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Home My WebLink About2007-10-18 Regular Meeting (korCITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, October 18, 2007 — 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. WASHINGTON DC SALES MISSION B. GRAPEFEST FAMS 4w C. TEXAS TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION D. GROUP LEADERS OF AMERICA— OKLAHOMA CITY E. FORT WORTH HOME & GARDEN SHOW F. DALLAS HOME & GARDEN SHOW VII. OLD BUSINESS A. HOTEL ATTRACTIONS SHUTTLE SERVICE PROGRESS REPORT B. 9/11 MEMORIAL SPONSORSHIP VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. AD HOC PERSONNEL SURVEY COMMITTEE B. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUEST C. NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD STUDY IX. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON X. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Brink 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 Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Keith Temple Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation ABSENT Philip Cloud Board Member CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the September 20th meeting was made by Bill Brink and seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. Mr. Bigbie announced that Phil Cloud has resigned from the board effective today. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • Great Wolf Lodge will do a friends and family opening on December 10th. This is for locals to test out the rooms. December 18th will be the soft opening and January 10th at 10 a.m. is the date for the grand opening ceremonies. • Several properties have new Directors of Sales including: Gay Haynes — Hilton; Rebecca Rohwer— Homewood Suites; Michael Rader— Hyatt Regency; and Donna Saenz — Springhill Suites. • The Dallas and Fort Worth CVBs continue to work closely with DFW International Airport to finalize terms for the new $4-plus million contract to market the airport and the region to Latin America and Asia over the next year in collaboration with representation in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and South Korea. Board of Directors Meeting October 18, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • A certificate of occupancy was issued for the Taqueria El Campeon restaurant at 2638 William D. Tate. • A new shop on Main Street, Stems, will open next week where Pueblo Connection was located. They sell handcrafted stems, and floral art made from wood. • Kathleen Tolbert sold her Trading Company and it is now Anderson's Texas Trading Company. • Main Street Blues Room has now become Tin Spirits with the same format. • Butterfly Flutterby is this weekend. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD George Kakos reported that the railroad carried 4,689 passengers during September. This year's North Pole Express has 50 schools and over 4,000 students booked. The public runs have over 1,000 reservations. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported: • Last Friday the Harlem Gospel Choir at the Palace was a great show. • Last Saturday the Nash Farm Fall Round-Up was the best ever with approximately 3,800 people in attendance from 26 different zip codes. Channel 8 has been the sponsor for the last three years. • Shared the redesigned playbill for the upcoming season. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of September that the convention sales division produced 20 leads representing 4,225 potential room nights. The team assisted with three definite groups representing 14,137 room nights, including 11,716 for the 2011 Super Bowl. Staff conducted four site inspections. Bruce Dalton conducted a Washington DC Sales Mission with five national association meeting executives and participated in the HIGO Capital Golf Classic attended by 55 meeting planners. Sales staff hosted the GrapeFest Fam for 14 planners, which have provided us with seven RFP's to date. A Main Street Days update shows 14 requests for proposals and three definite bookings. We received an RFP from L&M Healthcare Communications whose locations of interest are Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Boca, Dallas, Houston, and Grapevine. Tourism sales staff produced six leads representing 118 potential room nights and 177 attendees. They assisted in five definite group bookings representing 164 room nights and 203 attendees. They conducted one site inspection. Staff hosted five tour operators and two AAA travel counselors from six different states for the GrapeFest Fam. Ashlee Van Blarcom participated in Group Leaders of America meeting in Oklahoma City, which included 50 members that plan travel for their religious and social organizations. To date six of these are planning a tour to Grapevine in the next year. Staff participated in both the Dallas Home & Garden Show and the Fort Worth Home & Garden Show. Board of Directors Meeting October 18, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Destination Services staff provided registration and information services to ten groups representing 12,040 attendees. 44,569 brochures were distributed during the month and 11,151 guests were assisted at the Visitor Information Center. The Grapevine Convention Center had 43 new group bookings representing 14,333 attendees. Renovations at the Center are ongoing. The Palace Arts Center had ten new group bookings representing 2,050 attendees. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad website had 23,609 unique visitors and the general site had 112,472 unique visitors for a total of 136,081. Public Relations generated $601,299 in print media, and $115,933 in electronic media for a total of $717.232 in media coverage. OLD BUSINESS Hotel Attractions Shuttle Service Progress Report Mr. McCallum reported that many hotels address the shuttle service for their guests however potential new attractions to this area ask about shuttle service for visitors. We are formulating a committee with representatives from Hilton, Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Gaylord, the Historic District, Bass Pro/Mills area, Public Works, and the Convention & Visitors Bureau to determine the parameters and feasibility of the project. There is some funding in the commuter rail package for circulator service. We will determine if these funds can become available before the rail opens. If they can be available we could include some of the north Irving hotels in the circulator service. 9/11 Memorial Sponsorship Mr. McCallum reviewed the background of the 9/11 Memorial Organization. They have raised approximately $300,000 for a memorial to recognize the crewmembers involved in 9/11. McCallum shared photos and other info on the proposed monument and site location at Texan Trail and Northwest Highway. Both the monument and location have been given to the City. The committee needs approximately $32,000 to get this project to the foundry. Mr. McCallum proposed that the board approve a $20,000 grant / sponsorship from available funds in the festival account and purchase 40 bricks, which would recognize past festival chairs, at a cost of $4,000. Bill Brink made a motion to accept this proposal, seconded by Ev Barnes. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Ad Hoc Personnel Survey Committee Mr. Bigbie established an ad hoc committee to conduct a personnel study of the bureau. He appointed Steve Stinson, Chairman, and committee members George Kakos, Jennifer Hibbs, Dave Muth (Hilton), and Michael Stephens (Grand Hyatt). Board of Directors Meeting October 18, 2007 Page 4 of 4 NEW BUSINESS cont. Grants-in-Aid Request Mr. McCallum reviewed the details of a Grants-in-Aid request from the Parks Department for the Carol of Lights program in the amount of $5,000. Discussion followed. The grant request was tabled. Narrow Gauge Railroad Study Mr. McCallum presented the details of a proposed study by Farquhar and Associates to investigate the feasibility and costs of building a narrow gauge railroad between the downtown historic district and the Grapevine Mills area. Cost of the study would be $10,600 and funded through the Grapevine Vintage Railroad operating account or the CVB professional services account. Discussion followed. Mark Wasiak made a motion that we proceed with the study and fund it through the railroad account. Seconded by Steve Stinson. Motion carried. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported: • The Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Palace on Sunday, October 21st at 7 p.m. • The first Candlelight Tour of Homes is scheduled for October 27th from 6 to 9 p.m. • Mark your calendars for February 8th for the Jubilee. • Pat expressed thanks to the staff of the CVB for their assistance with the Nash Farm Fall Round-Up. Chamber of Commerce Keith Temple reported that the Chamber's first networking cruise departs Saturday morning with 57 members participating. The Chamber hosted 150 to 175 folks at their membership appreciation picnic. November 13th is the date for the Classic Hummer Heartburn of America Chili Cook-off from 5 — 7 p.m. November 29th is the Parade of Lights and December 1st is the Women's Division Anniversary Ball at Embassy Suites. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, Kathee Livengood made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Steve Stinson. ATTEST: DATE: