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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-15 Regular Meeting CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS GRAPEVINE CONVENTION &VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, March 15, 2018—8:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas AGENDA 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. NEW EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTIONS 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4. LIAISON UPDATES A. HERITAGE FOUNDATION ACTIVITIES B. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITIES 5. SALES & MARKETING REPORT 6. OLD BUSINESS A. ST. PATRICK'S DAY SALES MISSION 7. NEW BUSINESS A. ARTIST IN RESIDENCE B. GRANTS-IN AID REQUEST C. 1850's BARN MOVE GRANT REQUEST D. SISTER CITY HANDICAP TRANSPORTATION GRANT REQUEST 8. HOTELS I ATTRACTIONS /ACTIVITIES 9. 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 MARCH, 2018 BY 5:00 P-M. t-41JC3� dy Bell Assistant toWe Executive 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, March 15, 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 Mark Terpening Dan Weinberger Iain Scouller Debi Meek Sharron Spencer Board Member - Chair Board Member Board Member Board Member Alternate 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: Jim Quinn Cynthia Blankenship Keith Spinden Heritage Foundation Liaison Chamber of Commerce Liaison Executive Director Managing Director, Administration/Operations Managing Director, Sales/Marketing Assistant to the Executive Director Board Member Board Member Board Member CALL TO ORDER Board Chair, Joe Szymaszek, called the meeting to order at 7:58 a.m. New employees Molly Self, Festivals and Events Administrative Assistant, and Joe Thompson, Director of Sales were introduced to Board members. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Dan Weinberger, seconded by Mark Terpening to approve minutes from the March 15, 2018 meeting. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Scouller, Meek Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting March 15, 2018 Page 2 of 7 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Becky Hummer reported that the Grapevine Heritage Foundation Speakers Bureau will be at the March 20 AMBUCS meeting to present information regarding the Foundation's mission and heritage preservation workshops. New Foundation members are welcome and encouraged to contact Ms. Hummer or visit Grapevine's website for more information. Nash Farm Nash Farm is making spring break special this week for area students. Copies of the Farm's Grapevine Sun were distributed to the Board. The paper details many of the activities happening during spring break week. "Spring Into Nash" event, a family -fun agricultural festival event, will be held Saturday, April 21st from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. In its second year, the Nash Farm Supper, "Farm to Fork Experience," will be held Friday, April 27th. Tickets are limited and currently on sale. Becky Hummer left the meeting at 8:10 a.m. Chamber of Commerce Theresa Mason reported on Chamber of Commerce activities and upcoming events. The Chamber membership luncheon is scheduled for this date with Kim LeBlanc of the Texas Film Commission speaking. The Chamber has instituted a partnership with SCORE, a part of the Small Business Administration. A SCORE representative will be in Grapevine one day each month and will offer free services, coaching and business advice. Chamber members will be able to sign up for one-hour sessions with a SCORE representative prior to the monthly session in Grapevine. Additional upcoming events include the next Job Fair scheduled for Saturday, April 7th at Grapevine High School. Also scheduled is a multi -Chamber mixer at the Bowden Center in Keller Tuesday, April 10th. The Great Taste of Grapevine will be at the Embassy Suites on April 19th. Over 20 restaurants are scheduled with more expected to be added. Discounted children's tickets will also be available for purchase. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Closson reported that for February, the convention and leisure sales team had 70 sales leads sourced to Stakeholder hotels with 81,000 potential room nights and a potential economic impact of $36 million. 14 groups have been booked representing 15,000 room nights with an economic impact of $6.2 million. There were 9 site inspections representing approximately 10,700 potential room nights and $5.8 million potential economic impact. Board of Directors Meeting March 15, 2018 Page 3 of 7 The team participated in the Texas Tourism 2018 RCMA (Religious Conference Management Association) in Omaha, NE. One stakeholder hotel, Hyatt Regency DFW also participated. Over 80 planners visited the Texas booth and over 75 attended a private reception hosted by Team Texas. Ten one-on-one appointments were conducted and one RFP (Request For Proposal) was received. The Team also represented Grapevine at the Visit USA Australia Sales Mission which focused on Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. Presentations were given in all three cities totaling over 900 attendees and the team also hosted 32 one -one -one appointments. Festivals and Events team members met with Katie Richarme, new President of Grapevine Art Project (GAP) to discuss more community involvement in addition to Main Street Fest and GrapeFest. The Festivals and Events team also coordinated the vendor selection process for Main Street Fest. 29% of artisan vendors are first-time participants and 44% of marketplace vendors are new to Main Street Fest. Festivals and Events staff coordinated the food and wine pairing for the 2018 Jazz Wine trains which are sold out. Chill was the selected caterer for the meal and Main Street Bakery will provide dessert. One wine from every Grapevine tasting room will be served. Vendor applications for GrapeFest are currently available online with a May 4th deadline. The Visitor Information Center and Settlement to City and Depot welcomed 3,300 guests. The Depot was closed for annual maintenance but has recently opened for the new season. Approximately 62,000 brochures were distributed locally, statewide and nationally. Destination Services assisted 16 groups representing 19,000 attendees with an economic impact of over $16 million. Grapevine visitor shuttle ridership for February was approximately 2,686 riders. The Convention Center, Palace Arts Center and Concourse hosted a combined 51 events with 17,200 in attendance and booked 73 new definites anticipating an economic impact of $1,050,120. The website welcomed over 72,000 total visitors in February with unique visitors totaling 56,000. 476 visits came from New York as a result of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day sales mission. Board of Directors Meeting March 15, 2018 Page 4 of 7 For marketing, there were four print trade publication insertions resulting in 225,000 in circulation. Publications included Community Impact, Star -Telegram Northeast and Texas Star Dinner Theater Playbill. Online (GROUP) Advertising had three listings which generated 144,000 impressions. Digital advertising had 10 listings generating 3.3 million impressions. Print ad value for February exceeded $763,000 representing 1.4 million circulation impressions. New pieces of collateral were shared with the Board which were the New Vintage Wine Trail and the new brochure for the Grapevine Railroad. No action was taken by the Board OLD BUSINESS 30th Annual St. Patrick's Day Sales Mission Mr. McCallum reported that the 301h annul St. Patrick's Day sales mission in New York City is anticipated to be a success and follows 29 years of successful missions. Support provided by Board and City leadership in promoting Grapevine makes a strong impression on the meeting planners and provides added authenticity. A brief up -date was provided to the Board regarding activities currently underway in New York as well as the schedule for Friday and the event on Saturday. A media reception at the Campbell Apartment in Grand Central Station is scheduled for Thursday evening with 42 national and international media representatives set to attend. The St. Patrick's Day event on Saturday currently has 61 meeting planners scheduled to attend with a total of 140 adults and 37 children representing a strong demographic for the Tri-State New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area. A thank you was extended to Iain Scouller for his assistance in securing a Master Lego Builder and two LEGOLand representatives to participate in Saturday's event. A thank you was also extended to Councilmember Sharron Spencer for appearing as Mrs. Claus during the event providing the opportunity to showcase Grapevine as the Christmas Capital of Texas. Board of Directors Meeting March 15, 2018 Page 5 of 7 NEW BUSINESS Artist in Residence Mr. McCallum relayed to the Board the role an artist in residence would play and explained its importance and the asset it would be to have an artist in that role. Duties of an artist in residence would include being available at various times for programming opportunities, being an ambassador for the art program, attending trade shows or event/cultural exchange missions, providing demonstrations or agreeing to do public displays during festivals and conducting art programs at area high schools. This artist would also play a key role in the creation of the Native American bronze pieces for the Peace Circle planned for Grapevine Main. Following questions and discussion by the Board and assurance of no financial or set time commitments for the position, motion was made by Iain Scouller and seconded by Mark Terpening to institute the role of an artist in residence for Grapevine. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Scouller, Weinberger, Terpening, Meek Nayes: None Grants -In Aid Request Mr. McCallum presented a request from Melange Musical for a grant in the amount of $2,500 to assist with expenses for an upcoming April 22nd performance. The Board posed many questions regarding the use of past funds allocated to the organization, attendance growth numbers, date and time of performance as well as ticket costs. The importance of providing such concerts and cultural variety in Grapevine was also stressed by several Board members. Following discussion, the Board determined to provide a grant in the amount of $1,500 but it was also determined that future grants would be dependent on increasing the number of attendees and marketing outreach for the performance. After discussion, motion was made by Iain Scouller and seconded by Mark Terpening to approve a $1,500 grant request. Ayes: Szymazek, Terpening, Scouller, Meek, Weinberger Nayes: None Board of Directors Meeting March 15, 2018 Page 6 of 7 1850s Barn Move Grant Request An 1850s barn was received in conjunction with the McPherson House and dates 40 years earlier than the house. The barn has been relocated and was moved as a full structure. Mr. McCallum requested approval for funds from festival proceeds in the amount of $42,614 for the cost of moving the barn and foundation drawings prepared. Motion was made by Debi Meek and seconded by Dan Weinberger for approval of the fund distribution. Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Meek, Scouller, Weinberger Sister City Handicap Transportation Grant Request Mr. McCallum reported that the Grapevine and Colleyville Rotary Clubs donated a handicap, late -model bus for Parras. An additional $2,000 was required in taxes and fees to cross the border which were not anticipated. The taxes and fees were paid by the Parras Rotarians. Mr. McCallum requested $2,000 from the festivals proceeds account be allocated and paid to the Parras Rotarians as reimbursement of this unexpected expense. Motion was made by Ian Scouller and seconded by Mark Terpening to approve the funds. Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Meek, Scouller, Weinberger Debi Meek left the meeting at 9:40 a.m. HOTELVATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Closson thanked Board members for their attendance and participation at the March 7th Grapevine Main groundbreaking event. It was a tremendous success with an exciting Grapevine addition underway. Mr. Closson relayed positive feedback and compliments received from a Gartner meeting planner and a member of the Mid -South Pickle Ball Tournament regarding the excellent customer service their groups received during their stay. ADJOURNMENT Next meeting of the Board will be April19th. There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion was made by Mark Terpening and seconded by Dan Weinberger to adjourn the meeting at 9:50 a.m. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Scouller, Weinberger, Terpening Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting March 15, 2018 Page 7 of 7 PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS 19TH DAY OF APRIL, 2018.