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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-20 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, May 20, 2010 — 8:00 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OLD BUSINESS A. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE IV. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUESTS B. MARKETING COMMITTEE V. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. NYMix (GREATER NEW YORK MPI) TRADE SHOW B. NEW YORK SALES MISSION C. DFWAE ASSOCIATION DAY D. NEW VINTAGE CONVENTION SALES FAM E. MEXICO CITY TRAVEL SHOP TRADE SHOW & SALES MISSION F. TEXAS TRAVEL COUNSELORS CONFERENCE G. SAN ANTONIO SALES MISSION H. OKLAHOMA CITY SALES MISSION I. NEW VINTAGE BANK TRAVEL FAM VI. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VII. FESTIVALS AND EVENTS A. NEW VINTAGE REPORT B. MAIN STREET OUTDOOR ADVENTURE 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, May 20, 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 LuAnn Chapman Gaits Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Don Vaughn Heritage Foundation Liaison Louie Sullins Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Bob McPherrin Assistant Executive Director CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the April 15, 2010 meeting was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS CVB Headquarters Update Mr. McCallum reported that the foundation has been poured and all the piers have been set except for the balcony along Main Street. The first of the steel has arrived and the crane to set the steel should be here next Thursday to start steel erection. NEW BUSINESS Grants-In-Aid Requests Mr. McCallum presented a grants-in-aid request for the Italian Car Fest which has been done in conjunction with GrapeFest for several years. Last year the show was at Nash Farm. They are seeking $3,700 and staff recommends approval. Paul Slechta made a motion to approve the grant in the amount of$3,700, seconded by Dan Weinberger. (1Iw Motion carried. Board of Directors Meeting May 20, 2010 Page 2 of 5 A grant request was also presented from the Tarrant Area Guild of Storytellers. The CVB has worked with the storytellers for many years and they are seeking $1,450. Tom Cherry made a motion to approve the grant in the amount of$1,450, seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. June Board Meeting Chairman Stinson suggested that due to a conflict with vacations and a Sister City mission to Krems that the board consider canceling the June board meeting. Paul Slechta made a motion that the June board meeting be canceled, seconded by Dan Weinberger. Motion carried. Marketing committee Chairman Stinson recapped the responsibilities of the marketing committee and appointed LuAnn Chapman Gatts as chair of the committee and appointed Dan Weinberger and Tom Cherry to sit on the committee. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the convention sales team produced 34 leads representing Cor 37,052 potential room nights, 15 of which are for 2010; assisted with 13 definite bookings representing 12,413 room nights and conducted ten site inspections. Staff hosted 40 planners and 24 guests for a New Vintage Wine & Gallery Trail FAM and have already received two requests for proposals representing 457 roomnights. Staff exhibited at the NYMix show where 45 planners visited the booth. Sales calls were conducted in conjunction with this show and one request for proposal has been received. Staff also exhibited at the Dallas/Fort Worth Association Executives Association Day where 20 planners visited the booth and one potential lead has been generated. Tourism sales produced five leads representing 250 attendees and these leads went definite. They conducted one site inspection and hosted six bank travel planners and their guests for a New Vintage Wine & Gallery Trail FAM. Staff conducted a sales mission to San Antonio calling on AAA offices and a sales mission to Oklahoma calling on AAA offices and tour operators. They participated in Travel Shop in Mexico City with American Airlines, Dallas CVB and Bargain Tours, hosting a breakfast for 50 Mexico City travel agents. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to seven groups representing 5,527 delegates. They distributed 86,640 brochures during the month, welcomed 8,124 visitors to the Visitor Information Center, and mailed 1,859 information packets. Board of Directors Meeting May 20, 2010 Page 3 of 5 SALES & MARKETING REPORT cont. The Convention Center booked 23 future functions representing 9,518 attendees and had $45,581 in total sales for the month. The Palace Arts Center booked 18 future events with 2,165 potential attendees and had $25,707 in total sales for the month. The web site traffic for the month included 118,790 unique visitors, up 25.7% over last year and had 4,121,622 total hits. Print advertising had 15 insertions for convention group advertising and five insertions for leisure group business. Online convention group advertising had 19 insertions. In consumer publication advertising there were 71 insertions and 120 online insertions. Public Relations generated $62,974 in print publicity and $5,588 in electronic publicity for a total of$68,562. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Bob McPherrin reported: • The Farmers Market will start on Thursday, May 27th at the Gazebo starting at 8 a.m. each Thursday, Friday and Saturday through October 30th • Napoli's is expanding into the Anderson Trading Company space and expect to be open by GrapeFest. • Stems on Main Street will close on May 31st • Tio Joe's Mexican Restaurant has closed. • Graceful Buys Upscale Resale has moved from Barton Street to 418 E. Northwest Highway. • New $17-million dollar convention center is being opened in Hurst in Sept 2010. The facility will have 50,000 sq. foot convention space, including a 14,000 sq. foot ballroom. • Elena Black is again handling both Comfort Suites and Hampton Inn as director of sales. • Liz Pike is the new director of sales at the Springhill Suites. • James Keaveny is the director of sales and marketing at Great Wolf Lodge with Ken Broom moving to assistant general manager. • We will be hosting the Hyland Group, our new rep firm with offices in DC and Chicago, for a FAM trip over Main Street Outdoor Adventure. There will also be a leisure fam during this time. • First United Bank and Trust has leased 2,900 sq. ft. in historic downtown Grapevine. • A new shop, Beyond the Red Door, is located behind Merry's Christmas and Clowns and sells home decor and gifts. • Classic Hummer was approved for a permit for a new fleet sales building. • Park Place Mercedes Benz received permit approval for a new dealership to be located on the west side of Texas Trail just north of Highway 114. • Super Bowl update: we are receiving numerous requests for special event venues. Board of Directors Meeting May 20, 2010 Page 4 of 5 HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • Merlin entertainment announced in 2009 plans to bring a Legoland Discovery Center to Grapevine Mills. Tomorrow they will announce plans to also bring Sea Life to the mall. This will allow us to move forward in the mid-range attractions arena. The Merlin marketing folks were in town last week for a marketing planning session with the CVB staff. • The CVB will take back operation of the Concourse on June 1St. The economic downturn has been hard on revenues from that building and the Council modified the existing contract for the tenant. FESTIVALS AND EVENTS New Vintage Report Mr. McCallum reported that the New Vintage Wine and Gallery Trail and Blessing of the Vines was a tremendous event. 450 people took part in the procession. A record number of passports were sold and included folks from Waco, Austin and Houston. The Jazz Wine Train sold out both nights and the art show held during the event at the Lancaster Theatre was a great success. Main Street Outdoor Adventure Mr. McCallum reported that Main Street Outdoor Adventure this weekend will have the theme grillin', chillin', thrillin'. Central Market is a sponsor for the grilling competition which is new this year. There will be six sessions and the winners will compete in a grill-off on Sunday. Also new this year is premium draft beer tastings, a West Coat Wine Experience with wines from California, Washington, and Oregon. Sunday at 3 p.m. on the Gazebo Stage will be a storyteller, Waddie Mitchell, followed by Don Edwards. Ms. Gaffs shared the book of everything to know about the festival and Mr. Weinberger expressed appreciation to the staff for the efforts to keep parking clear in the downtown area. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that the railroad carried approximately 4,500 passengers during the month and hosted two jazz wine trains, five birthday parties, eleven miscellaneous groups, one private coach and five senior and church groups. Puffy is out of service due to a burned out dry pipe. Brent Villard will start as train master next Monday. He has fifteen years of railroad experience. Board of Directors Meeting May 20, 2010 Page 5 of 5 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Mr. Don Vaughn reported that next week they will kick-off the annual membership drive. Five Preservation Advocacy Awards were presented at city council; one "Grapevine Township Project Award", two "Restoration Awards", one "Rehabilitation Award" and one "Preservation/Conservation Award". The 2010 "Most Precious Properties" list will be released in the coming weeks. The Foundation has identified 17 homes from 1890 — 1948 and want to landmark these homes. Special thanks to Councilwoman Spencer for helping to develop a gentler approach to this PR initiative. On June 11th "Edith's Follies" will be presented at the Palace. Tickets are available for $10. Chamber of Commerce Activities Mr. Louie Sullins reported that they have redone their dues structure and there are now three categories instead of twelve. They have hired an intern for the summer. They have awarded a contract to redesign their website with three major areas; economic development, visitors, and residential. They will be able to do event registration, job postings and coupons on the site. They have identified a top 25 list of companies that they will actively pursue for chamber membership. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, Andrew Davidson made a motion to adjourn, seconded by LuAnn Chapman Gatts. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: