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Sarasota News Leader October 26, 2012 ganizations like the Venice Art Center, which might not have the "track record" of bigger groups. "They need help," she said, "and I think we're missing the boat by not allowing them to flour- ish like some of these other organizations." Shirley tells The Sarasota News Leader it is an issue of "perception." "We have always made extensive outreach to South County," he says. "We're always trying to reach out to as many groups as we can." But those programs must meet the same stan- dards as everyone else. "We are to ad- minister this grant for orga- nizations that at- tract tourists to Sarasota Coun- ty," he says. "Sometimes you have groups that would love to have the fund- ing, but the real- ity is the type of program is just not the type of program that at- tracts tourists." With that in mind, the Alli- ance will be pro- viding the Coun- ty Commission (and, by exten- sion, the pub- Page 37 lic) with detailed records of all its outreach efforts. Shirley tells the News Leader the Al- liance makes "hundreds" of contacts each week, and that from now on, the group will "be keeping a literal tracking" of all those. "It will be easier for people to see what is taking place," Shirley says. "One of the new requirements to show that there's support for new applicants and sup- port for South County applicants is the re- cording of some of the contacts," Robinson said at Wednesday's meeting. "How will you be doing that?" "We've all received agreed-upon reporting pro- cedures that were instituted this year," Shir- ley told Robin- son, adding that the information will be delivered monthly, "on a live time basis." Shirley tells the News Leader the goal is "mak- ing people more aware of the ac- tivity," and that the change is not a significant departure from past practices. "There aren't many major dra- matic changes," he says. The county's cable access channel shows Arts and Cul- tural Alliance Executive Director Jim Shirley address- ing the County Commission and the Tourist Develop- ment Council as he speaks. Photo by Norman Schimmel "They've been adjustments."