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Home My WebLink About2004-06-17 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, June 17, 2004 -- 11:30 a.m. WALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. OATH OF OFFICE III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IV. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT ther V. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT VI. OLD BUSINESS A. MAIN STREET DAYS REPORT B. GRAPEVINE TODAY MAGAZINE C. GOLD WING UPDATE VII. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANT REQUEST - FIAT CLUB OF NORTH TEXAS VIII. REPORTS A. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE B. HERITAGE FOUNDATION IX. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, June 17, 2004 at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Bretches Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Sarah Cloud Heritage Foundation Absent: Bill Brink Board Member (1, Kathee Livengood Board Member Tom Smith Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Martin Thompson Grapevine Chamber Paul W. McCallum Executive Director CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. OATH OF OFFICE Sallie Andrews administered the oath of office to Don Bigbie, Phil Cloud, and Paul Slechta who were reappointed to the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the May 6th meeting was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by Phil Cloud. Motion carried. r, The Board of Directors Meeting June 17, 2004 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. Kakos shared the following: • The Embassy Suites Hotel Outdoor World is ranked number 2 out of 170 Embassy properties by the Hilton Hotels Corp. • The Golden Corral will be building between Cozymel and Trail Dust at Grapevine Mills. • The Back Porch has opened on North Main Street and is offering live entertainment 6 nights a week. • The Comfort Inn and Suites will open on July 27th with 98 suites and 1,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. • Half Shells has been renamed Big Fish. • Blue Moon Gallery has opened where A Scoop in Time was located. • Merry's Christmas and Clowns and Napoli Restaurant have completed the renovations and are now open. • Off the Vine will be opening a tasting room, In the Glass, where Buckley's Jewelers was located. • The Farmer's Market is going well and the farmers are very happy with their new location behind the Gazebo. • Saturday, June 19th will be storytellers at the Gazebo and Saturday, June 26th there will be music at the Gazebo. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported the convention sales division produced 37 leads representing a potential of 36,956 room nights; this is an all time high for monthly leads. The team assisted with 4 definite groups representing 1,469 room nights. The team conducted 9 site inspections and participated in Springtime in the Park trade show in Washington, DC. Convention Services assisted 6 groups representing 4,350 delegates. Tourism division produced 2 leads representing 75 room nights and assisted with 6 definites representing 228 room nights and 301 attendees. They conducted 2 site inspections and have just returned from participating in a sales mission to Arkansas. The Convention Center booked 27 events representing 11,334 attendees. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad ridership was 4,717 for the month and operated short excursion runs during Main Street Days. Web traffic was 7,002 visits on the Grapevine Vintage Railroad site and 6,911 on the general site. Public Relations generated $272,638 in print and electronic media coverage. Mr. Bretches added that for January through May, Embassy Suites has had their best year ever. He commended the bureau staff saying, "never have so few done so much for so many." He urged the boardmembers to support any sales and service staff increases that may come from this growth. Steve Stinson reported that Austin Ranch is also seeing huge growth. The Board of Directors Meeting June 17, 2004 Page 3 of 4 OLD BUSINESS Main Street Days Report Mr. Kakos reported that the 20th Annual Main Street Days opened with the Dedication of Tower 16. Mayor Tate did a wonderful portrayal of Mayor B. R. Wall at the Mayor's Recognition Breakfast and the following statue dedication. The Hand Car Races turned a corner this year with a team from Nebraska, who won the event and then donated half of their winnings back to the Heritage Foundation. They plan to return next year and to promote the event at other Hand Car Races throughout the year. Attendance at this year's festival was 108,920 and a check for$116,481 was presented to the Heritage Foundation at their annual meeting yesterday. Grapevine Today Magazine Mr. Kakos reported that the bureau is working with American Airlines Publishing to produce the Grapevine Today magazine. Bureau staff met with the editorial staff this past week. July 29th will be the announcement of the new publication at a reception at Delaney Vineyards. Staff will be seeking potential advertisers and the magazine will be distributed through hotels, shops, car dealerships, etc. It will be published twice a year. (lior Gold Wing Update Mr. Kakos reported that to date 9,100 total room nights with 1,700 on peak night have been booked through the housing bureau. The July 4th parade will kick-off at Grapevine Mills with 1,200 - 1,500 bikes. The parade will end in the Historic District with a street festival from 2 - 6 p.m. Presentations will be made at the Gazebo at 3 p.m. NEW BUSINESS Grant Request - Fiat Club of North Texas Mr. Kakos shared that the Fiat Club of North Texas had a car show last year in conjunction with GrapeFest. Their goal this year is to double the size of the show and are promoting it outside the state of Texas. Ev Barnes made a motion that we fund the grant in the amount of$4,000; Steve Stinson seconded. Discussion followed. The motion carried with Don Bigbie abstaining. REPORTS Chamber of Commerce Phil Cloud encouraged everyone to attend the ribbon cutting for The Back Porch today at 5:30 p.m. Darlene Freed stated that the last two weeks of December the Grapevine Chamber will be in charge of welcoming the troop R&R flights as they arrive at DFW Airport. C { a (kw The Board of Directors Meeting June 17, 2004 Page 4 of 4 Heritage Foundation Sarah Cloud thanked the board for the Main Street Days check presentation last evening at the Heritage Foundation's Annual Meeting. A contract was signed with AMBUCS for their weekly meetings to be held at the Lancaster as well as the renewal of the contract with Yellow Rose Productions. This Saturday from 5 - 7 p.m. will be an art exhibit of the historic downtown area at the Palace. ADJOURNMENT Bill Bretches will be moving to a new Embassy property in Frisco and thanked the board for the opportunity to serve. He has truly enjoyed his time in the Grapevine community and at the Embassy Suites Outdoor World. There being no further business to come before the board; Ev Barnes made a motion to adjourn; seconded by Bill Bretches. Motion carried. tor ATTEST: DATE: