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Home My WebLink About2009-01-15 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, January 15, 2009— 11:30 a.m. Nrie Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OLD BUSINESS A. UPDATE MUSEUM DISTRICT IV. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT A. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EXPOSITION & EVENTS B. HOLIDAY SHOWCASE C. AAA HOLIDAY FAM V. ADVERTISING & MEDIA REPORT A. AD PLACEMENT B. MEDIA COVERAGE VI. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES A. HOTEL UPDATES B. ATTRACTION UPDATES VII. FESTIVAL & EVENTS REPORT A. CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES VIII. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT IX. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES A. JUBILEE B. PALACE THEATRE EVENTS C. HOLIDAY DECORATING CONTEST D. NASH FARM X. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES XI. ADJOURNMENT IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THIS SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING AND YOU HAVE A DISABILITY THAT REQUIRES SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS AT THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU AT (817) 410-3185 AT LEAST 24 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS WILL BE MADE TO ASSIST YOUR NEEDS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, CHAPTER 551.001 et seq, ACTS OF THE 1993 TEXAS LEGISLATURE, THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU ADVISORY BOARD MEETING AGENDA WAS PREPARED AND POSTED ON THIS THE 7TH DAY OF JANUARY 2009 AT 5:00 P.M. Eloise Koehn Director of Finance and Administration State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention &Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 11:30 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Ev Barnes Board Member Jay Burgomaster for Board Member J. Imaizumi LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Andrew Davidson Board Member Chris Leighton Board Member Terri Shimmel Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Steve Stinson Board Member Pat Stinson Heritage Foundation Liaison Tom Kormondy Chamber Liaison Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director try George Kakos Assistant Executive Director ABSENT: CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order and welcomed Tom Kormondy, Chairman of the Chamber Board of Directors. Mr. McCallum introduced new staff member, Bonnie Rich, Assistant to the Executive Director, to the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the December 11, 2008 meeting was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS Update Museum District Mr. McCallum reported that the museum district will be a redevelopment area and will include 6 —7 potential museums and galleries. We plan to use the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) program. This has been done by several cities around Texas. We are in the process of developing the Request for Qualifications (RFQ). Once through this process, we will take to council. We are moving forward on de-construction and are seeking a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by reusing as much of the materials as possible. Completion target is December 2010. Board of Directors Meeting January 15, 2009 Page 2 of 4 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the convention sales team produced twelve leads representing 19,492 potential room nights and assisted with five definite bookings with 8,240 room nights. They conducted three site inspections and attended two trade shows, the International Association of Exposition & Events Managers and Holiday Showcase. Staff hosted the Dallas Meeting Planners Luncheon in downtown Dallas with 38 planners in attendance. Tourism sales produced seven leads representing 140 room nights and 4 day-visitor groups. They assisted with seven definite bookings with 98 room nights and 5 day groups representing 137 participants. Tourism sales staff hosted two familiarization tours; one for the DFW Ambassadors and one for nine regional AAA offices. Destination services provided assistance to two groups representing 1,230 attendees and distributed 72,100 brochures. They welcomed 13,044 guests to the Visitor Information Center. The Grapevine Convention Center booked 41 future groups with 9,220 attendees and had total revenue for the month of$58,952. The Palace Arts Center booked 19 future groups with 2,990 attendees and had total revenue of$20,437. ADVERTISING & MEDIA REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that web site traffic for December was 151,153 unique visitors with over four million hits. This was a 75% increase over last year. After two segments on WFAA Good Morning Texas Show on December 4th, there was a spike of 12,000 hits for that day. Ad placements during the month included trade and consumer magazines as well as in leisure group meeting publications. There were 23 insertions in consumer publications; 16 on tv/ radio and 21 insertions in online ads. Print publicity was $208,172 and electronic publicity was $288,699 for a total media impact of$496.871. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Great World Lodge was the top REVPAR hotel in Texas for the 3rd quarter of 2008. The have 500 rooms open and plan to open the last 105 rooms for spring break. The new convention center space is open. • Garden Manor Inn reported their business was up 26% last year. • A certificate of Occupancy was issued last month for the Gaylord Texan Parking Garage • Hilton Garden Inn is now scheduled to open February 26th • Steve Haley is the new General Manager at the Hilton. He comes from the Tampa Quorum in the business district. He previously worked for AMFAC and our Hilton DFW in sales. • The Omni Fort Worth opens to guests this Saturday. This 614-room property is located by the Fort Worth Convention Center. L • A Conditional Use permit has been issued for Tilted Kilt, a Scottish bar and grill that will be located in the former TGI Friday's. t' Board of Directors Meeting �r January 15, 2009 Page 3 of 4 HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • Dino's Steak and Claw House on Main Street conducted a mock opening on January 11th. They expect to open this month. • The Underground Shopper, will broadcast live from the shop, Scentchips, which is located at 601 S Main, near Weinberger's Deli. The show will air on Saturday, January 31st from 11 a.m. — noon on KVCE, 1160 AM. • Ruggeri's restaurant at the Residence Inn is now The Library with some changes to the menu. • Westwood Group Development (Chris Leighton) will have a ribbon cutting on Thursday, January 22"d. Westwood is located at 1000 Texan Trail, Suite 200. • LuAnn Chapman Gatts was named the 2008 Woman of the Year by the Women's Division of the Grapevine Chamber. FESTIVAL & EVENTS ACTIVITIES Christmas Activities Mr. McCallum reported on the success of the Christmas Capital of Texas promotion sharing the impact of the advertising campaign with the board. The website had 151,153 unique visits and over four million hits. Ice! at the Gaylord Texan had 218,000 attendees, which was a record for the property. The Magic of Christmas had over 2,000 tickets sold. There 45 group tours from eleven states and 54 packages booked. The North Pole Express hosted 101 schools with 7,517 passengers and 24,712 passengers on the public runs. The special Fort Worth runs between Christmas and New Years had 3,380 passengers. Mr. McCallum shared several notes and emails from residents, visitors, and businesses regarding the Christmas Capital of Texas promotion. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that during January the engines and coaches are undergoing maintenance. Staff is getting bids regarding the repairs for the steam engine #2248. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES Mr. McCallum reported that the fifth annual Heritage Jubilee will be held on February 6th at the Palace Theatre, starting at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale on the GrapevineTexasUSA.com website or by phone and are $75 each. Upcoming Palace events include: Friday, January 16th Kids Who Care present "Deep In The Heart", January 30th the Zack King Band, February 13th is Monte Montgomery; and February 20th is Paul Slavens and his Texclectic Band. The winners of the Grapevine Township Holiday Decorating Contest are: First Place— 306 Austin St. - Joann Pearson and David Herrington, Second Place— 505 S. Dooley St. - Jerry & Joyce Johnson, and Third Place — 516 Franklin St. - Ronnie and Paula Winsett. In 2009 the plan is to include a "commercial" category. (se Board of Directors Meeting January 15, 2009 Page 4 of 4 HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVAITON ACTIVITIES cont. The Heritage Foundation has approved the plan for the Nash Farm Donor Wall, which will be built to recognize all the contributors to the project. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Pat Stinson reported that Jubilee has been a fundraiser in the past; however this year's program will not be focused on fundraising. It will be to showcase the Palace and Lancaster Theatres. Some of the things included are a red carpet entrance, heavy hors d' oeuvres, Scotch, cigar, and martini bars, music, dancing, and movie look-alikes. Bob Eubanks will host a version of the Newlywed Game in the Palace. Chamber of Commerce Activities Tom Kormondy reported that the motto for his term as chairman is "Grapevine Chamber — It's all about you". They are seeking ways to get the membership involved. Two new programs are the business solutions program, where businesses share information; and the Senior Service Alliance, for people and businesses that cater to seniors. There are upcoming ribbon cuttings for Fireside Pies and Westwood Center. The annual Chamber banquet is January 23rd at the Embassy Suites. The economic development committee has outgrown the Chamber offices and is now meeting at City Hall. ADJOURNMENT Mr. McCallum presented a fundraising opportunity which is a weight loss competition between Luis Calderon of Parras and himself. There being no further business to come before the board, Chris Leighton made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Ev Barnes. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: Cr