Starting Monday, city staff and consulting firm Destination Development Inc. are asking community members to help them figure out Sparks’ unique identity.

As they move forward with the task, the city will be hosting a series of workshops that will ask for community input. The first workshop starts Monday at 7 p.m. in the Poolside Terrace meeting room at John Ascuaga’s Nugget.

“What we are really trying to achieve is to establish our own identity, whatever that may be,” said city spokesman Adam Mayberry. “We want this to be a process with unbiased input feedback.”

Monday’s meeting will be followed by a week of workshops and feedback sessions, ending on Thursday with Destination Development’s professional commentary on the community’s “branding” ideas. The week’s worth of input will then make a reappearance in February as an action plan for establishing Sparks’ identity in the tourism market.

“It will basically say here is your direction and here is how you will get there,” said Vicky Soderberg, workshop manager for Destination Development. “People don’t usually get that to-do list. They don’t get from the consultant … here is the suggestion and here is how to accomplish it.”

Funding for the branding campaign is coming from Sparks’ allotted share of room tax revenues, Mayberry said. The city of Sparks contracted with Destination Development Inc. for an initial branding assessment in October and then again for this week’s workshop series and the final branding action plan. The total contract will cost the city $126,000 of the $378,000 it expects to receive in room tax revenue for this fiscal year.

“The goal is just to give Sparks an identity so that when people are coming to Sparks they have an image or a concept,” Soderberg said.

According to Mayberry, the city and Destination Development have met with “key players” in the Sparks tourism industry for their input on the Sparks brand including RED Development, John Ascuaga’s Nugget and the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.

The mission of the Sparks branding effort is distinct from that of the RSCVA, Mayberry said. He added that the RSCVA will continue to promote the area nationally and internationally while the development of a Sparks-specific brand will help the area stand out regionally. In August, the Sparks City Council moved forward with a legislative request that could potentially keep all future room tax revenues within the city’s coffers rather than giving them to the RSCVA. The convention authority is charged by state law with the collection, use and redistribution of all area room tax revenues.

In October, representatives from Destination Development came to Sparks to “secret shop” the area and gauge its strengths and weaknesses. That assessment included interviews with representatives from the area’s tourism stakeholders, including the RSCVA. The assessment of the area became the first step in Sparks’ quest for its own brand.

According to Soderberg, their preliminary assessment found a blank canvass with a special potential in Victorian Square.

“They have a great stage to work with (in Victorian Square) it’s just that we need to create the activity, the play, the vibrant community essence ...” Soderberg said.

The October branding assessment pinpointed a lack of way-finding signs as a major tourism weakness in the area and cited attractions such as Red Hawk Golf Club, Scheels, the Sparks Marina and Golden Eagle Regional Park as area strengths.

“There are a lot of great assets in the community,” Soderberg said, adding criteria for some improvements that could be made to strengthen Sparks tourism and the city’s brand. “Golden Eagle is a great park, but it is physically disconnected from the restaurants and the lodging for the people who come to it. That is as simple as putting a kiosk up there and giving them the information about what else is available downtown. You have got all of these people coming for conferences at the Nugget. And one of the things that attracts conferences is the places that people can go between to take a break.”

Soderberg explained that the goal for the week is not a catchy phrase or a graphic.

“We will start out with a presentation on what branding is,” Soderberg said. “It is not a slogan or a logo. The brand itself is the perception that people have of your community. The slogan and the logo support the brand, but it is not the brand.”

She compared the finished product to a perception that people have of Las Vegas, associating it with the “Sin City” concept.

“We know that Sparks will not be another Vegas,” Soderberg said, “but that is the basic concept.”

The city is encouraging residents to give their input at the following meetings:

Tuesday from 5-7 p.m. at the Larry D. Johnson Community Center, Sierra Room, 1200 12th St. The meeting will be a community review of ideas from previous night’s meeting and provide the Destination Development team with additional information and feedback.

Thursday from 7-9 p.m. at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, Poolside Terrace meeting room. This will be a brand direction workshop where Destination Development will present the preferred branding plan to the community for final feedback and review.

Additional open workshops: Nov. 18 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Nov. 19 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Nov. 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Larry D. Johnson Community Center, Sierra Room, 1200 12th St.