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Home My WebLink About2007-05-17 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS fkiw GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, May 17, 2007 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF IV. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT V. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VI. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VII. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. PLAN YOUR MEETINGS — DALLAS B. NEMICE — BOSTON C. AFFORDABLE MEETINGS - CHICAGO VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. NEW YORK MPI SALES EVENT REPORT B. VISIT DALLAS USA UPDATE IX. NEW BUSINESS A. MAIN STREET DAYS FAM UPDATE B. 2007 —2008 BUDGET CALENDAR X. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON XI. 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 8T" DAY OF MAY 2007 AT 5:00 P.M. Eloise Koehn Director of Finance and Administration State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 9:30 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 Philip Cloud Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member • Darlene Freed Council Liaison Keith Temple Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation tor ABSENT John Imaizumi Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the April 19th meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • Bob's Steak and Chop House opened Monday. A building permit was approved on May 8th for Fireside Pies, which will be located next to Bob's. • Red's Patio and Grill: A conditional use permit was requested for the former Tia's location to allow for interior and exterior renovations into two separate restaurant spaces. • Great Wolf Lodge will go forward on their expansion. • Distributed a list of marketing committee members and meeting dates. L Board of Directors Meeting May 17, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • Shared new collateral including; sponsor book, tabloid insert, souvenir pin, Historic Downtown Grapevine Association shopping piece, Grapevine Market brochure, Calendar of Events brochure, and the Destination Guide. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the railroad carried 10,224 passengers during April including 5,000 for Thomas. The train hosted the New Vintage Jazz Wine Train and two school field trips with 400 passengers. Air conditioning has been installed in coach 208. The train offices are now located at 206 W. Hudgins. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported: • Spring Into Nash Farm raised over $1,700. • The Nash Farm Capital Campaign is over $688,000 as of yesterday afternoon. • Renovations are coming along on the Nash farmhouse with little delay from the rain. • City Council approved the request for a resolution supporting the Preserve America program. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of April that the convention sales division produced 24 leads representing 20,629 potential room nights. The team assisted with 8 definite groups representing 2,060 room nights. Staff exhibited at the North East Chapter of Meeting Planners International trade show and visited with 32 meeting planners producing 4 potential leads representing 5,600 room nights. Staff participated in the Plan Your Meetings Tradeshow in Dallas where 34 people visited the booth. They are waiting on two requests for proposals representing 1,650 room nights and also one potential request for 300 rooms for 2008. Grapevine exhibited at Affordable Meetings in Chicago and generated three leads for 1,300 room nights. Tourism sales staff generated six leads representing 258 potential room nights and assisted with three definite bookings representing 78 room nights. Staff hosted the Texas Travel Counselors Conference at the Gaylord Texan. It was a very successful meeting that received high marks from the attendees. Staff attended the Travel Industry Association's Pow Wow in Anaheim, California. They worked out of the Texas booth with a total of 13 representatives and visited with 13 tour operators both international and domestic. Destination Services staff provided registration assistance to 18 groups representing 11,530 attendees. 33,550 brochures were distributed during the month and 16,470 visitors were assisted through the Visitor Information Center. L Board of Directors Meeting (kw May 17, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. The Convention and Palace Arts Centers booked 44 groups representing 22,745 attendees including 12 weekend shows for 2008 at the Convention Center. It was a strong month at the center with $75,346 in total sales including $35,598 in food, which is the highest food total for the year. Twelve groups booked at the Palace Arts Center representing 1,010 attendees. Total sales in April at the Palace were $16,260. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad website had 21,292 unique visitors and the general site had 62,449 unique visitors. This was the second month in a row with over 60,000 unique visits. Public Relations generated $45,210 in print media and $59,067 in electronic media for a total of$104,277 in media coverage. Our hotels year to date are at 74.7% occupancy with $155 average room rate. Mr. Wasiak reported that the hoteliers have expressed concern over the rates being charged by some taxi drivers to bring customers to the Grapevine hotels. The taxi drivers want the longer runs to Fort Worth and Dallas. OLD BUSINESS New York MPI Sales Event Report Mr. McCallum reported that the New York MPI Sales event will be held next week with the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau being the title sponsor of this fundraising event put on by the Greater New York Chapter of Meeting Planners International. Visit Dallas USA Mr. McCallum reported that we participated at the $50,000 level last year. We requested a review of the markets and additional information from the Dallas folks. After reviewing their information we will consider participation at a lower level. Also, at this time Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council has ramped up their marketing role in the 500-mile radius. They have good television driven programs for this market and we have committed resources to this program. • NEW BUSINESS Main Street Days FAM Update Mr. McCallum reported there will be both convention sales and leisure group FAMS with attendees from within a 200-mile radius. He shared the names of companies that will be represented. The kick off event is tonight at Lone Star Wine Cellars. The host hotel for the sales group is the Gaylord and for the tourism group it is the Hilton. 2007-2008 Budget Calendar Mr. McCallum shared a draft calendar with the board noting that additional council workshops have been added to the calendar. L Board of Directors Meeting May.17, 2007 Page 4 of 4 REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson sent her regrets. Her report has been included in the Heritage Programs and Preservation Report above. Chamber of Commerce Keith Temple reported that April brought an all time record of new memberships. The Chamber has expanded the Economic Development Committee to include Parks and Recreation and the Grapevine Heritage Foundation. The rained out picnic earlier this month has been rescheduled for May 31. There were over 150 in attendance at their luncheon and all shifts are full for Main Street Days. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board Bill Brink made a motion to adjourn. ATTEST: DATE: L