Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority selects marketing firm

The Carson City Culture and Tourism Authority on Monday selected Reno’s KPS3 for its new marketing and public relations firm.

Five firms responded to the CCCTA’s request for proposal and the choice came down to KPS3 and Nevada Momentum.

“It was a very tough decision, both firms came in very well prepared,” said Mike Jones, CCCTA chair.

The CCCTA is contracting separately with Computer Artistry, a Carson City graphic design firm owned by Tara Burke.

The CCCTA is also working on a contract for the redesign of its web site. Bids on the RFP are due March 25.

David Peterson, CCCTA executive director, during his director’s report, mentioned the Carson City Off-Road bumped the race two weekends, to June 28-30, in hopes the trails will be drier. Epic Rides, the race operator, announced the change on Monday.

Peterson also said the CCCTA discovered it’s been overcharged for its printer lease and is now working with Konica Minolta, its supplier, to fix the issue.

Peterson said the historic blue line soon will be removed by Public Works. The CCCTA is applying for grants to replace it with plaques or sidewalk medallions and also plans to provide audio and visual information via its web site for walkers to access on mobile devices. But work to remove the existing line has to start before July 1 because the $26,000 allocated by the Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee isn’t rolling over into the new fiscal year.

And Peterson said he’s reaching out to the city’s top five hotels to try to figure out why revenue at those lodging properties dropped by $288,743.70, or 26.3 percent, last November.

Jones said the issue may have been remodeling projects at one or more of the properties that took rooms off the market for the month. Revenue was back up $20,460.52 or 2.4 percent in December.

Peterson said he wasn’t concerned and CCCTA revenue, which comes from room tax, is ahead of projections.