Memorandum

City of Lawrence

Parks & Recreation Department

DATE:           October 16, 2013

TO:              Dave Corliss, City Manager,

Cynthia Wagner, Assistant City Manager

                             Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager

                   Ernie Shaw, Interim Director Parks & Recreation

FROM:          Roger Steinbrock, Marketing Supervisor, Parks and Recreation

RE:               Winter/Spring Activity Guide 2014  

Please include the following item on the next available City Commission agenda:

Approve cost of 2014 Winter/Spring Activities Guide with the Lawrence Journal World

• Project/Item Description.  Layout, Design, billing advertisers, printing and distribution of bi-annual activity guide listing classes and programs for the Parks and Recreation Department

Project Description/History.  The production of the 2014 Winter/Spring Activities Guide has concluded and it will be printed and distributed by/through the Lawrence-Journal World.  It will be in the Sunday, November 3, edition of the paper. We continue to use the Journal-World to deliver our activities guides to the public because of the additional costs we would incur if we were to pay for distributing it to households within the community.

We print 41,000 copies of the brochure with approximately 18,000 copies distributed through the newspaper to households. Additional households that do not take the Journal-World are reached through the River City Weekly, which is another publication of the World Company. Through that publication we are able to reach 17,000 additional households. The remainder of the guides are then distributed to other outlets in the community: our recreational facilities, the library, City Hall, community businesses, etc.

Working with the Journal-World allows us to cut delivery costs. If we were to print on our own, we would also have to look for a way to distribute it within the community with mailing being a primary option, but the cost of mailing the 72-page brochure would not be advantageous for us. Plus, the Journal-World provides us with 4-color processing on the front cover as a tradeout for advertising space on the 3 remaining pages of the 4-color spread which they sell to their clients. Because we use them for design, production and delivery, we are allowed to have third party advertisers in the guide, which offset the cost of printing.  We’ve been averaged about $1,500 consistently in ad sales revenue, which offsets the cost of the guides’ production. If we were to use another printer and distribute it through the Journal-World, we could not have third-party advertisers in the guide because of Journal-World policies. 

We continue to average our cost at $0.37 for each activities guide to be printed and distributed to the community, which is a very low cost for a guide of its size and delivery too. We continue to monitor pricing and work with the Journal-World staff to get the best price in the guide’s production, while maintaining the quality of publication from paper stock to overall design and delivery. Parks and Recreation also makes 4 pages available for other city departments to purchase space for promotion of their activities and programs.

• Project/Item Funding.  $14,413 of amount will be funded through the marketing division of the 211-4000 Recreation account. The remaining $912.00 is for an insert, funded by four (4) different city accounts through the Communications Manager’s office.

Action Request.  The Parks & Recreation Department requests approval to Proceed with Purchase Order for Lawrence Journal World, Vendor #1247 for payment of services in the amount of $15,325.