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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-15 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, July 15, 2010 — 8:00 a.m. Wallis Building Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. OATH OF OFFICE IV. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF V. OLD BUSINESS A. CVB HEADQUARTERS UPDATE B. SISTER CITY UPDATE VI. NEW BUSINESS A. FY11 BUDGET STRATEGIES VII. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. CONFERENCE DIRECT B. SPRINGTIME DC C. AUSTIN SALES MISSION D. MSD CONVENTION SALES FAM E. POW WOW F. ARLAM G. HOUSTON SALES MISSION H. MONTERREY MEXICO SALES MISSION I. MSD TOURISM SALES FAM J. MEXICO TRAVEL AGEANT FAM K. TRAVEL ALLIANCE PARTNERS VIII. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES IX. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT X. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES XI. ADJOURNMENT State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met on Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. at the Wallis Building, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Steve Stinson Chairman John Imaizumi Board Member Paul Slechta Board Member Peggy Weaver Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Sharron Spencer Council Liaison Melva Stanfield Heritage Foundation Liaison Louie Sullins Chamber Liaison Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Paul W. McCallum Executive Director George Kakos Assistant Executive Director Bob McPherrin Assistant Executive Director Absent: Tom Cherry Board Member LuAnn Chapman Gatts Board Member Andrew Davidson Board Member CALL TO ORDER Chairman Stinson called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the May 20, 2010 meeting was made by Paul Slechta and seconded by Dan Weinberger. Motion carried. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Mr. McCallum introduced new staff members Nep Cruz, set up worker, and Brent Villard, Train Master. OATH OF OFFICE Laura Simmons administered the Oath of Office to reappointed board members Steve Stinson and Paul Slechta and to new board member Peggy Weaver. Board of Directors Meeting July 15, 2010 Page 2 of 5 OLD BUSINESS CVB Headquarters Update Mr. McCallum reported that much of the steel is up; however, the tower will have an additional 40 feet in height. The top section will be constructed on the ground and then hoisted into place. The contractors poured the second floor this past week. Grapevine's Public Works Department has secured a grant to complete the first phase of extending Hudgins Street to Nash Farm. Once completed this will connect Nash Farm with the railroad and commercial historic districts. Sister City Update Mr. McCallum reported that last month a delegation of 88 students, teachers and chaperones along with 16 community representatives completed a mission to Krems, Austria. The band and dance students gave outstanding performances in Krems, as well as, Vienna and Prague. A re-signing ceremony was also a part of the mission. Interaction between the Grapevine Fire Department and the Krems Fire Department also took place. During a mission to Parras in May presentations were made to the Fire Department and the Orphanage. The next mission to Parras is scheduled for August 5-10. Mayor Tate is scheduled to participate in this mission. The Sister City Committee is raising funds for several humanitarian projects. A mission to West Lothian, Scotland is scheduled for August 20-27. A group of six golfers and coach from West Lothian will be in Grapevine in September. While here they will be home-hosted and will be involved in various school activities. A group of approximately 15-25 from Parras will participate in GrapeFest. The Sister City Committee has become a part of the Adopt-A-Road project covering Northwest Highway from Main to Dove. NEW BUSINESS FY11 Budget Strategies Mr. McCallum reported that the marketing committee is scheduled to meet in the near future. The major budget issues were reviewed this week by mayor and council. We have taken approximately 3 million dollars out of our budget since 2008. Fixed expenses have increased because of the shuttles and increased debt service. It is the core business of the CVB to drive hotel tax revenues and sales tax revenues to help with the economic well-being of the community. In the convention sales arena we have contracted with the Hyland Group to represent the bureau in Chicago, New York, Board of Directors Meeting July 15, 2010 Page 3 of 5 NEW BUSINESS cont. FY11 Budget Strategies cont. and Washington, D.C. We will ramp up e-blasts, direct mail programs and dialing for dollars. We will maintain an advertising presence. Even with these strategies, we have a $600,000 to $800,000 shortfall and will need to reduce personnel. This will affect 5-6 positions and was brought forward early to allow maximum time for those impacted staff members to locate other employment. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Kakos reported that during the combined months of May and June the convention sales team produced 61 leads representing 74,121 potential room nights and assisted with 20 definite bookings representing 42,647 room nights and conducted 16 site inspections. Staff hosted the Hyland Group sales staff from Chicago and D.C. along with two other meeting planners on the Main Street Outdoor Adventure sales FAM. The team participated in the 2010 ConferenceDirect Meeting where they met with 45 associates. At this time we are expecting four requests for proposals and one site visit as are result of the conference. Tourism sales produced 20 leads representing 800 plus potential room nights and assisted with nine definite bookings representing 540 room nights. They conducted three site inspections. Staff participated in PowWow and conducted 51 appointments with international tour operators. The team participated in an ARLAM and Monterrey Sales Mission where they had eight appointments in cooperation with American Eagle. The Main Street Outdoor Adventure FAM included five tour companies and several have already started working on future tours. Staff hosted ten travel agents from Chihuahua, Mexico in conjunction with an AA Travel Agent Fam and also participated in Travel Alliance Partners program meeting with 35 tour operators. To date 3 tours have been booked and four additional leads. Destination Services provided information and registration assistance to 20 groups representing 24,273 delegates. They distributed 77,565 brochures during the month and welcomed 11,919 visitors in May and 10,125 in June to the Visitor Information Center. The Convention Center booked 57 future functions representing 28,248 attendees and had $63,729 in total sales in May and $56,753 in total sales for June. The Palace Arts Center booked 22 future events with 4,215 potential attendees and had $26,136 in total sales for May and $23,590 in total sales for June. The Concourse, during the first month since the CVB took over operation, had 16 future bookings representing 7,850 attendees and $6,600 in total sales for June. Board of Directors Meeting July 15, 2010 Page 4 of 5 SALES & MARKETING REPORT cont. A total trade insertions value was in excess of$100,000 and total consumer insertion value was $278,000. The web site traffic for the month of May included 152,302 unique visitors, up 27% over last year and for June included 132,443 unique visitors, up 31% over last year. Print and TV-radio publicity for May was $147,301 and $70,534 for June. The Festival Team participated in the Texas Festivals and Events Association's annual meeting and brought home four marketing awards. The awards included best miscellaneous printed materials for budget under $75,000, best promotional brochure for budget under$75,000, best promotional brochure for budget $75,000 - $250,000, and best single new sponsorship program for budget over $750,000. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Bob McPherrin reported: • GrapeFest Kickoff will be Thursday, July 22nd for the unveiling of the GrapeFest poster. • Bill Stoddard, our blacksmith, appeared on Fox-TV this morning with a Blacksmith for a Day segment. • Chill has closed on Main Street. • The Original Pancake House has opened on Wm D. Tate • Cassie's Frozen Yogurt has extended their summer hours of operation. • Cupid's Vault is now open on Barton Street. • The handbag and shoe store in Westwood will be replaced by a high-end jewelry store. • The Farmers Market has increased its vendor count from 3 at the end of May to 11 this past weekend. • Grapevine is now listed on the "Layover Ideas" section on ifly.com. • Merlin has hired Courtney Talbot as their director of marketing for the Legoland and Sealife attractions. The groundbreaking for Legoland is August 12th at 10:30 a.m. at Grapevine Mills. • Several nice letters were received following the Main Street Days FAM. • Dallas Business Journal carried an article on DFW area hotels seeing rising occupancies • Irving officials commented on delays in economic development and a 12 million shortfall for their general fund. • Dallas Morning News ran an article on the post effects of the Super Bowl. • The Grapevine Olive Oil Company has opened inside Willow Cottage on Main Street. GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT Mr. McCallum reported that the railroad carried 11,524 passengers during May and 4,800 during June. 26 groups rode during June and concession sales continued strong. Board of Directors Meeting July 15, 2010 Page 5 of 5 GRAPEVINE VINTAGE RAILROAD REPORT cont. Staff has power washed the diesel locomotive and all the underframes on the coaches. The bathroom doors on the four coaches have been made to open out for easier access. The issue with the air conditioning of the coaches seems headed for resolution. The vintage caboose is now in service on the regular runs and caboose ridership is growing. LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Melva Stanfield reported that the Heritage Foundation membership drive is in it fourth week and to date have over 100 members and approximately $11,500. Memberships for the foundation, which is the city's historic preservation advocate, start at $10. Foundation volunteers have begun assisting with the Texas Family Musicals and Summer Movie programs. This allows them to experience other performances at the Palace and to help out other divisions of the CVB. Upcoming events include: Saturday, July 16th an Ice Cream Social at Nash Farm; Friday, July 23rd a porch party at the home of Ward Hayworth; Friday, August 6th at the Palace the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey"; and Friday, September 3rd at the Palace the movie "Toy Story." Construction on the new equipment shed at Nash Farm will begin the end of this month. Chamber of Commerce Activities Louie Sullins reported that the Chamber of Commerce has hired 15 to construct their website and they are expecting to see a first draft this week. The board has established a past chairmen's council to gather ideas and to advise the board. At their first meeting the council had participation from chairmen going back to '71. The council is working on purchasing the land the building sits on. They have also established a taskforce to work with North Gate on the impact to local business from the Connector project. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board, John Imaizumi made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Paul Slechta. Motion carried. ATTEST: ,r DATE: