Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant Background Information

      At the May 2008 meeting of the Development Committee, Members committed to developing the Nashville Sister City relationship by approving the contents of the 2008/09 Action Plan and its implementation within budget.  One of the key elements of this action plan will be the Belfast-Nashville Sister Cities’ Celebration event which is scheduled to take place in Nashville on 17 March 2009. This will feature five of Belfast’s best musicians who will perform with their counterparts from Nashville.  The event will be compered by Ralph McLean from BBC Northern Ireland.

      At the same meeting, Members voted to support Council participation in the South by Southwest (SXSW) Media Conference and Festival for 2009 and 2010.  SXSW is the premier global event focusing on the creative side of the music and entertainment business which takes place each year in Austin, Texas.  The 2009 event runs from 18–22 March 2009.  At least five artists from Belfast have been successful in their application to showcase their music at this event. 

      As with last year’s visit, it is planned that the artists will travel to Nashville and a selection of them will travel onwards to Austin.  A civic delegation comprising the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Development Committee and three officers will travel to Nashville with the artists.  Following the Nashville event, the rest of the delegation (Chair and Deputy Chair of Development Committee and three officers) will travel onwards to Austin.  In addition, the Creative Industries Officer will travel directly to Austin.

Key Issues

      A music tourism event is planned for Nashville on 17 March 2009.  Delivered by the Belfast Nashville Songwriters’ Festival, this will feature five of Belfast’s best musicians who perform with high profile singer-songwriters from Nashville.  It is a unique opportunity to launch Belfast’s Music Tourism initiatives internationally and this will be endorsed by the Nashville Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and Nashville Sister City Representatives. Arts Council NI has committed £15,500 to cover artists’ and promoters’ costs for the Nashville event.

      Tourism Ireland has been working with its offices across the United States in recent months to highlight events on 17 March and will be promoting the event to travel and music journalists.  They invited the Belfast Nashville Songwriters’ Festival to attend their travel trade showcase in Atlanta to profile the SisterCity Relationship and linkages.  They will launch and market Belfast City Council’s new music products including belfastmusic.org to promote Belfast as a vibrant European destination and the gateway to Ireland and Europe. 

      The Ulster Historical Foundation will also attend the event in Nashville on 17 March to run workshops in order to promote Scots?Irish genealogy and how to trace family history in order to profile cultural and historical links between the two cities and target the Scots-Irish community in the Southern States as potential holiday visitors.

      Media organisations within Belfast and Nashville are working in partnership to ensure maximum coverage and opportunities for live broadcasts.

      An update of the Sister City Action Plan and March event was approved by the Belfast Nashville Sister City Advisory Group (which includes representatives from the leisure and cultural sector, historical groups, genealogy associations, community development, media, educational organisations and the US Consulate) at a meeting held on 26 November 2008.

      Meanwhile, SXSW will provide an international showcasing platform for the Belfast artists invited to participate in this year’s event.  Selected artists will travel from Nashville on 18 March to attend the event while other artists will travel directly from Belfast to Austin.  They will take part in two showcase events and will also attend individual meetings with production companies, record labels and other performing artists.  The Belfast artists who participated in last year’s event generated over $450,000 of new business and the showcase events profiled Belfast as a creative city to the global entertainment industry and provided a platform for an enhanced presence at the 2009 event.

Resource Implications

      For the Nashville Sister Cities event, no additional financial commitment is required from the Committee.  A budget of £49,663 was approved by Development Committee in May 2008 to implement the Belfast Nashville 2008/09 Action Plan.  £10,350 of this budget will be required from BelfastCity Council to carry out the Sister Cities event.  This will be used towards Member, officer and artists’ travel from Belfast to Nashville and onwards to Austin.   

      Estimated costs break down as follows:

      For the SXSW event, a budget of £40,000 was approved by Development Committee in May 2008. This budget will be used towards the costs of the attendance of the Creative Industries Officer, two Belfast Showcase events, marketing, business and artist costs and exhibition and conference registration for the four officers and two Members. The indicative breakdown is as follows:

Recommendations

-     Approve the Civic Visit to Nashville of the Chair and Deputy Chair of Committee or their nominees, plus 3 officers on 15–18 March 2009 at a cost of £10,350.

-     Agree the participation at South by Southwest 2009 of Chair and Deputy Chair of Development Committee (or nominees) plus four officers from 18-23 March 2009.

Abbreviations

      SXSW   South by South West”

            During discussion in the matter, a question was raised as to whether it was necessary to send so many officers to the events.  In response, both the Chairman and the Director indicated that, based on their experience in attending this year’s events, the number of attending officers proposed in the report would be the minimum required in order to ensure that the Council benefited from participating in the events.

            The Director informed the Committee that it had been intended that the Lord Mayor would participate in the visits to both Nashville and Austin but this had not proved to be possible due to other prior engagements.  However, given that the party would be meeting the Mayors of Nashville and other American cities, she believed it would be important for the Deputy Lord Mayor to participate in the trip and requested that the recommendation within the report be amended to reflect this.

            Following discussion, the Committee adopted the recommendations and agreed also that the Deputy Lord Mayor be requested to participate in the two events.