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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-06-18 Regular Meeting I CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU L BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, June 18, 2009— 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OATH OF OFFICE IV. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF V. OLD BUSINESS A. VISITOR SHUTTLE UPDATE B. CVB HEADQUARTER COMPLEX UPDATE VI. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUESTS B. JULY BOARD MEETING VII. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. CHRISTIAN MEETINGS & CONVENTION ASSOCIATION B. MSD CONVENTION SALES FAM C. NORTH TEXAS FAMILY EXPO D. POW WOW E. TRAVEL ALLIANCE PARTNERS F. MSD TOURISM SALES FAM VIII. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES A. HOTEL UPDATES B. ATTRACTION UPDATES IX. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT X. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES 1. MEMBERSHIP DRIVE 2. UPCOMING EVENTS B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES XI. ADJOURNMENT L State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, June 18, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Steve Stinson Chairman LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Tom Cherry 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 Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT: Andrew Davidson Board Member 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 May 21, 2009 meeting was made by Chris Leighton and seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. OATH OF OFFICE Sara Lorusso administered the oath of office to reappointed board members, LuAnn Chapman Gaits and John Imaizumi as well as to new board members, Tom Cherry and Dan Weinberger. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Mr. McCallum introduced Jennifer Richter to the board. She joins us as a convention sales manager. Mr. McCallum announced re-deployment of Kim Hanna into a convention sales manager role. L • Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2009 Page 2 of 5 OLD BUSINESS Visitor Shuttle Update Mr. Kakos reported the four (4) buses and been purchased and in the process of upgrading the air conditioning and seats. They will then be wrapped and should have delivery by Labor Day. We are forecasting the buses will be in operation in early September. CVB Headquarter Complex Update Mr. McCallum reported that Thom. S. Byrne was approved by Council as the Construction Manager at Risk firm for the CVB Headquarter Complex. Several discussions have taken place with ArchiTexas on the program and building functions. NEW BUSINESS Grants-in-Aid Requests Mr. McCallum relayed to the board that we have $8,500 left in the grants-in-aid account and we have three requests. He then introduced the request from Italian Car Club in the amount of$2,700.00. This organization was originally the Fiat Car Club. They have been strong supporters to the City of Grapevine. After discussion, Chris Leighton made a motion that we approve the grant request in the amount of $2,700.00; LuAnn Chapman Gatts seconded the motion. Motion carried. The second request was from Oh Look! in the amount of $5,000.00. After discussion, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion that we support sponsoring the Cinderella and High School Musical 2 performances in the amount of $2,500.00; Chris Leighton seconded the motion. Motion carried. The third request was from Melange Musical in the amount of$8,900.00. After discussion, it was decided not to grant their request at this time. LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to approve the Board's decision; Paul Slechta seconded the motion. Motion carried. July Board Meeting Mr. McCallum reported that city ordinance requires us to have 10 board meetings during the year. It is anticipated that there will be no items needing board action during July and recommended that we cancel the July meeting. Discussion followed. Paul Slechta made a motion that we cancel the July meeting, seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. cpo Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2009 Page 3 of 5 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the convention sales team produced 24 leads representing 39,377 potential room nights, six for 2009 with 600 plus room nights; and assisted with four definite bookings representing 1,452 room nights. They conducted six national and one local site inspections. Staff participated in Plan Your Meetings Tradeshow in Austin and met with 15 planners and produced 3 potential leads. Staff participated in Christian Meetings & Conventions Association meeting in Fort Worth where they met with 35 planners and produced one lead with 170 room nights and nine potential leads with 1,985 room nights. Staff hosted Main Street Days Meeting Planners Fam with nine planners in attendance and produced four leads representing 14,655 potential room nights. Tourism sales produced six leads representing 200 potential room nights and 230 delegates. They assisted with six definite bookings representing 1,256 room nights and 300 delegates and conducted two site inspections. Staff conducted the North Texas Family Expo hosted at Grapevine Mills. Staff attended the Pow Wow sales mission in Miami and participated in the States Luncheon and evening functions, potentially generating 30 leads. Reached out to Travel Alliance Partners, a coalition of 35 tour (pe operators who promote and sell each other's tours, promoting Christmas tours. Hosted 11 travel companies for the Main Street Days Fam producing three definite leads and six bookings. Marketing Insertions: • Convention Group Publications— 8 • Leisure Group Publications —6 • Online Group Advertisements — 33 • Online Leisure — 103 • Consumer Print— 62 • TV/Radio — 21 Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to eight groups representing almost 6,710 delegates. They distributed almost 86,770 brochures during the month and welcomed over 10,461 visitors to the Visitor Information. The Convention Center booked 25 future groups representing 13,245 delegates brining in $55,814 in total sales. The Palace Arts Center booked sixteen future groups representing 1,609 attendees with total sales for the month of $27,376. The web site traffic for May was 119,658 unique visitors with over four million hits. Public Relations generated $96,323 from print publicity and $56,329 in electronic publicity during the month of May. Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2009 Page 4 of 5 HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Hotels • Mike Wainwright is the new VP of Sales & Marketing at the Gaylord Texan. • Nadya Too is the new DOS at the Springhill Suites. • Grapevine had five hotels in the Top 100 Rev Par hotels during the first quarter of 2009 with #1 being the Great Wolf Lodge. • Residence Inn suffered major roof and room damage last Thursday during the sever weather. They are operating only 42 of their 133 rooms. The rooms are projected to be out of order for the next two months. • Governor Perry signed House Bill 2032 into law which makes cities with the population of 140,000 or more eligible for up to a 100% refund of the state's portion of the Sales and Use taxes and Hotel Occupancy taxes on convention center expansion and hotel development projects and receive the refund for ten years. Arlington may take advantage of this law by expanding their convention center as well as the adjoining Sheraton hotel. • Dallas convention center hotel development is pursuing the issuance of $514 million in bonds by the city of Dallas. • In September an aloft hotel will open in Dallas across the street from the Dallas convention center. It will have 193 rooms. • The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau introduced their new logo — "Arlington, Texas — and the crowd goes wild", dropping their former logo of Fun City. • Six Flags Corporation filed for bankruptcy; however, the parks will continue to operate. Last year the Arlington Park attracted 25 million visitors. • Hilton Garden Inn opened on June 5th Attractions • Biker Alley has closed. • Tio Joe's is going into the Old Don Pueblos location. • SummerBlast fireworks continue each Friday through Labor Day. To date, the efforts of the SummerBlast program are positively affecting the leisure overnight business in our hotels, attractions, and restaurants. • Grapevine Market continues to grow with a record sixty vendors last Saturday. • Flag Day on June 14th was a big success. • The mural on the Mason's building is complete. • Ziziki's Investors have backed out on the restaurant next to Bob's. They are trying to find new investors; if not, the owners will find another restaurant. • Patty Cakes Bakery & Catering is now up and running in the Guest House of the Doris House property. • Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2009 Page 5 of 5 GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that the steam engine, Puffy, is closer to being repaired and should be running shortly. SUMMERBLAST Mr. McCallum reported that SummerBlast was showing successful results. The thirty second television commercial was presented to the Board. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Membership Drive Pat Stinson reported that the membership drive is well underway. The Heritage Foundation has received approximately 80 new and returning members accounting for nearly $5,000.00 in membership revenue. "Edith's Follies: Back to Broadway" marked the conclusion of a great season at the Palace Arts Center. The one-night-only show was a sell out with 428 guests. It was the fifth sell-out this season. Upcoming Events The First Friday Film Series continues this summer with "E.T. The Extra-terrestrial" on July 3rd and "Jailhouse Rock" on August 7th. Movies begin at 7:30 PM. The Heritage Foundation will be offering two admissions for the price of one. Chamber of Commerce Activities Tom Kormondy reported that the'Chamber is currently at 840 members. On Friday, June 26th the Chamber Mixer will be at the minor league Air Hogs game in Grand Prairie. The monthly luncheon will be held on July 16th; Doug Lawson with Baylor Medical will be the speaker. July 30th business after hours will be at Tastings. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: