The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2007-11-15 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, November 15, 2007 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF IV. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT V. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VI. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VII. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Cry A. OVERSEAS BRATS GATHERING — BOISE, ID B. HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY GOLF ORGANIZATION —TUCSON, AZ C. TRAVEL TRADE SHOWS — SAN ANTONIO/AUSTIN/HOUSTON D. GLAMER TRADE SHOW— FORT WORTH E. TRAVEL AGENT TRADE SHOWS — OKC, TULSA, LITTLE ROCK F. CANADIAN TOURISM SALES MISSION VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. SISTER CITY PROGRAM UPDATE IX. NEW BUSINESS A. CHRISTMAS CAPITAL OF TEXAS REPORT X. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON XI. ADJOURNMENT L State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Brink Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Keith Temple Chamber Liaison Bruno Rumbelow City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation ABSENT Don Bigbie Chairman Darlene Freed Council Liaison CALL TO ORDER Kathee Livengood called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the October 18th meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Bill Brink. Motion carried. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Mr. McCallum introduced new staff members: Mindy McLain, Festivals & Events Manager; Josh Tate, Advertising & Creative Manager; Autumn Hamm, Tourism Coordinator; and Becky Gardner, National Sales Manager. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • New hotel staff includes Lisa Faulkner, Director of Sales, at AmeriSuites and Sara L Call, Director of Sales, at IDEARC Hotel & Conference Center. ▪ The Midnight Rodeo — Hondo's Grill is scheduled to open in early March 2008. It is located out by LA Fitness Center site. • The Hilton Anatole has completed a $50 million overhaul with upgrades to their rooms, auditorium and gym. Board of Directors Meeting November 15, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • Work is in progress to create a static display in the median of the railroad parking lot. It will hold engine 771, the tender and rail car. Staff is working out the details with the North Texas Model Railroaders to put their display in the baggage car. • The band hall / homemaking cottage is expected to be moved in the next couple of weeks to its original location at Faith Christian Academy. Then the Denton Creek Schoolhouse will be moved to the Settlement to City location on Church Street. • The Grapevine Opry celebrated 20 years of continuous operation with a great show on Saturday night. • Kathee Livengood and her team from the Women's Division were the big winners at the Chamber Chili Cook Off. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD George Kakos reported that the railroad carried 3,377 passengers during October including 14 groups, one charter, and two special Halloween runs. The Train was Cor featured in Panache magazine. To date, the North Pole Express has 73 schools and 6,298 students booked. The public runs have 4,780 riders. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported: • Nash Farm Capital Campaign is now officially over $700,000. They hope to conclude the campaign by February. • The Classic Holiday Movie Schedule is in place with movies on Nov. 28, Dec. 5, Dec. 12, and Dec. 19. Admission is $7.50 per person or $5.00 with a same-day receipt from any Grapevine restaurant or store. • The Holiday Decorating Contest will be announced next week. • The Candlelight Tour of Homes was a huge success with over 450 participants. • A delegation of 23 persons from Conroe, Texas visited Grapevine on Monday to learn how Grapevine used Historic Preservation as a key to economic development. • The Preservation Advocacy Awards will be presented at next Tuesday's City Council meeting. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of October that the convention sales division produced 32 leads representing 37,160 potential room nights. The team assisted with three definite groups representing 1,404 room nights and conducted three site inspections. Staff attended the Overseas Brats annual reunion and met with the decision makers for the various reunions. Staff attended the Hospitality Industry Golf Organization meeting and Golf Tournament in Tucson where there were 47 meeting Board of Directors Meeting November 15, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. planners from both corporations and associations. Two of those planners will be here this weekend for a site inspection. Tourism sales staff produced 14 leads representing 190 potential room nights. They assisted in 16 definite group bookings representing 44 room nights and 824 day guests. Staff conducted a fam trip in conjunction with American Airlines for travel agents from Germany. Staff attended three days o f travel trade shows in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston. Over the three days they met with 64 travel agents and provided holiday as well as general information on Grapevine. Staff attended three days of travel trade shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Little Rock where they met with 67 travel agents over the three days and called AAA offices in Tulsa and made sales calls in Little Rock. Sales staff attended the Group Leaders of America (GLAMER) conference in Fort Worth where they met with 35 representatives. Staff joined ten other Texas' CVBs on a sales mission to Canada and met with 17 tour operators promoting golf packages and triangle tours of Texas. Destination Services staff provided registration and information services to ten groups representing 16,200 attendees. 46,392 brochures were distributed during the month and 9,609 guests were assisted at the Visitor Information Center. The Grapevine Convention Center had 29 future group bookings representing 6,402 attendees. The Center hosted 35 groups during the month with $35,700 in room rental and $23,500 in food and beverage revenue. The Palace Arts Center had 16 future bookings representing 1,501 attendees. The Center hosted 18 events during the month with $12,760 in room rental and $2,407 in food and beverage revenue. The total web traffic for all sites was 67,741 versus 46,904 for this time last year. Public Relations generated $97,355 in print media, and $148,489 in electronic media for a total of$245,844 in media coverage. OLD BUSINESS Sister City Program Update Mr. McCallum reported that we are expanding the assistant to the executive director position to include a sister city component. There will be a delegation from Parras at New Vintage in April and a delegation from Grapevine will travel to Parras in August. Money for a large dryer for the hospital has been sent to Parras along with ten thousand to complete the restrooms at the Orphanage. The recent elections in Krems have put several new folks in charge including Ingeborg Rinke as mayor. Franz Holz' is gong into the private sector. Our next mission to Krems will be in June of 2009. We have invited some of the representatives of Krems to New Vintage next spring. Board of Directors Meeting November 15, 2007 Page 4 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. Sister City Program Update cont. We will send a fact-finding delegation to Scotland in April and a general delegation in June of next year to participate in the Marches. There is a student mission scheduled to come to Grapevine in August of 2008. Staff met with the GCISD superintendent and assistant superintendent and are moving forward with school programs including an electronic pen pal program and music exchanges. A group from Scotland is planning to come for GrapeFest 2008. NEW BUSINESS Christmas Capital of Texas Report Mr. McCallum reported that December is a difficult time for our hotels and with that in mind Grapevine started several years ago to develop Grapevine as the Christmas Capital of Texas. We continue to expand the decorations out from the downtown area as well as expanding those in the downtown. Mr. McCallum shared the ad schedule for the Christmas activities. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported: • February 8 is the date for Jubilee. • It is great to see the Opry celebrate 20 years and to be able to host events from the Opry to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra at the Palace. Chamber of Commerce Keith Temple reported: • The Women's Division won all the awards at the Chamber's 15th annual Chili Cook Off. • The Chamber's first networking cruise was a huge success and plans are underway for the next trip. • There were 23 participants in the Leadership Grapevine. This was the largest class to date. • November 29th is the date for the Christmas Parade of Lights. • December 1st is the date for the Anniversary Ball. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, Ev Barnes made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Slechta. L ATTEST: DATE: