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Home My WebLink About2008-05-15 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, May 15, 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. SPRINGTIME - DC B. CONFERENCE DIRECT C. NEMICE D. NY MIX E. TEXAS TRAVEL COUNSELORS CONFERENCE F. HOUSTON SALES MISSION G. SHREVEPORT SALES MISSION H. NEW VINTAGE AAA FAM VII. OLD BUSINESS A. TRANSPORTATION UPDATE B. CAPITAL PROJECT UPDATE C. 9/11 MEMORIAL UPDATE VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. ARCHITECT— CVB MUSEUM COMPLEX B. MARKETING COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS 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, May 15, 2008 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 John Imaizumi Board Member Kathee Livengood Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Mark Wasiak Board Member Darlene Freed Council Liaison Kristine Amador Chamber Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Ross Bannister Director of Heritage Programs & Preservation ABSENT CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bigbie called the meeting to order and introduced Kristine Amador, the new Chamber representative, to the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the April 17, 2008 meeting was made by Ev Barnes and seconded by Bill Brink. Motion carried. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT Mr. McCallum reported: • The Grand Hyatt DFW was voted as one of the Best Places to Work in 2008 by the Dallas Business Journal. • Grapevine Mills plans to add 35,000 square feet of upscale shopping. The collection of new shops will be called Colonnade Outlets and will be located in multiple new buildings detached from the main structure. It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 and will house 12 — 15 specialty shops. • Good Things for All Seasons and Stems have switched locations (former City Hall and former Pueblo Connection). L Board of Directors Meeting May 15, 2008 Page 2 of 4 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS REPORT cont. • The Four Seasons Resort in Irving is getting a $190 million transformation and will include 80 luxury condominiums. • This week Dallas City Council approved $42 million for an 8.34 acre tract for a convention center hotel. • According to the Dallas Business Journal, Arlington has spent almost $600 million over the past 6 years in an effort to brand itself as a national hub for sports and entertainment. One of their latest recruitment efforts is to draw the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame to Arlington from its present home in St. Louis. • Main Street Days will focus on a "going green" theme. • Texas Indoor Golf is closing its facility and is focused on putting their golf concept into homes and businesses. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD George Kakos reported that ridership was 14,445 and included the final weekend of Thomas the Tank. The coach seats on car 209 have been recovered. Staff has established a partnership with Sabre offering discounted tickets to their 9,000 Cr' employees. In development is an automated ticket system and summer murder mystery runs. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION REPORT Ross Bannister reported: • The First Friday Film Series at the Palace is coming together and will offer a discount for a same-day receipt from any business in Grapevine. They will have an earlier start time of 7:10 p.m. • The 2008 Preservation Advocacy Awards were presented to Hal & Pat Heitz for preservation and restoration of their 1920 bungalow; Advocacy Award to Pam and Lee Roy McCain for their leadership of the Nash Farm Capital Campaign; and the Sharing the Vision Award to Sharron Spencer and Members of the City Council for their leadership of the sprinkler program. • A contractor has been hired to secure the Midway Night Club which is now located west of the station master's house. • Five school tours have been conducted over the last couple of weeks and four more are planned. • Sunday at 2:30 will be the dedication of the Dorris House. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported for the month of April that the convention sales division produced 23 leads representing 14,417 potential room nights and assisted with three definite bookings representing 1,120 room nights. Staff conducted seven site inspections and participated in Springtime in the Park Tradeshow in Washington, DC which drew 358 visitors to the booth. Staff also participated in the Northeast Meeting Industry Council L Board of Directors Meeting May 15, 2008 Page 3 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Conference and Exhibition where they visited with 35 meeting planners and the New York Mix where they met with 25 planners. Tourism sales staff produced 3 leads representing 57 potential room nights. They assisted with five definite group bookings with 173 room nights. Staff hosted a New Vintage FAM for seven AAA offices, conducted sales missions to Shreveport and Houston and hosted the 27th Annual Breakfast for the Texas Travel Counselors in Beaumont. Destination Services staff provided registration and information assistance to 9,505 delegates and distributed 111,045 brochures. Staff welcomed 19,380 guests at the Visitor Information Center during the month. The Grapevine Convention Center booked 23 future groups representing 5,375 attendees and had total revenues of$51,517 for the month. The Palace Arts Center booked 12 future events representing 1,265 attendees and had total revenues of $10,819 for the month. (lar The total web traffic for all sites was 110,058 unique visitors; our highest number ever. Public relations generated $542,928 in print media and $125,822 in electronic coverage for a total of$668,750 for the month. OLD BUSINESS Transportation Update Mr. McCallum reported that Gaudet and Associates are in the phase of meeting with the individual hotel properties regarding transportation issues. They are also working on route design. The transportation study is expected to be presented in a council workshop in June or July. Capital Proiect Update Mr. McCallum reported that the Convention Center Landscaping, Convention Center Upgrades and the Concourse Upgrades are completed. Staff will seek to identify a period home to move onto the site of the Midway Nightclub. The Parking Lot at the Depot is completed and there will be some additional lighting and irrigation added to the site. The Settlement to City Museum is almost completed on the structure and we will now complete work on the interiors of the Keeling House, Cotton Ginners House, and Denton Creek Schoolhouse, along with the Ted R. Ware Plaza. Nash Farm is completed. 9/11 Memorial Update Mr. McCallum reported that all of the figures are at the foundry and most have been poured. From grade level to the highest point of the statue is almost 18 feet. All of the funds for the statue have been raised by the foundation. The land where the Memorial Cif Board of Directors Meeting May 15, 2008 Page 4 of 4 OLD BUSINESS cont. 9/11 Memorial Update cont. will be located has been conveyed to the city and the Parks & Rec and Public Works staffs are working on the site. The Memorial dedication will take place on July 4th from 11 a.m. — 1 p.m. The Volmer Agency out of New York will handle the public relations. NEW BUSINESS Architect— CVB Museum Complex Mr. McCallum reported that Architexas, who designed our present building, will be recommended to council as the architect for the project. This will become the major south entry point to the downtown area. Marketing Committee Appointments Mr. Bigbie appointed Ev Barnes to chair this year's Marketing Committee and Steve Stinson to serve on the committee. The committee will also include representatives from all of our full service properties, Alex Cramer representing the limited service, Kendra Mandarich representing Grapevine Mills, Johnnie Bryant representing Historic Downtown Grapevine Association, and RaDonna Hessel representing the Chamber. REPORTS Heritage Foundation Pat Stinson reported that the Heritage Foundation will have a strategic planning session on May 31st and the Development Committee will postpone the 2008 membership drive until after the strategy planning. Pat distributed the Palace Arts Center 2008-09 season schedule which will have 25% more live performances this season. Chamber of Commerce Kristine Amador reported that the Chamber board held a retreat last Tuesday. They have hired RaDonna Hessel to fill the president position and their present membership is 865. They are gearing up for Main Street Days. Kristine shared several dates for upcoming meetings and mixers. ADJOURNMENT In conclusion staff showed the new sales video and board members offered comments and suggestions which will be passed on to the Marketing Department. There being no further business to come before the board, Paul Slechta made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Steve Stinson. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: