Good morning, I guess it still is all right I think we got everybody. I'm just noting for what we were talking about. All right, hello everybody I think this is, I I know we've got a couple people pulled today so I think this is kind of the group today.
I guess technically for the record do we I guess do we even have a quorum? One, two, three, four out of nine is it nine of us? We need Kelly I guess yeah Kelly's supposed to be here. Well we can get because we don't get any official action items so let's let's do that. We were hoping and the snow has wreaked havoc on on everybody's agendas here and I know a lot of people are are dealing with that right now. So we were hoping to introduce and have on the call today
the interns but that has been delayed so we will we plan on meeting them I think early next week, is that right? Yeah. So hey Kelly. Hi. So we will be meeting them next week but just to give everybody a little background we, Bilal and I have met with eight candidates I think it was. And we we got it down to four and we selected four interns right? Five, five interns that we working with so yeah it's it's exciting and thanks to Montgomery College and Steve and the team over there for for really helping us out with that. That was super. So it's just a matter of them
getting back in with all the snow and then making the announcements to the interns and they will get started. Bilal is there anything else you wanted to add? No actually I'm gonna send the email to confirm with them today and then set up a meeting for early next week like Monday to get them going on the work. okay. And so we we will, Bilal I know you've been working on kind of like an outline of work and how to work with them on it. Anything there you want to share just talk through maybe? Yeah I mean it' be we can sort I guess let me know how deep you want to get into it but I think the first step is the sort of market analysis which is going to be reviewing all the documents that we have so I was going through some of the parks documents some of the things that you had sent I know Jeff uploaded some things and I kind of wanted to create a priority reading list where they're getting the useful information that actually gives us context for this study as opposed to just like everything under the sun because they're not going to be able to understand how it's relevant. And part of that is not just a literature review but it's sort of like what data
has been collected what analysis has been done so we're now Reinventing the wheel um seeing okay here's this you know they did uh a site selection study in 2019 here we may want to update that or not um I think there was some demographic data in the pros plan do we want to update that those kinds of things um I know you have a lot of data which I have we maybe we can talk about what you have and then what we should get them to analyze um and that was the other thing was getting them to pull demographic data Maybe to update and then whatever you have to sort of figure out what metric they should even be looking at and the last piece at this point I think would be maybe be to design a survey so they can go out and then collect that data immediately and they have that as well so I'm not entirely sure what that would look like but I think we had talked about them going to the soccer Plex uh at a minimum um so what kind of information do we want to collect how do we want to sort of stagger when they go so that they're meeting different types of groups and events and getting information and then where else would we want to send them maybe over the next month so that they're you know getting those survey responses I don't know if people are really doing outdoor sports right now Fe is there a deadline for when you want to stop the I I I think the surveys can probably be done a little bit later okay um you maybe to more towards the spring as as the soccer PL gets going again we I know Matt's traveling today so hopefully that we can um you know find out from him when they kind of get going a little bit with some of the tournaments all we need is one tournament over there I mean you're going to get you're going to get enough volume off a one tournaments to you know just to just to start getting that information so I think that that'll be good I guess we start designing the survey to see what kind of information we want and then figure out how much how many responses we'd need because I yeah I agree with you I think I think designing now and kind of being ready almost in the back of my head I'm thinking he probably kicks in probably in March yeah yeah I would think it would be it I would say there's a fundamental difference in the tournaments that they do offer a big local and big travel right so we should be aware that make sure you people traveling in versus people for the day which come from all over the metropolitan area and for that matter momer County but they do both so that would be a pretty significant difference in the kinds of tournaments and I and I think we want to make sure we hit both yeah right I mean I think because even with the local one I think what you're going to get especially if we do that questionnaire right is how many other times like you know I know I I remember as a parent we celebrated we had local tournament right it's was like we're local we got it you know and and and so and but you know it was kind of like I think that that that would be you know one audiences like and then the other audiences is them coming from out of town to understand how the accommodations our hotels or where where they staying what do they need and what's missing type of thing as compared to other so I agree with you I think there's kind of almost like two surveys there is not the call he is not he's he's traveling to the coaching um uh thing today or something he's on the plane I don't want to volunte I don't want to volunteer him but I'm wondering also if he can connect us with an event organizer that would be willing to send a survey post tournament to the uh Team coaches right yes so go to the event organizer event organizer has the ability because we do this with the no before you go email is to see if they'd be willing to help us distribute to the out of town team coaches and then the coaches can forward it to the amilies y can I add something quickly and I love this also and I'm thinking um if in the survey you can also include the family and and and and the way I'm phrasing it is my daughter is the one who's very athletic but I also have to drag my son so when they go to meetups or whatever I'm also looking for things for the my son to do not just her so I don't know if there's a way to to get that information in a like when you travel are you bringing that whole family and we so are you concerned about you know do you need to know which park is nearby what kind of things are nearby besides just restaurants it's just something that I was thinking oh maybe just keep that in mind that's all agre in in travel Sports the there's kind of a tenant that uh 12-year-old girls travel with their parents and the entire family and they spend a lot of money everybody and 15-year-old boys travel one parent 12 boys in a back of it and they six in a in a hotel room together I mean it's a pretty well-known development that's why the 12-year-old girl tournament is often the most lucrative in terms of a uh Sports tourism perspective if you can really hit that that sweet spot to the to the point natam just made oh absolutely yeah that there's there's a lot of veres in there right yeah yeah I remember those trips on the boy or the girl side boy side I'm stun exactly sorry um um but yes so I think if we if we and Kelly thanks for that because you know the um I think you're right on there is is to send some surveys afterwards and and see if we can do that as well um I think that'd be great um so so on the survey side I guess unless anybody has any different thoughts is kind of the conclusion there is let's start working on them yeah and and creating them and then being ready to go by March and then pulling that data in maybe March and April maybe that's something you could discuss at the next meeting have them draft something and bring it to you that would be great yeah yeah turn dra okay so as as we get started then then the other piece you know as we talked about resources and study you know is is we've we've been through everything we've been through here over over the first several months but now it's time to get this thing rolling and trying to figure out and but like you said is what is the information we want them to review what is that and do we have all the information we need I know we have a bunch of stuff uploaded um I created a reports folder and just started uploading some of the reports that were uh I didn't even know where they were uploaded previously or whatever I just kind of put stuff but is I don't know I'm not saying they're relevant so you know is there is there anything um Kelly I know you gave your stuff in I know Darren thank you for all the information you submitted in and Jeff did a bunch um uh today he submitted a bunch of stuff in is there any other data that we're missing Tom do you know of any that's that would be a good question once I'm going extend to below some national stuff okay friends what kind of sports are growing and not growing age group demographics a number of those things but they are National um and sports ETA has some stuff that Matt and Terry would be able to like that and they're really focus much more on the tourist Sports ET Sports uh what is it it's the travel it's the sports travel travel Sports trade Association you got a bun of data but between those two things and then I know BL you've already got the Aspen Institute stuff that project play that it's another kind of definitive National discussion but I'm not sure what we have I know for a fact we don't have as much because on my other committee from a local need kind of a thing from montomery County there's not much data there so but yeah some of the National Data as such as what sports are growing what age groups and some data around you know trending that's easily informative is that is that uh already like sort of analyzed and put in a reporter is it yeah we I'll get you we we put um my organization does the that's the national Top Line every year and that's the foundation for government for everybody and then we do also do a team sports and others reports so I'll get you a couple of those sure and that there's a lot of data there and then when needed if we ever get into the specific Sports we also do buy specific Sports so we like 95 Sports Cricket we're trying to figure out whether we're going to do it or not whether the demand is there okay 95 right now is how individual sports tracking the participation tracking participation Trend 10-year demographic against women and I mean gender income other things stuff like that yeah I think as granular as you can get would be great that's partly just to help the students too to sort of you know that kind of information that be great there is a fundamental question in this discussion in this committee though it's just kind of like what's going on in sports and what's going on in sports tourism yes you just got to constantly go back because they are not the same they influence both going the other way and then looking forward whether it's Cricket or rugby or whatever things there's a lot to be taken for that but it is not direct meaning oh wow this for's growing we should get you know pickle ball for example is by far and you know I can't talk enough about pickleball blah blah blah so is everything else investing in pickleball and it might you know we use that example all the time may not be a good place for sports tourism because there's so much competition and money flowing in that relatively speaking do we want to compete where everybody else is competing or do we want to create Standalone that makes more sense for us so those that's why I just caution when you look at the numbers in terms of Trends yeah and and and going along that line is is even is you know something like pickle ball is there is there even a a kind of a sports what I would call Sports tourism mechanism there is it is it generating enough revenue and enough to actually it is money flowing into remarkably you're Revenue guy share with some numbers like you got be kidding but there's going to be I've bet my house on 10 years from now massive winners and massive losers yeah pick aall investment did I just build on something Tom was saying yeah I I think um I think Tom was kind of zeroing in on this question that's been floating around in my head which is are do we have Clarity to give to the interns and the people developing the survey about what our research question is um because making sure that we um like a lot of the data that I provided this something I know I brought up before but a lot of the data data that the parks department provided is about local county-based recreational facilities and demands which I think is a different it's answering a different question that I think we're answering and I just want to make sure that there's um a shared view in this group about what the what the question we're asking the interns to to answer is and what and therefore what questions we'd be focusing on the survey about yeah I think that's a great Point Darren and it's kind of kind of this this part of the discussion and what I wanted to get today is kind of get that Clarity number one is is is that first part is is let's make sure we have all the data that we have um I know I saw if I could just on the data part and then Darren let's come back to that question just on the data part um I know Terry jump on I believe I don't see him now up here but um I sort Terry jump on and he and I had a conversation um just before the the in December there a little bit and I know he referenced you know some studies that they have that they have done that they could share and things of that nature Terry did you have an opportunity to try and um try that upload file and if that works for you and do you have anything do you think you can upload that would be relevant from a data standpoint I do have stuff that I could update from a data standpoint um I have not honestly tried um been sidetracked here in the last month or so but um I will make sure it's top of um priority to to get over um B at minimum um here in the next week that'd be great and what what kind of information Terry you know we talked a little bit about it I think you have some studies that are that were kind of relevant in the area that you guys have done as well as some maybe even some more granular data yeah we have um you know studies that we've done in the marketplace on you know various projects and Scopes we've also done some um some studies that have done by uh second and third parties on various um opportunities within the region and then also some of the studies that have been done on a national level that to show the global impact of of the industry and the like so B with with that information from Tom and Terry getting added into this do you think we is there anything else that we're missing or anybody else in the room think that we're missing from a data standpoint that we can kind of we make sure that Matt uploads or provides lost business data oh yeah yeah so that we know what he's not able to take and if Parks has any of that we want to see what the demand is that we're unable to accommodate yeah which I gave you conference center yes um data um just to follow up on this though to Darren's point as well um you know as I was thinking about how do I Orient these students to all the information and what they need to gather I was like you know you're going to do a lot of reading you're going to do a lot of data analysis but as you crunch these numbers and do that reading think about three questions the whole time and those questions are what kind of facility should we build where could it go how much would it cost those are basically where we're going and obviously there's some assumptions in there um I think we have we're specifically looking at a sports tourism facility but the reason I made it sort of a vager question like that what kind of facility should we build is so that when they read documents from Parks they get a sense of okay this author has this perspective and they think we should build a a public facility um when we read some of the consultant studies clearly there is a belief that there it's written with the intention of getting a private facility built so they understand that sort of how it's written and how to sort of manage the information they're getting not just take it as sort of an objective fact but sort of account for the source that it's coming from and then based on all that evidence sort of sift through and make the case for what we should build and obviously we'll sort of prime them that we're look the point point of this is to look for a a tourism facility primarily but you know we're going to get data from the public side there's a lot of analysis there and there's a lot of Demand on the public side so we're going to have to account for that and manage that a little bit but my point is the point I'm making is they're going to look at a lot of different things from a lot of different perspectives and to keep them grounded to this study I was thinking of those three draft questions what kind of yeah what kind of facility should we build where could it go how much would it cost and some of this comes from the pros plan Darren too because I think you do get into some of this too where you're talking about hey if we're looking at sites we should look at publicly owned sites or you know sites that are conveyed by the private entities you kind of go through some of that stuff in the pros plan um and again that's sort of like this is what parks believes are the priorities for where facility should go and then you know if there's studies from the state that have sort of like says something to the contrary or makes a different point um then they're accounting for that and then they're sort of you know seeing all the different answers to these questions and then through that we'll analyze and talk through you know what yeah yeah yeah and I and I think Darren's question goes a little bit further but I see Adrian has her hand up and and if you go ahead yeah I just wanted to say I'll uh I think I have a digital propery of the P for Clarksburg and which was supposed to be a very large scale uh Regional facility with like you know like state of-the-art track and field and some of those other features um back when um when we did that study it's dated now but I'll see if I can find it and share that and you know I've been meaning to go on the uh National recreation parks association website um also and I I've recently made a new contact whether we need to reach out or not with um uh associate professor at uh George Mason who's coming from Penn State who's with their school of sport Recreation and tourism management who specializes in research so if we have a if we come down to like wanting to be able to guide our students and need a little bit um more clarity on the research question maybe we can bounce it off of her just the thought but anyway um I thought i' that out there sorry who was that I just want her name Ellen Rogers I Just met um I'm serving on a research committee uh with her for um Academy of Park and Recreation Administration and so um I you know I feel comfortable reaching out to her if needed great that might be a great great contact a great resource thank you you're welcome that's awesome so going back to the questions though and for the for the um continuing that conversation as far as interns and things of that nature um you know what what type of should we build again I understand what you're saying is they're getting a lot of information from different resources but how do we keep them grounded to being focused and that's what Darren was kind of raising there too as well is how do we keep them focused to to Really developing a sports tourism related facility with a secondary focus of I guess on off off times being able to handle different community events right but the primary focus of what we've been charged with is how do we keep them focused on Sports tourism so is there is there a better way to phrase that first question and and to them to keep them grounded or or is it just in the instruction I'm kind of throwing it out for thought there yeah I you could have refined the question I I did figure I mean this is like super basic which is why I'm not sharing my screen with this stuff yet but it was kind of be like here are the questions that you'll think about but here are some of the instructions that you have right so the question of what kind of facility isn't just private public it's also you know what type of sport is it primarily accommodating or is it multiple sports or facilities and some of that will just I think um you know come from like look at the DAT look at the data for which sports are driving Sports tourism that's also one answer to this question right it's not just a public private so it's sort of open-ended that way I think we definitely tell them like the whole reason that we're here is to sort of create an economic development use and so that's your sort of orienting principle but um you're getting a lot of different information so you kind of have to sift through all that I I think that that you just said probably helps them but also us to put that into words yeah underlying principle is this to create an economic and then upon what would you measure success progress and success is it number of people is it number is it amount of money returned is it overall new economic investment is it economic profitability or whatever there's a variety of things but I do think we're struggling because we're kind of dancing around and if we're gonna ask anybody whether it's interns or a paid consultant you got are we in this to create a sports tourism outcome that has an Roi against an investment if that's the thing then we should put it out and be comfortable with it well do you have some ideas you I would also just as one of the questions to keep them um grounded uh is look for Trends in the data like sports Trends lost business trends like just looking for Trends as they read through everything are you going to share this is terrible I know it's old the 2007 study that was done yeah let me see if I still have that but I I you you sent it to me actually I have from you so yeah that was an actual Fe ility study that was done by Economic Development with a partner Harry I don't know if you were here then do do you remember the study that was done for the Shady growth site I do remember the study um but I came on right after it okay I think I think it would be a good read sure why not well yeah it's it's the most up toate information we have basically on Montgomery County specifically right I mean that's the most up to-date information there right Shady Grove site I believe was in the recreation master plan as well so I don't know if there's a hard copy of a file I could dig up but might take some time okay we have it yeah one piece on it I don't know if there's a literature review because it's one of those things that people don't to but but there is a wealth of of reality and Terry knows it extremely well about how many Eon Sports tourism projects have been attempted not how many but all the variety of and some have been successful and some have been like there's just that's a starting point of fundamental value yeah because you do see especially in a lot of these places they on the second or third time around the first level of investors lost everything and then somebody came in and bought them and then they did it right or did it better or they came to terms with it I don't know where that is Terry and his team and and and all those people at sports ET might it's a it's a little bit more complicated because people don't like to talk about how people lost everything but there's there's huge amount of value in knowing and understanding when you talk to the consultants and you talk to the banks and talk to the private investors they're looking at it very much that way right and there are successes and failures all over the place well and along thats good reads for them yeah and along that that that line of of of thinking there to is is there anything and I don't know Terry if you have anything on this or either of these but you know success ful models right the base models I know when I talked to um Kevin Plank's team you know they were talking about they were looking at building it and and they had started to do some research on the minimum number of fields the minimum number of sizes of facilities that would be successful and things of that nature and you know is there is there any data like that I think it kind of goes along you know hey we built this it lost right you know I mean I think there's there's that that equation but also in finding out these losses we found out that this is kind of the the The Sweet Spot for size or or minimum size or things of that nature to be successful is there any data like that Terry on either one of those wow uh that's a great question um I know that it's obviously just like you just need to describe there's been a lot of conversations in around it um and I would have to ask a couple uh key folks within our our study group as well as um some people at sports ETA if that stuff actually exists in some type of concrete form or is it just antidotal right it it definitely exists when you talk as some of us have done yeah the Consultants who are selling it or getting in front of a uh doing a council presentation whatever Council that may be they always talk about well this place worked because of this and this place didn't and templates Etc how much it's a sales job and how much it's a scientific and as Terry said you know an for the purpose I'm not sure right I'm hesitant to to to to buy but I do know you look around Lake Lako which is a fabulous place I mean it's a massive place in Georgia it looked on paper like it was gonna they went out of business once now they're booming right what's the difference what happened you know they they learned or they didn't and there's 10 of those places all those are really big facilities that people have invested a lot of money but when you invest millions in you lose and then somebody else comes in invests millions somebody's putting some effort into making it better the second time we're around yeah so but how do we bring this back to how do we bring this back to again what do we ask in the interns and how are we keeping interns focused and are we Tom you raised the question are are we comfortable with saying hey we're we're looking to figure out a facility that is going to bring economic return on that facility are we comfortable with saying that and as the primary focus I think was kind of question you were throwing out there and and where are we um we kind of throw that out to the team any other thoughts on that or or or how do we get that questioning back to the to the interns to keep them focused in that right direction yeah I mean I think if you guys want to maybe lob some guiding principles here that we can make sure to I can make sure to include with them I I again those questions were not set in stone or even how to frame this for them but I'm just trying to think of a way to be super simple um that they can understand um and I could I'm almost thinking like maybe giving them some answers to those questions what kind of facilities should we build well we want it to be sort of oriented towards tourism okay so what else does what else do you can you find how else would you refine the answer to this based on what you're reading and the data that we're that we're getting where could it go well um you know what what are the trade-offs between doing it on a publicly owned site versus a privately owned site you know um how you know and then what are the restrictions in ter terms of size and then sort of like refining that but if there are specific things that you'd want to I'm I'm sort of I'm just thinking out loud no I I think and that's is perfect this what what what I trying to get every us to do Al together is kind of think out loud here but I like when you start saying that to me it's like well I look at us as as a task force right and and when we talk about tourism you know we were we were we were charged to hospitality you know bringing people in so so so it could be a successful facility but not attract anybody from the outside right so we need a successful facility that is bringing in Hospitality it's bringing in people and outside and there's a mix of outside you know local and and outside events um in addition to that we also have a a a Workforce um part of our study and so so what what how do we build that and how do we make that as as part of a success of of you know economic impact and and and a type of facility so what is as we look at this and as we give them and I I like what you're saying is like here's the priority you know it's got to be you know it's got to be an economic impact for us and and how do we measure that economic impact and giving them some guidance on that and and I don't have the answer I'm again thinking out loud as well is the guidance from the council that created did the council created this task force were they clear on like it's it's it's about an economic return that's the whole yeah I think that's the primary I think I think just having something that we all have like right in front of us in front of them like for example I I may be I feel a little bit out of touch so I'm just going to say it but I might embarrass myself we sort of touch on we want to make a big facility or we don't it's kind of a basic question and and you can't really ask interns to answer it no you got to tell them we are thinking it would be a big facility or we're not well you can do Sports tourism with existing facilities or with you know tournaments or then they use schools there's a million you can do but it feels like there is a predisposition towards you know the the track and field thing Clarksburg thing we talked about Shady long long time ago uh the place for for college graduations that we keep hearing about is that sort because if it's a starting point are we going to tell them that because they're wasting time if if we're really kind of think but I have no idea if that is what we're thinking yeah is the research question interns is there market demand for a large scale facility like is that is that the question they're answering because I think that implies that we want it but we're but we're testing the market now I I I have to tell you I wouldn't know how to answer that question um and but but is I think that's the question we're asking right is there a demand for and if so heard that question what what flavor yeah I agree with that question abely and to be H I think the goal here by the way is not for them necessarily to answer the question but to bring as much information for you to answer the question is the yeah so but there yeah hopefully they'll be really rigorous answering that can you just repeat that again Darren I just want to capture exactly how you said it is there market demand for a large scale Sports tourism facility and if so what would the um what we call program of requirements what what sports would it accomodate or activities because it's not just multiuse like graduations that's you know that's one of the things graduation space yeah the way it actually reads in the resolution is the task force will conduct a facility needs assessment which will include assessing the viability of a multi-use facility that can increase Sports capacity but also potentially serve as a facility for events like high school graduations it is well there you go but no Darren I think you I think you kind of break that down into that question is is is identifying is there the first question based on that is there the or need for a multi-use facility is this thing gonna would this thing work yeah any in any configuration and if so there's General demand what configuration yeah i' I'd really highlight that's a terrific question and keep it separate from then is there a business use model that makes sense because the first thing is is there a demand enough to make it then you gota figure out okay well how do you make it work how does it cost AG ET because but if there's no demand in the first place you're probably wasting our time and that's a big enough qu you have to bring them together but you don't have to bring them together at the first at the can you also can you also include also Le like the location is important getting people's feedback like in my head I'm still with White Flint on North ofo whatever you're going to call it as a place for a multi-use facility because it's near Transit but I wonder that's just me I wonder how people feel because it's a big difference if we're talking about northda versus somewhere in AB County so that question needs to be answered yeah I can they can they what what data would we need for the interns to try and pull that yeah I think um again it's not necessarily Reinventing the wheel because I know Darren um you had done some high Lev GIS analysis right that looked at sort of sites for the Cricut Stadium which in general I think that's a methodology we could potentially repurpose and work with your team to maybe do that again or more rigorously or with slightly different parameters um but it would basically be that right like uh you know what are sites that are not near arterials for example that are large enough um you know do you have to do demolition to to accommodate is there a green field site um you know what are yeah what are the different ways to access it um is it multimodal or only by car um those are the kinds of basic practical factors that can go into a GIS analysis and then you sort of limit sites that way um and yeah we can work with some GIS experts at parks if Darren is willing to lend us yeah I I I think that's the right so so same thing it's kind of identify the sites first you know like NYY said is is then you go into okay well then we need to talk to people about what is okay here's the sites then what where is it where where where is the right location based on what people feel and need and and you know everything else of that nature but first thing is let's get the layout of the sites yeah so Darren you're you're in on that well I so as as Bal was was alluding to we did a we did a site selection analysis for a large scale cricket stadium and the the short version of our analysis was we don't and in Parks we don't have um a suitable site for because you think about the building itself the parking and all the things that go along with it that the parks department does doesn't have a suitable start for for the kind of facility we're talking about so I would actually suggest below that this would end up being more of a planning department analysis yeah um because they would then be looking at all of the you know whatever sort of brownfields or whatever you know whatever sort of you know declining malls we have or whatever whatever the potential candidate sites might be um that are well beyond the scope of the parks department I think it has to more than just Parks well yeah I was I wasn't thinking we'd only look at Park but more just using GIS yeah we could just use planner planning GIS as well to yeah because it would definitely happen include privately on sites I can talk to Jason and and see if they can get this done if that's that shouldn't be a problem I don't think Jason is the director of planning you know there used to be a really good guy over in the planning department who would have jumped at this opportunity but I think you moved to the council yeah oh actually I'm not good at GIS don't do that um but I can think of some people in the planning department that we should recruit if we're you know you know Natalie maybe if we can call out specific individuals that would be you know so yeah I so so so okay so so sounds like we're kind of getting this bigger scope of what is the demand on the type of facility what are the potential locations and yeah but I think site selection has to come way later not way later but later like what what it it do we want it like is it viable what would it be then you can start saying well has to have transportation access and and all the things that that flow from that I I agree with you Darren I I think what I'm looking at is if we if we at least start assembling the inventory of what is available then based on how we go through the study we'll start you know randomly okay well that's not big enough that's not and and you you can start you can start kind of putting everything together because basically the way this is going to flow and bl you you referenced it earlier is you know as much as we like the the interns aren't going to answer the question right so so the goal here is is that they're going to be providing us enough information for this task force to have these conversations to then direct the next piece and and where are we going with it and and ultimately getting to the end right that's so I just want like threading the needle with like here's all the facilities we could potentially build here's all the sites how do we get you know some get something that fits the sites that we have and the demand that we have can we even do that um and so they'll sort of get all that information um one of the challenges in this endeavor these kinds of Endeavors always is the process both of Po politics fundraising is that it takes so long that by the time you get it that's three four years back when the information that the trend you were looking at so we just have to acknowledge that that that is a very serious thing that yes if you could identify all this information and then do it that would be one thing but if you it takes three four you know whatever it takes a long time to get these things up and running I think having it be multi-use helps that factor if it's multiuse it helps that factor can we just ask can I ask about the the graduation thing because I hear that all the time in in the county um how important is that to us because if it is it becomes a it's a you know that means something well yeah because I think this project I mean the sports tourism thing is it or is it not something that it's it's like we all would love to have it but if it's real then you should be guiding us that's an indoor facility that's an X number of people it changes everything we shouldn't even waste our time on stuff if that is important and part of the understanding that would be a out not a but the one of the outcomes that people are expecting well yeah I'm sorry Matt's not here but part of the challenge Matt has for spectator sports indoor is there's no bleacher seating yeah and so we need to think about that too um not just graduations but events that we can't host now because he doesn't have that spectator seating and we're Limited in using College you know Montgomery College and other facilities so yeah High School graduations but um large conferences and trade shows like that's what even even in the county now one of the best sports invest well not one of the best but a super cool new thing was is the Rack in in The Aquatic thing silver Sprint no parking well there's some parking people complain about no no um seating so MLK and MLK which has got very limited seating MLK par whatever that is called in in White Oak is probably the best one of the best places for swimming events uh or German Town also but there's a huge amount of swimming in this in this area and people sit and watch it hockey Rockville the same thing yeah that place is packed all the time and the amount of seating they have limits it to always going to just be kind of local and this and that so the point is that to you're I'm I'm thinking we just invested and I'm all forward to what they did in Silver Spring with the they call it the rack I guess swack is that swack well it's we changed the name it was originally scr you'll hear all the staff call it scra because we um it was originally going to be South County and then they changed it to name changed the name to Silver Spring so now it's like Shrek but Shrek but well we still refer to it as scrap but but Tom to your point I will say this the graduation thing comes up over and over and over and multiple levels of conversations now I uploaded the P for Clarksburg into the file and you'll see that it's even mentioned their facility large enough to host graduations and those types of events but to Point you're right Tom we've got some of the biggest swimming in the entire area and and especially for diving actually we're people come from Virginia quite often to dive with us because we're one of the few that have the 10 meter platform um but uh I'll have to I think we have a big meat coming up for metros I'll have to definitely put that out there there may be some things that we as a group want to um want to visit and tour um but um yeah so I would say it's really important to several council members from my perspective and what I hear and past documents that an indoor facility that can host graduations uh I myself graduated at DAR Constitution Hall and that's where a lot of the county graduations are being held so um that is an important aspect I'm myself graduated from Shady Grove theater in the round for those of you nobody here knows what that is but where Michael Jackson also appeared by the way but that was a different yeah and that is now Housing Development so but but I think you raised a great question and and you know that it's it's it is in the in the resolution I mean there there's no question but when you think about that and you think about graduations right we all immediately at least in my head I go to an indoor facility right that's that's what we're asking for as an indoor facility whereas you could talk about Sports tourism and I think is some of the like more recent successful facilities are like out in Delaware where it's just Fields it's just straight out fields and so to your point Tom I guess the question you're kind of asking is do we give guidance and if that is that important we're going to have an indoor component to this and it's got to be of that size and if you talk about an indoor component that that's that size that might be the only facility that this is and is that is that viable is that a separate question you know to determine is that viable from a sports tourism standpoint to webuild the facility how many seats do we need for a graduation I don't even know I know I know that study back in 07 was what like seven to eight 7 to ,000 yeah people or something like that nature was that that much was it that much Natalie council member you know about anybody know about I think around I think we need to ask mcps to be honest I don't want to guess I know do you look at dar it's the one that most people have done and then you look at Maryland and they people complain that they're not enough seats for grandparents at D so it's something in between those which is about 7,000 ,000 seats yeah because if you think about it if you talk about 2000 kids in in a graduating class plus the parents plus the yeah siblings plus yeah I mean you're talking it wouldn't be 2000 yeah yeah I was just gonna say I think something that might be helpful going back to you know the reference the um the cricket stadium analysis that we did we we sort of as we were going we were trying to figure out like all right what are we what are we looking for here and we we sort of looked at um the buoy Bay sock Stadium as sort of like if we pick that up and put that somewhere in in Montgomery County what would we have that would would would accommodate it and it occurs to me that it might be a good intern project to just find sort of case studies like what would be the analogous facility somewhere in the East Coast is there one that incorporated a like a graduation capacity kind of um facility with a sport facility and was successful and I think the an if they were able to say in Delaware or in Pennsylvania or in South Carolina the the so and so facility is kind of what we're talking about here and here are some problems that they encountered or it they just can't they just there's not an open day because it's so popular um being armed with an example like that I think would help us with subsequent steps like site selection so um and then it might then and then if the answer is people have tried and they've only failed like or you got to pick your lane and you got to pick what you want to do well that would be that would be useful information too that seems like a question that um some hardcore Googling and and and maybe a picking up the phone and calling a few um facilities could could be um bitten off and chewed by the interns and Darren to your point I think level of service in an in a regional area so for example you know stadium in Buie stadium in Frederick Stadium over H shorebird right on the Eastern Shore so what type of what's the level of service for a facility that what is the need and then what when is the that market saturated and so that may drive the type of facility we select to to build and obviously sports that are trending Cricket you know other things that may determine whether it's indoor outdoor too what is one of the things that they could look at is simply what's in the region already in terms of scale you know you got all of the stadiums you got Showplace Arena you got these different things and maybe that could be part of it but to following that point one of the bigger uh Sports tourism events in the DMV I don't know how big it is relative to other things but it's pretty big nationally is in the Washington Convention Center the volleyball tournament that they do there so there's a Convention Center and they they Jam that thing that is a successful uh Sports tourism deal and they use a facility that no one ever thought was going to be used for volleyball and and literally jam it in from 5year old teams to 10 18y old teams boys and girls at this anyway the point is that that was an indication of taking starting one with the with the with the indoor place and then saying we've got a facility let's use it in many more you know let's fill it up two or three times and now it's a national event that people come to I mean they put it on their agenda every year so so going back to the question to the inters and and that question that Darren came up with is is trying to develop the demand I'm just trying to say will we get enough information from that to then be able to turn around and say well there's a demand here for indoor facility a demand here for an outdoor facility there's are we're going to be able to determine that because along this conversation does that second piece then get us into answering this question right like if the demand comes back that we need to build the real demand is building an open field complex right and versus something kind of like a a soccer Plex with a a kind of indoor part and then fields around around it type of facility um you know if that demand comes back that that one way do we bring this discussion and as part of that conversation well we understand that demand's a little bit higher but if you mix graduations and other uses involved with this thing let's pivot that way because that's a priority of ours or so so I guess the question is do we feel like that first question we're asking the interns to kind of pull all this data to bring to us is is that I I still think that's the right question and then this becomes a secondary piece to that Tom I guess I'm going back to your comment earlier versus do we need to answer that first and tell them no we want to make sure we have a graduation piece to it I'm I'm thinking in my head based on this conversation I'm thinking that's second let them pull the data into what's needed identify the highest need first and then and again I'm throwing that out there as a question as I'm thinking through this to be honest I think more from a Work Management perspective I think because we have five interns they're not all going to do the same thing so I actually think doing this simultaneously would help right having some interns work on the demand piece other people get organized on the sort of site analysis and then we can come back the interns can come back and sort of be like here's what we found you know how does how do these two things relate to each other okay there's only so many sites and they're all 30,000 square feet or less um all all the demand is only for Cricket okay then we have a mismatch but it's more likely that there's a variety of things that they'll find from the demand side um and then maybe they can look you know for some of those case studies okay what has people what have people built that's also part of the that analysis so like okay what do we need but also what other things that people built what do those things look like somebody else is just identifying sites and then there's sort of a triangulation of all those factors that they can attempt or sort of communicate to you all then you can kind of help thread that needle um but I do think that they'll have to do that thing all that work independently because it's going to take us some time to abely we can't get all five to do one task at once anyway so I think we'll probably just split them up think splitting them by topics is a good idea so somebody working on the surveys yeah that'll be part of the demand analysis right somebody in that team can maybe work on the survey piece yeah and others doing the research yeah other people are going through some of the literature and the data some other people are looking at case studies um and then we sort of have maybe more of the gis people who are maybe looking at working with some of the agencies and and getting them to make these maps and maybe they're learning how to do that a little bit I think it's discreet on that graduation thing I assume Montgomery County Public Schools has it how much money you spend every year how many kids I there's got to be a set of data other people have spent money it puts it right on the table in front of us because then you say okay well if we're sending x amount of money out of the county every year yeah right out of the box that's an important piece of inform information serving so many kids and then they should just on that alone the issues of customer satisfaction with regard to parking with regard to distance to number of people so they can bring their family you can make a pretty good that's in and of itself I assume that somebody's already done all that work yeah so some find that I can I can easily I have a meeting with t Dr Taylor next week I can ask two things I can ask for the amount of money they spent last year on graduation facilities right and then the second question that we talked about earlier was the question on um something else how many people how many people attend graduations and if they have to request some families not to bring like some sometimes they say 10 family members per kid or whatever um what's the situation there yeah well you know Latina you know I had to bring my grandma I had to bring my cousins I had to bring everybody but U so I Council if you have that information that we can um yeah I'll and send it to you guys we can um but then we can make an economic impact assumption from that data by number of bodies Matt and I can probably say if there's this many people going into DC and um there's this many people staying overnight and there's this many people eating out you can probably pretty quickly come up with an assumption on how much money leaves the county that we would bring back which be part of this pot on the table absolutely okay I'll I'll as soon as I get it I'll send it to you guys okay it almost sounds like maybe we'll have we can split the five up I mean I think it only take one person to maybe coordinate with planning and do the gis two people look into literature and data on demand and then two people getting into case studies one maybe focusing more on what different types of facilities look like and somebody getting into the costs and operations and then so doing maybe get some of the metrics on our graduation and we'll have some specific questions in there but maybe thinking about maybe bringing them up into three getting all that going and then yeah I think we've got to keep them focused right it's is you know look like you and I talked about the reality is they're college students so they have classes to go to first year it's a mix it's a mix but it's you know it's it's they're managing that right you know what I mean and so yeah they're a lot of a lot of guidance so we the goal should be for them to access what somebody else has done that's what they're good at not doing it themselves no a very doable assignment may also be having one of the students simply go look up the calendars of all the facilities in our region so for example can they get access as it published so what what what were all the events at sports and learning what were all the events at Buie Bay socks what were all the events at maybe University of Maryland they may be able to access a lot of information just from what has been published on people's calendars um and what types of events are they hosting and so that would be very interesting data to see do you have some of that Kelly it's not it's not too terribly hard to find okay we might have a platform that can do that for us I'll ask we have a we use a prospecting tool called Nolan okay I'll see if the if that platform can can accumulate that data okay that'd be awesome yeah we can still look into it yeah if not yeah it's all pretty much public information it's just grun workk and a lot of research yes so it might be easier if the platform does that yeah the last thing that we could have them do which would be interesting is if we can get them a set of um interview questions they could call some of the um the facility managers executive directors and and try to schedule an interview that's a great assignment for a college student and interview um you know the folks that run the facility if we can help them design a set of of questions um something we could consider great idea well that kind of goes back into the surve that kind of goes back into the survey aspect it's it's a different part it's actually do a question Q&A with the facility managers and just you know I yeah Adrian I think that's great that's a great idea to that point um somebody mentioned it earlier do we want to do a field trip at all like do we want to go see that was it St whatever St James in Virginia that was me um I I proposed that and and I I just told Tommy I need to schedule that day so once we have a date I'll let you know guys uh so you can join in and we can have the entrance SC if they want to as well so San James scen Springfield yeah be careful of venue Envy when you go to that place and oh man what I like that we have something like that find out if they make money they weren't to your point when they first open they were having a hard hard time very hard that is the historical evidence that those kind of places you know they do have a they have a facility also in Bethesda it's very tiny but they do have a connection in Bethesda so I'll um I want to get a tour from them so once we have the date we'll share with you guys but I hope it happens before the end of February I I had I had met the uh manager over there that but I don't know if he's still there um I met him a couple years ago um who
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