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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-06-19 Regular Meeting torCITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, June 19, 2003 -- 11:30 am WALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. SWEARING IN OF NEW AND REAPPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IV. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Cor V. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT VI. OLD BUSINESS A. RECAP OF MAIN STREET DAYS B. LOCOMOTIVE 770 C. MARKETING COMMITTEE UPDATE VII. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUESTS VIII. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IX. ADJOURNMENT STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, June 19, 2003 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 Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Tom Smith Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Ronny Nordling Grapevine Chamber Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Guest Melva Stanfield Heritage Foundation Board Chairman C,,, Absent: Bill Brink Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director CALL TO ORDER Don Bigbie called the meeting to order. SWEARING IN OF NEW AND REAPPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS Sallie Andrews administered the oath of office to new board members, Bill Bretches, and Steve Stinson, along with returning board members; Ev Barnes, Kathee Livengood, and Tom Smith. Mr. Bigbie introduced the new board members. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the May 8th meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Kathee Livengood. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that Pam Huddleston is the new Director of Marketing at the Grapevine Mills mall. He shared the new train logo with the board as well as a rack The Board of Directors Meeting fly June 19, 2003 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. card on the Great Race. A new shop opened in town called How Great Thou Art, which features religious based artists. Charlie's Café closed. During the last session of the legislature, lawmakers transferred the Economic Development and Tourism Division to the Governor's Office with a $2.8 million budget. State tourism was formerly under the Department of Economic Development. Our State Senator, Jane Nelson, has been elected president pro tem of the Senate. Paul Slechta invited the board members to a reception for crews from the Great Race on Friday night, June 27th at their business. They are expecting between 250 and 300 people. The Grand Hyatt will be topped out the end of June or early July. Tom Smith requested the board consider some form of action directed towards Gaylord's solicitation of employees from Grapevine hotels. Discussion of the topic followed. Mr. Bigbie was not certain if there was an agreement from Gaylord to not solicit Grapevine hotel employees, however we will check into the situation. Mr. Bigbie encouraged the hotel general managers to meet with John Imaizumi and attempt to resolve the situation. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos shared highlights from the month of May. The convention sales division produced 9 leads representing 2,680 potential roomnights and assisted in closing 6 groups representing 5,380 roomnights. They conducted 8 site inspections. Two groups representing 900 delegates received convention services during the month. Tourism division had 2 groups book with 130 attendees. Four leads were published representing 175 attendees and 90 roomnights. Staff participated in the AAA Show in Tulsa. Housing for the Gold Wing convention is at 600 rooms on peak night with the average stay at 4-5 nights. The Games of Texas is at 50% of their room block. May saw 18,359 visitors assisted through the Visitor Information Centers and 166,550 brochures. The Convention Center booked 48 future groups with 6,163 attendees. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had 4,789 riders during the month. Thomas the Train will be hosted in Grapevine in October. We will run this program in conjunction with the Age of Steam Museum. The CVB web site had 4,160 visits and the train site had 6,767 visits. Communications had $145,000 in print and $78,000 in electronic media coverage for a total of$233,000 for the month. OLD BUSINESS Recap of Main Street Days Mr. Kakos reported that attendance at this year's Main Street Days was 104,164 and that proceeds to the Grapevine Heritage Foundation was a record setting $101,568. The Foley, Alabama Festival Exchange added a level of excitement and activities to the tif festival. Ev Barnes reported that he had heard from several Grapevine folks who wished to be part of the exchange in November and asked if we would be lining up any bus transportation. The Board of Directors Meeting June 19, 2003 Page 3 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. Locomotive 771 Tuesday evening the Victoria City Council approved the agreement to give locomotive 771 to Grapevine. Restoration, if feasible, will be at least a two-year project. Marketing Committee Update Mr. Kakos thanked the committee members Paul Slechta and Ev Barnes who along with Bill Brink as chairman led the marketing committee. The committee, which included the directors of sales from the hotel properties met once to share information regarding their hotel needs. Staff followed up on the suggestions of the committee and put together a marketing plan for the coming year, which was presented at the June 5th meeting. The hotels had requested additional emphasis on the leisure business and the plans are to expand the tourism oriented tradeshows and to increase sales missions to key feeder drive markets of a 3-5 hour range to meet that need. Advertising will include some consumer ads and tourism related periodicals. We will emphasize tourism but not at the expense of group sales. Consumer sales missions to the key markets will continue as well as participation in key industry shows. We will look at the Phoenix market, as well as, third party meeting planners (i.e. Conferon, Conference Direct, etc.) The goal is to build the Destination and promote "Destination Grapevine". We will be looking at all our collateral and develop a comprehensive group tour manual. NEW BUSINESS Grants-in-Aid Requests There are three Grants-in-Aid requests to come before the board. End of the Runway Players for $5,000. Phil Cloud made a motion to approve the grant request as printed; Kathee Livengood seconded; motion carried. Tarrant County Area Guild of Storytellers for$600. Phil Cloud made a motion to approve the grant request as printed; Paul Slechta seconded; motion carried. Fiat Club of North Texas for $2,800. Mr. Bigbie abstained. Ev Barnes made a motion to approve the grant request as printed; Phil Cloud seconded; motion carried. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Melva Stanfield, on behalf of Heritage Foundation, their board, and staff, thanked the CVB Board of Directors and staff for their support of the foundation. This year's festival was the best Main Street Days ever and the festival exchange was a great idea. Melva recognized the work of the staff to bring in the "bottom line" for the foundation. She expressed the hope that the board, staff, and volunteers would continue to work together as it increases the sense of community and community spirit that is unique to Grapevine. Pat Stinson added that it was approved at last Tuesday's Council Meeting to add 2 board members from the business community to the Heritage Foundation's Board of The Board of Directors Meeting (SP, June 19, 2003 Page 4 of 4 REPORTS cont. Heritage Foundation cont. Directors. These members may be chosen from outside the city. It is the hope of the foundation that this will enable them to expand the volunteer base. At Nash Farms they will begin demolition of some of the older buildings and parts of the house that are not original to it. Nash Farm will be getting a lot busier and people will be able to see some activity there. Chamber of Commerce Ronny Nordling reminded everyone that the Chamber Golf Tournament is June 23rd They will be the first tournament to use the new 9 holes at Grapevine Golf Course. The Chamber is also sponsoring a car in the Great Race. The Business Resource Group of the Chamber is having some business cards printed that will say in effect-- "I am doing business with you because you are a member of our Chamber." He will bring some of the cards to the next meeting. Mr. Nordling reported that he spent time with the Chamber officials from Foley; that it was a good exchange; and that the Chamber is looking forward to going to Foley in November. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, Phil Cloud made a motion to adjourn seconded by Ev Barnes. 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