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Home My WebLink About2010-01-21 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU (toir BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, January 21, 2010—8:00 a.m. Grand Hyatt Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OLD BUSINESS A. CHRISTMAS CAPITAL OF TEXAS REPORT B. SHUTTLE UPDATE C. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE IV. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. PCMA B. ABA C. HOLIDAY SHOWCASE D. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS V. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VI. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT VII. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES VIII. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES IX. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas r County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. at the Grand Hyatt DFW. , 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 Paul Slechta Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Graciela Vega Representing John lmaizumi Louie Sullins Chamber Liaison Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Bruno Rumbelow City Manager Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Bob McPherrin Assistant Executive Director ABSENT: Jacob Miles Heritage Foundation Liaison CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order and thanked Andrew Davidson for hosting our meeting this month. Mr. Davidson gave an update on the property including changes, renovations and awards. Mr. Stinson welcomed and introduced Louie Sullins, Chairman of the Chamber, to the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the December 8, 2009 meeting was made by LuAnn Chapman Gatts and seconded by Chris Leighton. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS Christmas Capital of Texas Report Paul McCallum shared the background on the Christmas Capital of Texas. It's designed to drive business to hotels, restaurants and shopping. This year we are aware of visitors coming from Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, New Mexico and all parts of Texas, with a high percentage from outside the Metroplex. There was Board of Directors Meeting January 21, 2010 Page 2 of 5 OLD BUSINESS cont. Christmas Capital of Texas Report cont. increased marketing to the regional markets. On the February 2nd council workshop will be an item to discuss the expansion of the Christmas experience to the week before Thanksgiving. ICE! Had over 260,000 in attendance a 30% increase over last year. North Pole Express has approximately 35,000 in attendance. "Home for the Holidays" had many shows over 300 in attendance. Great Wolf Lodge with Snowland had 13,365 guests on Thanksgiving week and 15,588 guests Christmas week. Approximately 250 of the city's 600 employees were directly involved in assisting and running Christmas Capital of Texas. Merchants ramped up their participation with the addition of Christmas trees in front of their buildings. We are working to involve more organizations and groups in the process of decorating. The Chamber of Commerce decorated Vine Street and Municipal Way in front of their building. Shuttle Update Mr. Kakos shared the brochure that is distributed in the main locations. It includes three of the four routes. On February 1st we will start the fourth route and will start charging at that time. We have hired our sixth driver and ridership is building. The group of Airport Ambassadors at DFW Airport have been directing folks to the shuttles. CVB Headquarter Update Mr. McCallum reported that Byrne Construction held their pre-bid meeting last Wednesday with 52 sub contractors in attendance. The bid opening is set for February 5 and if the numbers come in within budget we will take it to council on February 16th. If it passes council, construction will start on February 17th. Soil remediation is going on at this time. It will be a 12 1/2 month construction process which will allow for a March 2011 opening. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that the convention sales team conducted four site inspections, produced 25 leads representing 79,642 potential room nights, and assisted with 14 definite bookings representing 29,790 room nights and 11,500 attendees. Staff participated in Holiday Showcase in Chicago and had 71 visitors to the booth. They are working on three potential leads. They also conducted sales calls while in Chicago and attended the Hilton client party where there were 70 planners. Staff participated in Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) where we were a platinum sponsor. Over 1,500 meeting professionals from around the country attended. Our sponsorship included recognition on the annual meeting website, signage throughout the Dallas Convention Center, Collateral in host pavilion and information Board of Directors Meeting January 21, 2010 Page 3 of 5 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. kiosks, major presence at the final night reception and sales staff participating in various events throughout the convention. Staff also participated in the International Association of Exhibitions & Events convention in Atlanta. We exhibited with the Visit DFW partners. The convention was attended by exhibition and event managers from around the world. 44 planners visited the booth and the DFW area drew interest from seven sizable groups. Tourism sales produced 22 leads representing 100 potential room nights and 213 participants. They assisted with two definite bookings representing 50 room nights and 88 attendees. Tourism division hosted the International Motorcoach Group for their annual board meeting and greeted all the December tour groups to town. Staff participated in the annual American Bus Association conference in Washington D.C. where we hosted one of the luncheons. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to five groups representing 3,950 delegates. They distributed 97,000 brochures during the month and welcomed 7,545 visitors to the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 32 future functions representing 5,895 attendees and had total $149,079 in total sales for the month. The Palace Arts Center booked five future events representing 900 attendees with total sales for the month of $66,295. The web site traffic for the month was 197,831 unique visitors and was a record month. Total hits were 5,950,250 vs 4,156,783 in 2008. Print advertising included 14 trade insertions for convention group advertising and six insertions for leisure group business. Online group advertising had 19 insertions. In consumer publications there were 40 print advertising insertions and 771 TV and radio runs. Online consumer advertising for leisure had 100 insertions. Total advertising expenditures were $169,431. Public Relations generated $53,742 in print publicity and $93,228 in electronic publicity for a total of$146,970 for the month. The social network sites include MYSPACE.COM with 98 friends, FACEBOOK.COM with 470 fans and TWITTER.COM with 276 followers. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Grand Hyatt DFW has been named #5 on the top 25 hotels in the US by Trip Advisor Travelers Choice. • Grand Hyatt welcomes a new executive chef Jean-Claude Philhan • Yum Yum Tree Yougurt will be located in the former Mawker's Coffee House in the 600 block of Main Street. • Reflections Stained Glass is moving to 250 N. Main St. Board of Directors Meeting January 21, 2010 Page 4 of 5 HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • Design and Grace has moved from Main Street to Southlake. • Blacksmith Bill Stoddard will be at the Blacksmith Shop at the Heritage Center. • Four Season's Resort in Irving is posted for foreclosure. • Old West Café has opened on Northwest highway and serves breakfast and lunch • Palio Pizza will open at Grapevine Station. • Grapevine is listed three times in the Ride Texas magazine's Best of Texas list for events (GrapeFest), dealers (DFW Honda) and toy runs (toy run in December) GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that total ridership in December was 32,183 and the post Christmas runs carried 3,013 passengers. The steam engine #2248 rebuild is nearing completion and they are ready to do steam tests. The diesel engine #2199 is undergoing work on brake hangers, center bowl and constant side bearings and should be completed by Monday. Coach 208 is being refurbished and they will be starting on the air conditioning of coach 207. HERITAGE PROGRAMS AND PRESERVATION ACTIVITIES Mr. Kakos reported that the Texas Historical Commission State Board of Review approved the nomination of Nash Farm to the National Register of Historic Places. The Grapevine Heritage Foundation will host their annual Jubilee on February 27th at the Palace Arts Center with a reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by a live performance by the 3 Redneck Tenors. The spring season of concerts and films at the Palace Arts Center resumes on February 5 with the movie, "Love Story." The first concert of the season will be Hit Club of Cowtown on March 12. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities This report was included in the Heritage Programs and Preservation report above. Chamber of Commerce Activities Mr. Sullins thanked the board for the opportunity to serve. Tomorrow will be the annual awards banquet for the Chamber and they expect approximately 300 people. The Chamber wants to be more involved in the decorating of Grapevine for Christmas next year. The Chamber board is renegotiating Radonna's contract to a 3-year contract. The Chamber hosts economic development meetings on Tuesdays and had 42 in attendance at the last meeting. The Business Solutions for Senior Citizens has L, approximately 50 in attendance at each meeting. Board of Directors Meeting January 21, 2010 Page 5 of 5 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, LuAnn Chapman Gatts made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. ATTEST: DATE: L