Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A discussion about billboards prompted statements of concerns what content should be on them during the Tucumcari Lodgers' Tax Board meeting Wednesday.
During a teleconference with Dezaree Vega-Garcia of the city-hired Griffin & Associates marketing firm of Albuquerque, board members talked about new designs of what soon will be displayed on four billboards along Interstate 40 — the dinosaur museum, disc golf course, recreation on nearby lakes and the longstanding Tucumcari Tonite slogan.
Board members Larry Smith, owner of Motel Safari, and Gar Engman, co-owner of Tee Pee Curios, said residents passed along concerns the billboards aren't publicizing enough attractions in Tucumcari, such as Tucumcari Historical Museum and other museums. Tucumcari City Commission liaison Christopher Arias later echoed those concerns.
“We're shoving Tucumcari into a template that doesn't fit,” Smith said, summarizing some dissatisfaction with Griffin's billboard content.
He also noted the dinosaur museum is owned by Mesalands Community College, which can buy its own advertising.
Board Chairman David Brenner, co-owner of the Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari, disagreed the billboard content about the nearby Ute and Conchas lakes wouldn't benefit Tucumcari.
“The people who go to the lake often stay at our motels, eat at our restaurants,” he said. City Manager Britt Lusk said Tucumcari needs more than the usual to promote to potential tourists.
“Route 66 is not what it used to be, and we need to look at other assets,” Lusk said. “We don't need to sell to Route 66ers; they're coming anyway.”
Smith said the board needs feedback and data about the upcoming billboards' effectiveness.
Brenner said Santa Rosa and Moriarty also use billboards to advertise their attactions, and Tucumcari needs to “up its game.”
In other business:
• The board reimbursed $12,500 as requested by director Gail Houser to Tucumcari MainStreet to cover advertising and marketing expenses for the Fired Up festival in October. Houser said attendance at Fired Up rose by over 20 percent to more than 4,000 people, a record.
The number of vendors also rose by 37 percent.
• The board reimbursed $1,061.41 as requested by Brandon Goldston for expenses related to the third annual Wheels on Fire 100 bicycle race in October. Goldston said more than 100 people participated, which was an increase of 20 percent from the previous year. He said he anticipates the number of riders will continue to rise as favorable word-of-mouth spreads among racers and recreational riders.
• Brenner asked City Clerk Anjelica Gray to try to negotiate a better rate from Lamar Advertising for three I-40 billboards from Amarillo to the Texas border. Lamar gave a quote of $55,440 for a three-year contract, with the company's first rate increases since 2012.
• Lusk showed Griffin's new 60-second, 30-second and 15-second New Mexico True tourism videos that eventually will be used for television spots in the Albuquerque, Amarillo and Santa Fe markets. It features the voice of local mural artist Doug Quarles expressing his fondness for Tucumcari amid snippets of people enjoying the region's attractions. The board, however, decided to keep an older video produced by Colorado videographer KC Keefer for its main tourism website, saying it remains effective.
