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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-07-17 Regular MeetingCITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, July 17, 2014 — 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER I1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES III. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES IV. SALES & MARKETING REPORT V. OLD BUSINESS A. SISTER CITY KREMS REPORT B. OCCUPANCY TAX REPORT VI. NEW BUSINESS A. GRANTS-IN-AID REQUEST B. MUSEUM/EDUCATIONAL TOURS CANCELLATION POLICY C. FY 15 MEETING SCHEDULE D. 40TH ANNIVERSARY - CVB 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 9TH DAY OF JULY, 2014 AT 5:00 P.M. te..„ le.,,,i,,____ 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 in Regular Session on Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. at the Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Headquarters, 636 S. Main Street, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Tom Cherry Lance Marrin Jim Quinn Joe Szymaszek Mark Terpening Dan Weinberger Debi Meek Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Alternate Board Member Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Sharron Spencer Balla Wright Paul W. McCallum Michael Woody Eloise Koehn Shawna Barnes Absent: Paul Slechta C. W. Higgins Jennifer Hibbs Council Liaison Heritage Foundation Liaison Executive Director Assistant Executive Director Director of Finance & Administration Assistant to the Executive Director Chairman Chamber Liaison Assistant City Manager CALL TO ORDER Joe Szymaszek, sitting in for Chairman Slechta, called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Dan Weinberger, seconded by Mark Terpening to approve the minutes from the June 19, 2014 meeting prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Cherry, Marrin, Quinn, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Meek Nays: None LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Balla Wright reported that the Candlelight Tour of Homes 2014 committee is recruiting homes for this year's tour on November 8th. The July First Friday program at Nash Farm was "Keeping Cool". Several groups have toured the Farm this past month. The Board of Directors Meeting July 17, 2014 Page 2of6 LIAISON UPDATES cont. Heritage Foundation Activities cont. Farmhouse on the Grape Vine Prairie July program will be July 26th from 10 a.m. to noon. Tomorrow night at the Palace will be the movie "Teenage Mutant Turtles". The Dream Big Kids Summer Blast Show and the Grapevine Opry Show will be on Saturday. On July 26th, Grapevine Live will present Johnny Rogers' The Legends of Country Music. No action taken by the Board Chamber of Commerce Activities The Chamber of Commerce will host a Casino Night on August 22nd at Austin Ranch. No action taken by the Board SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Woody reported that convention sales had 65 leads with over 65,000 potential room nights, 22 of which are for 2014, with a potential economic impact of approximately $28,000,000. They assisted with 23 definites representing 19,000 room nights, 12 of which were for 2014 with a potential economic impact of $10,800,000. The sales team conducted 25 sales appointments, hosted seven site inspections. Tourism sales and service booked two group tours, both for 2015, conducted 29 sales appointments, and participated in two sales missions including the State of Texas Asia mission and the San Antonio mission. In addition, the Tourism team hosted the West Lothian Scotland Culinary Arts Student Exchange. The number of brochures distributed was 66,000 and over 7,600 tickets were sold through the Visitor Information Center. The team welcomed 6,700 guests into the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services assisted seven groups with 9,200 delegates with information and registration assistance and a potential economic impact of $8,822,000. It was a great month for the Visitor Shuttle which had its second highest ridership month since its launch in December 2009. The Shuttles carried 6,600 passengers. The Convention Center booked 15 future groups representing 3,080 attendees and had $56,851 in sales for the month. The Palace Arts Center booked 16 future groups representing 3,000 attendees and had total sales for the month of $22,647. The Concourse booked 27 future groups with 685 attendees and $19,576 in sales. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had total ridership of just under $5,000 including 3,000 out of Grapevine, 529 on the Fun Runs and 1,300 on the Trinity River Run. The web site had 135,000 unique visitors with approximately 10,000 reaching us through a mobile device. Board of Directors Meeting July 17, 2014 Page 3 of 6 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. For marketing there were 10 print trade insertions, 155,000 online impressions, 85 print consumer publications insertions, 225 TV and radio insertions and 2,796,000 online advertising impressions. Public relations print value was $670,000 and electronic was $56,300 for a total of $726,000. No action taken by the Board OLD BUSINESS Sister City Krems Report Michael Woody reported that from June 6 — 30 four West Lothian College culinary students were home hosted by three Grapevine families. The students worked 40 -hour weeks at the Gaylord Texan, Embassy Suites and the Hilton DFW. The students hosted a final dinner reception for city officials, host families and host hotels on Sunday, June 29. The students created the menu and were in charge of the entire meal from start to finish. From July 2 — 11 thirty-six members of the Trachtenkapelle Rossatz, a traditional Austrian orchestra from Krems were home hosted by 16 families. The group performed six concerts including: Delaney Vineyards, Vineyards Campground, Fort Worth Stockyards, Stockyards Championship Rodeo, Klyde Warren Park, and First Methodist Church in Grapevine. The group had several opportunities to tour Grapevine and the surrounding area. Mr. Woody shared a sampling of the media coverage. No Action taken by the Board. Occupancy Tax Report Mr. McCallum reported that last Tuesday Council approved the 1% increase to the Occupancy Tax Rate with an effective date of October 1, 2014. The additional penny has been available for over 25 years. The additional tax revenue will be directed to the 215 Tourism Incentive Fund, which currently houses funds for the marketing agreements with Gaylord and Great Wolf Lodge. The additional 1% will be used to draw business for the needs periods. It will be used to incentivize and compete for group and convention business as well as events and sporting activities across all hotels. No action taken by the Board NEW BUSINESS Grants -In -Aid Request Mr. Woody presented a Grants -In -Aid request for the End of the Runway Players in the amount of $10,000 for the 2014-15 season. The group has been funded for many Years and is active in the community. Board of Directors Meeting July 17, 2014 Page 4 of 6 NEW BUSINESS cont. Grants -In -Aid Request cont. Motion by Tom Cherry, seconded by Dan Weinberger to approve the Grants -In -Aid request from the End of The Runway Players in the amount of $10,000 prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Cherry, Marrin, Quinn, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Meek Nays: None Museum/Educational Tours Cancellation Policy Mr. McCallum shared that between Nash Farm, Museums and Main Street, the staff handles many tours each year with the help of volunteer docents. In the last few months a number of larger tours have cancelled without giving notification. The groups include senior citizen centers, schools, scouts, civic clubs and organizations, etc. Under consideration is a policy that would require a credit card to secure a tour and that it would be charged a fee for cancellation without a 24 hour notice. Discussion followed citing the value of the volunteers, the need to show appreciation to the volunteers, the possibility of stifling some of the smaller groups, the amount of the fee and the ability of the staff to enforce. Motion by Tom Cherry, seconded by Jim Quinn that museum and educational tours to be secured with a credit card and to set a cancellation fee of $50 for any group that does not give a minimum of a 24-hour cancellation notice and that the proceeds of this fee goes into a volunteer appreciation fund prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Cherry, Marrin, Quinn, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Meek Nays: None FY 15 Meeting Schedule Mr. Szymaszek distributed a draft copy of the FY 15 meeting schedule to the board members. After review, the schedule will be voted on at the next meeting. No Action taken by the Board. 40th Anniversary — CVB Mr. McCallum shared with the board that the Convention & Visitors Bureau was established on August 20, 1974. During the 40 years the bureau has had only three executive directors. A reception will be held on August 20th No Action taken by the Board. Board of Directors Meeting July 17, 2014 Page 5 of 6 HOTELS 1 ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Hotels Jake Hronek is the new Associate Director of Sales at the Hyatt Regency DFW. Attractions • UMBRA Winery has leased space at 415 S. Main Street. • Sloan and Williams Winery is scheduled to open on Texas Street in August. • Messina Hof Winery is scheduled to open in November. • The Texas Tenors are returning to the Palace for Christmas concerts. Tickets went on sale July 8 and over 800 tickets have already been sold. • Brick House Tavern & Tap will be opening in the location of the former Macaroni Grill. • Alex's Greek Cafe has opened at 413 E. Northwest Hwy. • The 7-11 at 510 S. Main Street will close on July 28th • The night time driving range at Grapevine Municipal Golf Course has officially opened. In the Area • Qatar Airways began regular non-stop service from Doha on July 1st. Emerites Airlines launched in 2012 and Etihad Airways will begin service on December 3, 2014. • Whole Foods opened July 8th in Colleyville. • The Statler Hilton that was about to undergo a redevelopment plan suffered a fire in the basement on June 27th. The project has now been stalled and scheduled to start in January 2015 to allow for clean-up. • The National Tour Association named Pam Inman as the new CEO on June 23rd • The 2014 Dallas Hotel Conference has been set for November 19th at the Omni Dallas. No action taken by the Board. ADJOURNMENT Mr. McCallum announced the retirement of Eloise Koehn, Director of Finance and Administration after 27 years of service. All board members expressed their admiration and appreciation for Eloise with the consensus that she has been the glue that has sustained the organization throughout its growth. There being no further business to come before the board a motion by Dan Weinberger, seconded by Mark Terpening to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 a.m. prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Cherry, Marrin, Quinn, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Meek Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting July 17, 2014 Page 6 of 6 PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS THE 218T DAY OF AUGUST, 2014. APPROVED: Cd Paul Slechta Chairman ATTEST: Eloise Koehn Director of Finance & Administration