■ Presentation to be heard on Benicia Maker Faire, set for March 28

The Economic Development Board will hear two presentations Wednesday, one on tourism and the other on the upcoming Benicia Mini Maker Faire, which is slated for March 28.

Jack Wolf from Wolf Communications will present a semi-annual report for the Benicia Tourism and Marketing Campaign, covering the third and fourth quarters of 2014, when Wolf Communications provided media outreach and public relations, advertising, a newsletter formatting overhaul, email marketing, video marketing and other services to the city to help boost Benicia’s tourism.

Among the services performed, Wolf reports, his company wrote and distributed a news release about the Benicia Fashion Weekend and the celebrities who would be in attendance and distributed it to Northern California and Bay Area media outlets including newspapers, freelance journalists, broadcast media, websites and blogs.

In the realm of advertising, Wolf will tout a full-color ad in Sunset Magazine’s October issue. According to his report, Sunset’s reader demographics closely match the target audience of Visit Benicia’s marketing efforts; moreover, advertising in the publication is a requirement to be considered for participation in Sunset’s annual celebration weekend, to which Benicia has sent a delegation the last three years.

In addition, a full-page co-op advertisement ran in the November issue of Diablo Magazine to remind people about shopping in Benicia during the holidays; businesses that participated in the ad were Lindsay Art Glass, The Rellik Tavern, Studio 41, Urban Notions, Christina S Fashion Destination and Benicia Main Street.

Wolf’s report says the co-op advertisement was a productive, cost-effective way to increase Benicia’s exposure in the San Francisco Bay Area, with no direct cost to the tourism campaign for the ad.

Aaron Newcomb of Benicia Makerspace will describe the Benicia Maker Faire, organized by Benicia Makerspace and held at Benicia Middle School. Makerspace is a nonprofit organization “where people come together to learn, collaborate, invent, prototype and test new ideas using state of the art equipment,” according to the group’s website.

Maker Faire is touted as the “‘Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth,’ a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker movement.”

The original Maker Faire took place in San Mateo, which is gearing up for its 10th year. While the 2014 numbers were not available, the 2013 Maker Faire saw 900 makers and 120,000 attendees.

The World Maker Faire in New York, the movement’s other flagship event, has grown to over 600 makers and 75,000 attendees.

There are also featured Maker Faires that have more than 200 makers in Detroit, Kansas City, Newcastle (UK), Rome, Oslo and Tokyo. Community-driven Mini Maker Faires are now coming up in communities across the United States and around the world, including Benicia.

Newcomb, president of the local group, will give a presentation on Maker Faire to EDB members.

In other news, the board will hear a report on the city’s 2014 third- quarter sales tax receipts and vacancy rates. This will be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.

Should the board choose to, it can hear updates on: the Arsenal, the Business Retention, Expansion and Attraction Committee, commercial and industrial vacancies, BeniciaBusiness.com Google Analytic Report, the Wolf Communications invoice and tracking worksheet and the Benicia Main Street invoice and tracking worksheet.
New Benicia business licenses will be acknowledged in a presentation. The businesses are: Alvord’s Treasure Chest; DEVX5 LLC; Heavy Metal Iron; Jerolyn Peery, LMFT; Lewis-Goetz Co.; Linda L. Lawless, LMFT HMHC; Massage by Hillarie; Pickett Racing, LLC; Vai Hua Nui; Vigil Mechanical.

If You Go
The Economic Development Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Commission Room at City Hall, 250 East L Street.

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