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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-09-20 Regular Meetingmoms \F@) $ icn m§cnz 9 -mw @«go 2`�§ :o>m 0co § OX01 !2M/ I > \�j} t!$m [ ch §m\ k\]-1 mm©5 {k cn §/ 40co 00 )/\{ M20 §(*\ .( O mm _ aw g § 0 0 0 > m 7 § 0 § a Cil -P, § > M2 State of Texas County of Tarrant City of Grapevine MINUTES The Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors met in Regular Session on Thursday, September 20, 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 Cynthia Blankenship Dan Weinberger Keith Spinden Debi Meek Sharron Rogers Board Member - Chair Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Alternate Board Member Council Liaison Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Theresa Mason Paul W. McCallum Paula Newman Brady Closson Lindy Bell Absent: Iain Scouller Sue Franks CALL TO ORDER Chamber of Commerce Liaison Executive Director Managing Director, Administration/Operations Managing Director, Sales/Marketing Assistant to the Executive Director Board Member Heritage Foundation Liaison Board Chair, Joe Szymaszek, called the meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Dan Weinberger, seconded by Mark Terpening to approve minutes from the August 16, 2018 meeting. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Blankenship, Spinden, Meek Nays: None Mention was made of receiving this month's Board Packets by both hard copy and electronically. Mr. McCallum pointed out that for this month only, being the last month of the fiscal year, Board packets were sent both ways. For the new fiscal year, Board packets will be sent electronically only. Board of Directors Meeting September 20, 2018 Page 2 of 5 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities Chairman Szymaszek read the report for the Heritage Foundation. The Candlelight Tour of Homes is scheduled for Saturday, November 3 from 4-7 p.m. Nash Farm Nash Farm hosted the Grapevine-Colleyville Future Farmers of America Kick -Off event on September 4 with 125 attendees. September's First Friday event, "Frontier Travel," had 210 attendees. Despite rain all day, 50% of the scheduled cars came for the Italian CarFest, and 400 guests braved the rain. Special recognition was given to Gayle Hall and Barry Feldner of Festivals and Events for their work and diligent efforts to protect the Farm grounds during the rain. Saturday night of GrapeFest, Nash Farm hosted a group of 50 delegates to an open fire pork chop dinner. Chamber of Commerce Theresa Mason reported that the Grapevine Chamber of Commerce's annual presentation to City Council was rescheduled to November. Progress is being made on the construction of the building addition. Bids have been received and will be reviewed by the Executive Committee at their next meeting. The Chamber Membership luncheon is scheduled for this date with Sean Donohue of DFW Airport as the speaker. October 1 is the Chamber Golf Tournament, October 16 is the next multi -Chamber mixer and October 31 is the North Texas Job Fair. SALES & MARKETING REPORT Mr. Closson reported that for August, the convention and leisure sales team had 114 sales leads sourced to Stakeholder hotels with 128,000 potential room nights and a potential economic impact of $73 million. 14 groups have been booked representing almost 13,000 room nights with an economic impact of $5.1 million. There were 10 site inspections representing approximately 13,000 potential room nights and $6.4 million in potential economic impact. The Visitor Information Center, Settlement to City and Depot welcomed a little over 16,000 guests in August. Approximately 173,000 brochures were distributed locally, statewide and nationally. Destination Services assisted 7 groups representing 15,000 attendees with potential economic impact of almost $8 million. Grapevine visitor shuttle ridership for July was approximately 3,800 riders. Shuttle ridership revenue economic impact year to date is almost $4 million. The Convention Center, Palace Arts Center and Concourse hosted a combined 40 events with 25,000 in attendance and an anticipated economic impact of $900,000. Board of Directors Meeting September 20, 2018 Page 3 of 5 The Grapevine Vintage Railroad had 16 excursions in August with a total ridership of approximately 2,236. The website welcomed approximately 154,000 total visitors in August with 104,000 unique visitors. Top pages visited were Christmas Capital of Texas/North Pole Express with 57,000, Grapevine Vintage Railroad with 49,000 and GrapeFest with 39,000. There were three print trade publication insertions with a circulation of 488,000. There were 13 print consumer publication insertions with a total print circulation of 3.6 million There were 1,128 spots representing 9 hours and 35 minutes of TV and radio promoting 32nd Annual GrapeFest in both core and outer markets. On-line trade advertising generated 40,000 impressions utilizing Association Form.org/ 10K and CVent/30k. On-line consumer advertising generated almost 51,000 online impressions. Communications produced five press releases. No action was taken by the Board. NEW BUSINESS Mr. McCallum advised the Board that the Convention and Visitors Bureau had been notified by the City Secretary of the need to appoint a Vice Chair in accordance with City Articles. Chair Joe Szymaszek nominated Mark Terpening as Vice Chair for the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board. A motion was made by Cynthia Blankenship and seconded by Dan Weinberger in favor. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Weinberger. Blankenship. Spinden and Meek Nays: None OLD BUSINESS GrapeFest Report Mr. McCallum reported for GrapeFest including a thank you and congratulations to GrapeFest Co -Chairs Joe and Christine Szymaszek, for their outstanding work and contributions to its success. Appreciation was also extended to Gary and Cynthia Blankenship of presenting sponsor Bank of the West, very active and working co-chairs during the festival. The 32nd Annual GrapeFest ranks in the top five percent of GrapeFest festivals and broke the 261,000 attendance number. Numbers across the festival were up. Festival food preferences are changing and adjustments will need to Board of Directors Meeting September 20, 2018 Page 4of5 be made in offerings provided by civic and city organizations to continue to attract festival goers. It was noted that headliner entertainment made a big difference in increased attendance. GVRR/TEXRail Rail Access Relocation Approval Mr. McCallum reported on the need to create a second access point from the storage tracks to be located on the east side of Main Street. TEXRail has allotted for and will pay for one access point but for efficiency, especially during events such as North Pole Express and Day Out with Thomas, a second access point is needed. Mr. McCallum requested the Board approve $150,000 in funds to pay GVRR's portion of the cost for the second access point. Motion was made by Cynthia Blankenship and seconded by Mark Terpening to approve requested funds in the amount of $150,000 for the second access point. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Weinberger, Blankenship, Spinden, Meek and Terpening Nays: None McPherson and Blevins House Up -Date McPherson House: Mr. McCallum informed the Board the sale of the McPherson house closed September 19, 2018 with a final sales price of $291,200. The house was sold to David J. Smith of Grapevine Historic Homes. Payment was made with a cashier's check. Blevins House: Mr. McCallum informed the Board that work is progressing on the Blevins house with advertising about the sale of the house to start in local papers November 15. Work is ongoing to take the house back to its original condition including installation of new Semco metal clad wood windows, reconstruction of the original red brick fireplace and new underground electric service. HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS ACTIVITIES Mr. Closson reported that Kilwins Chocolate is coming soon to Grapevine. In addition, Corky's Bistro, featuring axe throwing and located near Grapevine Mills, opened with a ribbon cutting. Peppa Pig made a surprise appearance at GrapeFest promoting its upcoming arrival at Grapevine Mills. Embassy Suites is currently undergoing rooms renovation to coordinate with the recent renovations in the common area. Great Wolf Lodge is undergoing a full 605 -room renovation and has recently signed on as presenting sponsor for North Pole Express. Mason and Dixie restaurant has recently completed build out into their third space and was open for GrapeFest. The Grand Board of Directors Meeting September 20, 2018 Page 5 of 5 Hyatt has recently hired Danny Downs as Director of Sales; he will be an asset with his prior knowledge of the DFW market. War Hammer's August 24 and 25 grand opening event was a tremendous success. No action was taken by the Board ADJOURNMENT Next meeting of the Board will be October 18, 2018. There being no further business to come before the Board, a motion was made by Mark Terpening and seconded by Debi Meek to adjourn the meeting at 9:07 a.m. Motion prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Spinden, Meek and Blankenship Nays: None PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS 18TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2018. APPROVED: "n Joe Szyrnaszek Board Member - Chair ATTEST: ~ &J --J Lindy Bell Assistant to the Executive Director