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Home My WebLink About2007-06-21 Regular Meeting • CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, June 21, 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 A. NEW YORK MPI SALES EVENT REPORT B. MAIN STREET DAYS FAM C. OKLAHOMA CITY AAA SALES MISSION VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT B. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE C. STAFF RELOCATIONS IX. NEW BUSINESS A. PURCHASE OF RAILROAD EQUIPMENT X. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON • XI. ADJOURNMENT IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THIS SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING AND YOU HAVE A DISABILITY THAT REQUIRES SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS AT THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU AT (817) 410-3185 AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS WILL BE MADE TO ASSIST YOUR NEEDS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, CHAPTER 551.001 et seq, ACTS OF THE 1993 TEXAS LEGISLATURE, THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU ADVISORY BOARD MEETING AGENDA WAS PREPARED AND POSTED ON THIS THE 12T" DAY OF JUNE 2007 AT 5:00 P.M. Eloise Koehn Director of Finance and Administration State of Texas 41bol County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Don Bigbie Chairman Ev Barnes Board Member Bill Brink Board Member Philip Cloud Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Keith Temple Chamber Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT Mark Wasiak Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the May 17th meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • Great Wolf Lodge expansion was presented and received approval at Tuesday's Council meeting. It includes a 208 room expansion, additional meeting space, and a small addition to the water park. • The Grand Hyatt had a nice article in Meetings South magazine. • The Gaylord Texan Resort ranked in the 20 Best Places to Work in the Metroplex. • The Adam's Mark hotel chain is being sold to a San Francisco hotel group, Oxford Lodging. L." • The Hilton Southlake officially opened last week. Board of Directors Meeting June 21, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • GrapeFest has once again been chosen as an ABA Top 100 event in North America for group travel in 2008. • DFW Airport, the world's third-busiest airport ranked number one among large airports in customer satisfaction according to a J.D. Power and Associates survey. • Taxi customers at LaGuardia airport are given a rack card as they enter the taxi with all information including rates, tipping, surcharges, phone numbers and fares between different locations. This information is also posted on the back of the front seat in all cabs. Discussion of the taxi problems at DFW followed. Staff will submit our concerns to the Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council for their support. • Main Street Days, led by chairs Steve and Nikki Stinson, set a record attendance of 133,276. Fifteen civic and service organizations benefited from the festival. Special events included restoration of the Night Watchman statue, the Paul Bunyan Lumberjack show and the white tiger exhibit. There was a record 86 hours of radio stations live broadcast from the festival grounds. • There is discussion with Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. regarding the name, "Parade of Lights". After discussion the board took a straw vote to support the CVB in contesting the cease and desist order. Staff will pursue. • Several new brochures were distributed to the board including the Summer Nights program which includes a rack card, poster and passport program. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the railroad carried 5,719 passengers during May including a school field trip for 223. The train carried 780 passengers on the mini excursion runs during Main Street Days. They also hosted a stationary charter for Em Care for 180 people. The train sales associate participated in a DFWATC sales mission to Little Rock and consumer shows during the month. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Pat Stinson reported: • There has been some weather related construction delay on Nash Farm restoration. • The corn at the farm is ready to be picked. • Staff is planning to have the Porch Parties again this summer and the candlelight tour of homes in the fall. • To date $690,000 has been raised for the capital campaign. It is coming along nicely. • The Heritage Foundation was pleased to be a part of Main Street Days. • Last Friday night was a successful tribute to Ms. Edith Puitt with Edith's Follies. Board of Directors Meeting June 21, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of May that the convention sales division produced 19 leads representing 19,531 potential room nights. The team assisted with 9 definite groups representing 3,034 room nights across five hotel properties. Staff conducted three site inspections, and participated in the New York Chapter Meeting Planners International Sales event. While in New York staff made four sales call and participated in the event sponsored by Grapevine. Staff also hosted a Main Street Days FAM for 12 meeting planners and 8 guests. To date this fam has generated six leads and three more are expected. The six leads represent 4,483 potential room nights. Tourism sales staff generated 43 leads representing 3,634 potential room nights with many of the dates extending into 2008 and 2009. Staff assisted with 29 definite bookings representing 2,693 room nights. Staff participated in an Oklahoma City Sales Mission with DFWATC visiting 9 AAA offices and co-hosting a dinner for 35 tour planners. Destination Services staff provided registration assistance to 14 groups representing 6,995 attendees. 117,470 brochures were distributed during the month and 20,049 visitors were assisted through the Visitor Information Center. The Convention and Palace Arts Centers booked 36 groups, 32 at the Convention Center and 4 at the Palace Arts Center, representing 6,607 attendees. Total Convention Center revenues for the month were $54,000 and at the Palace Arts Center total revenues were $18.005. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad website had 22,835 unique visitors and the general site had 86,917 unique visitors. This is the highest total to date for the general site. Public Relations generated $51,757 in print media and $35,291 in electronic media for a total of$87,048 in media coverage. OLD BUISNESS Marketing Committee Report Kathee Livengood reported that Bill Brink and Paul Slechta were also members of this year's marketing committee. Barry Lewis and Bruce Dalton shared the FY2007 marketing plan and asked for input from the group. The group contained representatives from the CVB, hotels, restaurants, and attractions. There was good participation from the members. The greatest concern is for holiday and weekend business. The second meeting was on June 19th and staff presented a plan that tried to encompass everything the group had requested. It will be looked at from a budget standpoint and will be brought to this board next month. • Board of Directors Meeting June 21, 2007 Page 4 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. CVB Headquarters Update Mr. McCallum reported that last Thursday we closed on the property at 630 S. Main Street. Staff is in the process of looking at architectural firms to develop the new building. Staff will meet with each of the present tenants in the next ten days. Staff Relocations Mr. McCallum reported that the train staff has been relocated to CVB Midtown and they will be joined in early July by the festivals division. The Heritage Programs and Preservation division will move to the vacated space in the Wallis Building in July. The goal.is to open the new headquarters within two years and have all the CVB staff at that location. NEW BUSINESS Purchase of Railroad Equipment Mr. McCallum reported that Fort Worth and Western Railroad is selling engine 2248 and tender, the six Victorian coaches, and the double bay caboose along with tools and equipment to the Grapevine Vintage Railroad for $355,000. Council approved this purchase at Tuesday's council meeting and we will complete the purchase on July 2, 2007. REPORTS Chamber of Commerce Keith Temple reported that the Chamber has started a noon networking group and there were over 60 in attendance at the first meeting. Johnnie with Cookies in Bloom will replace Kathleen Tolbert on the Chamber Board. • ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board Bill Brink made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Slechta. ATTEST: DATE: L