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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-10-19 Regular Meeting Cr CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, October 19, 2000 - 11:30 am WALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 20,2000 MEETING III. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT (hp, IV. OLD BUSINESS A. TARANTULA UPDATE B. GRANTS-IN-AID FINAL EVALUATION REPORT V. NEW BUSINESS A. CHICAGO/NEW YORK SALES MISSIONS 2001 B. BUTTERFLY FLUTTERBY REPORT VII. ADJOURNMENT C (kw STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 19, 2000 at the Convention & Visitors Bureau, One Liberty Park Plaza, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Gary Blagg Board Member Bill Brink Board Member Paul Jennings Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Phil Parker Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member Robert Thrailkill Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Director of Marketing Absent: Steve Trent Board Member CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the September 21, 2000 Board Meeting was made by Kathee Livengood and seconded by Gary Blagg. Motion carried. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that there were 14 convention leads and 3 tour group leads representing 5,555 room nights for the month. Six convention groups representing over 7,400 room nights were assisted and the Visitor Information Center assisted 13,650 visitors. 103,000 brochures were distributed during the month. Festival sponsorships raised year to date total $445,050 and communications division had$225,900 worth of media coverage for the month. Scott Phipps has joined the sales staff as a convention sales manager and Jill Jeffcoat has resigned to join a party-planning group for school reunions. Sales staff is participating in the Overseas Brats convention in Wichita, Kansas. Tourism will be calling on travel agents,bank travel clubs, newspapers and radio/television stations in the third tier cities to promote the holiday season and shopping in Grapevine. Cr Board of Directors Meeting October 19, 2000 Page 2 of 3 OLD BUSINESS Tarantula Update Mr. McCallum reported that the contract between the city of Grapevine and Tarantula(Fort Worth and Western Railroad) has been signed, as well as, the lease agreement with Stockyards Station. The financial commitments are in place. The track has been laid into the roundhouse and Tom Wayne has spent time with Tarantula staff to ensure a smooth takeover of the operations. We have contracted with Leslie Rule to promote and coordinate the Polar Express program. We will offer some Christmas functions on the regular run. For$1,600 a group can have a private car on the regular run. We are developing job descriptions for both full and part- time positions; 1 train attendant supervisor, 1 steam engine mechanic, 2 ticket office sales persons, 10 train attendants, 2 maintenance technicians and 4 janitors. The bids for the restoration of the steam engine were too high so we will oversee the work and hire 1 mechanic and 2 mechanics helpers for the restoration. Mr. McCallum reported that we are looking for a steam engine to lease while "Puffy" is being rebuilt. In the event we cannot locate a steam engine we will operate with diesel. The CVB will Cro call a press conference the end of November to clarify our position at that time. Mr. McCallum thanked Roger Nelson, City Manager, for all his assistance as we develop the strategies necessary to make this program work under city guidelines. Grants-In-Aid Final Evaluation Mr. Bigbie distributed copies of the final evaluation from the End of the Runway Players to the board members. Mr. Blagg read a thank you letter from the Grapevine Former Student Association. NEW BUSINESS Chicago/New York Sales Missions 2001 Mr. McCallum reported that a meeting was held with our hotel partners to evaluate the Chicago and New York promotions for 2001. The outcome was to reposition these to sales missions with less emphasis on the afternoon and evening functions. We will not take large delegations to these events. The bureau will also be realigning our sales staff by industry rather than geographic areas. This will impact the involvement of the board and council on these two promotions; however, other areas of involvement are opening up within our Sister City programs. Butterfly Flutterby Report Cr' Ms. Koehn shared the schedule of events for Butterfly Flutterby which is Saturday, October 21st from 10 am—4 pm. The butterflies are in residence at the Visitor Information Center and the two release times are 11 am and 1 pm. The children's parade will kick off at 10 am. This event is a great community event and everyone was encouraged to attend. Board of Directors Meeting October 19, 2000 Page 3 of 3 NEW BUSINESS cont. Travel Summit Mr. McCallum reported that Grapevine hosted the most successful of all Travel Summits recently at the Embassy Suites. The community,businesses, attractions, CVB and leadership all worked together to make this a successful event and to set an attendance record. Travel Summit is where all the state tourism agencies and the private sector partners come together. Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association TWGGA's annual meeting will be held at the Renaissance Plaza in Farmers Branch. The legislative agenda on agriculture is important to them. With the wine industry all levels of value added stay in Texas for Texans. The growth of the grapes and all processing take place in Texas. West Tower at Hyatt The west tower is slated to come down in April in conjunction with the new international terminal. The tower has approximately 600 rooms and we do not know if they will close in January or later. We have looked at the budget from both a worst and best case scenario. The worst case revenue would drop $500,000—$570,000 and in the best case revenue would drop (hro between$325,000 and $400,000. Some changes to the budget to cover this shortfall could include;putting off hiring the new personnel ($120,000),billing the festival for the salaries of the festival staff($120,000),reducing the capitol projects by$260,000 (including projects for public art, signage and remodeling the Wallis), operational economy($25,000) and an increase in revenue from advertising on literature ($25,000). These changes could affect a$550,000 change in the budget without affecting the sales and marketing program. By leaving in the renovations to the Keeling house, we could house some staff at that location. There is enough in the signage capital project to do the downtown directional signage; however, we would not be able to do the approaches to the city at this time. Mr. Bigbie suggested we have a board committee to revamp the budget before changes go over to city hall. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to bring before the Board, Bill Brink made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Phil Cloud. ATTEST: DATE: C