Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-09-19 Regular MeetingState of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met in Regular Session on Thursday, September 19, 2013 at 8:00 a.m. at the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Headquarters, 636 S. Main Street, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Paul Slechta Chairman John Imaizumi Board Member Lance Marrin Board Member Joe Szymaszek Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Mark Terpening Alternate Board Member Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Sharron Spencer Perry Leonard Melva Stanfield Paul W. McCallum Michael Woody Eloise Koehn Barry Lewis Shawna Barnes Council Liaison Chamber Liaison Heritage Foundation Liaison Executive Director Assistant Executive Director Director of Finance & Administration Director of Marketing Assistant to the Executive Director Absent: Tom Cherry Board Member Jennifer Hibbs Assistant City Manager Dennis Roberts Board Member CALL TO ORDER Chairman Slechta called the meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Dan Weinberger, seconded by John Imaizumi to approve the minutes from the August 15, 2013 meeting prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Slechta, Imaizumi, Marrin, Szymaszek, Weinberger, Terpening Nays: None Mr. McCallum shared an update from the City Attorney regarding Senate Bill 1368 and the Public Information Act (PIA). As of September 1, 2013 electronic information is a part of the PIA and can be requested under the Open Records. Board of Directors Meeting (W September 19, 2013 Page 2of6 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Melva Stanfield reported that the Italian CarFest of the Southwest, a kick-off event for GrapeFest, was held at Nash Farm on September 7. Heritage Foundation board members helped staff the Settlement to City, Donald Schoolhouse and Cotton Ginner's House museums during GrapeFest. The Foundation Board of Directors elected Melva Stanfield as Vice -Chairman, Pat Stinson as Secretary and Balla Wright as Treasurer for the 2013 — 2014 year. Curtis Ratliff was appointed chairman. The Foundation is preparing for the 13th Annual Fall Round UP! On October 19 from 10 to 2 p.m. The Candlelight Tour of Homes will be on Saturday, November 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. The Grapevine Opry shows are every Saturday through November 30. Friday, September 27th will be the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "Rear Window", at the Palace. No action taken by the Board Chamber of Commerce Activities Perry Leonard reported that the Chamber did well during GrapeFest and had a substantial increase over last year. The Chamber Golf Classic is sold out. The Tournament is scheduled for Monday, September 30. October 5 —13, 2013 15 people will travel to China on the Explore China mission. The Young Entrepreneurs 2013 — 2014 program is starting with 20 students. This year there are six cities participating in the program, up from three last year. A Christmas Parade meeting is coming soon. The Chamber is already getting questions about the parade which will be held on Thursday, December 5. The board is encouraged to ride in the parade. Chairman Slechta reported that the Chamber Chili Cook Off is scheduled for November 12, 2013. It was decided that the board will again put in a team. Chief Cook, Dan Weinberger, will be perfecting a recipe to defend their people's choice award. No action taken by the Board OLD BUSINESS GrapeFest Report Michael Woody reported that it was a great event with revenues returning to 2009 numbers. Ed and Julie Stone did a fantastic job as co-chairs. The theme this year was Discoveries. Some of the new and/or changed activities included the Texas Wine Tribute, the re -vamped Peoples Choice, new bands as entertainment, and Culinary Symposiums were expanded to the Palace Theatre. Board of Directors Meeting September 19, 2013 Page 3 of 6 OLD BUSINESS cont. GrapeFest Report cont. The Festival store was simplified to feature top selling items only which included t-shirts/hats/wine glasses/and posters. North Pole Express promotion for the Grapevine Vintage Railroad went very well and pre -sold over 200 tickets. Co -Chairs for 2014 are Shane and Paula Wilbanks. The festival attendance was 262,910. No action taken by the Board FY 14 Budget Report Eloise Koehn reported that on September 10 Council approved a 19.9 million budget for the CVB. This is a 5.3% increase over last year's budget. Expenses include 11.1 million for sales and marketing promotions and administrative costs. The Fund Balance at the end of FY 12 was 5.4 million and we expect to end FY 13 around 6 million. The budget includes funds to support capital improvements and 3 new positions. No action taken by the Board. NEW BUSINESS Marketing Report Joe Szymaszek reported that the marketing committee held their third meeting to draft the 2014 marketing plan. The committee, led by Joe, included Sharron Spencer, John Imaizumi, Tom Cherry and representatives from key attractions, hotels etc. The first meeting included a review of the 2013 marketing plan. The second meeting included a first draft of the 2014 plan for feedback. The third meeting was a presentation of the final draft. Members were asked to overlay this with their own marketing plans. The 2014 Marketing Plan will be presented to the board at the October meeting for approval. No action taken by the Board. Connector Project Marketing Barry Lewis presented the Connector Project Marketing Plan to the board. In conjunction with the substantial completion celebration about a month ago staff developed a campaign to counteract the 3 Y2 years of construction. The theme is "Good Times in Grapevine just Got a lot Easier to Get to." Most of the marketing will play in North Texas. The $300,000 investment includes radio, online, television and newspapers. Cooperative opportunities are available to our partners. No action taken by the Board. Board of Directors Meeting September 19, 2013 Page 4 of 6 Website Preview Barry Lewis previewed the new website for the board. The site, which launched on August 12, was developed with Simpleview, a company who specializes in destination websites. They have developed over 200 destination websites including Chicago and Las Vegas. The site includes the use of "get smart content" which brings up information which most closely matches the search words of the user. Mr. Lewis also shared the much improved mobile site. No action taken by the Board. FY 14 Meeting Schedule Chairman Slechta presented the FY 14 meeting schedule to the board. There were no suggested changes to the schedule. A motion by Lance Marrin, seconded by Dan Weinberger to approve the FY 14 Meeting Schedule as drafted prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Slechta, Imaizumi, Marrin, Szymaszek, Weinberger, Terpening Nays: None SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Woody reported that during the month of August, Convention Sales produced 37 leads representing 37,556 potential room nights. They assisted with three definites representing 1,290 room nights. The sales team conducted eight site inspections. Tourism Sales produced 8 leads and assisted with one definite booking. Staff distributed 95,000 brochures and sold 3,500 tickets at the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services assisted nine groups with 6,500 delegates. The Grapevine Visitor Shuttle carried 5,147 passengers, a 23% increase over last year. The Convention Center had 31 future bookings representing 6,100 attendees. The Palace Arts Center had 11 future bookings and the Concourse had eight future bookings. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad carried 4,300 passengers. There were 104,787 unique visitors to the website of which 11 % used a mobile device to access it. There were 25 print trade publications and online group insertions, 56 print consumer publications insertions, 1,320 TV/radio insertions and 76 online advertising insertions. Public relations generated $114,000 in print and $135,000 in electronic for a total public relations value of $249,000. No action taken by the Board Board of Directors Meeting September 19, 2013 Page 5 of 6 HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Two new brochures, Fall Fun and North Pole Express were shared. • The Grand Hyatt has completed a #3 million dollar renovation to their restaurant and kitchen. • The on-ramp to Southbound 121 at Bass Pro Drive has re -opened. • The Grapevine Historical Society continues to move forward on their new museum. • Newcrest Image has shifted the opening of the dual flag Marriott to November 1. • Grapevine Olive Oil Company has moved to 340 S. Main Street. • The new Grapevine Foundry and Gallery had a soft opening during GrapeFest. Their official grand opening will be in October. • The Hi-Railers had a soft opening during GrapeFest with a grand opening scheduled for later this fall. • Texas Sculpture Association will install an exhibit in the Tower Gallery next week. Forty artists will display 70 pieces of art in a variety of media. The Exhibit runs from September 23 through October 21. • D'Vine Wine will start the Grapevine Night Watchman Tour on October 11. • Upcoming events include: 16th Annual Butterfly Flutterby, 13th Annual Nash Farm Fall Round -up, Grapevine Garden Club Plant Sale, Train of Terror, Halloween Treat Train, and Hallow Wine Trail. • End of The Runway Players submitted their wrap up report for the past year. • Jeff Fegan, CEO of DFW Airport will turn over the reins in September / October to Sean Donohue. No action taken by the Board. ADJOURNMENT Mr. McCallum recognized Michael Woody, Barry Lewis and Bruce Dalton for all their hard work in the development of the new website. Mark Terpening recognized the festival staff for their great work in conjunction with GrapeFest. There being no further business to come before the board a motion by John Imaizumi, seconded by Joe Szymaszek to adjourn the meeting at 9:23 a.m. prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Slechta, Imaizumi, Marrin, Szymaszek, Weinberger, Terpening Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting September 19, 2013 Page 6of6 PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS THE 17TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2013. APPROVED: Paul Slechta Chairman ATTEST: &f2x�- Eloise Koehn Director of Finance & Administration CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, September 19, 2013 — 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA CALL TO ORDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES IV. OLD BUSINESS A. GRAPEFEST REPORT B. FY 14 BUDGET REPORT. V. NEW BUSINESS (W A. MARKETING REPORT B. CONNECTOR PROJECT MARKETING C. WEBSITE PREVIEW D. FY 14 MEETING SCHEDULE VI. SALES & MARKETING REPORT VII. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES VIII. 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 12TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2013 AT 5:00 P.M. Eloise Koehn Director of Finance and Administration