The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2008-10-16 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, October 16, 2008 — 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS REPORT IV. GRAEPVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT V. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT VI. SALES AND MARKETING UPDATE A. GRAPEFEST FAMS B. COWBOY/REDSKINS FAM C. AUSTIN MEETING PLANNER LUNCHEON D. TSAE ANNUAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE E. STUDENT AND YOUTH TRAVEL ASSOCIATION F. GROUP LEADERS OF AMERICA G. DALLAS HOME & GARDEN SHOW VII. OLD BUSINESS A. BUDGET FY 08-09 VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. AGENDA FORMAT IX. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON C X. ADJOURNMENT • State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Ev Barnes Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gaits Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Terri Shimmel Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Kristine Amador Chamber Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Heritage Programs & Preservation Director ABSENT John Imaizumi Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the September 18, 2008 meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: 1. Great Wolf Lodge will have snow this coming holiday season. Their December extravaganza is being called "Winter Escape". Nightly events will happen throughout the season and snow will fall during the evening story times. The new space at Great Wolf Lodge is scheduled to open in January. At this time construction is ahead of schedule. At the corporate level, Kimberly Schaefer has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of Great Wolf Resorts, Inc. She has been with the company 11 years. 2. Hilton Garden Inn at this time is scheduled to open January 5th, 2009. Board of Directors Meeting October 16, 2008 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. 3. Embassy Suites brand is moving to a new design plan that will eliminate a top to bottom atrium in favor of a similar but smaller space at the front lobby. The new design's biggest change is to reduce the atrium to three and one-half stories high from the traditional seven, and an overall smaller building footprint. This will reduce developers' costs by $15,000 per room. 4. Texas' first Aloft Hotel is now open in Las Colinas. Located on highway 114, the hotel has 136 loft-like rooms featuring 9-foot ceilings and oversized windows. This hotel is the vision of Hillwood Chairman, Ross Perot Jr. 5. McKinney's convention center and hotel project is over budget and behind schedule. The $200 million project has been plagued with delays and other problems. 6. A petition drive has been launched against the Dallas Convention Center Hotel. A Dallas group known as Citizens Against the Taxpayer-Owned Hotel launched a petition drive that aims to call an election to stop the construction of the $400 million convention center hotel. The group is largely backed by Harlan Crow, owner of the Hilton Anatole. 7. A conditional use application was submitted for Ziziki's at 1295 S. Main Street, where Bob's Chop House and Fireside Pies is located. 8. Mawkers has new owners, but retaining the name and same menu. 9. Big Buck Brewery name has changed to Uncle Buck's Brewery & Steakhouse. The menu has changed a little. They are scheduled to renovate next year. 10.Midnight Rodeo, located by Cracker Barrel, is scheduled to open in March 2009. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported the Candlelight Tour of Homes will be Saturday, October 25th from 6 to 9 p.m. The tour will start at the Gazebo and includes eight houses and two wineries. The Historic Preservation Commission approved the land marking of the historic Love Chapel in the Hill Area of Grapevine. The Sound of Texas Music Series kicked off on October 10th with Bob Schneider. This Friday will be the Jimmy LaVave concert. There are 15 tours for 1,300 participants scheduled at Nash Farm and Main Street this month. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD George Kakos reported that ridership was 3,779 for the month of September. The winter schedule is now in effect. The railroad hosted 304 passengers on a Murder Mystery Train on September 27th. To date 52 schools have booked for the school North Pole Express. Tickets sold for the public North Pole Express is 2,763. The caboose from Fort Worth and Western Railroad is being revamped to serve as a special event venue and is expected to be ready by the end of November. The new public address system is fully installed. Board of Directors Meeting October 16, 2008 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of September that the convention sales division generated 19 leads representing 25,085 potential room nights and assisted with six definite bookings representing 9,806 room nights. Staff hosted eight meeting planners from the mid-Atlantic area for a Cowboys/Redskins FAM. They have one signed contract to date with over 5,000 total room nights. The GrapeFest Meeting Planners FAM has eleven planners in attendance representing 1,167 potential meetings and 12,407 room nights. Two leads have been produced to date. Staff hosted a Meeting Planner Luncheon in Austin with 23 clients attending. Staff is planning additional client lunches in the Dallas and Plano areas to influence short term bookings. Staff participated in the Texas Society of Association Executives annual education conference in Corpus Christi, where they visited with 18 association and third party planners. Tourism sales staff produced 14 leads representing 496 potential room nights. They assisted with twelve definite group bookings representing 444 room nights. They hosted the GrapeFest FAM for eight travel organizations with 14 attendees and have booked seven tours to date as a result. Staff participated in the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA) Conference along with representatives from the Great Wolf Lodge and Holiday Inn Express. Staff attended the Group Leaders of America Conference in Oklahoma City and met with 53 meeting planners. They have booked three tours to date. Staff also represented Grapevine at the Dallas Home & Garden Show distributing hundreds of brochures. Destination Services staff provided registration and information assistance to eight groups representing 10,190 delegates. Staff distributed 111,240 brochures and welcomed 9,798 guests to the Visitor Information Center. During the month, the Grapevine Convention Center booked 31 future groups representing 5,528. Total revenue for the month of September was $47,567. The Palace Arts Center booked 17 future events representing 2,135 attendees. Total revenue for the month was $24,847. The total web traffic for all sites was 132,794 unique visitors, up 18% over last year and the largest number of visitors for the year. Public relations generated $504,330 in print media and $349,054 in electronic coverage for a total of$853,384 for the month. OLD BUSINESS Budget FY 08-09 Mr. McCallum shared the FY 08-09 Budget with the board. The fiscal year is October 1 - September 30. The CVB works inside the city systems and under governmental accounting principles. Our marketing program, however, is on a calendar year and we will present the marketing plan at a future meeting. Mr. McCallum led a discussion of the various budget divisions, revenues, and expenses. , Board of Directors Meeting October 16, 2008 Page 4 of 4 NEW BUSINESS Agenda Format Mr. McCallum presented 2 proposed formats for the board agenda. LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion that we approve version 1, seconded by Terri Shimmel. Discussion followed. LuAnn amended her motion to approve version 1 with the moving of"Hotels /Attractions Report" to follow "Advertising & Media Update/Report". Motion carried. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported that the annual membership meeting for the foundation is scheduled for November 7 from 5:30 — 7:15 p.m. at the Lancaster. It will include volunteer awards. Heritage Jubilee is planned for February 6, 2009 at the Palace. It will have a Valentine's Day theme. This will be an appreciation evening and not a fundraiser as in the past. Pat thanked the CVB for all their work on Nash Farm Fall Roundup this past weekend. It was one of the best ever. Chamber Kristine Amador reported that the chamber membership is at 875. RaDonna is doing a wonderful job. The Chamber is becoming more involved with the chambers of our neighboring cities. There is an upcoming mixer on October 30 at 5:30 at Embassy Suites. November 13 at 11:30 a.m. at the Convention Center is the next Chamber luncheon. November 11th is the date for the Classic Chili Cook Off. ADJOURNMENT Steve Stinson reminded everyone about Butterfly Flutterby this coming Saturday. There being no further business to come before the board, Chris Leighton made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Terri Shimmel. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L