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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-05-19 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, May 19, 2011 — 8:00 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. BOARD MEMBER INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS IV. OLD BUSINESS A. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE B. MAIN STREET DAYS REPORT V. NEW BUSINESS A. NATIONAL WATERCOLOR SOCIETY—TRAVELING EXHIBIT B. SUMMERBLAST 2011 C. SISTER CITY BEST PRACTICES PROGRAM — COLIN BELL WEST LOTHIAN VI. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. DFWAE ASSOCIATION DAY B. TTIA TRAVEL FAIR C. AA ARGENTIAN FAM D. AA MEXICO FAM E. AMERICAN EXPRESS CORPORATE TRAVEL 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, May 19, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Tom Cherry Board Member Andrew Davidson Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Mike Wainwright for board member John Imaizumi Paul Slechta Board Member Peggy Weaver Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sue Franks Heritage Foundation liaison Angela Mitcham Chamber liaison Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Absent: Steve Stinson Chairman Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called in his apologies to the Board and designated Paul Slechta to chair the meeting. Paul Slechta called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the April 21, 2011 meeting was made by LuAnn Chapman Gatts and seconded by Dan Weinberger. Motion carried. BOARD MEMBER INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS • Sea Life will open July 1. • Paradise Springs at the Gaylord is scheduled to open this weekend with the official opening for Memorial Day weekend. OLD BUSINESS CVB Headquarters Update Mr. McCallum reported that much of the scaffolding is down and the building is taking on an organic look as planned. The Cotton Exchange facade is 95% complete, the Land Patent building is 80%, the Dunn building is 70% and the retail storefronts is 25% Board of Directors Meeting May 19, 2011 Page 2 of 5 OLD BUSINESS cont. CVB Headquarters Update cont. complete. The second floor ceiling is 80% and the function room ceiling is 90% complete. In the next 30 days lime stabilization work and associated concrete flatwork will be completed. Asphalt paving will be underway. The Farmer's Cooperative masonry will be completed. The pressed metal facades on the Cotton Exchange and Land Patent buildings will be completed. The Dunn building façade will be near completion. Carpet installation in the open offices will be completed and systems furniture installation will be underway. The marble flooring in the lobby will be near completion and the main stair treads and railing will be underway. Staff will move into the building after GrapeFest and the official opening will be in 2012. Many aspects of the building such as the Visitor Information Center, the wine museum and the elements of the tower cannot be done until after we receive the building from the contractor. Main Street Days Report Mr. McCallum reported that staff had been searching for a theme that would move Main Street Days forward. Upon discovering that there are several restaurants in Grapevine that serve a great pizza but who do not have Pizza in their name, it led to the idea of Main Street Days —A Pizza Experience. This concept was a huge success setting a record attendance of 160,990. NEW BUSINESS National Watercolor Society —Traveling Exhibit The Grapevine Art Project approached the National Watercolor Society about bringing their traveling art exhibit to Grapevine. It will be on display May and June of 2012 in the gallery space of the CVB headquarters. The exhibit includes 30 paintings. SummerBlast 2011 Paradise Springs at the Gaylord, Legoland Discovery Center and Sea Life are all a part of the summer activities. SummerBlast will include all the activities between Memorial Day and Labor Day with the fireworks displays as the anchor element. Historic Downtown Grapevine Association will host the Summer Nights program on each of the five Friday nights in July. Summer activities will also include special Friday train runs, events at Nash Farm, movies at the Palace, and train robberies on Saturdays and Sundays. Staff did a live promotion on Great Day Houston yesterday promoting the summer activities and also filmed a segment for Good Morning Texas. Board of Directors Meeting May 19, 2011 Page 3 of 5 Sister City Best Practices Program — Colin Bell Main Street Days Mr. McCallum reported that Colin Bell, Parks and Rec director from West Lothian Scotland participated in a Best Practices program with the Grapevine Parks and Recreation department. One "best practice" idea he will take back is the way all the city departments worked together to put on Main Street Days. Upcoming exchanges include a culinary mission that will have two students from Grapevine working at the Houston Hotel in West Lothian. Another mission will be the 4th student golf competition for the Gallacher Cup. The third mission for this summer will send a staff member from the Grapevine Parks Department to West Lothian. The fourth mission will include nine students who will be home-hosted and who will integrate with students in Scotland. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that during the month of April the convention sales team produced 39 leads representing 36,489 potential room nights, 18 of them for 2011. Staff assisted with seven definite bookings representing 5,349 room nights, three of which are for 2011. Staff conducted 13 site inspections and hosted nine local meeting planners for the New Vintage Wine and Gallery Trail FAM. Staff attended the monthly Dallas Meeting Planners International networking luncheon and hosted our quarterly hotel partners reception. Staff exhibited at the Dallas Fort Worth Association Executives Association Day. This program was well attended by the local association community. Tourism sales produced seven leads representing 156 room nights and 263 attendees. Staff assisted with two definite bookings with 41 room nights and 2 day tours with 60 attendees. Staff participated in the Texas Travel Counselors Conference in Arlington and hosted our annual breakfast. Staff hosted two groups of travel agents in conjunction with American Airlines, one from Argentina and one from Mexico. Staff also hosted an American Express Corporate Travel Agent Fam with Gaylord. The Visitor Information Center staff distributed 120,360 brochures and welcomed 7,942 guests to the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to nine groups representing 8,062 delegates. We continue to receive positive feedback on the shuttle system with folks on layovers being the largest spenders. The shuttles are also carrying passengers who are staying in hotels outside Grapevine. The Convention Center booked 31 future groups representing 18,915 attendees and had $41,387 in total sales. The Palace Arts Center booked eight future groups representing 945 attendees and had $23,739 in total sales. The Concourse booked ten Cre future groups representing 1,080 attendees and had $6,154 in total sales. Board of Directors Meeting May 19, 2011 Page 4 of 5 SALES & MARKETING REPORT cont. The website had 153,665 unique visitors, a 29% increase over last year. There were 6,323,622 hits, a 53% over last year. The advertising investment included 17 group trade publication print insertions, two leisure group trade publication insertions, nine online group advertising insertions and 46 consumer print insertions. TV and radio had 790 runs and online consumer advertising insertions were 70. Print publicity was $110,058 and electronic publicity was $161,235 for a total of$271,293. Paul Slechta appointed the marketing committee for this year with Tom Cherry as chair, and Dan Weinberger and Peggy Weaver as committee members. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Kakos reported: • The parking lot is under construction at the Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. • Winewood and Mi Dia are both under construction on South Main Street. • A building permit has been issued for 27 boat slips at Scott's Landing. Dan Weinberger, Chair of the 27th Annual Main Street Days, reported the festival was a huge success, with perfect weather and a great marketing plan. Web traffic was up �r 25%. New vendors, new placements on the street, and new sponsors all contributed to the success. HDGA reported increased foot traffic over the weekend. There was great entertainment and the Pizza Piazza was a huge success. Dan expressed thanks for having the experience of chairing the festival. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that April ridership was 17,000. There were two sold out Jazz Wine Trains. Thomas The Tank and the Easter runs went well. Repairs will be started on the steam engine. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Sue Franks reported for the Heritage Foundation that staff is developing a Farmhand Volunteer program with approximately 50 volunteers. Upcoming events include Fridays at the Farm with hands on family fun. The Foundation approved the strategic planning report. The three priorities include establishing Nash Farm and the Palace Arts Center as a destination for citizens and visitors, seeking and exploring new ideas for achieving goals and becoming recognized as advocates for community preservation. June 10th Edith's Follies will take place at the Palace. Tickets are available on line for $15. • Board of Directors Meeting May 19, 2011 Page 5 of 5 Chamber of Commerce Activities Angela Mitcham reported that the "Vote Yes" campaign, supported by the business owners, was a huge success. The Chamber is working on a program to keep businesses in Grapevine. They are partnering with the city and participating in the International Shopping Center show to work on recruiting business for Grapevine. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Tom Cherry. Motion carried. (up, ATTEST: DATE: