05.06.10 VIEW Partnership Marketing Task Force Summary Notes

San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW)

PARTNERS MARKETING TASKFORCE SUMMARY NOTES May 6, 2010 | 9:00 a.m.

County of Tulare RMA, RMA Main Conference Room 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California 93277 Attendees: Jim Perrine, City of Porterville Kim Loeb, City of Visalia Courtney Kalashian, SJVCEO Maureen Hoff, SJVCEO

Jesse Langley, SCE Paulo Morais, So Cal Gas

Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Time: 9:00 a.m.

Next Meeting: Thursday, June 3, 2010 Location: County of Tulare, RMA, RMA Main Conference Room, 5961 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia, California, 93277 Agenda Topics for May 6, 2010 1. Welcome 2. Recap of Events a. Visalia Earth Day (attachments #1 and #2) b. Porterville Iris Festival (?)

3. Upcoming Events a. May 8-9: City of Woodlake Lions Rodeo b. May 14: Porterville Prospect Education Center Earth Day Celebration c. June 24: City of Visalia Thursday Night Farmers Market d. June 25: City of Lindsay Friday Night Farmers Market 4. Review of marketing plan (pages four-six) (attachment #3) 5. Brainstorming session a. ME&O talking points for volunteers (attachment #4) b. Developing community volunteer program with jurisdictions 6. Next Steps a. Action items b. Next meeting June 3rd at 9:00 a.m.

Summary of Discussion • •

The meeting was called to order at 9:18am by Courtney Kalashian.

We began the meeting with discussion of the most recent events – Visalia Earth Day and the Porterville Iris Festival.

San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) Nathan Garza had sent Maureen Hoff a recap of Visalia’s Earth Day and Kim Loeb reported on the event in the meeting. Kim passed around pictures and explained how it was a great success with about 275 volunteers. About two miles of the St. John’s River were cleaned and following the cleanup project, volunteers enjoyed lunch at the Golden West High School parking lot near the exhibitor’s display booths. There was also a car show that provided a bit of ‘crosspollination’ in terms of demographics. The 2nd MEU was present at the event; however, the light bulb display did not work due to a faulty extension cord.

Courtney reported that we have yet to receive any information from the MEU people on the Porterville Iris Festival. Jim Perrine said it was an overall success and drew in about 20,000 people.

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After wrapping up the report on Visalia’s Earth Day and the Porterville Iris Festival, we moved on to discuss upcoming events.

Courtney noted that the VIEW has been advertised as a sponsor on the Woodlake Rodeo website for a few months. It was briefly discussed whether or not participation in this type of event was appropriate. Kim Loeb felt that there might be a number of small business people there who would be interested in VIEW. Courtney explained that we chose to participate in the rodeo because it was one of our only opportunities to be in Westlake. Courtney will ask if there is an available bilingual component for the MEU. Courtney and Maureen will be attending the Porterville Prospect Education Center Earth Day Celebration on Friday, May 14, 2010.

Farmers Markets are also taking place about two to three times per month for the summer months. Courtney reminded everyone to come out and volunteer. VIEW Outreach Packs will have talking points to help staffing volunteers engage in conversations about saving energy.

Courtney asked if anyone had any thoughts on where we were going with our events. Jesse Langley reminded everyone that more participation from jurisdiction volunteers is necessary.

There needs to be effort from both sides in order to continue with VIEW outreach efforts.

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Next we moved on to review the 2010 Marketing Plan (pages 4-6). Courtney explained that we tried to put together a light road map of where we are going and would like feedback.

Under ‘Event Profile’ on page 5 we briefly discussed the Mobile Education Unit (MEU) and agreed that the second, smaller unit works well for our community events. Courtney also reminded everyone that she and Maureen are more than happy to volunteer their time, but the money will come out of the partnership.

We briefly discussed advertising for volunteers. Courtney told the story of how Maureen went to Visalia to drop off an outreach pack and saw someone looking to volunteer, but the lady at the desk turned him away. Jim Perrine said that it is an unusual that someone would walk in off the street to volunteer. Kim agreed and said it was unusual. Kim also noted that volunteers can end up taking a lot of your time and it does take skill to filter through who would be best.

Courtney was curious if we should contact the parks and recreation departments of each jurisdiction to set up something for VIEW volunteer opportunities. Paulo Morais said that getting students involved would be a good idea because they can put it on their resume. It was agreed that we should target volunteers who are interested in energy-efficient projects and

San Joaquin Valley Energy Leader Partnership (VIEW) events, not just interested in volunteering in general. Kim thought schools and clubs would be a great place to find people. Courtney decided that she will reach out to the College of the Sequoias (COS) and Porterville College Aces Club, per Jim Perrine’s suggestion, for volunteers.

The group agreed that if the price is right, we should print a second, smaller VIEW banner.

Jesse Langley and Paulo Morais both felt that any obstacles in moving forward for marketing no longer exist and we have the ok to move forward with specific plans as long as we stay within the allocated budget.

Kim Loeb felt that it would be worthwhile to allot a full page for the marketing calendar of events and to list the corresponding jurisdiction to each event. Maureen will make these changes.

Courtney briefly discussed our progress with the VIEW website. It will go live soon and she will alert all partners once this happens. She asked Jesse and Paulo if blogs and social media were appropriate to use on the site and Jesse said we should stay away from them. Paulo agreed that the real time communication and social media is out of reach for now. Courtney felt that once the utilities had their own social media, we could link to that from the VIEW website.

Courtney asked Paulo if SoCalGas was planning on participating in the farmers markets. He said it would typically be people coming up from the south if they were to staff anything so it might be a bit of a challenge to get volunteers out.

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The meeting was adjourned at 10:00am.

Action Items: 1. Courtney will ask if a bilingual component for the MEU is available.

2. Courtney (and Maureen) will reach out to COS and Porterville College Aces Club for the new school year for volunteers 3. Courtney will order a smaller VIEW banner if the price is right.

4. Maureen will adjust the 2010 Marketing Plan per our discussion 5. Maureen will email all talking points versions to partners for feedback.

6. Paulo will see if the gas company can get representation at the farmers markets.

“The VIEW Partnership makes me aware of how I can save energy!”