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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-01-18 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, January 18, 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. NATIONAL INSPIRATIONALYOUTH CONVENTION B. HOLIDAY SHOWCASE — CHICAGO C. CHICAGO AREA CHAPTER MPI HOLIDAY EVENT VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. KEELING HOUSE UPDATE IX. NEW BUSINESS A. OFFICE MOVES 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, January 18, 2007 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 Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Mike Lease Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT John Imaizumi Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the December 12th meeting was made by Steve Stinson and seconded by Kathee Livengood. Motion carried. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Mr. McCallum introduced new staff members, Nadine Rodriguez, Event Coordinator, and Laura Simmons, Assistant to Executive Director. Mr. Bigbie welcomed them on behalf of the board. L Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2007 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT • Mr. McCallum reported that the Residence Inn opened today. Jim Smith is the General Manager. • ConventionSouth magazine awarded the 2006 Readers' Choice Award to the Grand Hyatt. • Catherines, a retail store, opened in the Target area. • Buon Giorno, a coffeehouse, opened on Hall Johnson. • Work is being done on Ferrari's Italian Villa, which will open in the old Golden Corral location on Wm. D. Tate. • The TRE folks will ride the Grapevine Vintage Railroad to Fort Worth tomorrow as they go forward with the commuter rail program. • The City Council reviewed guidelines for a commuter train station in Grapevine. • The Grapevine Funnel project has been renamed to the DFW Connector and will now include some dedicated toll lanes. • Brookfield, a Canadian company has entered into a purchase agreement with the Mills Corporation. • The TTIA Unity Dinner will be held February 20th in Austin. • Sandra Lechner from Krems will be completing her internship the end of this month. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT The Grapevine Vintage Railroad carried 23,897 passengers during the month of December with 6,687 on the school North Pole runs and 14,172 on the public runs. Mr. Kakos recognized Tom Wayne, Linda Fournier, lona Robbins, and Hank Henning for their hard work on the North Pole Express event. Thomas the Tank returns in March. An email was sent on Tuesday of this week and already there has been a 35% open rate and 21 clicked through to buy tickets. The Sweetheart Express will be held on Valentines Day. For this event 1,800 emails were sent and 200 of those have been opened. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported that the Christmas Decoration Contest was a great success with 20 homes participating. The Foundation used a hay wagon to go around the neighborhood for the judging. The Holiday Double Features Program on December 2nd 9th and 16th was also a new successful event and was picked up by the Star Telegram. The Nash Farm bid in the amount of$431,234.00 for the complete exterior restoration and some interior restoration was approved by the Heritage Foundation Board of Directors and the City Council during last week. Work will commence directly. Board of Directors Meeting lbw January 18, 2007 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of December that the convention sales division produced 25 leads representing 51,039 potential room nights and an economic impact of over $18 million. The team assisted with nine definite groups representing 19,856 room nights and over $8 million in economic impact. Staff conducted four site inspections. Staff made a bid presentation to the National Inspirational Youth Convention, which meets between Christmas and New Years and represents 5,000 people and 5,800 room nights. Staff attended the annual Holiday Showcase in Chicago, which is sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the American Society of Association Executives. There were 33 visitors to the booth, which produced three leads representing 630 potential room nights and also three potential leads representing 2,400 room nights. While in Chicago staff attended the monthly luncheon of the Meeting Planners International Chicago Chapter and identified five new contacts with meeting potential for Grapevine. American Bus Association has consumer a great deal of the tourism sales team's time, however they were able to identify two day trip groups totaling 65 visitors. Staff conducted a holiday Tour operator fam and two site inspections. They assisted on two definite bookings with 50 room nights and 80 attendees. Destination Services has completed their portion of American Bus Association reservation with 1,945 rooms on peak night and a total of 11,225 room nights. Staff provided registration assistance to two groups representing 1,950 attendees. 62,400 brochures were distributed during the month and 18,501 visitors were assisted through the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 47 future events representing 8,613 attendees. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad website had 35,695 unique visitors and the general site had 58,904 unique visitors, which was the highest non-festival month for activity. The new web site is up and operating well. Public Relations generated $62,107 in print and $202,260 in electronic media coverage. Mr. Kakos shared an award received at Texas Association of Fairs and Events for first place — best overall award in the 100,001 — 500,000 category. He shared several articles that have been in the press during the month. OLD BUSINESS Keeling House Update Mr. McCallum reported that the CVB acquired the Keeling House several years ago from Dennis Slechta. Restoration was begun and then shut down after 9/11. This fiscal year we have refunded the project and we are establishing a Settlement to City museum in the House, the first official City Hall. The target is to dedicate the Keeling House on February 12th at 11 a.m. There will be a sampling of how the museum layout will be with GrapeFest as the target to open the museum. Concurrent with the opening Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2007 Page 4 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. Keeling House Update cont. will be the celebration of 100 years of Incorporation of Grapevine — February 12, 1907 — February 12, 2007. NEW BUSINESS Office Moves Mr. McCallum reported that on a short-term basis the railroad staff will relocate to offices by the train. Staff is looking for other space around the Wallis location to relocate some staff members while we find and build a new CVB facility. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported that the 3rd Annual Jubilee is scheduled for February 9th at Austin Ranch. The goal is to raise money for the Nash Farm Restoration. Sales are ahead of last year. The program tonight at the Palace is Melange Musical, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Chamber of Commerce Mike Lease reported that it is nominating time at the Chamber with the Annual Awards Banquet scheduled for March 29th at the Hilton. The presenting sponsor is Bank of the West and ticket prices this year will be $50 per person. The recent Chamber luncheon had a good speaker on electric deregulation. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board Bill Brink made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Ev Barnes. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L