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Home My WebLink About2010-08-19 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS (tre GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, August 19, 2010 — 8:00 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OATH OF OFFICE IV. OLD BUSINESS A. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE B. SISTER CITY UPDATE C. GRANTS-IN-AID REPORT V. NEW BUSINESS A. FY11 MEETING SCHEDULE VI. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. LOCAL PLANNER RECEPTION B. AMERICAN AIRLINES EL SALVADOR FAM VII. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VIII. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT IX. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES X. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 8:00 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 John Imaizumi Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Peggy Weaver Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Melva Stanfield Heritage Foundation Liaison Louie Sullins Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director "I, Absent: LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the July 15, 2010 meeting was made by Dan Weinberger and seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. OATH OF OFFICE Laura Simmons administered the Oath of Office to reappointed board member Tom Cherry. OLD BUSINESS CVB Headquarters Update Mr. McCallum reported that to date there has been one day lost to rain and one minor injury. We are under 25% completion. A tentative date for the topping out is Thursday of GrapeFest, September 16th. For the topping out a crane will do a 120' pick of the tower top complete with roof tiles. Car Board of Directors Meeting August 19, 2010 Page 2 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. Sister City Update Mr. McCallum reported that a group has just returned from a mission to Parras. A main objective of the mission was to establish a relationship with the new administration. The administration changes every four years and the new mayor is the one who was in office four years ago and is the first ever to be elected to a second term. The playground equipment that was donated has been installed at the orphanage. A group is leaving today for a mission to West Lothian. This mission is aimed at a city to city level including finance and parks departments. Also, a visit is planned to the Almond Valley Mills, a farm similar to Nash Farm which operates with a minimum amount of financial subsidy from the city. There will be a two-year hiatus on missions to Krems and West Lothian due to economic conditions, however, the student exchanges and activities will continue. Grants-In-Aid Report Mr. McCallum shared a follow-up report from the Mélange Musical group who had received a $2,000 grant in April. They had paid attendance of 68. They felt the Sunday afternoon in the spring did not work well for them and plan to return to a Friday night in the winter. NEW BUSINESS FY11 Meeting Schedule Chairman Stinson distributed a draft FY11 Meeting Schedule and asked members to check for conflicts. The schedule will be brought back next month for discussion and adoption. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that during the month of July the convention sales team produced 40 leads representing 58,956 potential room nights. Eight of the leads are for 2010 and 16 for 2011. Staff assisted with 14 definite bookings representing 15,089 room nights and conducted 9 site inspections. The team hosted a local Helms Briscoe planner reception with the Grand Hyatt and produced four potential leads. Tourism sales produced 33 leads representing 1,856 potential room nights and assisted with eleven definite bookings representing 780 room nights. They hosted eight travel agents from El Salvador in conjunction with American Airlines new direct flight into DFW. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to 15 groups representing 37,844 delegates. They distributed 146,300 brochures during the month and welcomed 13,734 visitors at the Visitor Information Center. Board of Directors Meeting August 19, 2010 Page 3 of 4 SALES & MARKETING REPORT cont. The Convention Center booked 30 future events representing 12,433 attendees and had $54,852 in total sales. The Palace Arts Center booked 15 future events with 2,430 potential attendees and had $12,723 in total sales. The Concourse had 17 future bookings representing 1,800 attendees and $9,817 in total sales. The web site had 189,460 unique visitors, the highest number this fiscal year and 6,091,930 total hits. On the group advertising side there were 14 convention group advertising insertions, 4 leisure group insertions, and 19 on-line insertions. On the consumer advertising side there were 38 consumer print insertions, 121 advertising TV/Radio runs and 127 online insertions. The total advertising investment was $64,848. Print publicity for the month was $123,491 and electronic publicity was $65,722 for a total of$189,213. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Kakos reported: • Friday, August 27th will be the last Opry Gospel Show. • Ferrari's Italian Restaurant is no longer open for lunch. • Crumbles Cupcakes inside Miscellaneous is now Sweet Indulgence Bakery & Café. • Ruffles N Raspberries, a children's boutique, is scheduled to open during GrapeFest at 600 W. Northwest Highway. • Main Street Jewelry has opened at 601 S. Main. • Diamonds and Divas, 323 W. Northwest Hwy, is hoping to open GrapeFest weekend and will initially be open on weekends and holidays. • Macy's Restaurant is opening September 7th where the Grapevine Diner used to be. • Sea Life Ground Breaking is scheduled for October 20th • A popular C&W XM Satellite Radio Station rated the top places to visit and Gaylord Texan was ranked number 3 behind Crowne Plaza Indianapolis and Disneyland. • The Blessing of the Vines and New Vintage Wine & Gallery Trail date is April 9th Mr. Imaizumi reported on Gaylord: • The 10-acre pool complex including a lazy river, zip line, croquet, pools etc. is scheduled to open March 1, 2011. • The River Walk Café is being reformulated into a Tex Mex restaurant. • Ama Lur is being reformulated into a Coastal Italian restaurant. • Charlie Brown and Snoopy will be coming for ICE! this year, along with a snow inner tube slide and a pre-function experience. It will be about double in size. Board of Directors Meeting August 19, 2010 Page 4 of 4 GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that the railroad numbers continue to hold up in spite of the hot weather. The train carried 5,900 passengers including five field trips. They continue to struggle with the steam engine. The dry pipe has now been sent to Oklahoma for work on the leaking rivets. Coach 207 has operated the last ten days with air conditioning and so far everything is going very well. Coach 208 is in the installation phase. The air-conditioned caboose is a sell out on every run and staff is looking for a second caboose. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Melva Stanfield reported that the Heritage Foundation board is working with and aware of the budget concerns and staff changes. The new leadership includes Curtis Ratliff as chair, Rick Lawlis as vice chair, Pat Stinson as secretary and Melva Stanfield as treasurer. The board adopted an every other month meeting schedule with additional meetings on an "as needed" basis. September 3rd will be the First Friday film and October 9th is the date for Fall Festival. Chamber of Commerce Activities Louie Sullins reported that the Chamber is revamping their website. They have implemented Chamber Master Software so that each member has the ability to log in and update their portion of the website. The general chamber calendar now lists city activities. Through the website they have received a lead for a 300 room night meeting which they are working on with the CVB staff. The Chamber Golf Tournament is "sold out". ADJOURNMENT Paul Slechta encouraged the board to sign up for the GrapeFest Golf Tournament which will be September 10 with a 1 p.m. shot gun start at the Grapevine Golf Course. There being no further business to come before the board, Paul Slechta made a motion to adjourn, seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: