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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-14 Regular MeetingCITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, March 14, 2019— 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA CALL TO ORDER 2. NEW EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTIONS 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES 5. SALES & MARKETING REPORT 6. OLD BUSINESS A. BLEVINS HOUSE UPDATE B. MCPHERSON BARN UPDATE C. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD UPDATE 7. NEW BUSINESS A. 2019 CHRISTMAS CAPITAL CONTRACTS 8. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS /ACTIVITIES 9. ADJOURNMENT IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THIS SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING AND YOU HAVE A DISABILITY THAT REQUIRES SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS AT THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU AT (817) 410-3185 AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS WILL BE MADE TO ASSIST YOUR NEEDS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, CHAPTER 551.001 et seq, ACTS OF THE 1993 TEXAS LEGISLATURE, THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU ADVISORY BOARD MEETING AGENDA WAS PREPARED AND POSTED ON THIS THE 8TH DAY OF MARCH, 2019 BY 5:00 P.M. Bell Assistant tot xecutive Director State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met in Regular Session on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 8:00 a.m. at the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau, 636 S. Main Street, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Joe Szymaszek Cynthia Blankenship Mark Terpening Debi Meek Iain Scouller Board Chairman Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Steve Brown Chamber of Commerce Liaison Sharron Rogers Council Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Brady Closson Managing Director, Sales/Marketing Lindy Bell Assistant to the Executive Director Absent: Keith Spinden, Board Member Dan Weinberger, Board Member Melva Stanfield, Heritage Foundation Liaison CALL TO ORDER Board Chair Joe Szymaszek, called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. NEW EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTIONS Mr. McCallum introduced new employees Abbey Morales, Jamie Clark and Noah Graham. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Iain Scouller, seconded by Mark Terpening approved the minutes from the February 14, 2019 meeting and prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Blankenship, Terpening, Meek, and Scouller Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting March 14, 2019 Page 2 of 6 LIAISON UPDATES Chamber of Commerce Steve Brown provided the monthly up -date for the Chamber of Commerce. The monthly membership luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, March 21St. Johnny Quinn, a motivational speaker and a former Olympic bobsledder, is the speaker. Caterer is Zoe's Kitchen and Buttermilk Pie Shop is providing desserts. There is no sponsor as of yet. Emily Nelson has started at the Chamber and will be introduced to the Board at the March 22"d Board meeting The Chamber building project is progressing nicely. Interior and exterior finishes were selected and finalized last week. Sponsorship levels and campaign captains have been identified. In lieu of a speaker, a big kick off is planned for the April membership luncheon when all information regarding the building will be presented to the membership. Heritage Foundation Activities In the absence of Heritage Foundation Liaison Melva Stanfield, Chairman Szymaszek presented the report. The Heritage Foundation Preservation Advocacy nominations for 2019 are due by Friday, March 29. These awards are a serious evaluation of an individual, group or organization committed to saving important landmarks of Grapevine's heritage. Nash Farm Nash Farm's First Friday program, "Gardening: Plan & Plant a Kitchen Garden" on March 1, had 58 gardeners. The 19th Century Farm Meal Workshop on Saturday, March 9th, was sold out. Some openings in sponsorship areas are still available. The Foundation's March 20th meeting will cover the Spring Into Nash event scheduled for Saturday, April 13 with a building theme. Staff and the Foundation are planning activities to celebrate the 150th birthday of the Nash Farmhouse during the Spring Into Nash event. Heritage Preservation Programs staff received word that Grapevine obtained Main Street America accreditation for 2019 as a National Main Street City. The announcement was received with applause by Board members. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Closson reported that for February, the Convention and Leisure Sales team had 98 sales leads sourced to stakeholder hotels with 90,500 potential room nights and a potential economic impact of approximately $44.2 million of which two are "In The Year For The Year" (ITYFTY) representing 205 room nights and $346,000 in potential economic impact. Sales team assisted with 25 definite bookings representing 11,600 Board of Directors Meeting March 14, 2019 Page 3 of 6 room nights and an economic impact of $6.4 million, three of which are ITYFTY. Sales team conducted 26 sales appointments and hosted nine site inspections representing approximately 7,400 potential room nights and $4.2 million in potential economic impact. Sales team representatives participated in a Kansas City sales mission and a New York City sales mission. The St. Patrick's Day Sales mission is underway with strong numbers indicating they will be attending at least one of the three events planned. Three stakeholder hotels are participating in the sales mission including Hilton DFW Lakes, Gaylord Texan and Hyatt Regency DFW. Also, a Valentine -themed direct mail piece was sent showcasing Grapevine hotels' "Hot Dates." For Leisure Sales, the team participated in Visit USA Australian sales mission which encompassed Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney with over 900 potential leisure and tour leads. Mr. Closson reported that room night leads in Grapevine are up 49% to what they were last year and leads sourced to stakeholder hotels are up 37%. Smith Travel Research (STR) tracking matrix shows that year to date, Grapevine hotels are up on occupancy at 74% and relatively flat on revenue compared to last year which is significant with the addition of the Vineyard Tower at the Gaylord Texan. As stated in the report, Grapevine leads Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin in REVPAR (revenue per available room). The Visitor Information Center, Settlement to City and Depot welcomed almost 6,000 guests in February with almost 5,000 coming from Texas, 756 domestic visitors and 255 international visitors. Brochure distribution for the month of January was 60,000. Destination Services assisted 14 groups representing 17,400 attendees with potential economic impact of $12.7 million. The Convention Center, Palace Arts Center and Concourse hosted a combined 69 events with almost 15,000 in attendance and an anticipated economic impact of almost $260,000. 43 future events were booked during the month. Grapevine Vintage Railroad was closed in February for maintenance. The website welcomed approximately 65,900 unique visitors in February with a total website visitation over 84,000. Top referring sites included M.facebook.com, Facebook.com, Texashillcountry.com and VisitDFW.com. Online (GROUP) had 40,000 impressions. Print consumer publications had three insertions with a circulation of 86,900 including Community Impact, Texas Star Dinner Playbill and Fort Worth Key. On-line Consumer Advertising had 3.2 million impressions. Shop Across Texas 2.7 million, Simpleview PPC almost 100,000 impressions and TourTexas.com (leaderboard web banner) 100,000. Board of Directors Meeting March 14 2019 Page 4 of 6 Three media releases were distributed. Print ad value was almost $332,000 with a circulation of almost 818,000. Print publicity ad value for February had an ad value of $332,000 with a circulation of over 818,000. TV/radio ad value for February was a little less than $20,000 with an audience of a little over 689,000. Peppa Pig World at Play coverage was on all three networks with over 131,000 viewers on WFAA-ABC, over 114,000 on KXAS-NBC and almost 114,000 on KXAS-NBC. No action was taken by the Board. OLD BUSINESS Blevins House Update Mr. McCallum reported that the sale of the Blevins house, a wonderful example of an 118 -year old farmhouse, to the corner of Dooley and Wall, was approved at the March 5th Council meeting. The house will be sold under a sealed bid with a minimum bid of $358,000. The house was advertised March 7th and 14th in the Fort Worth Star Telegram and via social media ads. There are currently two potentially strong inquiries. Bids are due by 2:00 p.m., Thursday, March 28th Bids will be opened the following day on March 29th. Proceeds from the house will be reinvested in the Grapevine Township Revitalization Program. No Action was taken by the Board. McPherson Barn Up -Date Mr. McCallum reported that City Council approved the bid from Marquis Restoration at the March 5th City Council meeting to restore the McPherson 4 -crib log barn. Mr. Marquis has already visited the site to start the project and will return in approximately four to six weeks to begin on-site work after gathering needed materials. A September completion date is anticipated in the hopes of a dedication taking place in conjunction with GrapeFest. The barn is the oldest structure in Tarrant County, one of four crib barns west of the Mississippi, two of those four barns being in Texas. Restoration costs will be funded by monies raised during festivals and events. Grapevine Vintage Railroad Update Mr. McCallum reported that Grapevine Vintage Railroad resumed operations March 2"d, Texas Independence Day, with one-hour Grapevine excursion and excursions to the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards. Ridership has been strong and everything is working well with after a complete shutdown for maintenance and repair during January and February. The train ran without passengers the first two weeks in February to determine how operations with TEXRail might affect scheduling and by the second run, all was working well. The railroad will be conducting daily excursions to the Stockyards during Spring Break with Kiss Me I'm Irish Express and Jazz Wine trains scheduled. Board of Directors Meeting March 14, 2019 Page 5 of 6 Work is commencing well at the shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming on the firebox with additional pieces being taken next week for the work to continue. It is all coming together nicely. Mr. McCallum also reported that the two FL -9's are now sitting in Grapevine Vintage Railroad's parking lot. NEW BUSINESS Mr. McCallum reported that multiple entertainment contracts have been confirmed for the upcoming 2019 Christmas Capital of Texas and include the following: Kraig Parker, Cowboy Bill, Ricki Derek, The Texas Tenors and Rocky Gribble. Mr. McCallum also announced that the theme for Gaylord's ICE! for 2019 is going to be Charlie Brown. The theme will not be publicly announced until July. Mr. McCallum provided information to the Board regarding Sister City programs as well as the Sister City annual meeting held last week with 87 attendees. The annual meeting also featured a performance by 11 Grapevine High School students. While attending the Visit USA expo in Australia, Mr. McCallum also visited the Barossa Valley where he met with city leadership to discuss a potential Sister City relationship between Barossa Valley and Grapevine. A visit to Grapevine by Barossa Valley's Mayor and City Manager is being discussed for September 2020 to coincide with GrapFest with a reciprocal visit anticipated for Grapevine City officials to travel to Barossa in 2021. In addition, a virtual relationship has been established between Grapevine students and students in Kashiwara, Japan thanks to efforts put forth by the Kubota Corporation. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS & ACTIVITIES Mr. Closson reported that Peppa Pig, World of Play's grand opening at Grapevine Mills has met with great success with Grapevine's opening outperforming their location in Shanghai. Board Member Iain Scouller reported the numbers have been higher than anticipated and staff is working to achieve the balance of numbers for optimum enjoyment. It is anticipated Peppa Pig will temporarily close sometime before summer to rebuild areas with the heaviest use. Mr. Closson provided Board members with samples of new collateral with the top two pieces being the Main Street Fest rack card and New Vintage brochure. Collateral distribution is provided by Certified Folder Service to locations in Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Other delivery points include: 43 AAA locations, 59 Convention and Visitors Bureaus in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana, 12 Texas Travel Information Centers and location distribution to hotels, restaurants, attractions and apartment complexes. Board of Directors Meeting March 14, 2019 Page 6 of 6 Mr. Closson also reported on multiple upcoming local events that have or will be happening over the spring break week. There being no further business to come before the Board a motion by Debi Meek, seconded by Mark Terpening to adjourn the meeting at 9:17 a.m. prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Blankenship, Terpening, Meek and Scouller Nays: None PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS 18th DAY OF APRIL, 2019. ATTEST: Lindy B611 Assistant to th Executive Director