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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-18 Regular MeetingCITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, January 18, 2018 — 8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES 4. SALES & MARKETING REPORT A. ST. PATRICK'S DAY SALES MISSION B. CHRISTMAS CAPITAL OF TEXAS REPORT OLD BUSINESS A. TEXRAIL UP -DATE B. BLEVINS/MCPHERSON/BARN UP -DATE 6. NEW BUSINESS A. GRAND HALL MURAL B. FESTIVALS/CHRISTMAS CAPITAL OF TEXAS STORAGE BUILDING 7. HOTELS /ATTRACTIONS /ACTIVITIES A. TEXAS TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION - LEGISLATIVE UNITY DINNER 8. 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 at 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 JANUARY, 2018 BY 5:00 P.M. Liy Bell Assistant to thdExecutive Director State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met in Regular Session on Thursday, January 18, 2018 at 8:00 a.m. at the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau, 636 South Main Street, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Joe Szymaszek Jim Quinn Mark Terpening Debi Meek Cynthia Blankenship Keith Spinden Iain Scouller Sharron Spencer Board Member - Chair Board Member Board Member Alternate Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Council Liaison Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Becky Hummer Theresa Mason Paul W. McCallum Paula Newman Brady Closson Lindy Bell Absent: Dan Weinberger Heritage Foundation Liaison Chamber of Commerce Liaison Executive Director Managing Director, Administration/Operations Managing Director, Sales/Marketing Assistant to the Executive Director Board Member CALL TO ORDER Board Chair, Joe Szymaszek, called the meeting to order at 8:04 a.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Iain Scouller, seconded by Mark Terpening to approve minutes from the October 19, 2017 meeting. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Meek, Quinn, Blankenship, Spinden, Scouller Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2018 Page 2 of 6 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Becky Hummer reported that the Grapevine Heritage Foundation had ITS first meeting of 2018 on January 17th. A Speakers Bureau is now available to speak to local service organizations. All were invited to join the Foundation as a volunteer, Nash Farmhand or as a member to presence and promote Grapevine. Nash Farm Nash Farm had a strong December with several holiday events including First Friday "Christmas Decorating", the Victorian Farmhouse Tour Celebration and Farmstead Christmas programs. 2018 began with the annual two-day Hog Butchering and Curing Workshop. The workshop was a sell out with attendees coming from South Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma with many attendees staying in Grapevine hotels for 2-3 nights. Upcoming events include Spring Into Nash scheduled for April 21St and the Nash Farm Supper -Farm to Fork scheduled for Friday evening, April 27th. Tickets are currently on sale for the Farm to Fork dinner. A reminder was given regarding commemorative bricks available at Nash Farm to mark and celebrate special occasions. Chamber of Commerce Theresa Mason, incoming Chair of the Chamber Board, reported on several Chamber activities and upcoming events. The Chamber's recent Board Retreat was held at Kubota headquarters with a large number of the Board in attendance. Members also had the opportunity to tour the Kubota facilities if desired. The Chamber's theme for 2018 will focus on value and efficiency and how best to manage and achieve efficiencies for both staff and members. The Chamber membership luncheon is scheduled on this date with Robin Lasher of the Tarrant County Small Business Association as the keynote speaker. The annual Chamber Awards Banquet is scheduled for Thursday, February 1St. Several strong award nominations have been made and all were encouraged to attend. The second annual DFW Veterans Summit and Procurement Fair is scheduled for February 21St Last year's Fair was a success with small businesses benefiting from the opportunity to connect with larger companies. Ms. Hummer left the meeting at 8:10 a.m. and Ms. Mason left the meeting at 8:45 a.m. Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2018 Page 3 of 6 SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Closson reported that for December, the convention and leisure sales team had 80 sales leads with 85,000 potential room nights and a potential economic impact of $37 million. 26 groups have been booked representing 41,000 room nights with an economic impact of $18.1 million. There were 8 site inspections representing approximately 10,000 room nights and $5.2 million potential economic impact. The Visitor Information Center, Settlement to City and Depot welcomed 36,000 guests. Approximately 117,000 brochures were distributed locally, statewide and nationally. Destination Services assisted 3 groups representing 2,700 attendees with an economic impact of over $2.6 million. Grapevine visitor shuttle ridership for December was approximately 2,600 versus 3,720 in December 2016. The Convention Center, Palace Arts Center and Concourse hosted a combined 79 events with 16,400 in attendance and booked 18 new definites anticipating 3,300 attendees with an economic impact of $118,000. The website welcomed over 250,000 total visitors in December with unique visitors totaling 189,000. The organic hotel search was up 8.2% versus same time last year. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had a total ridership in December of 53,325 passengers. For marketing, there were eight print trade publication insertions resulting in 203,000 in circulation. Online (GROUP) Advertising generated 154,000 impressions. Print consumer publications had 32 insertions representing 4.2 million circulating impressions. Digital advertising had 13 listings generating 4.1 million impressions. There were 1,115 TV and radio spots representing 9 hours,18 29 minutes and 30 seconds' airtime with an estimated reach of 20 million. A final number will be reported when available. Communications generated 5 press releases No action was taken by the Board. Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2018 Page 4 of 6 30th Annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration/Sales Mission Mr. Closson notified the Board of the upcoming 30th Annual St. Patrick's Day sales mission to New York City scheduled for Thursday, March 15th through Sunday, March 18th. Sales calls will be made Friday, March 16th, to clients in Manhattan. The Annual Event be held Saturday, March 17th, at New York's iconic "The Sea Grill" in Rockefeller Center. Invitations will be mailed to over 700 meeting planners, national meeting publications and leisure tour operators focusing on those in the northeast. Follow up calls will also made. Seven full service Grapevine hotels are invited to participate. LEGOLand's master LEGO builder will be participating as well. Christmas Capital of Texas Recap Mr. Closson reported that the 2017 North Pole Express, with second -time presenting Great Wolf Lodge, had a total passenger count of 51,745 which includes 118 public runs, 11 school runs, three Christmas wine trains, Community Outreach excursion and two City employee excursions. A new feature in the North Pole Neighborhood, Santa's Reindeer, allowed visitors to take pictures with seven live reindeer. Photos with Santa had an increase in redemption of vouchers. On-line ticket sales opened in July with the event selling out mid-October. Reports from local merchants and attractions saw significant positive increases in traffic and sales. Three Christmas wine trains featured Bingham Family Vineyards, Grape Vine Springs Winery and Homestead Winery. Over 100 live Christmas trees were dispersed to families at the close of North Pole Express and over 8,000 letters to Santa received a response. OLD BUSINESS TEXRail Up -Date Mr. McCallum reported on the progress of the TEXRail project. Current focus is on a six -mile stretch of track for testing purposes being completed in North Richland Hills. Work, suspended during North Pole Express, will start again soon on the vintage rail station and by March 4th, three sets of new tracks should be completed. Mr. McCallum reported that three new coaches were successfully bid upon and purchased from the State of Connecticut. They are currently in the process of being made road worthy and will be delivered to Grapevine in the coming months. The Grapevine Vintage Railroad (GVRR) is currently in its annual shut down period for routine maintenance with two coaches being re -carpeted, two coaches re -upholstered and three coaches receiving all new bathrooms. Sound system up -grades are also in progress. Work on the 2248 continues with the firebox being rebuilt and a new boiler on-site. It will be installed once the firebox work is complete. Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2018 Page 5 of 6 Groundbreaking for the train station, plaza, Hotel Vin and parking garage will be held either February 27 or March 6. Invitations will be forthcoming. Blevins House Up -Date Paula Newman reported on the status of the Blevins house. Following approval by City Council on July 17th to accept the home, the house was moved to its new address, 428 East Wall Street, on December 10th, 2017. This lot is entrance to the historic district. The house was built in 1903 by the Blevins family and is an important piece of early Grapevine history. It is currently waiting upon final approval by the Building and Zoning Approvals for finalization procedures at its new location. McPherson House Up -Date Ms. Newman also reported on the status of the McPherson farm house. It is located at 420 East College, the corner of College and Dooley. It is currently in the process of stabilization. Fireplace brick work has been completed and exterior restoration work is almost complete. Notice will be posted in the Fort Worth Star Telegram January 25th and February 1St that the home is for sale with bidding to be open for six weeks. Minimum bid is $365,000 with only sealed bids accepted. McPherson Barn Up -Date Ms. Newman reported that the McPherson Barn, one of oldest known structures in Grapevine, is on beams and after wrapping, will be ready to move. Its new location will be between the current blacksmith shop and potters shed. Once moved and completed, it will be used for heritage programs and events. The McPherson smoke house will be moved to Nash Farm. No action was taken by the Board. NEW BUSINESS Grand Hall Mural Mr. McCallum reported that the Grand Hall mural, one of the final two art pieces for the building is underway with discussions being held with artist, Stylle Read to do the work. The mural is to encompass the history of Grapevine from prehistoric times to the modern-day. Work is to begin in March with the hope of it being completed prior to Main Street Fest. No action was taken by the Board. Board of Directors Meeting January 18, 2018 Page 6 of 6 Festivals/Christmas Capital of Texas Storage Building Mr. McCallum reported on the efforts to locate storage space for festivals equipment either by finishing out an existing building or building a new one. It has been determined that building a new structure will be the most effective approach. It was decided to use property on the eastern edge of Convention Center grounds to construct a 40,000 square foot building that will have 16' ceilings with the most cost-effective method using tilt wall construction. Fans will be used for circulation and with sprinklers. There will also be fenced in space for equipment that can be stored out doors. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Closson up -dated the Board on the upcoming Unity Dinner to be held in Austin on Wednesday, March 215'. Board members, City Council members and full service hotels will be receiving invitations in the next few weeks. ADJOURNMENT Next meeting of the Board will be February 15th. There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion was made by Mark Terpening and seconded by Keith Spinden to adjourn the meeting at 9:50 a.m. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Meek, Quinn, Blankenship, Spinden, Scouller Nays: None PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS 15TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 2018. ATTEST: Lindy Bell Assistant tote Executive Director