Finance Committee — 4/5/2017 Page 4
Alderman Siegel
| very much support this event. I’ve spoken with Ben about it myself. It’s very good. What's the situation with
sponsorships for the event that is being sponsored by this, the first one? Do you have active sponsorship right
now?
Mr. Ruddock
It is something we are actively still working on. The difficulty of aligning sponsors to an event that hadn’t
occurred in the past is something we’re becoming very aware of. We do have a good model of success here
because the fall event, which was entirely supported by the City of Nashua and its subsidiaries last year, now
has been attached to private sponsorship. River Casino will be sponsoring that. We believe as these events
develop, it’s a lot easier to attach private sponsorship. This initial seed money helps us get off the ground.
Director Cummings
That is the exact business model we are looking at for this particular endeavor. It is the expectation that this
will become self-sufficient as it moves forwarded after we have succeeded this first round.
Alderman Clemons
That was discussed at the downtown improvement committee and that was part of the expectation. We're
hoping this is a really successful event and draws a lot of interest, and | think it will. I’m looking forward to it. |
certainly encouraged the Downtown Improvement Committee to put this money forth for this event, and | think
it will be money well spent.
Alderman O’Brien
| would like to thank these gentlemen for bringing this forward, working on this. | love the stroll. Everything
you have done has enhanced the quality of life here in Nashua. | see this as another great venue. | will be
there, and | really look forward to this and the ones in the future.
Alderman Caron
| think this is a great thing to do downtown. You show one performer for $7,000 or is that more than one
performer for $7,000? You have a $7,000 talent budget.
Mr. Ruddock
That’s the main stage. The highest payment on a performer is $2,000. They are pretty substantial act,
Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams. They are from Sleepy Hollow, New York. It’s a pretty
substantial travel budget for a 7-piece band, and they are pretty established in the area. They have been
playing for over a decade. We're confident they are going to draw several hundred just on their own.
Alderman Caron
You said you have a date in July. Now| love this, but there’s a long time SummerFun program. Have you
worked with them? | know in the past SummerFun has done events downtown, like during lunchtime to draw
people in or later at night around suppertime. Have you been working with them at all to make sure you don’t
conflict with especially a summertime date?
