Seven events get $40K in ad assistance grants
Seven events will receive funds from the Hot Springs Advertising and Promotion Commission to help draw attendees from outside Garland County.
The commission voted Monday to approve $40,000 in Advertising Assistance Grants ranging from $2,000 to $10,000.
Events receiving funding are Hot Springs JazzFest, POV Film Festival (formerly Arkansas Shorts), Big Steam
Music Festival, Valley of the Vapors, Hall of Heros at Mid-America Science Museum, Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival and the Spa Running Festival.
“Hot Springs is so fortunate to have so many independent nonprofit organizations producing events in town,” Bill Solleder, marketing director for Visit Hot Springs, said.
“It’s really what makes Hot Springs great.
“There’s always something going on for people to do while they’re here. Sometimes, unexpectedly, they come across these events, or sometimes they plan their entire trips around coming to one of these events. So Hot Springs is great at producing events, whether it’s Visit Hot Springs producing events or these outside organizations.”
Solleder said the funds are to help advertise their event beyond the city and county.
“We offer ad grant money,” he said. “So they can apply to be awarded a grant, and the funds are earmarked for advertising — and that is advertising outside of Hot Springs. So just to let people know around the country, around the state that these events are happening, and then they’ll come to Hot Springs.”
There were 10 events requesting funding this year, and Solleder said there are several criteria that are examined to help determine which ones are funded.
“They have a checklist of things they have to submit
to us, so we’re looking for a complete package,” he said. “This year, everybody sent in a complete package, so that was great. The second thing we look for is history. Do they have a history in Hot Springs?”
Solleder said while they do want to support nonprofits with new events, those with a good history take precedence.
“When you have an event, say like the
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival — which it’s tried and true — we know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We know how many visitors they bring in each year. We know that if we’re going to award an event like that, they’ll use those funds correctly. That’s a big part of it.”
The organizations also have to indicate how many people from outside the county are expected to attend the event.
“In their application they have to state how many visitors they expect outside of Garland County will come to Hot Springs and how many visitors outside of the state of Arkansas will come to Hot Springs,” Solleder said.
“We can, at that point, sort of weigh them on the number of participants that will be traveling here, and the keywords that we love is will they be staying in Hot Springs. If they’re staying in Hot Springs, most likely they’ll be eating in Hot Springs, going to the gas stations, visiting our attractions, those things. We look at those and just see how they’ll inject into the local economy,” he said.