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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-09-10 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, September 10, 2009— 11:30 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OLD BUSINESS A. FY 10 BUDGET REPORT B. SHUTTLE UPDATE C. GRAPEFEST UPDATE IV. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUEST V. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES B. CONNECT MARKETPLACE C. FORT WORTH HOME & GARDEN SHOW D. BALANCE EXPO E. LITTLE ROCK SALES MISSION F. GOING ON FAITH VI. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VII. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VIII. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES IX. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES X. ADJOURNMENT L State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Steve Stinson Chairman Tom Cherry Board Member Andrew Davidson Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Bob McPherrin Assistant Executive Director ABSENT: John Imaizumi Board Member (. Paul Slechta Board Member Tom Kormondy Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Bruno Rumbelow City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the August 20, 2009 meeting was made by LuAnn Chapman Gatts and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. HERITAGE FOUNDATION REPORT Pat Stinson reported that the Nash Farm Hen House is completed and an attached chicken yard will be completed in the next few weeks. She invited everyone to stop by and see it. The Nash Farm Smoke House is under construction. It is located adjacent to the Hen House. It is being constructed with volunteer labor and mostly donated materials. The Historical Society held its first meeting of the year at Nash Farm and over 100 people were in attendance. The 9th annual Fall Round-Up will be October 10th Board of Directors Meeting September 10, 2009 Page 2 of 5 HERITAGE FOUNDATION REPORT cont. Pat encouraged the board members to join the Grapevine Heritage Foundation if they had not already done so. OLD BUSINESS FY10 Budget Report Eloise Koehn reported that the city council approved the FY10 budget as presented at their September 8th meeting. We will reevaluate after six months. Shuttle Update Mr. McCallum reported that the first of the shuttle busses are on schedule for delivery in late September. We are moving forward with a design theme for the shuttles and setting meetings with hotels, restaurants, and merchants for promotion of the shuttle. The hiring of drivers is taking more interviews than expected, however we have hired two drivers to date. GrapeFest Update Mr. McCallum reported that while we have cut back on the participation level at some of the FAM, Sister City and other events due to budget constraints, every board(riw should have received an invitation to participate in at least one special element of GrapeFest. Some of the events happening this weekend leading into GrapeFest are the Vintner's Auction, the Italian Car Fest, and the GrapeFest Golf Classic. NEW BUSINESS Grants-in-Aid Request Mr. McCallum reported that we have a Grants-in-Aid request for the Annual Grapevine Homecoming Parade in the amount of $2,500. This request has been funded for several years, they are agreeable to receiving the funds after October 1 for budget purposes, and staff recommends support. Dan Weinberger made a motion that we approve the grants-in-aid request for the Grapevine Homecoming Parade and that it be paid out of FY10 funds. Chris Leighton seconded the motion. Motion carried. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. McPherrin reported that the convention sales team produced 32 leads representing 17,800 potential room nights and $15.8M in economic impact, and assisted with 12 definite bookings representing 7,402 room nights and $8.1M in economic impact. Staff conducted seven site inspections and made 14 personal sales appointments. Notable bookings included Knanaya Catholic Church Congress of North America for July 2010 Board of Directors Meeting September 10, 2009 Page 3 of 5 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. with 5,000 attendees, Air National Guard for November 2009 with 700 attendees, and Air National Guard for July 2013 with 2,500 attendees. Our two new sales managers working the Metroplex market have already booked 7,500 tentative room nights; 500 definite room nights, sent 22 leads, and conducted 10 site inspections over the last two months. Staff participated in the Connect Marketplace tradeshow in Las Vegas and met with 38 SMERF and Association planners, receiving two requests for proposals to date. Staff also participated in American Society of Association Executives in Toronto, exhibiting with seven other Texas CVBs. Over 250 association executives visited the booth over the three days. A presentation and bid was held for the 2014 National Rural Letter Carriers Association. There are 21 attendees for the GrapeFest FAM and a local "new client" reception was held at Cross Timbers with 26 people attending. Tourism sales staff hosted the Going On Faith conference conducting 33 appointments with faith-based travel planners. Three organizations have tours already planned for Grapevine and 15 more are considering Grapevine. Staff hosted ten travel agents from Torreon, Mexico and also participated in three consumer shots; Balance Expo in Austin, Cre the Train Collectors Association Show, and the Fort Worth Home & Garden Show. Also in August was a sales mission to Little Rock, Arkansas in conjunction with the Dallas Fort Worth Area Tourism Council. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to five groups representing 7,700 delegates. They distributed 38,630 brochures during the month and welcomed 13824 visitors to the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 26 future functions representing 5,162 potential attendees and had $48,540 in total sales for the month. The Palace Arts Center also booked 11 future events representing 1,110 potential attendees with total sales for the month of $26,302. The web site traffic for the month was 110,755 unique visitors with an average length of visit at 6 minuts and 5 seconds. Total hits for the month were 4,034,143. Marketing Insertions for group advertising included ten insertions for convention group and five for leisure group advertising. There were 35 online insertions for group advertising. On the consumer advertising side there were 37 insertions; 11 for TV/Radio and 88 online. Print publicity for the month had a $60,000 ad value and electronic publicity was $24,000. Eleven press releases were sent during the month. Board of Directors Meeting September 10, 2009 Page 4 of 5 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. Meetings and Convention magazine awarded Grapevine CVB the "Gold Service Award". The state per diem rate was raised to match the federal rate opening up another viable market. The CVB Marketing Committee will convene in late September and early October to review 2010 plans and actions. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Per the 2nd Quarter Texas Hotel Performance Factbook overall revenue decreased by 15.5%, RevPAR declined 19.3%, and occupancy dropped to 54.7%. • Per the 2nd Quarter Hotel Brand Report from Source Strategies three of our hotels were in the top 50 RevPAR hotels in the state for the 2nd quarter; Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Hyatt, and Embassy Suites Outdoor World. • Great American Western Art Gallery will open in the old Grapevine Sun building. • Closet Treasures Consignment Shop will open in the old Biker's Alley location. • Miss Grapevine/Miss Teen Grapevine pageant has been rescheduled for January 2010. • Grapevine is home to three events on the American Bus Association 2010 "Top 100 Events in North America" list. The listed events are GrapeFest, the Christmas Capital of Texas, and Gaylord Texan's Ice. • The National Rural Letter Carriers Association has chosen Grapevine for their 2014 convention. This is the first time in over 100 years that their convention has returned to the same city. • The Dallas Convention Center hotel bonds have all been sold. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that ridership for August was 6,320 passengers and the expanded on-board concessions are being well received. Staff is moving forward per board direction last month, on acquiring Engine 208 from French Lick, Indiana. The air- conditioning of coach 208 should be completed within the next week. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVAITON ACTIVITIES Mr. McCallum reported that the Grapevine Heritage Foundation is entering the completion phase of a year-long effort to review and revise its organizational objectives. They plan to re-launch with these organizational objectives in October with the start of the new fiscal year. The Settlement to City Museum will celebrate its ribbon cutting on Friday, Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. This museum reflects the growth of the community through the eyes of the leadership. Sallie Andrews has done much of the work on the exhibit which will be open by appointment until the other museums in the complex are finished. Friday, October 2nd the film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" will be presented at the Palace Theatre. This Friday, September 11th the Palace will host Del Castillo. Board of Directors Meeting September 10, 2009 Page 5 of 5 HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVAITON ACTIVITIES cont. The September issue of "Main Street Matters," a monthly publication of the Texas Historical Commission, contains a news brief about the 23rd Annual GrapeFest. LIAISON UPDATES Chamber of Commerce Report The chamber is prepared and ready to go for GrapeFest. Their annual golf tournament scheduled for September 28th is "sold out." Tom Kormondy is presiding at the Chamber Luncheon today and plans to share the power point presentation from the recent Sister City mission to Parras. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, Chris Leighton made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Dan Weinberger. Motion carried. L ATTEST: DATE: