Festival of Lights back on Motueka calendar

September 27th, 2012
[by David Armstrong]

The Festival of Lights looks like it will shine again next winter, thanks to Our Town Motueka (OTM) offering to take it on after two years effectively dormant.

OTM's re-elected chairman Howie Timms told the annual general meeting at Hotel Motueka last night that, although it's not totally official yet, the business promotion group will drop the river raft race next year and instead add the Festival of Lights to the Santa parade as the two big events OTM will run.

He said the raft race, run in 2011 and 2012, did not add enough "value" to members and involved too much risk management control. The criteria for OTM-run events are that they provide social benefit to the community as well as stimulate economic activity in town.

Howie (pictured right) said he was happy to carry on leading Our Town Motueka, particularly as the new administrator, Lori Keller, was injecting a new level of energy and innovation to the group. Chief among the innovations are a brand new website to promote members' services to tourists and locals, and marketing programmes based on social media, especially Facebook.

He said OTM had contributed to the enhancement of the town last year through the completion of the entranceway sign, flower baskets, a fundraising project to install auto-watering infrastructure for the baskets, and generally supporting other groups in town who have similar goals, including the Community Board, Keep Motueka Beautiful, the Arts Council and Vision Motueka.

In total $7,050 was spent over the financial year on advertising and promotional activity (the "Shop Local" promotion cost $4,000). Wages were down due to Jacqui Taylor leaving after eight years as administrator, and OTM ended with a surplus of $3,102.

They are now running radio advertising on More FM and the Breeze, promoting Motueka as a shopping destination. And they plan to undertake specific and more regular sales promotions.

Lori will aim to "foster better communication within the business community and build relationships with other groups in Motueka", and use the website and Facebook to "increase the level and effectiveness of communication".

Howie said OTM faced several challenges, including developing other income streams apart from the Business Rate, being asked to take on more tasks due to there being an aging pool of volunteers in service clubs and community groups, the cost of media and promotions, and the apathy of some members.

After the meeting, guest speaker Darren Ward, of Bizness Unlimited, spoke about how the internet is changing how business is conducted and communications with customers. His title, “Shift Happens”, emphasised the need for businesses to adopt these new trends in order to thrive or even survive.

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