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Home My WebLink About2007-04-19 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, April 19, 2007 — 9:30 a.m. Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT IV. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT V. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VI. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. MEETING INDUSTRY OF COLORADO B. DESTINATION SHOWCASE — D.C. C. ITB - BERLIN D. GLAMER — SAN ANTONIO E. DALLAS HOME & GARDEN SHOW VII. OLD BUSINESS A. NEW VINTAGE REPORT VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. DESTINATION HARDBOUND BOOK B. EQUIPMENT DISPLAY BUILDING — COTTON BELT RR DISTRICT C. TOURISM POLICING REPORT IX. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON X. ADJOURNMENT L State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 9:30 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 John Imaizumi Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Keith Temple Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT Philip Cloud Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order, thanked Kathee Livengood for chairing last month's meeting, and welcomed Keith Temple as the new Chamber liaison to the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the March 22nd meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Kathee Livengood. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • Council approved the Convention Center remodel bids last night. The remodel will freshen up the building. The parking lot concrete work, landscaping, and reader sign have recently been completed. Council recognized the staff of the center for their hard work that has kept the building in excellent condition for its age. • Main Street Blues Room has a new owner and will be changing the name to Tin Spirits. L Board of Directors Meeting April 19, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • Airports Council International has named Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport "Best Airport in the Americas for Customer Service". • Grapevine is hosting the Texas Travel Counselors Conference this week at the Gaylord Texan. • Staff received a wonderful letter from the Travelers Aid Chocolate Festival chairman. They raised in excess of$30,000. • Bone Daddy's has opened. Bob's Chop House and Uncle Julio's are coming along. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the railroad carried 27,798 passengers during March with 70 special promotional events including Spring Fling and Day Out With Thomas. The restoration of car#206 is complete. Air-conditioning will be installed in car 208. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported that this coming weekend is Spring Into Nash Farm with a special breakfast that will include a hard hat tour and major gift and pledge announcement. The goal for the Nash Farm Restoration is $800,000 and the program is at $687,000 to date. Renovation is underway on the farmhouse with all of the 1948 addition being removed. Last month the Palace hosted the movies, Hoosiers, and Singing in the Rain. This past weekend they hosted Dallas Blues Legends and the movie, American Graffiti. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of March that the convention sales division produced 33 leads representing 16,992 potential room nights. The team assisted with 17 definite groups representing 18,955 room nights at seven different properties. Staff exhibited at the Meeting Industry Conference in Denver where 40 planners visited the booth. Staff also made seven sales appointments with the potential for three RFPs by the end of the year. Staff participated in Destination Showcase in Washington, DC where there were 34 booth visits and 5 leads representing 2,875 potential leads. Tourism sales staff generated 15 leads representing almost 1,000 potential room nights and assisted with 10 definite bookings with just under 400 room nights. They also conducted three site inspections. As a result of all their hard work, Heather Kisabeth has been appointed to the American Bus Association's Marketplace Advisory Committee and Ashlee Van Blarcom has been appointed to the American Bus Association's Strategic Planning Committee. Tourism staff exhibited at ITB, an International Travel Show in Berlin where they conducted 33 appointments with travel planners and participated in a state of Texas dinner with 23 planners. Staff also exhibited at the San Antonio Group Leaders Conference with 18 potential leads and 3 qualified leads produced. While in San Antonio, staff also made sales calls on the AAA offices. Staff attended the Dallas Home and Garden Show where over 1,000 folks stopped by the booth for brochures. Board of Directors Meeting tor April•20, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Destination Services staff provided registration assistance to nine groups representing in excess of ten thousand attendees. Almost 77,000 brochures were distributed during the month and 26,623 visitors were assisted through the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 31 future events representing 6,810 attendees and hosted 46 events with $48,387 in revenue. Fourteen groups were booked at the Palace representing a total of 9,455 attendees and hosted 26 events with total revenue in excess of $20,000. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad website had 41,328 unique visitors and the general site had 68,156 unique visitors, the highest this fiscal year. Public Relations generated just under $70,000 in print and electronic media coverage. OLD BUSINESS New Vintage Report Mr. McCallum reported that the Jazz Wine Train was sold out on Friday evening. The Vintner's Breakfast, new this year, was a means to recognize the participants and give them information on the procession. Five to six hundred participated in the procession. Also new was a celebrity wine judging in which White Tail Chardonnay 2004 from Lone Star Wine Cellars took the white category and La Bodega's 2004 private reserve Merlot took the red category. Several wineries saw an increase in case sales. The art galleries were a welcome addition this year. Mr. Bigbie reported that Cross Timbers was down around 32% but did book a wedding as a result of the event. He felt the press was a good added addition. NEW BUSINESS Destination Hardbound Book Mr. McCallum reported that the CVB is in the process of putting together a coffee table type book that will have approximately 64 pages with very little copy. It will be used in sales, the sister city program and with VIP visitors. Copies will be available for purchase and it is expected to take 15 months to compile. Equipment Display Building Mr. McCallum shared drawings of the Equipment Display Building that will sit in front of the Founders Building on Main Street. This concept was first approved in 1997. It will house 2 fire trucks, a police car and Miss Grapevine. We plan to go forward on this project after Main Street Days and bring the project in between $90,000 and $120,000. Tourism Policing Report Mr. McCallum reported that the Grapevine Police Department is working with Dr. Peter Tarlow from Texas A&M University on tourism policing. Grapevine has become a part of a pilot program that will have a special unit assigned to the tourism product. Mr. L Board of Directors Meeting April 19, 2007 Page 4 of 4 NEW BUSINESS cont. Tourism Policing Report cont. Imaizumi and Mr. Wasiak have both met with the group and had positive comments about taking it to the next level. REPORTS Chamber of Commerce Keith Temple reported that the Chamber just recently had its Annual Awards Banquet where Rodney & Peggy Smith, Bank of the West, Classic Chevrolet Hummer, Gayle Hall, Harlan & Inez Jewett, the Women's Division of the Chamber, and Shelley Ruddick received awards. The Chamber added 27 new members this month bringing their membership to 855. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board Steve Stinson made a motion to adjourn, seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L