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Home My WebLink About2006-03-23 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, March 23, 2006 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IV. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT V. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VI. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VII. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. CHICAGO SALES MISSION B. NEW YORK SALES MISSION C. AUSTIN SALES MISSION D. BANK TRAVEL E. ITB — BERLIN F. CONSUMER/LEISURE SHOWS VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. GRAPEVINE MARKET OPENING REPORT IX. NEW BUSINESS A. MARKETING COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS X. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON XI. ADJOURNMENT C (we State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Brink Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Ron Stacy Chamber Liaison Bruno Rumbelow City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation Steve Haddad Chair of 2007 ABA ABSENT Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order and introduced Steve Haddad, the chair of the 2007 American Bus Association Marketplace Meeting. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Mr. McCallum introduced new staff members to the board. Ana Canada, Accountant; Bruce Dalton, Director of Sales; Barry Lewis, Director of Marketing; and Ross Bannister, Director of Heritage Programs and Preservation. Mr. Bigbie welcomed the new members on behalf of the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the February 16th meeting was made by Phil Cloud and seconded by Ev Barnes. Motion carried. (re HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT • Tarrant Area Guild of Story Tellers has submitted their follow up report on the Tales by the Rails, Stories Under the Stars and Nash Farm programs. The Board of Directors Meeting March 23, 2006 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • Staff received a thank you letter from Travelers Aid for the assist with their Second Annual Chocolate Festival the end of February. • There are 2 new hotel properties: Residence Inn by Marriott scheduled to open winter 2006-2007 adjacent to Bass Pro Shops and Whataburger will have 133 rooms and Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to Holiday Inn Express will have 110 rooms and is scheduled to open Spring 2007. • Hyatt Regency DFW will begin the remodel of their guestrooms on June 1st • Hampton Inn will be making improvements to their guestrooms with an upgrade on all hotel bedding. • Fairfield Inn & Suites are moving their corporate headquarters to Dallas. The Grapevine property will become a "training" hotel. • Gaylord Texan will kick off"SummerFest" with a "Texas Musicians" program on Memorial Day weekend. • Lazy Bones opened Monday in the old Ravioli's. They are serving hamburgers, ribs, etc. • Flips is now open serving hamburgers etc. This is a prototype restaurant. • Texas Indoor Golf is scheduled to open in the next couple of weeks. They are located next to Spring Hill Suites. • Uncle Julio's has made a Conditional Use Request. They are a 377-seat restaurant located in the former Movies 8 building. • A French bistro is opening April 1st in the former Espresso Etc. location on Main Street. • Biker's Alley is open on Main Street and sells motorcycle clothing and accessories. • Zack & Zoe's is now open on Main Street by Weinbergers and sells upscale pet accessories. • Nike Discounting Store is opening at Grapevine Mills mall at the former Just for Feet location. • New Vintage is April 7 — 8. The Jazz Wine Train is sold out. • Gourmet Concepts has sold the business. • Fit After Fifty Fitness Center is opening in Grapevine on March 25 on Hall Johnson Road. • We will host an intern from our Sister City, Parras, from mid April until the end of July. Victor Manuel Viera Hernandez. We are looking for host homes for his stay. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that revenues are 46% above where they were a year ago. Based on the strength of where we are now we'll be able to move forward on the restoration of the coaches. Cr• The Board of Directors Meeting March 23, 2006 Page 3 of 4 HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the 2006 Preservation Advocacy awards would be announced before Main Street Days. Plans for Nash farmhouse restoration of the learning center, kitchen and intern quarters were reviewed by David Klempin and final architectural direction was given to Marcel Quimby. Staff is determining the appropriate windmill selection for the Nash farm after a visit to the Windmill Museum in Lubbock. $5,623 was pledged in the month for the Nash farm Capital Campaign. Staff participated in a two-part grant writing seminar. The Palace Theatre hosted 32 events with 5,236 attendees and 62 volunteer hours. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of February that the convention sales division produced 31 leads representing 20,740 potential room nights. The team assisted with 9 definite groups representing 7,093 room nights. The Chicago Sales Mission was on February 13 — 17. Staff made 15 calls. The New York Sales Mission was last week and this year we sponsored a breakfast on March 17th for meeting planners so as not to conflict with the Hilton program. This format seemed to work very well. The Austin Sales Mission included the Texas Society of Association Executives' Southwest Showcase Tradeshow. Staff has produced 5 leads representing 2,195 room nights and expects another 9 leads within the next 30 days. 22 clients came by the booth. Tourism sales produced nine leads representing a potential 845 room nights. Staff assisted with five definite groups representing 630 room nights and 650 attendees. At Bank Travel in Mobile Heather had 42 two-minute appointments with planners from all across the U.S. Staff participated along with the State of Texas in their booth at ITB in Berlin, Germany. Staff participated in several Consumer/Leisure Shows including ABA Marketplace in Nashville where we had 58 appointments, The Wichita Sales Mission and Kansas Sport, Boat and Travel Show where approximately 300 visitors came by the booth, the San Antonio Home & Garden Show where 500 visitors came by the booth and the GLAMER Show with 38 contacts. Destination Services assisted seven groups representing 11,515 delegates. During the month 90,477 brochures were distributed and 5,595 guests visited our Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 45 groups representing 8,087 attendees. The Center had another strong in-house catering month with $24,099. Visits to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad website totaled 23,437 unique visitors and visits to the general site totaled 31,830 unique visitors. Public Relations generated $53,680 in print and $19,344 in electronic media coverage. OLD BUSINESS Grapevine Market Opening Report Saturday kicked off the Second Annual Grapevine Market. It will continue on Thursdays and Saturdays through November. The kick off event was a Dapper Doggie Fashion Show with approximately 30 dogs and 20 handlers. 46 vendors participated. The Board of Directors Meeting March 23, 2006 Page 4 of 4 NEW BUSINESS Marketing Committee Appointments Mr. Bigbie appointed Kathee Livengood, Ev Barnes and Steve Stinson to serve on this year's marketing committee. Steve Stinson will serve as chair. REPORTS Chamber of Commerce Ron Stacy reported that the Chamber Banquet is next week and they are expecting a sell out attendance of 360. Linda Oliver is chair of this year's banquet. ADJOURNMENT Don Bigbie thanked Ron Stacy for his participation on the board. Steve Haddad thanked Grapevine for the hospitality shown his group this past week. He recognized Heather Kisabeth for moving the planning for the 2007 meeting ahead of schedule. There being no further business to come before the board; Bill Brink made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. (kw ATTEST: DATE: C