RECAP: Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District, December 18, 2024
The Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) Events Grants and Sponsorships Program continues
Santa’s helpers arrived early on Wednesday, December 18 at the Twentynine Palms Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) meeting. Board members awarded $71,000 in funding to qualifying applicants in the first round of events grants and sponsorships for the October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025 fiscal year. The agenda packet for this meeting is linked here, and our coverage of the prior November meeting is linked here. All four board members were in attendance. While applications for the fifth TBID board member vacancy were due on November 7th, no new member has been announced.
The TBID events grants and sponsorship program is funded by a 1.5% lodging tax that is paid for by guests at Twentynine Palms hotels and other accommodations, including short-term rentals (STRs). This officially marks the second fiscal year with the grant program since its launch in early 2024.
The TBID program is divided into two categories: sponsorships and event grants. Applicants could apply for up to $3,000 for an event sponsorship, or up to $20,000 for an event grant. According to TBID Marketing Director Breanne Dusastre, TBID has $40,000 in its event sponsorship budget for this year, making up 20% of the $200,000 events and sponsorship fund total, and the remaining $160,000 is available for events grants.
Applicants were reviewed and graded by the Events Grants subcommittee, consisting of community members Audrey Philpot, Karen Ickes, City events staff member Scott Clinkscales, TBID Chair Rakesh Mehta and Vice Chair Ashton Ramsey. Grading criteria was based on a scale of 100, and applicants had to achieve a minimum score of 80 to qualify for the grant and sponsorship consideration with an emphasis on five pillars, or key themes, the TBID has prioritized for its grant distribution process—Outdoor Recreation; Arts, Culture and History; Health and Wellness; Culinary Experiences; and Astronomy.
DISCUSSION AND POTENTIAL ACTION ITEMS
TBID Sponsorship and Event Grant Program FY24-25 Round One Event Sponsorship Applications
Round one of this year’s event sponsorships consisted of seven total applicants seeking between $1,000 and $3,000 each for their event:
Projects that met the TBID 80% grading criteria and received sponsorship awards include:
Project Sheba sought $3,000 for the Desert Fringe Theatre and Cultural Arts Festival event March 14, 2025.
Friends of the Historic Plaza sought $3,000 for a Chalk Festival & Art Fair to be held on March 23, 2025.
Giant Sandbox Productions sought $1,000 for the Wonder Valley Ten Minute Play Festival to take place at The Palms, May 17-18, 2025
Sky’s The Limit Observatory and Nature Center and Joshua Tree Residential Education Experience sought $3,000 for a Full Moon Festival, April 11-12, 2025.
29 Palms Historical Society sought $2,000 for the Desert Rat Convention, April 25-26, 2025.
Projects that did not receive TBID sponsorship were Red White and Code/Jacqueline Pfister, who sought $1,675 for Children’s Sensory Day 2025, due to pending discussions with the applicant, and Ben Allanoff, who sought $3,000 for Real Magic: Improvised Music for Meditation that was set to take place in January.
Speaking from the public on events sponsorships were Susan Peplow and Eric Menendez. Peplow encouraged applicants to apply for community events grants instead of the TBID.
According to the TBID’s webpage for the program, the intent behind these sponsorship and events grants is, “Focused on increasing overnight stays, the program encourages the development of innovative tourism products, elevates the city’s brand, fosters industry collaboration, and targets key travel segments, all while emphasizing the five key destination pillars.”
The City of Twentynine Palms, on the other hand, has its own community event grant program, “aimed at showcasing the city’s vibrant culture and fostering community engagement, these grants offer support for events that celebrate Twentynine Palms’ character, diversity, and history.”1
Peplow noted that some of these events are not necessarily tourism and marketing events but instead were community events. She recommended the board not rubber stamp all the sponsorship applications but spoke positively of the participating applicants. “I do also like some of the other events, because the people putting them on are staples to our community, which I appreciate. And there's some new ideas which could be really interesting, such as the Wonder Valley Play.”
Eric Menendez expressed issues with the TBID grant and sponsorship process due to the lack of data, and speaking of the initial application deadline, which was extended by one week, called for the process to be fine-tuned:
My concern with both of these processes—for sponsorships and grants—is just simply that there's not a lot of data on the previous ones where we can have it all in a spreadsheet and have it easily to compare, to look at prior data. That's always been my concern.
Chair Mehta stated that funding for Real Magic: Improvised Music for Meditation did not meet the marketing criteria for sponsorship because the TBID is seeking to sponsor paid events with sustainability for the future. Regarding, the Children’s Sensory Day, Vice Chair Ramsey said the committee is waiting to hear back from organizer, Jacqueline Pfister.
The motion to approve was put forward by Ramsey, seconded by Uyeda, and approved 3-1. Board member Maria Madrid opposed approving the sponsorship funding stating, “I wanted to look more into this, because, like it's mentioned, I feel like we're missing out on that— getting people from outside of our community. So I want to go ahead and say no.”
Overall, $12,000 out of the $40,000 sponsorship budget was allocated at Wednesday’s meeting.
TBID Sponsorship & Event Grant Program FY24-25 Round One Event Grant Applications
As stated above, $160,000 in events grants funding is available from the TBID this fiscal year. There were six applicants for this round of grants.2 Each applicant had to submit an online application that was due November 1 that included an event plan, marketing strategy, venue agreements, and itemized budget. Score cards from subcommittee members for each event were included in the agenda packet. Again, similar to sponsorships, applicants needed to receive an average score of 80 or higher to qualify for TBID event funding:
Theatre 29 sought $20,000 for Live Theatrical Productions (second half of 2024-2025 Season) (Full funding received)
Dance Mojave, LLC sought $20,000 for The Planets, May 9-10, 2025 (Full funding received)
DESERTRADE sought $19,000 for Emotional Landscapes, May 24-25, 2025 (Full funding received)
There were three applicants that did not meet the 80% scoring requirement: Desert General, LLC sought $12,000 for a Shoot in 29 Palms Initiative, JT City Limits sought $20,000 for Other Desert Cities Fest May 2-3, 2025, and Joshua Tree Astronomy Adventures sought $20,000 for Twentynine Palms Popcorns: A Drive-In Film Fest May 8-10, 2025.
Speaking from the public on the events grants were Susan Peplow, Eric Menendez, Audrey Philpot, and Caitlin Gill.
Menendez addressed subcommittee comments on the Shoot in 29 Palms Initiative and says he is working with the applicant Patrick Zuchowicki and forming a Joshua Tree Gateway Communities Passport Gazette. “Patrick did such a great job with this, I do see the potential. I hope we're not going to just automatically exclude him.” The Passport Gazette will be a publication, and sample pamphlets were available at the meeting.
Only four of five subcommittee score cards were included in the agenda packet for the Shoot in 29 Palms filming initiative, which seeks to promote television and film productions by inviting producers to tour film locations, meet with local production crews and hirable talent, and “discover the unique advantages the city and its surroundings offer for filmmakers, producers, and screenwriters.”3 One subcommittee member gave the event a score of 35 out of 100, writing in the comment section:
After reviewing the proposal, the score reflects a number of key considerations. While the initiative has significant potential for long-term economic growth and tourism exposure, it does not appear to provide an immediate increase in local tourism or revenue for the city within this fiscal year. The focus seems to be more on marketing and outreach to the film industry, rather than directly engaging the local community or providing entertainment for residents. Additionally, the initiative lacks clear strategies for inclusivity, particularly in engaging a broad demographic beyond industry professionals, which limits its immediate appeal to a diverse audience.
Another subcommittee member simply wrote, “This is not an event,” under the comments section of the grading criteria. A third subcommittee member, however, gave the film initiative a score of 90 out of 100, and spoke highly of the long-term impact the event could have in Twentynine Palms.
Audrey Philpot, who served on the grant and sponsorship subcommittee, addressed the TBID board and expressed her desire to hear from the applicants at the meeting.
I do hope to hear from the applicants, and it would be great if we could have public comments after the applicants speak about their proposals, because I am aware that you have had conversations with them, and they've made some adjustments to their plans, and that should be taken into consideration. Thank you.
During prior cycles of TBID events grants and sponsorships, the Board allowed applicants to present their event proposals, which sometimes resulted in marathon meetings. Perhaps for the sake of brevity, applicants were not given opportunity to present at the meeting during this latest grant distribution round.
Caitlin Gill, of Joshua Tree Astronomy Adventures, and applicant for 29 Popcorns, clarified some subcommittee comments on the event proposal set to take place at Smith’s Ranch Drive-in:
It is co-produced by Mike Plante, who's worked with the Sundance Film Festival for more than 20 years and is currently the director of their short film program. He's doing the programming for us, targeting films that will drop people in from larger cities that don't have the opportunity to do something like what we can do at Smith's Ranch. So targeting San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, specifically. It is a three-night event. So I just wanted to offer a little clarity on our quirky little name and what our intention is and why specifically we chose the drive in, but we're certainly open to utilizing and partnering with other community resources.
Closing public comment and opening board member discussion on the topic was Chair Mehta who broke the news that two applicants did not meet the minimum score of 80 to receive the TBID grant—29 Popcorns and Shoot in 29 Palms.
At this point, I am sorry to say that we have two applicants that did not score the minimum required, which is the 80%. Both of them, great ideas, great suggestions— I would definitely like for them to reconsider for the second turnaround that we're going to have from June to December, because the events are phenomenal.
Also failing to meet the subcommittee’s criteria was the Other Desert Cities Fest proposed by JT City Limits. Mehta stated,
Jam 29, Other Desert Cities Fest…you guys definitely scored really well. However, the subcommittee recommends that it could be well suited as a sponsorship rather than an event that would, you know, warrant us to grant the $20,000 funding. So at this point, unfortunately, we would not be able to unless it's a sponsorship for $3,000.
Speaking on the 29 Jams and Other Desert Cities Fest, Vice Chair Ramsey stated:
What we saw last year, which isn't totally fair to them — they had an event in July —the attendance was very low. And so not only are we looking for events that can attract high attendance, but we're looking for also attendees that are from outside of the desert.
Ramsey’s statement highlights the need for accountability and data about past events. Approved 4-0. Overall, three events were fully funded to the tune of $59,000.
City Manager Update
In a City Manager update, H. Stone James commended Marketing Director Dusastre for her outreach efforts and also highlighted the recent 29 Palms Rock Rumble Royale that took place at Freedom Plaza and Joshua Tree National Park last week, an event hosted by Joshua Tree Cliffhanger Guides that garnered dozens of participants from both the local and national rock-climbing community.
FUTURE BOARD MEMBER INITIATED ITEMS
Chair Rakesh Mehta proposed that the TBID Board move from an annual City Council reauthorization process to a five-year cycle. The TBID Board previously attempted this in 2023 and failed after being met with considerable pushback from the public, TBID stakeholders, such as STR and hotel owners and City Council. This prompted further scrutiny and lead to the Council’s failure to renew the TBID, a move that was reversed a week later, with Council adding a mandate that the TBID dedicate $200,000 for tourism and community event production. This year’s TBID reauthorization process was far less contentious.
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Due to the withdrawal of Joshua Tree National Park Association’s “Power of She: Women In Conservation” grant application for $11,195.
Anyone can organize an event especially if they have grants to fund them. It is not their money so if does not matter to them if it makes a profit. Anyone applying for a grant should also include a plan on how they will promote it and where. Getting people to any event is the hardest part. The fact that we live in Twentynine Palms and never hear about any of these events shows that organizers are failing at getting the word out.