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Home My WebLink About2003-10-16 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, October 16, 2003 -- 11:30 am WALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER A. INTRODUCTION - MIKE KEMP, DIRECTOR OF SALES II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT IV. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT V. OLD BUSINESS A. FESTIVAL EXCHANGE B. LOCOMOTIVE MOVE VI. NEW BUSINESS A. MARKETING PLAN VII. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE VIII. ADJOURNMENT ti STATE OF TEXAS tre COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 16, 2003 at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Bretches Board Member Bill Brink Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Tom Smith Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ronny Nordling Grapevine Chamber Absent: Cor Kathee Livengood Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation CALL TO ORDER Don Bigbie called the meeting to order. Mr. McCallum introduced Mike Kemp, Director of Sales, who will lead the CVB sales team into the new citywide mode and increased corporate sales. Mike comes to us from the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego and before that he spent 14 years at convention properties in Hawaii. Mike stated he was glad to be here and that Grapevine was not your normal CVB but rather was entrepreneurial with a vision and is poised for the future. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the September 18th meeting was made by Bill Brink and seconded by Ev Barnes. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that construction has commenced on the limited service property in the mall area. Hyatt's renovations continue. Hyatt will host a welcome reception on October 23rd for James Keaveny, Director of Sales, who has joined their team. Butterfly Flutterby will commence at 10 a.m. tomorrow with a parade from the Depot to Liberty Park. Butterfly releases and other activities will be in Liberty Park Plaza. Joey Wilkins Golf Benefit will be November 24th with a noon start at Bear Creek and a 5:30 reception and auction at Delaney Vineyards. Sponsorships and golf spots are available. The Board of Directors Meeting (ire October 16, 2003 Page 2 of 3 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. The changes and plans for the Heritage Center in the Cotton Belt Railroad District were approved by council and the Heritage Foundation Board. There will be a permanent structure at the Gazebo for expanded farmers' market and arts and crafts sales. Sales will also be held in Weems Ally and under the portico of city hall. Preliminary drawings for the addition to the Founders Building are complete. Thomas the Tank was a great success with total attendance at 21,500. Ridership on the train was 18,972. Gross food sales were in excess of$40,000 and gross merchandise sales were in excess of$150,000. There was a lot of feedback from restaurants and businesses that they had increased business from the event. People attended from all over Texas, as well as, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, New Mexico, and Arizona. Tom Smith shared photos of the model room for the Grand Hyatt and photos of the renovation on the Hyatt Regency DFW. The Grand Hyatt is a 56 million-dollar project and the renovation is a 32 million-dollar project. The name for the Coffee Bar is Jetts and the name of the Lobby Bar is Aces. The 9-11 Flight Crew Memorial is hosting a golf tournament on October 28th at Texas Star Golf Course. tioe SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos shared highlights from the month of September. The convention sales division produced 21 leads representing 27,753 potential roomnights including a Pfizer group meeting for 10,570 roomnights and is a multiple hotel group. The team assisted in closing 7 groups representing 2,860 roomnights. Staff participated in 2 site inspections and attended Affordable Meetings. Six groups representing 1,675 delegates received convention services during the month. Tourism division published five leads representing 199 attendees and 124 potential roomnights. They assisted with one definite representing 35 attendees. Staff participated in an east Texas sales mission and hosted a GrapeFest fam tour, which has produced one lead to date. September saw 10,105 visitors assisted through the Visitor Information Centers and 68,850 brochures distributed. The Convention Center booked 29 events during the month representing 12,693 attendees. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had 3,225 passengers. The train web site had 7,597 visits and the CVB web site had 7,002, the highest number for the year due to GrapeFest. Communications had $183,630 in print and $90,784 in electronic coverage. OLD BUSINESS Festival Exchange The Foley arrangements are concluded. Everything is set with our civic groups doing food and the entertainment. At this time there is approximately 100 people from Grapevine planning to participate. (119 Locomotive Move Mr. McCallum reported that all agreements are signed and the project of moving the locomotive will begin next Wednesday morning when some of the city staff will go to • The Board of Directors Meeting (1, October 16, 2003 Page 3 of 3 OLD BUSINESS cont. Locomotive Move cont. Victoria to prepare the locomotive and tender for the move. On Monday the 27th cranes will load the engine and tender which should arrive in Grapevine by October 31st NEW BUSINESS Marketing Plan Michael Woody shared the marketing plan with the board. He thanked the committee that worked on the plan. Tourism is the third largest industry for the state of Texas and second only to California for per person trips. Michael covered all the divisions of the bureau and discussed the current trends and the strategy for each. Ronny Nordling requested a synopsis of the marketing plan for an upcoming Chamber newsletter. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Mr. Brink reported that Nash Farm is having a cleanup this weekend and the Nash Farm event is next weekend. New committee members have been appointed. At their last meeting the Foundation approved an increase in the rates at the Palace for wedding tri receptions and approved the artisans' expansion at the Cotton Belt Railroad District. Chamber of Commerce Mr. Nordling reported that the Chamber delegation to Foley is approximately 15 - 20 people. There will be a Fright Fest on Ice on Oct. 27th at the Dr. Pepper Ice Center at the mall. ADJOURNMENT Ev Barnes noted that Steak Escape has opened at the Mall. There being no further business to come before the Board, Ev Barnes made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Phil Cloud. ATTEST: DATE: