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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-08-17 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, August 17, 2006— 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. SWEARING IN OF BOARD MEMBERS III. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES V. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT VI. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VII. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VIII. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. HSMAI AFFORDABLE MEETINGS WEST B. MPI-WEC IX. OLD BUSINESS A. NAME CHANGE FOR CHRISTMAS TRAIN X. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUEST B. GRAPEFEST XI. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON XII. ADJOURNMENT IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THIS SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING AND YOU HAVE A DISABILITY THAT REQUIRES SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS AT THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU AT (817) 410-3185 AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS WILL BE MADE TO ASSIST YOUR NEEDS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, CHAPTER 551.001 et seq, ACTS OF THE 1993 TEXAS LEGISLATURE, THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU ADVISORY BOARD MEETING AGENDA WAS PREPARED AND POSTED ON THIS THE 9TH DAY OF AUGUST 2006 AT 5:00 P.M. L Eloise Koehn Budget and Bureau Administrative Manager State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, August 17, 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 Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Mike Lease Chamber Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT John Imaizumi Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. OATH OF OFFICE Linda Huff administered the oath of office to returning board members, Don Bigbie, Phil Cloud, Bill Brink, and Paul Slechta. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Mr. McCallum introduced new staff members, Ashlee Van Blarcom, Jean Buchana, Paul Corliss and Hank Henning to the board. Mr. Bigbie welcomed them on behalf of the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the June 15th meeting was made by Bill Brink and seconded by Kathee Livengood. Motion carried. Board of Directors Meeting August 17, 2006 Page 2 of 6 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT • Embassy Suites Outdoor World - Renovation of the Ballroom coming this December. • New features at the Grand Hyatt DFW include The Epicurean Studio and Urban Spa. Hosted the first epicurean group this past weekend. • The Hyatt Regency DFW is looking for sales manager for local/corporate market and SMERF market. • They will start a renovation of sleeping rooms - possibly as early as this fall. • Gaylord Texan - Glass Cactus- 40,000 S.F. and will accommodate 1,500 people (this includes the outside decks). • Opening event is September 7 and September 8 will open to the public. • Hilton DFW Lakes - Lisa Carpenter is the new Director of Sales. She comes to the Hilton from the Wyndham Dallas North where she worked the last seven years. Gretta Thurston is now the Director of Marketing. • SpringHill Suites — new general manager is Jason Streich. • Beginning October 1st, 2006, North America Marriott properties will be "smoke- free" properties. • Hampton Inn & Suites will undergo some renovations. The property is being purchased by a Louisiana company • Certificates of Occupancy Rick Rack Market— retail — 336 S. Main Napoli's Villa — catering banquet room — 106 E. Texas Blue Agave — restaurant—413 S. Main The Shoppe on Main Street— coffee shop — 603 S. Man Taqueria el Gordo — deli — 3125 Ira E. Woods Woodward Skateparks — retail/skate park — 3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway Edible Arrangements — edible bouquets — 124 N. Main St. Whata Grill — restaurant— 2100 W. Northwest Hwy Wings, Pizza 'N Things — restaurant— 1208 Wm. D. Tate Home Decor Outlet— retail — 3000 Grapevine Mills Parkway • Kudos to the sales and convention services staff form Mentor Graphics, which held their convention in Grapevine recently. Board of Directors Meeting Cs* August 17, 2006 Page 3 of 6 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • ABA update included: Attendance — while housing opened July 17th with a total room block of 10,997, to date 8,657 rooms or 78% of the block is sold. Sponsorship - have raised $97,000 in sponsorships from Texas attractions and CVBs with total sponsorship raised of $347,000. Fam Tours and sightseeing tours are all filling rapidly. The Evening in Texas Event will highlight seven regions of Texas and be hosted at Lone Star Park, January 31, 2007. Grapevine Wine Trail — Foundation Fundraiser has 71 people currently signed up for the Saturday, January 27. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the railroad had 9,812 passengers during the months of June and July and hosted 587 riders on the June Peanut Run and 256 on the July Peanut Run. Mr. McCallum reported that next Tuesday night the Dart Board is set to approve the Grapevine Vintage Railroad trackage rights and with this approval, we will become our own railroad on September 1. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported that the first Porch Party was a huge success with over 50 people in attendance. This program was established to bring identity to residential historic district neighborhoods. Two additional Porch Parties are planned for this summer. The Dallas Morning News ran an article with photos on the front page of the Metro section. Two new programs include a holiday lighting contest for residents of the historic district and a March 3rd Candlelight tour of homes. Staff is looking to have five homes on the tour. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of June that the convention sales division produced 18 leads representing 15,099 potential room nights. The team assisted with ten definite groups representing 8,225 room nights. Staff conducted three site inspections and attended HSMAI Affordable Meetings West in California where 43 planners visited the trade show booth and an additional four sales calls were made while in the area. Staff The Board of Directors Meeting 4111w August 17, 2006 Page 4 of 6 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. also participated in Professional Convention Management Association in Austin with ten contacts. Grapevine was a hole sponsor for Texas Society of Association Executives Annual Golf Tournament. Tourism sales staff generated 43 leads representing 2,300 potential room nights. They assisted with 34 definites representing 1,240 potential attendees and conducted three site inspections. Staff conducted a sales mission to Little Rock and attended the Travel Alliance Partners Conference and met with 32 top travel operators from the U.S. and Canada. Destination Services provided registration services to 17 convention groups representing 22,285 attendees at seven different properties. During the month 77,205 brochures were distributed and 17,499 visitors were welcomed at the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 35 events representing 4,289 attendees. They have surpassed their catering goal by $23,000. Visits to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad website totaled 28,177 unique visitors and visits to the general site totaled 43,751 unique visitors. Public Relations generated $49,934 in print and $20,516 in electronic media coverage. Mr. Kakos also reported for the month of July that the convention sales division produced 21 leads representing 27,521 potential room nights. The team assisted with five definite groups representing 10,162 room nights. Staff conducted five site inspections and attended Meeting Planners International —World Education Conference where 70 planners visited the trade show booth. Staff also assisted Gaylord with a meeting planner site and hosted 29 planners for a short event at the Gazebo. Tourism sales staff generated 4 leads representing 230 potential room nights. They assisted with 11 definites representing 900 potential attendees and conducted two site inspections. Destination Services provided registration services to 12 convention groups representing 17,800 attendees. During the month 46,562 brochures were distributed and 16,779 visitors were welcomed at the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 24 events representing 5,680 attendees. Visits to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad website totaled 28,242 unique visitors and visits to the general site totaled 54,328 unique visitors. Public Relations generated $49,653 in print and $44,805 in electronic media coverage. The Board of Directors Meeting August 17, 2006 Page 5 of 6 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Mr. Kakos shared the many awards that the staff brought back from Texas Festivals & Events Association Annual meeting and Texas Association of Convention & Visitor Bureaus Annual meeting. Mr. Kakos also reported that we have joined into an agreement with Meetings Database Institute to search out new business in markets where the hotel chains do not seek business. Mr. Kakos reported on the Hotel Association of Dallas Meeting where PKF did a presentation on the Metroplex hotel market. While Dallas' mix is strongly dependent on the individual business traveler, Grapevine's is not. This should hold us in a better position should travel take a downturn. Mr. Wasiak stated that Dallas is where Houston was about 12 years ago. Houston stepped up and redeveloped their downtown and hopefully Dallas will be able to do something similar. Mr. Kakos shared the Panache magazine where GrapeFest is on the inside front cover. OLD BUSINESS Name Change for Christmas Train Mr. McCallum stated that staff is looking at the name, North Pole Express, for the Grapevine Vintage Railroad's Christmas activities and would like the board's formal support. Ev Barnes made a motion to accept the name, North Pole Express, as the name for the GVRR Christmas activities. Steve Stinson seconded the motion; motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Grants-In-Aid Request Mr. McCallum presented the Grants-In-Aid request from the Italian Car Club whose car show will be held at Oak Grove Park on Saturday of GrapeFest weekend this year. The club requested $5,500. After discussion, Bill Brink made a motion to grant the request in the amount of$3,000. The motion was seconded by Phil Cloud; motion carried. GrapeFest Mr. McCallum shared the GrapeFest collateral and the highlights of this year's program. The theme for the 20 Anniversary of GrapeFest is "A Sparkling Celebration." The statue, "Sunday Skaters" will be dedicated on Friday at 11 a.m. at the corner of College and Main Streets. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported that the 3rd Annual Jubilee will be held in February with some changes in the format. The Heritage Foundation has three new board members, The Board of Directors Meeting August 17, 2006 Page 6 of 6 REPORTS cont. Heritage Foundation cont. Angela Weddle, Janet Wilihoite Dickey, and Rick Lawlis. The Historical Society's character books will be available for purchase in the Heritage Foundation booth at GrapeFest. Chamber of Commerce Mike Lease reported that the Chamber continues to grow. They had nine new businesses for a recent grand ribbon cutting. Due to space limitation, they have had to move their luncheon back to the Convention Center. The Chamber Golf Tournament is set for September 18th ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board Paul Slechta made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Steve Stinson. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L