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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-01-20 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS kir GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, January 20, 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. CHRISTMAS CAPITAL OF TEXAS RECAP B. ABA 2011 REPORT C. SUPER BOWL UPDATE D. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE V. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUESTS B. STATION MASTER HOUSE — RENOVATION / FUTURE USAGE VI. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. COWBOYS / EAGLES FAM B. COWBOYS / REDSKINS FAM C. CORPORATE TRAVEL SERVICES 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 Tuesday, January 20, 2011 at 8:00 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Steve Stinson Chairman LuAnn Chapman Gatts 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 Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Absent: Tom Cherry 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 December 14, 2010 meeting was made by Dan Weinberger and seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. BOARD MEMBER INDUSTRY ANNOUNCEMENTS • Chairman Stinson welcomed Angela Mitcham as the new Chamber liaison to the board. • Dan Weinberger announced that he is the outgoing president of HDGA and will be replaced by Jacob Miles. • John Imaizumi expressed concerns over the potential state tourism budget cuts. • Andrew Davidson announced they have rooms available for Super Bowl weekend but that he expects they will sell out. OLD BUSINESS Christmas Capital of Texas Recap Mr. Kakos reported • North Pole Express carried 5,618 passengers on the school runs and 22,664 passengers (a 4% increase) on the public runs. • New this year was three Christmas Wine Trains that carried a total 911 passengers. Board of Directors Meeting January 20, 2011 Page 2 of 5 OLD BUSINESS cont. Christmas Capital of Texas Recap cont. • Ice! had attendance in excess of 315,000 a huge increase over last year. • Home For The Holidays had 1,942 attendees over 12 shows. • 642 attended the holiday movies. • Grapevine Mills did not have December numbers yet, however it appeared to be strong. November sales were up 8%. • Heard from several merchants including Weinberger's, D'Vine Wine, Miscellaneous, Paloma's, Vetro, Farina's, The Edge, British Emporium and Good Things for All Seasons who all reported strong sales and a good December. • The Grapevine visitor shuttle carried 3,027 passengers and the top three pick up points were Gaylord, Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency. The top three drop off points were Grapevine Mills, downtown and Grapevine Towne Center. • Santa's Helpers collected 2,393 toys at the Depot. • First annual lighting of the yule log took place at the blacksmith shop. • Chocolate Junction raised $7,722 for the orphanage in Parras. ABA 2011 Report Mr. McCallum reported that 32 tour operator appointments were held and four leads already generated. The Team Texas booth had 22 Texas partners. Heather did an excellent job of bringing in a large amount of sponsor dollars. The Urban Cowboy event was a huge hit with the approximate 1,000 attendees. Steve Haddad, 2012 Marketplace Chair, performed many songs with the band. ABA Marketplace will return to Grapevine January 4 — 12, 2012. Super Bowl Update Mr. McCallum reported that the final host committee meeting was held last night at the stadium. They expect to raise 56 million dollars with this event and will do a follow up audit. There is a full advertising plan in place which includes the official Super Bowl collateral pieces. Pole and street banners will go up next week along with posters and counter cards. The Grapevine Media Spotlight will be February 2nd from 9 — 11 a.m. with a Vineyards Breakfast. The Athletes in Action Breakfast will be Saturday, Feb. 5 at the Gaylord Texan, and the Best Party in Texas will be Feb. 5 at the Embassy Suites Outdoor World. Grapevine Vintage Railroad will host Super Football Trains. CVB Headquarters Mr. McCallum encouraged the board to drive by the construction site as some of the masonry is now visible with the removal of some of the scaffolding. We hooked up to the main power this week. Contractors are 80% complete on sheetrock and will be moving on to the millwork. They are at 90% on mechanical, electrical and plumbing. tor Board of Directors Meeting January 20, 2011 Page 3 of 5 OLD BUSINESS cont. CVB Headquarters cont. In the next 30 days construction will start on the Farmers Coop façade and then move to the Dairy Producers building and then the Land Patent building. Weather has impacted the masonry work. The date for the Grand Opening is November 11, 2011 at 11:11 a.m. NEW BUSINESS Grants-in-Aid Requests Mr. McCallum presented a grants-in-aid request from the Tarrant Area Guild of Story Tellers in the amount of$2,550. This is an increase due to the addition of several tellers for the All Hallows Eve train. Staff supports the request. Paul Slechta made a motion to approve a grant in the amount of$2,550. Motion was seconded by John Imaizumi; motion carried. Mr. McCallum presented a grants-in-aid request from Mélange Musical in the amount of $3,000. This is a sophisticated high-end musical group that draws attendance from outside Grapevine. Staff recommends support. LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to approve a grant in the amount of$3,000. Motion was seconded by John Imaizumi; motion carried. Station Master House — Renovation / Future Usage Mr. McCallum stated that the original Station Masters house, which was acquired a few years ago, is eligible for national register designation. When the CVB moves into its new building there will be function space available for the groups that currently meet in the Founders building. At that time we wish to reconfigure the Founders building into four areas for retail artisans, which was the original plan. In order to do this it is necessary to relocate the Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council offices. Also the Midtown building that houses our festivals and train divisions on W. Hudgins will become the home of the Grapevine History Museum making necessary the need to relocate the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association offices. Mr. McCallum presented a proposal to use the Station Masters house for the offices of both The Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council and the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association. It is estimated to take approximately $60,000 to renovate the structure and funds are (iv available in festival proceeds. This would have an added benefit of having a tangible project for the use of festival funds which appeals to our volunteers. Car Board of Directors Meeting January 20, 2011 Page 4 of 5 NEW BUSINESS cont. Station Master House— Renovation / Future Usage cont. LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion that the CVB Board recommends to Council to use approximately $60,000 of festival funds for a restoration project of the Station Masters house and that this house then is used for offices for the Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council and the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association. The motion was seconded by John Imaizumi; motion carried. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that during the month of December the convention sales team produced 54 leads representing 76,211 potential room nights; 31 of them for 2011. Staff assisted with 17 definite bookings representing 28,653 room nights and conducted 17 site inspections. They participated in a Cowboys / Eagles FAM which included nine planners and have received two definite bookings and three requests for proposals to date. They also participated in the Cowboys / Redskins FAM with 13 planners and have received six definite bookings and one definite prospect to date. Staff also participated in the Meeting Planners International DFW Chapter annual holiday event. Tourism sales produced ten leads representing 325 potential room nights and assisted with six definite bookings representing 46 room nights and 208 day guests. They welcomed ten holiday tour groups, assisted 14 groups with Home for the Holidays ticket sales and hosted an American Airlines corporate travel services group out of Mexico City. The Visitor Information Center staff distributed 46,923 brochures and welcomed 9,618 guests to the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to five groups representing 3,850 delegates. The Grapevine shuttles carried a total of 3,027 passengers. The Convention Center booked 16 future events representing 4,300 attendees and had $28,320 in total sales. The Palace Arts Center booked 12 future events and had $36,678 in total sales. The Concourse had $7,949 in total sales. The web site had 293,755 unique visitors, a 48% increase over the previous year. There were 11,088,524 hits, an 86% over the previous year. Total convention and leisure group print advertising was $32,369; total group online advertising was $39,629; and total consumer advertising was $74,044. Print publicity for the month was $145,134 and electronic publicity was $144,405. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Kakos reported: • Blue Moon is moving into a space shared with Texas Collectibles. A Chic Boutique is going into their space. • Board of Directors Meeting January 20, 2011 Page 5 of 5 HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • Legacy Cakes is open at 120 S. Main Street. This gives us four bakeries on Main Street. • Baylor Grapevine was named large business of the year by the Northeast Tarrant County Chamber of Commerce. • Legoland Discovery Center will open March 30 and Sea Life Aquarium is tentatively scheduled for a late June opening. • Construction has begun on the new Applebee's located in the former Bennigan's spot at Grapevine Mills. • AMC Theater is introducing the dinner concept in some of their theaters. • Grapevine Mills signed 30 long-term store leases in 2010 including Ross Dress for Less. November sales were up 8% and work on the parking lots and entrances continues. • The Teddy Bear Store has closed and Big Orange Fish, a children's clothing store, is going into that space. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that Puffy rolled out this year after extensive repairs only to blowout a piston. Staff has found a piston in Paris, Arkansas which we can obtain for a donation to the City. LIAISON UPDATES Chamber of Commerce Activities Ms. Mitcham reported that the annual Awards Banquet is Thursday of next week. The Chamber is getting ready to launch their new web site. They are encouraging their members to participate in the Converge on the Capitol trip in February. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: