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Home My WebLink About2003-09-18 Regular Meeting (11.0CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, September 18, 2003 -- 11:30 am WALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT IV. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT V. OLD BUSINESS A. GRAPEFEST REPORT B. LOCOMOTIVE 771 UPDATE C. B. R. WALL SCULPTURE VI. NEW BUSINESS A. MEETING DATES - 2003-2004 B. FARMERS MARKET VII. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE VIII. ADJOURNMENT tie STATE OF TEXAS tirf COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, September 18, 2003 at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Bill Brink Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member Kathee Livengood 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 Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Ronny Nordling Grapevine Chamber Absent: Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Bretches Board Member CALL TO ORDER Don Bigbie called the meeting to order and recognized Melva Stanfield, Chairman of the Heritage Foundation Board. Melva thanked the board, staff, and Gayle Hall for the fabulous GrapeFest. She commented that she has worked gates since we started charging and that the South Gate had never been so busy. At one point they set up temporary ticket booths in the middle of the street and that everyone pulled together to alleviate the strain on the gates. Mr. McCallum introduced Gretchen Voight, an intern from Stephen F. Austin who will receive a degree in hospitality management in December. Don Bigbie welcomed Gretchen on behalf of the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the August 21st meeting was made by Bill Brink and seconded by Kathee Livengood. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that the last limited service property will be the Comfort Suites with 97 rooms. The five-story hotel will be east of International Parkway near the (ir Hampton Inn. The renovations and addition to the Hyatt have created a sense of entering a new property. The contractors are turning over 175 rooms per month to Gaylord Opryland Texas and construction is three to six weeks ahead of schedule. The Board of Directors Meeting (lw September 18, 2003 Page 2 of 3 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos shared highlights from the month of August. The convention sales division produced 16 leads representing 17,023 potential roomnights and assisted in closing 6 groups representing 3,758 roomnights. Staff participated in 2 site inspections. Four groups representing 1,810 delegates received convention services during the month. Tourism division published two leads representing 114 potential roomnights. They assisted with two definites representing 80 roomnights and 120 attendees and participated in 2 site inspections. Staff participated in the Kaleo trade show and hosted a GrapeFest fam tour. July saw 16,350 visitors assisted through the Visitor Information Centers and 220,030 brochures distributed. The Convention Center booked 46 events during the month representing 12,310 attendees. Revenue for the first eleven months of the year is $455,417. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had 3,439 passengers. The train web site had 7,534 visits and the CVB web site had 3,208. Communications had $136,468 in print coverage. Mr. Kakos shared the success of Affordable Meetings, as well as, the fam tours over GrapeFest. The government per diem has been raised from $77 to $112 which is the highest in the state. OLD BUSINESS GrapeFest Report (ir Don Bigbie recognized the "festival diva," Gayle Hall. Mr. McCallum reported that the festival was extremely well organized and that Gayle, and her assistant, Laurie Hasty, were very instrumental in the planning. Kyle Conway had a strong role with sponsorships and entertainment. Despite the early rains, Friday night was as good a Friday as ever. Saturday was the biggest day we have ever had. All of the individual elements of the festival ran very well. Ms. Hall thanked everyone for the praise but stated it was a team effort by volunteers, CVB staff, civic clubs, city departments, Dirty Dozen and many others. She thanked the board for their support. Locomotive 771 Update Mr. McCallum reported that all of the bids are in however they are based on moving the engine by rail. This has shown to be too costly and too time consuming so the job is being rebid to bring it in by road. It is tentatively scheduled to be here the third week in October. The spur where the engine will be located is nearing completion. The recently acquired 1957 GP-7 diesel engine is here. This engine had a major rebuild in 1959 and is tentatively scheduled to make her debut by February 2004. October 9 - 13 are the dates for Thomas the Tank to be in Grapevine. This event is being hosted by the Age of Steam. To date 11,000 tickets have been sold. They can handle 24,000 passengers during the event. B.R. Wall Sculpture Mr. McCallum reported that B. R. Wall served as Mayor of Grapevine for 24 years over a 40-year period. He brought the cannery and icehouse to Grapevine. He was „,► instrumental in seeing Grapevine through the Depression years. He was the founder of the Grapevine Sun. He will be the first person to be honored "by name” in the Grapevine Public Art program. The statue will be located by the flagpole at City Hall. The Board of Directors Meeting September 18, 2003 Page 3 of 3 OLD BUSINESS cont. B.R. Wall Sculpture cont. We will have funds in the new budget year to move forward with the project and will take it to a Council workshop. A proposal has been made to the Heritage Foundation Board regarding a foundry at the Heritage Center Complex. Archie St. Clair, resident bronze worker, will do the statue. Archie has pieces at the Stockman's Hall of Fame in Australia and at Disneyland. Mr. McCallum shared several photos of his work. Kathee Livengood made a motion to support the B. R. Wall statue and Archie St. Clair as artist on the project and to proceed to Council with the project. Paul Slechta seconded. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Meeting Dates - 2003-2004 Mr. Bigbie presented the calendar for 2003-2004, which was approved as printed by consensus. Farmers Market Mr. McCallum reported that the Farmers Market was brought to town 13 years ago. It is Cov now under consideration to relocate the Farmers Market to an area behind the Gazebo starting with next year's season. The plan is to create a permanent temporary structure to cover this area. Also under consideration is a plan to add handmade goods, and arts/crafts by local citizens. It was agreed by consensus of the board to bring the Farmers Market to the Gazebo and to expand it. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Ms. Stinson thanked the board for the donation to the Heritage Foundation and reported a full VIP room over the four days. On October 3 there will be a Tribute to the Beetles at the Palace. October 25 is the date for the Roundup at Nash Farm. Chamber of Commerce Ms. Freed, reporting for Ronnie Nordling, stated that the Chamber made eleven thousand dollars at GrapeFest. They have a membership appreciation on October 27th at the Dr. Pepper Star Center (formerly Polar Ice). Chamber profiles can now be accessed through the city web site. There is a ribbon cutting for Greg Jones Law Firm today at 5:30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by consensus. CO ATTEST: DATE: