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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-08-20 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU L BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING hursday, August 20, 2009 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OATH OF OFFICE IV. OLD BUSINESS A. SISTER CITIES UPDATE B. VISITOR SHUTTLE UPDATE C. CVB HEADQUARTERS COMPLEX UPDATE D. FY 10 BUDGET UPDATE V. NEW BUSINESS A. TRINITY VALLEY RAILROAD CLUB B. FY 10 MEETING SCHEDULE C. FY 10 MEETING TIME (iisv D. MARKETING COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS VI. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. CHICAGO SALES MISSION B. MPI-WEC 2009 C. MONTERREY, MEXICO RETAIL TRADE SHOW F. LOS ANGELES SALES MISSION G. CANADIAN FAM H. TORREON, MEXICO TRAVEL AGENT FAM VII. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VIII. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT IX. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES X. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES 1, MEMBERSHIP DRIVE 2. FALL CONCERT/MOVIE SERIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES XI. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, August 20, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Steve Stinson Chairman Tom Cherry Board Member Andrew Davidson Board Member LuAnn Chapman Galls Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Tom Kormondy Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT: Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Bruno Rumbelow City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the June 18, 2009 meeting was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. OATH OF OFFICE Sara Lorusso administered the oath of office to reappointed board member, Andrew Davidson. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE REPORT Tom Kormondy reported that the chamber now has 842 members and today is the kick- off luncheon for this year's leadership Grapevine class of 24 members. August 27th will be a Chamber mixer at Omni American Bank. The Chamber is revitalizing the "Greet the Troops" program and will be responsible for a week in October. Board of Directors Meeting August 20, 2009 Page 2 of 6 LIVING LEGACY— DAVE MUTH Mr. McCallum shared the plaque from the Living Legacy program acknowledging the tree designated in memory of Dave Muth, General Manager of the Hilton. The tree is located in Liberty Park Plaza. MASONIC LODGE RECOGNITION Mr. McCallum shared the painting given to the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau by the Masons for the bureau's support of the mural painted on the side of their building. The bureau sponsored the project through the purchase of paint and a scissor lift. OLD BUSINESS Sister Cities Update Mr. McCallum reported that a recent mission to Krems, Austria included the band director and Fillies director from the school district. In June 2010 a mission including approximately 85 students will help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the naming of Krems & the Wachau valley as a UNESCO world heritage site. The students will perform during this event. Parras: a delegation of nineteen completed a mission to Parras in the last ten days and participated in the celebration of,the feast of San Lorenzo. Sharron Spencer traveled as the mayor's representative and assisted with the unveiling of a plaque. The delegation visited the school, orphanage, and fire department. West Lothian, Scotland: Last week Mayor Tate and Paul W. McCallum traveled to West Lothian, Scotland where the mayor spoke at the dedication of their city hall complex. The folks in Scotland have incorporated the John Ruskin quote from our council chambers into theirs. In April 2010 a 65-member youth pipe band will come to Grapevine. A site inspection was made from Scotland to Manchester, England to view the Chill Factory, an indoor ski slope. They also visited one outside of Glasgow which included a 12-screen movie theater, 22-lane bowling alley, two 9-hole golf courses, an indoor soccer facility, 14 restaurants and retail along with the ski slope. Grapevine is pursuing an indoor ski slope to expand our visitor attraction offerings. Visitor Shuttle Update Mr. Kakos reported that the delivery date for the coaches has been delayed to early or mid October. A third party is building a critical part for the coaches and is the cause of the delay. A company has been selected to wrap the buses once they arrive. Interviews are underway for drivers. L Board of Directors Meeting August 20, 2009 Page 3 of 6 OLD BUSINESS cont. CVB Headquarter Complex Update Mr. McCallum reported that the environmental on the existing building was completed as well as the ground environmental. We will be recycling all of the existing building. The boundary issue with the neighbor to the north has been resolved. There will be a 9.75-foot alley between the properties. The Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) delivery system has worked very well with the initial pricing of the building being done before entering the design/development stage. Mr. McCallum will meet with the facility committee and follow up with a council presentation. There should be something to share at the next board meeting. FY10 Budget Update Eloise Koehn reported that the budget process is well underway with a public hearing scheduled for September 1 and a council vote scheduled for September 8. Revenues for the FY10 budget year are predicted to be down 5.5% from the FY09 budget. Predictions were kept conservative due to the economy. The total expenses for FY10 are $18,142,482. This budget reflects a shortfall of$335,000, which is currently covered by the Fund Balance. Our intention is to closely monitor both revenues and expenses and to make a mid-year correction to bring revenues and expenses into balance. NEW BUSINESS Trinity Valley Railroad Club Mr. McCallum reported that the Trinity Valley Railroad Club owns engine 208 which is currently in French Lick, Indiana and that they are willing to enter into a long-term lease with the Grapevine Vintage Railroad in the amount of $150/month. The engine would be moved to Grapevine and evaluated; if repairs were too extensive then engine 208 would become part of a static display. John Imaizumi made a motion to authorize the CVB to enter into a lease agreement with the Trinity Valley Railroad Club and to move forward with the acquisition and evaluation of engine 208. LuAnn Chapman Gatts seconded the motion. Motion carried. FY10 Meeting Schedule and FY Meeting Time Chairman Stinson presented the board meeting schedule and a proposal to move the meeting to a breakfast meeting for FY10. Chris Leighton suggested we might want to move the September 2010 meeting as it would conflict with GrapeFest. LuAnn Chapman Galls made a motion that we approve the FY10 meeting schedule as printed with the change for the September 2010 meeting to be on September 23rd and that we move to a breakfast meeting starting at 8 a.m. Chris Leighton seconded the motion. Motion carried. Board of Directors Meeting August 20, 2009 Page 4 of 6 NEW BUSINESS cont. Marketing Committee Appointments Chairman Stinson described the duties of the Marketing Committee and the commitment of 2 meetings. He appointed Paul Slechta chairman and LuAnn Chapman Gaffs and Dan Weinberger to serve on the committee. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the convention sales team produced 26 leads representing 32,098 potential room nights, and assisted with eight definite bookings representing 19,817 room nights. Staff conducted four site inspections and made 27 personal sales appointments. Staff attended Destination Showcase trade show in Chicago where 30 planners visited the booth and produced 3 leads. Staff also attended the Meeting Planners International World Education Conference in Salt Lake City and visited with 150 visitors and hosted a dinner for three planners. The bureau sponsored a hole at the annual golf outing of the Greater New York Chapter of Meeting Planners International where staff met with 56 planners. Tourism sales produced 30 hotel and train leads representing 230 potential room nights. They assisted with six definite bookings representing 205 room nights and conducted two site inspections. Tourism division joined with American Airlines in promoting visitation to Grapevine from Monterrey, Mexico at a retail trade show where they met 171 travel agents and 143 corporate HR planners. Staff participated in a travel agent FAM from Torreon, Mexico with ten agents attending. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to 17 groups representing 19,685 delegates at five different properties. They distributed 52,270 brochures during the month and welcomed 14,419 visitors to the Visitor Information Center. They mailed 27,208 information packets, the highest number this year. The Convention Center booked 41 future functions representing 22,280 potential attendees and had $28,178 in total sales for the month. The Palace Arts Center also booked 41 future events representing 6,405 potential attendees with total sales for the month of$10,331. The web site traffic for the month was 115,429 unique visitors up 7.82% over last year. Total hits for the month were 5,328,941 highest this year with an average visit lasting 6 minutes and 20 seconds. Marketing Insertions for group advertising had 17 print insertions and 34 online insertions while consumer advertising had 37 print insertions, 82 online insertions, and 7 radio/TV insertions. Board of Directors Meeting August 20, 2009 Page 5 of 6 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Public Relations generated $1590422 in print publicity and $62,528 in electronic publicity for a total of$221,950 for the month. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Will Smith is the new general manager at Hyatt Place. • TFEA recap: Dennis Roberts — volunteer of the year, Gayle Hall — inducted into the Hall of Leaders, Michael Miori and Kyle Conway— completed Texas Event Leadership Program, and received three marketing awards • Texas Hotel & Lodging Association had several legislative successes including; raising the state per diem to $149, increasing tourism promotion budget from $60 to $66 million; raising the film incentives to $60 million, and maintaining the school start date as the 4th Monday in August. • Tio Joe's Cocina Mexicana is open in the former Don Pablo's location. • Painting with a Twist is now open on East Worth. • Bella's Butterflies moved from Worth Street to the former B. Whitman Shoes location. • The former Desparados BBQ is now the Texas Café. • Closet Treasures Consignment Shop is now in the former Biker's Alley location. • Gameday Connexion, Eyecrafters, and Paciugo Gelato are now open at Grapevine Mills. • GrapeFest Notes include: Buick is sponsor of People's Choice, Baylor Regional Medical Center is sponsoring the Kid Zone, 2nd Annual GrapeFest Golf Classic will be held on Friday Sept. 11th, Italian CarFest will be held on Sept. 12th at Nash Farm, Vintner's Auction Classic will be on Sept. 12th at Convention Center, Miss Grapevine & Miss Teen Grapevine pageants will be held on Sept. 13th, Ribbon cutting for the Settlement to City Museum will be on Sept. 18th, the Mayoral GrapeStomp will be on Sept. 19th, and tickets are still available for the Texas Wine Tribute. • Palio's is coming to Grapevine Station. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that ridership for the year is at 93,000 up from 69,000 a year ago. Staff continues to improve the on-board experience. The refurbished caboose will have her maiden voyage this Sunday. Engine 2199 completed her annual inspection. New drains and oil separators have been installed in the roundhouse. New track and fueling sites have been added. • Board of Directors Meeting August 20, 2009 Page 6 of 6 HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVAITON ACTIVITIES Mr. McCallum reported that staff is working on a new walking tour for the Main Street Historic District. New tour themes have been created for Nash Farm visitors. The themes include; Nash family history, Grape Vine Prairie and the Cross Timbers, Kitchen Garden, Family Cemetery Plot, and Water and Windmills. The Original Township Porch Party program continues with the next one scheduled for August 28th at the home of Vick and Jackie Cox. Staff uses this venue to sell the importance of the hospitality industry in Grapevine. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Membership Drive Mr. McCallum reported that the membership drive has resulted to date in a total of 138 members. Sixty percent are renewals, ten percent are returning "lapsed" former members, and 30 percent are new members. Fall Concert/Movie Series L, The Palace Arts Center fall concert season kicks off in September with Latin jazz-rock performer Del Castillo. The First Friday Film Series will continue in September with the showing of Apocalypse Now. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Andrew Davidson. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L