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Home My WebLink About2012-07-19 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, July 19, 2012 - 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. OATH OF OFFICE III. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES V. OLD BUSINESS A. SMITHSONIAN AFFILIATED MUSEUM UPDATE B. NASH FARM UPDATE VI. NEW BUSINESS A. WEBSITE VII. SALES & MARKETING REPORT VIII. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES IX. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES X. ADJOURNMENT c State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. at the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Headquarters, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Tom Cherry Board Member Lance Marrin Board Member Dennis Roberts Board Member Joe Szymaszek Board Member Gracie Vega for John Imaizumi, Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Absent: Paul Slechta Chairman Doug Lawson Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager George Kakos Assistant Executive Director CALL TO ORDER LuAnn Chapman, sitting in for Chairman Slechta, called the meeting to order and introduced new Board Member, Joe Szymaszek, General Manager of Grapevine Mills. OATH OF OFFICE Laura Simmons administered the oath of office to new board member Joe Szymaszek and reappointed board members, Tom Cherry and Dennis Roberts. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Paul McCallum introduced new staff members Lance Gilliam, Sales and Promotions Manager for GVRR and Brent Villard, TSP III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the June 14, 2012 meeting was made by Dan Weinberger and seconded by Tom Cherry. Motion carried. L Board of Directors Meeting July 19, 2012 Page 2 of 4 OLD BUSINESS Smithsonian Affiliated Museum Update Mr. McCallum reported that the meeting held with the Smithsonian folks went very well. The suggested that a better use of the Wallis Building would be to house rotating exhibits, bringing two to three exhibits to town each year. They identified several exhibits for staff that could be appropriate. Assistance is available through the Smithsonian. They also introduced the Museums on Main Street Program which is a program that could benefit the entire state of Texas. Staff has contacted Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA) about this program and a Smithsonian representative will present at TTIA's Summit this fall. The third program discussed is rotating traveling exhibits from the Smithsonian. Staff is already working to put the CVB Headquarters into this rotation. There is an approximately 18-month lead time for this program. Cor Councilwoman Spencer commended staff for the thorough presentation folder that was put together for this mission. Nash Farm Update Mr. McCallum reported that City Attorney, Matthew Boyle, gave a presentation to the Heritage Foundation Board yesterday that both parties had entered into mediation and made concessions. Most of the points important to Nash Farm were retained as well as those important to the plaintiffs. City Attorney is working on the final verbiage to go back to the judge. NEW BUSINESS Website Mr. McCallum reported that at Tuesday's Council Meeting, Simpleview was awarded the contract to develop a new website for the CVB. Simpleview only does destination management sites and has done over 150 to date. The new website will include a mobile site and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) pieces. The process is expected to take 22 weeks. Our desire is for the site to be live in December when 95% of the web traffic is using the microsite for the Christmas Capital of Texas. There is a lower volume of traffic on the rest of the site during this timeframe. Board of Directors Meeting July 19, 2012 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT During the month of June, Convention Sales produced 42 leads representing 37,415 potential room nights and over 15 million in potential economic impact. They assisted with 23 definites representing 38,891 room nights and conducted eight site inspections. Tourism sales produced ten leads representing 800 potential room nights. They assisted with six definites with 724 room nights. Over 40,000 brochures were distributed and 7,107 guests were assisted at the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services provided registration and information assistance to nine groups representing 8,800 delegates. The Grapevine Visitor Shuttle carried 6,266 passengers, the highest month to date. One visitor on a lay-over visited the Dane Studios and purchased the most expensive sculpture in the store and also commissioned an identical sculpture. There were 116,866 unique visitors to the web site of which 18% used a mobile device to access the website. There were seven convention group ad insertions and 15 on-line ad insertions, 56 consumer print publication ad insertions and 635 TV/radio runs. Public relations generated over $103,000 in print and over $204,000 in electronic for a total Cor public relations value of$307,752. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Stephen Freo is the new DOS at Homewood Suites and Fairfield Inn • Monica Trisell is the new GM at the Hilton Garden Inn and Ashley McEachern has been promoted to a sales manager • Super 8 is now featuring a new upgraded breakfast • Hampton Inn & Suites is renovating the pool area. • Hyatt Place has eliminated the charge and is now offering a complimentary hot breakfast • Certificates of Occupancy have been issued to: GG's Wine Room a retail wine and tobacco shop and to Pho Express a restaurant. Both are located at Grapevine Mills. • Texas Star Dinner Theater will offer Thursday shows starting tonight through August 23 due to a high demand this summer • Grapevine Wine Tours has added hotel packages as well as themed tours. They also have extended their dining options to include Winewood and Ferrari's. • Debbie Reynolds has been named the Executive Director of the Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association effective July 1. • SummerFest at Gaylord has been very successful. • Grand Hyatt had record room night counts for May and June. • Grand Hyatt has a new HD TV program that went live last week. Board of Directors Meeting July 19, 2012 Page 4 of 4 HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • Books-A-Million has reopened at a different location in Grapevine Mills. H&M, a clothier, will go into their old location and expects to open in August. • Grapevine Mills attendance numbers for May and June are up over last year. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Pat Stinson thanked the board members on behalf of the family for naming the board room after Steve. The Historic Preservation Commission added two new Commissioners in June. They are Vick Cox and Chuck Voelker. There were five cases presented at their June meeting as well as a 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration for Commissioner Ted Ware and Gloria. The Heritage Foundation hosted Dairy Day on June 23rd with approximately 250 attendees. On July 7th there was a volunteer Farmhand recruitment drive at the farm with over 200 attendees. Lor Chamber of Commerce Activities No report. Adjournment Tom Cherry made a motion to adjourn seconded by Dennis Roberts. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: