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Home My WebLink About1995-02-24 Regular Meeting al 111 CE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1995 11:30 A.M. I AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER I II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM JANUARY 19, 1995 MEETING III. OLD BUSINESS 111 A. PROGRESS REPORT PKF STUDY B. OTHER I IV. NEW BUSINESS A. INTERPRETIVE VISITOR CENTER B. OTHER V. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT • VI. EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REPORT VII. ADJOURNMENT I IC` I I I I STATE OF TEXAS 4111 °, COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Friday, February 24, 1995 at the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau, One Liberty Park Plaza, Grapevine, Texas at 11:30 a.m. with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Warren Dearing Board Member Nancy Reams Board Member Bruce Crouch Board Member Gary Blagg Board Member Dave Givens Board Member C. Shane Wilbanks Council Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Fran Fairchild Dir. of Marketing & Sales George Kakos DFW Hilton Exec. Conf. Center Absent: Phil Parker Board Member Peggy Britt Board Member Greg Saunders Board Member Trent Petty City Manager CALL TO ORDER Don Bigbie, Chairman, called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the January 19th board meeting was made by Warren Dearing; seconded by Nancy Reams. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS PKF Study: The contract has been signed with PKF. The two principles who will be working on the contract have spent a day in Grapevine with Mr. McCallum, Tommy Hardy and Fran Fairchild. They have done a site inspection of Grapevine, the two hotels in Grapevine, the competitive hotels in the area, the Historic District, the relationship of the Airport to downtown and to the Hilton. A report is due to be presented to the board and council in June. I If° Board of Directors Meeting February 24, 1995 Page 2 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. Liberty Park Plaza: The original concept was for a grade level fountain to emulate a spring that would be able to be covered over for alternate uses at festival time. Research has shown there to be some disadvantages to this concept and further drawings were completed. Mr. McCallum shared these drawings of 3 possible alternatives; 1) a millstone; 2) a stair step; and 3) a pedestal style. Mr. McCallum asked for the board's input. Discussion followed regarding the flat fountain vs. the pedestal style, it's cost and size. Since the flat fountain would have an entry feature with it the cost was about the same for each type. Mr. McCallum explained that reliefs, relating a story of the history of Grapevine, could be placed on the four sides of the pedestal. The board was supportive of changing the concept from a spring to a pedestal style. NEW BUSINESS Interpretive Visitor Center: Prior to the 1988 the hotels were known as airport hotels and had 111 little weekend/summer business. At that time we began to create Grapevine as a destination and to sell to the SMERF market. Steps were also taken to protect Grapevine from having an eroding inner city and being walled in by the businesses on 114. We do not want people to come for a single experience on 114 and then go home; we want to pull them into the downtown area. At this time we are driving the wine industry and creating a destination where people will come and spend a couple of days. By the year 2000, 185,000 vehicles will drive through Grapevine on the highways. We need a significant visitor interpretive center on the highway loop to get people in the area to stop. People need to be able to see all the elements of Grapevine at the center to get them to spend time here. Mr. McCallum described the Sonoma County Visitor Center and resulting influence it has on tourism and overnight stays in that area. He discussed the desire to make Grapevine an adult destination of choice with vineyards, /11 galleries and quality shops. The "Baby Boom" generation which turns 50 this year is 86,000,000 strong and our target market. If the board approves the concept of a visitor interpretive center the idea would go on a council workshop agenda and be followed by a visioning involving the council and community similar to what was done five years ago when the Wallis was developed. Mr. Bigbie, asked the board to be prepared to share their thoughts on this concept at the next board meeting. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Chicago Promotion: Fran Fairchild thanked the board participants of the Chicago Promotion for their time and talent. Their attendance always has a positive impact on the customers. where were 99% new clients, 46 sales calls made, 2 hot leads for the hotels generated, 5 leads for the Convention Center, 21 potential programs identified, and 15 qualified candidates for a FAM program. 011 4 Board of Directors Meeting February 24, 1995 Page 3 of 4 111 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Tourism: The format for the Chicago promotion centered on the wine industry and this vineyard pi theme is being carried over to the Texas Travel Counselors Conference which we will participate in in April. From the Lone Star Travel Exchange that we participated in last October a pairing was made between Dan Dipert Tours and the Dorris House Cafe resulting in Grapevine now Pi being a day destination for Dan Dipert Tours. We will help host the Korean Airlines FAM trip in March. j Festivals: American Express has signed on as a long term sponsor for the festivals. Among other things they will be doing an insert in the AMEX bills. Trencor and Edward D. Jones are new sponsors for Main Street Days and the Fort Worth Star Telegram has increased its sponsorship. We are seeking national press coverage for New Vintage Festival. The Wine Enthusiast will write a story about the New Vintage Festival for their April issue. We hope to secure them as a national sponsor. iiiMr. Bigbie asked Mr. Kakos for the hotel's response to the Chicago promotion. Mr. Kakos was very impressed with both functions. The suburbs worked well for their hotel and the downtown setting could not have been better. They were very pleased to be a part of it. iiiSeveral board members expressed their appreciation for the excellent job Fran has done. IEXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REPORT Mr. McCallum expressed his thanks and appreciation to the board members for their assistance /01 at the Chicago Promotion. He thanked Shane Wilbanks for going the extra mile for having to travel through Atlanta to get to Chicago. iii Mr. McCallum introduced Lee Youngblood, our new accountant, to the board. She has a B.S. degree from Austin College in Sherman and is currently working on her masters. She comes to us from Westchester Homes and has hotel experience. ii . Mr. McCallum showed the video of the Robin Leach program and the press coverage from the Delaney Vineyards Ground Breaking and GrapeFest. He also shared comments on the Texas iii Tourism Unity Dinner held this week in Austin. While in Austin the Grapevine contingency visited our legislators and encouraged them to send money back into tourism. 111 At this time Mr. McCallum reported that the Texas Tourism Coalition has asked the bureaus for funding. Warren Dearing made a motion that the Grapevine CVB make a $500 contribution to ill I Board of Directors Meeting February 24, 1995 Page 4 of 4 EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS REPORT cont. the Texas Tourism Coalition. Motion was seconded by Gary Blagg and carried. The Lake Cities Community Band has turned in their follow-up report on their grants-in-aid. The office is undergoing modification to accommodate our growth. Lastly, Mr. McCallum reported that Ron Emrich will be leaving us in March to assume preservation duties for the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois. Ron will be greatly missed. ADJOURNMENT Bruce Crouch made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Motion was seconded by Warren Dearing; motion carried. 101 Attest Date ,?-09.39C