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Home My WebLink About2007-08-16 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, August 16, 2007 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. SWEARING IN OF BOARD MEMBERS III APPROVAL OF MINUTES IV. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF V. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT VI. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VII. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ter* VIII. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. MPI-WEC B. INTERNATIONAL RECEPTIVE OPERATOR SALES MISSION IX. OLD BUSINESS A. 2007-2008 MARKETING PLAN PRESENTATION B. SISTER CITY UPDATE X. NEW BUSINESS A. MEETING CALENDAR XI. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON XII. ADJOURNMENT L State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, August 16, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. at the Lancaster Theatre, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Brink Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Keith Temple Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation ABSENT Philip Cloud Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. OATH OF OFFICE Frank Dale administered the oath of office to Steve Stinson, Kathee Livengood, Mark Wasiak, Ev Barnes, and John Imaizumi. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the July 19th meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Bill Brink. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • Hyatt Regency has gone 100% smoke free. • Great Wolf Resorts has opened an administration and sales office at 520 S. Main Street. L • At the next meeting of the Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council board meeting the issue of DFW taxis will be an agenda item for discussion. Board of Directors Meeting August 16, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • At the Texas Association of Convention & Visitors Bureau's annual meeting in Corpus Christi last week, the bureau took first place for a cooperative marketing entry in the idea fair. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD George Kakos reported that the railroad carried 6,958 passengers during July including an Independence Day train with 294 passengers. Staff participated in the Star- Telegram Teacher Expo and visited with over 100 teachers. They promoted the North Pole Express and have already booked $1,744 worth of business from this show. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported: • HPC will have two historic landmark overlay cases for August 22nd meeting: 513 East Worth, Pamela Ezell Residence and 320 South Church Street. • Nash Farm restoration continues with the rebuild of the roofline on the north wing and the south gable. Progress has advanced with the favorable (dry) weather. • Neighborhood Porch Parties continue in the township on August 24th at 405 Smith (IW Street, where the homeowners are grant recipients. • The Band Hall/ Homemakers Cottage will be prepped this week for a return to its original location on the Faith Christian school property. Relocation of Denton Creek Schoolhouse to the Church Street property and the band hall / homemakers cottage may be as soon as next week. • One Aug. 13th, 27 Palace Arts Center volunteers and four staff members completed emergency evacuation training led by Grapevine Fire Marshal Mike Keefer. • Jeeves &Wooster will perform live September 21 & 22 at the Palace. The September 21st show will be preceded by a dinner in the Lancaster, for an extra charge. • Our first movie of the season "Lagaan" will be shown on September 7th • The tour of homes has reached its goal of seven participating homes. The event is planned for October 27th SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of July that the convention sales division produced 13 leads representing 11,725 potential room nights. The team assisted with 7 definite groups representing 3,182 room nights. Staff conducted three site inspections. Staff participated in the Meeting Planners International World Education Conference in Montreal with over 60 visitors to the booth. They are working on six potential leads and two possible attendees for the GrapeFest FAM. Tourism sales staff conducted one site inspection and produced 21 leads representing 1,043 potential room nights. Staff assisted in four definite group bookings representing 113 room nights and 250 attendees. Staff participated in the International Receptive Operator Sales Mission in Los Angeles with other Texas' partners, conducting 15 appointments. Board of Directors Meeting August 16, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Destination Services staff provided registration and information services to 18 groups representing 20,470 attendees. 222,065 brochures were distributed during the month and 13,536 visitors were welcomed at the Visitor Information Center. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad website had 28,213 unique visitors and the general site had 87,918 unique visitors. Public Relations generated $62,890 in print media and $22,431 in electronic media for a total of$85,321 in media coverage. Last week in Chicago staff participated in the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) conference with the major cities from the state. Over 600 people came by the booth. The State started attending this show two years ago to venture into the convention group business. The Texas booth was selected as the "best booth at the show." A couple of clients also spent some time in the booth helping to sell Texas. OLD BUSINESS 2007-2008 Marketing Plan Presentation Barry Lewis, Director of Marketing, and Bruce Dalton, Director of Sales, did a power point presentation of the FY2008 Marketing Plan. The Marketing Plan is in draft form and is dependent on council approval of the budget. Discussion followed. Chairman Bigbie requested that a committee be established at the October Board Meeting to evaluate the staffing needs of the bureau, especially in the sales area and appropriate compensation for the sales and marketing team members. Mr. Bigbie thanked Barry and Bruce for the comprehensive presentation and also thanked Kathee Livengood for chairing the marketing committee. Sister City Update Mr. McCallum reported that a group of eight participants had a successful mission to Parras de la Fuente. They participated in a formal meeting at the Parras City Hall to recognize the Sister City relationship. This is a relatively new administration that is committed to the program. Our delegation also met with the Rotarians, who have been very active participants in the program. The group also visited the hospital, orphanage, and school. Mr. McCallum reported that a delegation from West Lothian, Scotland will conduct a fact-finding mission to Grapevine during GrapeFest. They will arrive on Wednesday or Thursday and leave on Sunday. • NEW BUSINESS Meeting Calendar Mr. McCallum shared a draft of the meeting schedule calendar for the next fiscal year. It will be brought to the next board meeting for discussion and a vote. Board of Directors Meeting August 16, 2007 Page 4 of 4 REPORTS Chamber of Commerce Keith Temple reported that the Chamber has a total of 860 members, adding 150 new members this year. They hosted a ribbon cutting for 11 new home businesses this past Tuesday. August 27th is the date for the Chamber Golf Tournament. In October there will be a networking cruise. The Chamber Offices are undergoing a facelift with painting, new carpeting, and landscaping. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, Steve Stinson made a motion to adjourn, seconded by John Imaizumi. ATTEST: DATE: