonyale Jones, Municipal Cable, Jason Weeks, Director, Arts Council, Mary Ann Cicala, Arts Council, Jane Beal, Arts Council, Kit Rawlings, Assistant Director, Historical Commissioner, Susan Fleishman, CCTV, Director and Donna P. Lopez, Deputy City Clerk.  Also present were Paul Parravano, Co-Director, MIT Office of Government and Community Relations, Issie Shait, Cambridgeside Galleria, Jennifer Nelson, Cambridgeside Galleria, John Murtha, General Manager, Royal Sonesta Hotel, and John Clifford. Green Street Grille, Scott Grant, Green Street Grille, Terrence Smith, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, Kelly Thompson Clark, Cambridge Chamber of Commerce, Marvin Gilmore, 26 Mt. Vernon Street and Steve Sillari, 91 Park Avenue, Cambridge, MA.

.   He wanted to look at all of the activities for Destination Cambridge.  The Public Works, Police and Human Services Departments were all involved with the July activities.  Mac World is coming in 2005; he would like to discuss what Cambridge might do for this convention.  He asked all attendees for comments about the July activities.  He distributed a memo from Jubi Headley that contained his comments about the July events

Mayor Sullivan stated that it is nice when events have an end point.  He thanked the chair of the committee and all participants for working on the Destination Cambridge events.  The response was phenomenal.  Visitors to Cambridge were blown away by the magic of Cambridge.  Now the goal is to make the process better.

Mr. Healy stated that the Taste of Cambridge was professionally organized and was a success.  The Arts Fair was hampered by the weather for a day.  The use of the Cambridge Common was an important venue.  The Dance Party has its annual constituency.  The Worlds Fair was a success.  The logistics of the parade was a problem.  The Symposia were good and became bigger.

Mr. Lindsay stated that he was impressed with the activities that took place in the City in July.  Municipal Cable covered a number of events, Arts Fair, Willie Colon, Dance Party and the Symposia.  Logistics was his concern.  Municipal Cable could not get into the event at MIT to film the event.  He would have liked to see the Symposia at different venues.  Looking forward he would like more involvement in the venue, before the event, to be able to film the event.  Welcome to Cambridge spots were developed.  Special promotions and the Office of Tourism promotion were aired on Municipal Cable.

Ms. Jones added that the Arts Fair and the Symposia were good.  She was concerned that word did not get out about the July events.  The Willie Colon Concert was a problem because not all the songs could be tapped.  There are legal issues with the filming.  For the future when it gets dark there is a need for additional lighting.  She suggested car dealership lighting. Someone else should do crowed count.  The seniors were unhappy with their placement in the parade.

Mr. Rossi stated that the Destination Cambridge events were great for the community.  The Democratic National Convention was used as a springboard for the activities in July.  The challenge is to get the word out.  These activities built spirit.  The welcome tables were effective, but training is needed.  More community involvement is needed.  All City departments were involved in the logistics.  The city employees enjoyed the events. There is a need to centralize city services.  The event at the Charles Hotel was a great morale builder.  He thanked all participants.

Ms. Griffin stated that the parade was interesting and entertaining.  The Taste of Cambridge was excellent.  The Arts Fair had a problem due to the weather.  The Salsa Concert was a great event.  The World’s Fair was good, but costly.

Ms. Johnson stated that all the events were great.  She enjoyed the Salsa Concert.  The Dance Party and Salsa Concert made people happy.  She has not heard whether businesses did any better.  The hotels did well.  She would like to see a draw of people to restaurants and bars.

Ms. Semonoff stated that the Taste of Cambridge was a showcase of Cambridge restaurants.  She applauded Public Works personnel for their work on the Arts Fair.  More outreach could be done.  The Symposia also showcased Cambridge talent.

Ms. Peterson stated that Public Works supported the logistics of the events.  Logistics went smooth because organization was done well.  Councillor Reeves complimented

Mr. Smith commented that the Arts Fair was nicely done and had a nice turn out.  The foot traffic in Boston headed to the Fleet Center or to a free event.  Money was being spent in Harvard Square.  He suggested getting opposing views on the symposia.  The volunteers did a great job.  The Charles Hotel event was great.

Ms. Hart stated that she could not get through the crowd on Sunday.  The Taste of Cambridge was great.  The web was successful for searchers.  More could be done to better the links.

Ms. Cicala complimented the Economic Development Committee and the city departments.  On behalf of the Arts Fair, she praised the relationship between the departments.  Existing projects could be packaged by the city so that events do not have to be reinvented.  The support mechanism is in place.  She enjoyed being on Cambridge Common for the Arts Fair.  Strong feedback has been received from the Arts community and businesses.  She wished that there were more time to work on publicity for the Arts Fair.

Mr. Weeks commented that most of the activities featured the arts.  Cambridge was showcased through the artists and culture.  Money goes back into the community through the Arts Fair, World’s Fair and the Taste of Cambridge.  The feedback he received was that the artists felt well served.

Mr. Grant stated that the World’s Fair event was successful.  People asked if the World’s Fair would be held next year.  Media attention was low.  More publicity and publicity done earlier was needed.

Ms. Rawlins was impressed with the work that was done in a short period of time.  She suggested that a minimum of six months is needed to plan an event of this scale.  A better job could have been done to involve other organizations such as the Historical Society and Longfellow House.  She questioned who attend the events, was there a mix or was it out-of-towners.

Mr. Murtha stated that the restaurants were not able to take advantage of the Destination Cambridge.  The restaurants needed more time for planning.  Delegates left with good experiences of Boston/Cambridge.  Good reports are being received from other states.  The July event does not have to be specific to the DNC.

Councillor Toomey stated that the Destination Cambridge event should be held every year for two weeks in July in Cambridge.  He gave kudos to all.

Councillor Simmons stated that the activities were exemplary.  She was torn between the activities in Cambridge and her invitations as a delegate to the DNC.  The goal should not be to bring the conventioneers to Cambridge.  It was difficult to get cooperation from Boston.  Economic development impact to Cambridge needed to be measured.  Smaller businesses were left out.  She thanked the universities for their participation.  She suggested an education aspect to the event.  More planning is needed on how to dispense Cambridge memorabilia to the hotels.

Ms. Fleishman stated that the City offered to pay the bill for programming of Democracy Now.  This program provided international media coverage in Cambridge.  Ms. Goodman announced that the program was coming from Cambridge, the Unconventional City.  She thanked Public Works and the City Administration for helping make CCTV a strong institution.

Mr. Shait stated that Cambridge did itself proud.  He received comments from his colleagues in Boston because of the events in Cambridge.  Cambridge does not need the DNC.  Lesson should be learned about scheduling events.  The event scheduled at the Galleria was not held because the State Department felt it was to close to the convention, stated Councillor Reeves.  He thanked the Galleria Mall for its participation in the events.  Ms. Nelson commented that Canal Park as a venue was well received.

Ms. Bell stated that Cambridge was the shining star for the attention of the press.  Challenge was the revisions and the reprinting.  She made a field trip to Boston and it was dead.  The Taste of Cambridge received good press coverage.  It is hard to measure the impact.  She stated that she was told that the delegates attended Cambridge events.  She would like an event similar to a winter Solstice, to be held in January or February.  Many of the events should be continued.

Mr. Gilmore thanked Cambridge for an image unto itself above Harvard and MIT.  The economic development measure is important and the key to success.  Councillor Reeves thanked Mr. Gilmore and tagged him as a spokesman for Cambridge.

Ms. Beal stated that when the talent and the cross sections of the City are brought together it is a great community event.  The energy of pedestrian traffic in East Cambridge and Harvard Square was good.  She was glad the World’s Fair was coming back.

Mr. Parravano applauded city staff and the city administration and the vision of Councillor Reeves as Chair of the Economic Development Committee.  The fact that the activities were held in the city while the DNC was occurring was a compliment to the city.  Mr. Rossi is an angel, he said.  He calms people.  He praised the Office of Tourism.

Ms. Spalla stated she enjoyed the World’s Fair.  She suggested that the staging be placed differently.  The delegates had the activities information.  The hotel returns would come later.  The city established great infrastructure.  She suggested moving up the timetable for the events.  Cambridge can be marketable.

Mr. Scali reported on the Taste of Cambridge.  There were 1,800 people who attended this event.  The Taste of Cambridge doubled its income from last year.  Bread and Jams received $10,000 of the $21,000 received from the event.  Forty-four restaurants participated in the event.  The event ran out of food.  More food would be provided for next year’s event.  The Salsa Concert was dark, more and better lighting is needed.  The Arts Fair was too small and should be spread out more.  People could not get into the Charles Hotel event.  He tried to make a deal with the DNC and the taxi industry to transport delegates to the airport, but was not successful.

Ms. Clark stated that special things came out of the partnership of the city and the businesses.  The planning for the Taste of Cambridge for 2005 is now underway.  The events were something!

Mr. Sillari attended most of the events and had a great time.  He was astounded that the events came together.  He thinks this should be done yearly.  The convention in Boston was a ghost town.

Mr. Clifford started that the cooperation of the city was great.  The events should be done again.  Mr. Headley’s report was accurate.  The World’s Fair should be held yearly.

Councillor Reeves thanked all the participants in the Destination Cambridge, the Unconventional City.  Cambridge hosted many celebrities.  He complimented the Symposia.  Better research would have helped Cambridge.  The Boston DNC Committee was uncooperative.  It is best not to focus on the delegates.  The teamwork was tremendous.  Mr. Rossi was positive and determined.  Mr. Rossi’s leadership skills and prior experience, such as possessed by Mr. Clifford with the World’s Fair and the Arts Council with the Arts Fair were an added bonus in this process.  Art, he said, knows no boundaries.  Ms. Carvello can take the Dance out of her pocket and coordinate it.  The symposia need a year to be developed.  He loved the Taste of Cambridge.  He stated that a sponsor could be secured for the Salsa Concert on a yearly basis.  More activities could have been done to involve historic organizations.  The parade could have been more.  The city does not know who attended the activities.  He applauded the Mayor for his fund-raising talent.  A discussion is needed with the corporate community to establish corporate interest to help raise money needed for the activities.

Mayor Sullivan stated that the Arts Fair was a better use of the Cambridge Common.  He liked the Salsa Concert location.  He questioned whether area business benefited from the Salsa Concert location.  Councillor Reeves responded that Polcari’s was located in the concert area.  Mayor Sullivan stated that the volunteers were the backbone of the events.  The events should continue to use volunteers.  There is a $10,000 short fall of revenue.  Boston received the necessary funding because of the DNC.

Councillor Reeves stated that moving forward a budget should be established for these events.  This process should be a partnership between the city and the corporate community.  Each entity could provide $150,000.  Administration of the budget must be determined.  A marvelous job was done by all.  Cambridge is the most interesting place in the world.  This fact should be celebrated and all should be invited to enjoy Cambridge.  A publicity effort is needed to tell Cambridge’s Story.