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Home My WebLink About2008-09-18 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, September 18, 2008 — 11:30 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. MPI-WEC B. ASAE TRADE SHOW C. GOING ON FAITH TRADE SHOW D. AUSTIN HOME & GARDEN SHOW E. AUSTIN BALANCE EXPO FOR WOMEN F. VISIONS WOMEN'S EXPO G. NEW YORK SALES EVENT UPDATE VII. OLD BUSINESS A. MEETING CALENDAR B. GRAPEFEST REPORT VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUEST IX. REPORTS A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION LIAISON B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LIAISON X. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Ev Barnes Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member John Imaizumi Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Terri Shimmel Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Heritage Programs & Preservation Director ABSENT Kristine Amador Chamber Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the July 17, 2008 meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. A motion to approve the minutes from the August 14, 2008 meeting was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by LuAnn Chapman Gatts. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • The Hyatt Regency DFW has just received budget approval for the renovation of their ballroom, which will begin around Thanksgiving. • Hyatt Place has been named the top mid-scale full service brand by J.D. Power and Associates. Hyatt Place was designed as a next generation concept and was the result of extensive customer research. L Board of Directors Meeting September 18, 2008 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • Dallas approved $4.4 million for design of the new Convention Center Hotel. The prospective operators are Marriott Corporation or Omni Hotels. The hotel is projected to cost $400 million. • Hilton Anatole has named Jay Best as Director of Sales and Marketing for the newly renovated 45-acre property. • Main Street Pedestrian Enhancement Project: Phase II of this project, between Dallas Road and Franklin Street is planned to begin construction in late 2008. This is a sidewalk widening along both sides of Main Street from Dallas Road to Franklin Street. Also included is some period lighting and landscaping. • Friday October 10th at 4 p.m. in Weems Alley will be the Walk of Fame inaugural unveiling of the Ted Ware plaque. This will be in conjunction with homecoming activities. • Main Street will close at 4 p.m. on October 31st for Halloween on Main which will run from 6 — 9 p.m. • Sonic at Grapevine Town Center is open where Chuck's used to be. This is an indoor restaurant. • Los Cabos restaurant where Lucy's used to be is open at 451 E. Northwest Highway. • Area 51 Gaming & Collectibles, a retail store, has opened at 130 N. Main • Dino's Steakhouse is scheduled for a soft opening the end of September with a grand opening planned for the 3rd week of October. • The Gaylord is starting perpetual renovations at their property in 2009. • Ferrari's was selected as one of the top 5 Italian restaurants in the Dallas Fort Worth area by the Dallas Morning News. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVAITON REPORT Ross Bannister shared the Palace Arts Center brochure with the board. Plans are underway to plant the winter garden at Nash Farm in the next couple of days and another FFA sheep has joined Jane at the Farm. On the Historic Preservation Commission's September agenda will be a continuation of the case for landmarking the historic Love Chapel. Staff is continuing to work on a draft proposal for a Conservation District Ordinance for the City. Plans are underway for the 8th Annual Fall Round Up at Nash Farm. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD George Kakos reported that ridership was 5,498 for the month of August. Construction continues on the baggage car for the model railroaders. A new PA system is being installed in the cars. The Murder Mystery Train on September 27th has 215 tickets sold to date. The train has started selling cab rides at a premium fare. North Pole Express has 40 schools booked to date. Board of Directors Meeting September 18, 2008 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of August that the convention sales division generated 21 leads representing 33,845 potential room nights and assisted with five definite bookings representing 11,257 room nights. Staff conducted five site inspections and attended the American Society of Association Executives annual convention in San Diego. They participated in the Texas booth with over 300 visitors to the booth and are working on two potential leads. Staff also attended Meeting Planners International — World Education Conference in Las Vegas where 300 potential buyers visited the booth. Staff received one request for proposal and are working on numerous potential leads. An update on the New York St. Pat's event shows eleven meetings booked through the CVB or directly with hotels representing 9,487 room nights with an economic impact of over five million. Seven leads are being worked that represent 3,816 potential room nights and an economic impact of$3.5 million. Tourism sales staff produced 13 leads representing 280 potential room nights. They assisted with eleven definite group bookings representing 315 potential room nights. They hosted the closing luncheon for the Going On Faith Conference in Davenport, Iowa. This group of religious meeting planners will be holding their 2009 conference in (w Grapevine at the Gaylord. Staff participated in two American Eagle fams; one from Tampico, Mexico and one discount shopping program from Mexico. Staff participated in the Austin Home & Garden Show, the Dallas Home & Garden Show, and Visions Women's Expo. Destination Services staff provided registration and information assistance to fourteen groups representing 13,645 delegates and distributed over 105,000 brochures. Staff welcomed 11,364 guests at the Visitor Information Center during the month. During the month, the Grapevine Convention Center booked 45 future groups representing 15,510. They hosted 38 events in August with $34,610 in rental income and over $16,000 in F&B revenue. The Palace Arts Center booked 25 future events representing 6,415 attendees. They hosted 15 events with 3,357 attendees during August with $27,547 in total revenues. The total web traffic for all sites was 87,382 unique visitors and had hits of 2,958,514. Public relations generated $283,011 in print media and $97,975 in electronic coverage for a total of$380,986 for the month. Mr. Kakos shared the Butterfly Flutterby and Christmas brochures with the board. OLD BUSINESS Meeting Calendar Mr. McCallum reported that there was minimal conflict with the proposed meeting schedule as presented. Ev Barnes made a motion that the meeting schedule be approved as presented, seconded by John Imaizumi. Motion carried. L Board of Directors Meeting September 18, 2008 Page 4 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. GrapeFest Report Mr. McCallum reported that attendance at GrapeFest was 205,350. Saturday's rain day reduced overall attendance by 32%. Attendance on Friday was up 25% and on Sunday it was up 40%. Rain resulted in a 26% decrease at People's Choice. There were 148 weekend packages sold which was considerably up from last year. Civic and Service clubs raised almost $60,000 for their organizations. The Mayoral GrapeStomp had participants from 13 cities. The Vintner's Auction was moved to the Saturday before GrapeFest and added entertainment this year. The first GrapeFest Golf Tournament was a "sell out". Another highlight was the signing of the Sister City Accord with West Lothian, Scotland and in the Scot's booth (stand) they raised $3,000 for Parras humanitarian programs. Steve thanked the board members for their participation. NEW BUSINESS Grants-In-Aid Request Mr. McCallum introduced the Grants-In-Aid Request from the Grapevine High School Ex Students Association, which the board has granted for the past several years. Staff recommends approval. Lu Ann Chapman Gatts made a motion that we approve the grant in the amount of$2,500; seconded by Terri Shimmel. Motion carried. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson thanked the CVB board and staff for the wonderful GrapeFest. She shared the Vintage Vine, the Heritage Foundation newsletter. The executive committee is implementing the plans that came out of the strategic planning session earlier this year. ADJOURNMENT Steve Stinson announced that Board Member Mark Wasiak has been promoted to a regional manager with Embassy Suites and has tendered his resignation to the board. He also announced that Board Member Kathee Livengood has tendered her resignation from the board. There being no further business to come before the board, John Imaizumi made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L