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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-08-21 Regular MeetingCITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, August 21, 2014 — 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA I. CALL TO ORDER II. OATH OF OFFICE III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES IV. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES V. SALES & MARKETING REPORT VI. OLD BUSINESS A. FY 15 MEETING SCHEDULE B. WALLIS RENOVATION CONTRACT C. TED R. WARE PLAZA UPDATE D. TOUR CANCELLATION POLICY VII. NEW BUSINESS A. CHECKING ACCOUNTS SIGNATORIES B. TOUR AND TRAVEL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION — TX CHAP VIII. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES IX. 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 14TH DAY OF AUGUST 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 in Regular Session on Thursday, August 21, 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: Joe Szymaszek Chairman Cindy Blankenship Board Member Tom Cherry Board Member Lance Marrin Board Member Mark Terpening Board Member Dan Weinberger Board Member Debi Meek 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: Jim Quinn C. W. Higgins Jennifer Hibbs Council Liaison Heritage Foundation Liaison Executive Director Assistant Executive Director Director of Finance & Administration Assistant to the Executive Director Board Member Chamber Liaison Assistant City Manager CALL TO ORDER Chairman Szymaszek called the meeting to order at 8:00 a.m. OATH OF OFFICE Laura Simmons administered the oath of office to Cindy Blankenship, Debi Meek, Joe Szymaszek and Mark Terpening. INTRODUCTION OF STAFF Paul McCallum introduced Brady Closson, Director of Sales, to the board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Dan Weinberger, seconded by Mark Terpening to approve the minutes from the July 17, 2014 meeting prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Blankenship, Cherry, Marrin, Meek, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting August 21, 2014 Page 2 of 5 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Balla Wright reported that several Grapevine Heritage Foundation board members are preparing to attend the National Preservation Trust Conference in Savannah this November. The Historic Township continues to flourish with restorations. The home at 841 East Texas Street, in the D.E. Box Addition, is near move -in ready. The Historic Preservation Commission meeting for August 27 has been cancelled as there were no cases submitted needing Commission action. Tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. the movie Back to the Future will be shown at the Palace Theater. No action taken by the Board Chamber of Commerce Activities Chairman Szymaszek reported that Thursday, August 28 will be the Chamber Luncheon and the guest speaker is DFW Airport CEO, Sean Donahue. The Yea! Program (Young Entrepreneur's Academy) is accepting applications for their 3rd class. The 18th class of Leadership Grapevine starts today. Tomorrow will be the Chamber's first annual Casino Night at Austin Ranch. The event cost is $50 per person and funds are used for the land and facilities' upkeep. The Chamber has started an appointed Legislative Council, as well as a Legislative Committee to be made up of Chamber business leaders to review and consider action recommendations on legislation, or community policies that impact our businesses. No action taken by the Board SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Mr. Woody reported that convention sales had 62 leads with 35,000 potential room nights, 16 of the leads are for 2014. They assisted with 11 definites representing 3,800 room nights, four of the bookings are for 2014. The sales team conducted 14 sales appointments. They hosted seven site inspections including AgForLife, North American YMCA Development Organization, Slalom Consulting, Red Angus Association of America, American Red Cross, Zinzino and the National Association of Christian Financial Consultants. Tourism sales and service produced six leads with 203 potential room nights, four of the leads are for 2014. They assisted with two bookings representing 100 room nights for 2015. In addition, the Tourism team hosted the Krems Trachtenkapelle Rossatz. The number of brochures distributed in July was 67,000 and 8,800 tickets were sold through the Visitor Information Center. The team welcomed over 7,500 guests into the Visitor Information Center. Destination Services assisted six groups with over 5,900 delegates with information and registration assistance. The Visitor Shuttles carried over 6,300 passengers. The ridership year-to-date is 51,500, a 14% increase over last year. Board of Directors Meeting August 21, 2014 Page 3 of 5 SALES AND MARKETING REPORT cont. The Convention Center booked 36 future groups representing over 14,000 attendees and had $30,000 in sales for the month. The Palace Arts Center booked 12 future groups representing 1,400 attendees and had total sales for the month of $28,300. The Concourse booked six future groups with 800 attendees and approximately $12,000 in sales. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had total ridership of 7,000. The web site had 147,000 unique visitors with 11,800 reaching us through a mobile device. For marketing there were 12 print trade insertions, 105,000 online impressions, 93 print consumer publications insertions, 68 TV and radio insertions and 868,000 online advertising impressions. Public relations print value was $321,000, electronic was $4,000 and online publicity was $4,000 for a total of $329,414. Chairman Szymaszek announced that the marketing committee will meet on September 2, 16 and 23 to develop the marketing plan. It will then be presented to the board for approval. No action taken by the Board OLD BUSINESS FY 15 Meeting Schedule Chairman Szymaszek presented the meeting schedule for FY 15. No action taken by the Board, Wallis Renovation Update Mr. McCallum reported that at the council meeting earlier this week council approved a renovation of the Wallis interior. The deconstruction includes the salvaging of much of the materials to be reused in the building. The lobby portion of the building will remain as it was originally built. The "closing room" on the second floor will contain the artifacts of the original Wallis Hotel. The goal is for Messina Hof to be open in time for the Christmas Capital of Texas. Two weeks ago Messina Hof announced the opening of the Grapevine facility at their moonlight harvest in Bryan. No action taken by the Board. Ted R. Ware Plaza Update Mr. McCallum reported that the Settlement To City, Donald School House and Cotton Ginners House museums are now open. The infrastructure in the Ice House is almost complete. The Historical Society plans a Grand Opening for November 15th. New curbs, gutters, and sidewalk will be constructed by the Public Works Department for the Hudgens Street side of the plaza. Board of Directors Meeting August 21, 2014 Page 4 of 5 OLD BUSINESS cont. Ted R. Ware Plaza Update cont. Mr. McCallum shared photos of the historic neon sign that will be refurbished and installed at the Plaza. A flag pole and bell will also be located on the site. No action taken by the Board. Tour Cancellation Policy Mr. McCallum brought a recommendation from staff to amend the Tour Cancellation Policy adopted at the July 17, 2014 meeting to read a minimum of a 48-hour cancellation notice. Motion by Tom Cherry, seconded by Lance Marrin to amend the 24-hour notice to 48 hours in the Tour Cancellation Policy prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Blankenship, Cherry, Marrin, Meek, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger Nays: None NEW BUSINESS Checking Accounts Signatories Chainman Szymaszek appointed Dan Weinberger, Mark Terpening and himself as the board representative signatories for the CVB checking accounts. No action taken by the Board. Tour and Travel Research Association — Texas Chapter Mr. McCallum shared that two weeks ago he attended a formational meeting at the Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA) headquarters in Austin. A national Travel and Tourism Research Association has been in existence for several years. Ten to 12 representatives from tourism industry attended the meeting. The Texas Chapter would be organized and housed in the TTIA offices and an additional membership fee through TTIA would fund the chapter. We expect to have a lot of fresh research coming out of this group. No action taken by the Board. HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES • Grapevine has been voted a Top 50 Meetings Destination by CVENT for 2014. • Sloan and Williams Winery officially opened on August 1 and a Grand Opening is scheduled for Friday, September 12 at 1 p.m. • The Grapevine Craft Brewery received council approval for their brewery located at 906 and 924 Jean Street. • Mac's Grill will open the week of September 7 in the former Cork It location at 925 S. Main Street. Board of Directors Meeting August 21, 2014 Page 5 of 5 HOTELS / ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES cont. • Legoland Discovery Center has delayed the opening of their new splash Park — Pirate Beach due to weather delays. A new date has not yet been released. • The Irving, Texas Convention Center hotel project with Mortensen Development has failed to meet the financing deadline and will not happen. Mr. Woody shared highlights of GrapeFest including: • GrapeFest Golf Classic will be September 5th • The Italian Car Fest and the Texas Wine Tribute will be September 6th • There will be four food and wine pairing events at Grapevine restaurants • Washington State and Italian wines will be featured • Palate Pleasers in the Palace will feature culinary symposiums in conjunction with the Culinary School of Fort Worth • Delegations from our three sister cities will join Grapevine with 65 participants • People's Choice will have 162 wines from 44 wineries • A dueling piano bar will be located in the Cotton Belt Railroad District • The Salt Lick, Bar-B-Que restaurant will sponsor the VIP room No action taken by the Board. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the board a motion by Toni Cherry, seconded by Dan Weinberger to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 a.m. prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Blankenship, Cherry, Marrin, Meek, Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger Nays: None PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS THE 18th DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2014. AP v OVED: Jo ymasze Ch: an ATTEST: Eloise Koehn Director of Finance & Administration