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Home My WebLink About2001-04-26 Regular Meeting 111 CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS %ivGRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, April 26, 2001 - 11:30 am WALLIS BUILDING ONE LIBERTY PARK PLAZA, GRAPEVINE, TEXAS I AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MARCH 22, 2001 MEETING III. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT I IV. OLD BUSINESS A. SALES MISSIONS UPDATE - NORTHERN CA. & MINNEAPOLIS B. SISTER CITY UPDATE C. NEW VINTAGE UPDATE D. TARANTULA UPDATE V. NEW BUSINESS A. PRESENTATION BY STEVE TRENT - HYATT REGENCY WEST B. APPOINTMENT OF MARKETING COMMITTEE • VI. ADJOURNMENT (am CLew": e�./ J ".7. S IoN'‘ Stsii2Oz c06 147 CAL I 111 °e1141"1 Dos r STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF TARRANT CITY OF GRAPEVINE MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, April 26, 2001 at the Wallis, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Gary Blagg Board Member Bill Brink Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member Paul Jennings Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Phil Parker Board Member Robert Thrailkill Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Aaron Compton Grapevine Chamber George Kakos Director of Marketing Absent: Steve Trent Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison (ir Paul W. McCallum Executive Director CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order and stated that Paul McCallum was attending a Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA) Board Meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the March 22, 2001 meeting was made by Gary Blagg and seconded by Kathee Livengood. Motion carried. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that Susan Burk recently joined the staff of the CVB as a convention sales manager. March saw 18 leads representing 12,000 delegates and 9,000 room nights. Staff has received reports from the hotel partners that they like the new format of the sales missions and reporting system. Tourism efforts have helped the limited service properties. August 1st is the target date for the opening of Hawthorne Suites. Media coverage in March topped $192,000. The Visitor Information Center serviced over 15,000 visitors. OLD BUSINESS Sales Mission Update - Northern California & Minneapolis Mr. Kakos reported that the sales team was in northern California 3 weeks ago and completed 18 sales calls producing 5 leads that represent 6,000 roomnights. They identified a potential 56 leads representing 32,000 roomnights. Director of Sales, Marcy Roitman, is presently in Minneapolis. She has 9 sales calls scheduled, including one with Dairy Queen that is a good potential for summer business. The sales team will be going to St. Louis next week. Board of Directors Meeting April 26, 2001 Page 2 of 3 OLD BUSINESS cont. Sister City Update Mr. Kakos shared that last week Grapevine was host to 68 delegates from Krems and 17 from Parras de la Fuente. The host families were a key element, which allowed this program to operate. The Hilton housed the Krems city officials; the Hyatt and Chef Bruno worked with the culinary group. The dancers were great and performed in schools and St. Francis Church as well as several times at the festival. New Vintage Report Mr. Kakos shared that the Blessing of the Vines was moved to Wednesday afternoon this year in the hopes of catching some of the evening news slots. The Jazz Train on Friday night was a sellout, as well as, the Wine Pairings Lunch and the Austrian Dinner. He shared the press coverage of the festival. Mr. Kakos recognized the job done by several volunteer committee members as well as those who participated in the host family program. Main Street Days brochures and posters are on the street. Kathee Livengood shared that the New Vintage Wrap-Up Meeting was going well. The new footprint allowed for more space. She commended the volunteers and staff for the rapid transfer out of the tent on Sunday. Festival has grown rapidly and its own steering committee in an asset. The CVB staff should be commended for all their hard work. Bill Brink stated that the Sister City Committee has received $950. from, Womens Division of the Chamber, Grapevine Rotary and Grapevine AMBUCS to cover some of the expenses of the Parras trip. He asked for input from board members of any people that contributed to the success of the week and who needed to be thanked. Phil Cloud stated that the host families and the visiting participants loved the home stays. It was a wonderful way to get to know each other. Tarantula Update Mr. Kakos reported for Mr. McCallum that the locomotive missed the April 20th date due to a failed water column on the boiler. This water column was installed in 1991 and had passed an annual inspection since that time. It was not an item that was in question for our rebuild. However, when installed in 1991 it was incorrect then and should have failed that inspection or any inspection since that time. The mechanics had worked 14-18 hours per day for 35 days straight and the locomotive would have run on April 20 for the Jazz Wine Train as everything we had installed during our rebuild passed. Needless to say the men were very disappointed. Staff would like to recommend that the Board approve a $ 500.00 incentive payment out of the $200,000 rebuild money to go to each of the mechanics, Tommy Faifer and Jeff Harris at the conclusion of the rebuild with a letter of commendation to each man from the CVB Board of Directors. At this time we have reduced the work crew and the work hours and we expect a soft launch during Main Street Days for the locomotive. • Board of Directors Meeting April 26, 2001 Page 3 of 3 OLD BUSINESS cont. Tarantula Update cont. Mr. Bigbie asked the pleasure of the board regarding a motion to pay $500.00 each to Tommy Faifer and Jeff Harris out of the rebuild money. Kathee Livengood made the motion; Paul Jennings seconded. Motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Presentation—Hyatt Regency East The presentation on Hyatt Regency East has been rescheduled for the next meeting. Mr. Kakos reported that Bill Bretches, general manager, of the Embassy Suites was announced as GM of the Year for John Q. Hammons Hotels and the Grapevine property was announced as Hotel of the year based on performance and service for 2000. Appointment of Marketing Committee Mr. Bigbie asked Paul Jennings to chair and Bill Brink to serve on the marketing committee for this year. Staff will also invite the Director of Sales from Hyatt, Hilton, Opryland and Embassy along with the general manager from the Baymont to make up the committee. Mr. Kakos will send out notices on the meeting dates and times. ADJOURNMENT Before adjourning, Gary Blagg shared the local paper from Sherman/Denison/Bonham are with Grapevine on the front page. Mr. Bigbie, remembering the Big John and Sparky show, sang their version of Happy Birthday to Gary Blagg. Pat Stinson related that the opening of the Palace is scheduled for the week after Main Street Days. There being no further business to bring before the Board, Gary Blagg made the motion to adjourn, seconded by Phil Cloud. ATTEST: DATE: