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Home My WebLink About2006-05-18 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU (iw BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, May 18, 2006 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT IV. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT V. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VI. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. CONFERENCE DIRECT PARTNERS MEETING B. HYATT ROAD SHOW— NEW YORK C. MPI-DFW GOLF TOURNAMENT D. BANK TRAVEL FAM E. TEXAS TRAVEL COUNSELORS CONFERENCE 41100 VII. OLD BUSINESS A. TEXAS WINE TRIBUTE TICKET PRICE VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT B. PROPOSED CAPITAL PROJECTS C. INCREASED SERVICE ELVEL IX. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON X. ADJOURNMENT L State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, May 18, 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 lmaizumi Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Mike Lease Chamber Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation ABSENT Kathee Livengood Board Member CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the April 20th meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Steve Stinson. Motion carried. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT George Kakos reported that the Grapevine Vintage Railroad carried 15,679 passengers during the month of April including 4 charters. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported that the Historic Preservation Commission had two Historic Overlay cases for prior grant recipients The Sanders House on East Wall and the Jackson House on East Texas. He also reported that Mount Horum Church on West Wall has filed for an historic overlay to protect the church building and that the building is no longer for sale. A Church of Christ fellowship has purchased the church building on Lucas Street. The church was moved to this location from Denton Creek in the 1950s. Staff is working with the congregation to restore the building. A new roof has The Board of Directors Meeting kor May 18, 2006 Page 2 of 4 HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT cont. been put on the Toon house at 624 S. Dooley Street and in the process they have the discovered the original porch roofline. The renovated Guest building on Main Street will open this weekend as the home to Tolbert's Restaurant. Staff had a very successful meeting with staff from the Meadows Foundation. It is expected that they will be a substantial player in the Nash Farm Restoration project. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT • Great Wolf Lodge groundbreaking is June 13th at 10 a.m. The land is cleared and they are moving dirt. • On June 14th we will host a Flag Day event at the Gazebo. More details will follow. • Nike Factory Store opened at Grapevine Mills on May 10th. Others coming include the Children's Place, Ladies Foot Locker, Children's Foot Locker and Gymboree. • Coffee Etc. is returning to Main Street. It will return as a coffee shop with a more limited menu and as a gift shop. • Th gourmet cheese shop has been sold. • The new promotional materials for SummerFest, Coupon Super Saver and the Grapevine Wine Pouring Society were presented. This is the second year for (loySummerFest, which is driven by an association with the Texas Music project. • New legislation has just been passed that states that in Texas the school start date cannot be before the 4th Monday in August beginning in 2007. There will be no exceptions. • The Budweiser Clydesdales will be at the Embassy Suites and Bass Pro Shops today at 1 p.m. for visits and photo ops. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of April that the convention sales division produced 25 leads representing 19,302 potential room nights. The team assisted with 10 definite groups representing 9,485 attendees. Staff conducted seven site inspections and sponsored a hole at the Meeting Planners International golf outing. Staff participated in the Conference Direct trade show, which is made up of third party meeting planners. There were 38 visits to the booth, which have generated 2 leads for 5,885 potential room nights. At the Hyatt Road Show in New York there were approximately 95 meeting planners in attendance. Susan Burk served as the destination specialist at the show. The MPI DFW Golf Tournament was held at Cowboys Gold Club and the Grapevine CVB was a beverage cart sponsor. Tourism sales staff produced 11 leads representing 350 participants. They assisted with 11 definites representing 250 potential room nights. Staff hosted a Bank Travel Fam with 10 participants from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Mississippi. They also participated in the Texas Travel Counselors Conference in Abilene. Grapevine hosted their annual breakfast along with this year's closing lunch, as we are the host city for 2007. Staff also participated in the Houston Travel Expo. (,,,,, The Board of Directors Meeting May 18, 2006 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Destination Services provided registration services to seven groups representing 7,080 attendees with all full service hotel properties included. During the month 108,701 brochures were distributed with over 60,000 Grapevine Todays and 27,090 visitors were welcomed at the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 34 groups representing 15,545 attendees. April revenue is $48,116. Visits to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad website totaled 24,763 unique visitors and visits to the general site totaled 40,039 unique visitors. Public Relations generated $65,171 in print and $19,739 in electronic media coverage. Ashlee Van Blarcom, new tourism sales manager, will join the CVB staff starting next Wednesday. She will also participate in the weekend's tourism sales fam. OLD BUSINESS Texas Wine Tribute Ticket Price Mr. McCallum brought a recommendation from Sue Franks, Chair of this year's Texas Wine Tribute, to raise the ticket price to $125 per person. Mr. McCallum shared a list of other events from the area and their cost to attend. Discussion followed. Phil Cloud made a motion to raise the price to $125/ticket and Bill Brink seconded. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Marketing Committee Report Steve Stinson, Chair of the Marketing Committee, gave a summary report to the board of the proposed marketing program for the 2006 — 2007 fiscal year. He thanked the committee members and appreciated their input at the meetings. NEW BUSINESS cont. Proposed Capital Projects Mr. McCallum shared 14 potential capital projects for the CVB. Mr. Bigbie appointed a committee consisting of Paul Slechta, Phil Cloud and Bill Brink to prioritize the projects for the budget. Paul Slechta will chair the committee. Increased Service Level Mr. McCallum shared that the CVB will request one new position for the next budget year. That position will be in the Heritage Programs and Preservation division and will be their heritage curator/educator for all of our historic buildings and properties including the Nash Farm, Cotton Belt Railroad district and old township. L The Board of Directors Meeting May 18, 2006 Page 4 of 4 REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported that the education program is in full swing with volunteers leading the tours. The Heritage Foundation has gone to annualization of dues. The Foundation will have a booth at Main Street Days and the Historical Society's character book has gone to the publisher. The Eastern Star will have a marker dedication at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Chamber of Commerce Mike Lease reported that the membership development group held its first family picnic at Parr Park. The Chamber has gone to multi business ribbon cuttings. Last evening there were seven ribbon cuttings held at Cross Timbers. The Chamber luncheon will move back to the Convention Center, starting next month, as they have outgrown the Lancaster. The Chamber has upgraded the plastic membership plaque to a wooden one. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board; John Imaizumi made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: