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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-18 Regular MeetingCity of Grapevine, Texas Grapevine Convention & Visitors Bureau Board of Directors Meeting Thursday, June 18, 2020 — 9:00 a.m. CVB Headquarters — Grand Hall 636 S. Main Street Grapevine, Texas Agenda In accordance with Orders of the Office of the Governor of the State of Texas, the Convention and Visitors Bureau Board will conduct its meeting at 9:00 a.m. on June 18, 2020 at 636 S. Main, Grapevine, Texas. The meeting is open to the public or participants may call 1-210-469-4097. The audio conference PIN is 975 574 323#. The public will be permitted to offer public comments telephonically as provided by the agenda and as permitted by the presiding officer during the meeting. Starting at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 17, citizens can submit a Citizen Appearance request form from the City's website at https://www.grapevinetexas.gov/89/Agendas-Minutes. During the meeting, the names of those that have submitted a form will be called on to speak in the order the forms were received. The deadline to submit requests will be 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17. A recording of the telephonic meeting will be made, and will be available to the public in accordance with the Open Meetings Act upon request. 1. Call to Order 2. Citizen Comments 3. Introduction of New Employees 4. Approval of Minutes 5. Liaison Updates: A. Heritage Foundation Activities B. Chamber of Commerce Activities 6. Sales & Marketing Report 7. Old Business A. MPI-WEC Grapevine Update B. Main Street Fest Report 8. New Business A. Visit, Shop, Dine Grapevine Summer Marketing Campaign B. Come Together in Grapevine Convention Promotion C. Grapevine Main Update D. GrapeFest Update 9. Hotels / Attractions / Activities 10. Adjournment If you plan to attend this special public meeting and 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 12th day of June, 2020 by 5:00 p.m. i dy Bell Assistant to the 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, June 18, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. at the Grapevine Convention and Visitors Bureau, 636 S. Main Street, Grapevine, Texas with the following persons in attendance: Joe Szymaszek Mark Terpening Sharron Rogers Cynthia Blankenship lain Scouller Chuck Pacioni Dan Weinberger Debi Meek Board Chair Board Vice Chair Council Liaison Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Board Member Constituting a quorum, with the following liaisons and staff members present: Paul W. McCallum Executive Director Brady Closson Deputy Executive Director Lindy Bell Assistant to the Executive Director Absent: Balla Wright — Heritage Foundation Liaison LeAnn Brown — Chamber of Commerce Liaison CALL TO ORDER Board Chair Joe Szymaszek, called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m. NEW EMPLOYEE INTRODUCTIONS Mr. McCallum introduced four new employees: Sophia Stoller, Director of Media Relations; Tanja Nichols, National Sales Manager; Karen Burhan, Market Research Manager; Christa O'Connor, Grapevine Vintage Railroad Train Supervisor. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by lain Scouller, seconded by Mark Terpening to approve the minutes from the May 21, 2020 meeting prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Meek, Weinberger, Blankenship, Paciono and Scouller. Nays: None Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2020 Page 2 of 6 LIAISON UPDATES Heritage Foundation Activities The Heritage Foundation met Wednesday, June 20th, for their first Board meeting since February. The Foundation's 2020-2021 budget was reviewed and approved and an update was received from the Calendar Committee on the Foundation's 2021 calendar. The 2020 Candlelight Tour of Homes was canceled due to current health restrictions. Nash Farm Nash Farm has proved to be the perfect venue for social distancing with its open spaces. For patrons visiting without a mask, the staff was ready with cotton masks made following the Red Cross pattern used during the 1918 Influenza epidemic. Attendance numbers have been good with people anxious to return to the Farm. The Passport Field Journal is available for the summer and is great value for children's activities for an entire day. Museums are open for visitation on a limited basis. The Farm will host Annual Dairy Day on Saturday, June 20, 2020, from 10-2. July 3 is the Nash Farm Patriotic Picnic. On July 11 the Printing and Binding Workshop will be held at the Settlement to City Museums. The annual Ice Cream Social is scheduled for Saturday, July 11. Advance ticket purchases are encouraged. Chamber of Commerce Chair Joe Szymaszek provided the Chamber of Commerce update on behalf of liaison LeAnn Brown. The first in -person membership luncheon will be held this date at the Convention Center. Esparza's will be serving with appropriate social distancing protocols. The Mayor's 'Spirit of Grapevine' spot will be shown prior to the graduation ceremony for Leadership Grapevine. Grapevine `open for business' will be highlighted in the Chamber's monthly newsletter to coincide with the City's Shop Grapevine campaign. The entire Chamber staff is now working from the office. The Chamber's goal teams are meeting to reassess and reevaluate goals for post COVID-19. SALES AND MARKETING REPORT Brady Closson reported that for May the Convention and Leisure Sales team had 71 sales leads representing almost 102,000 potential room nights and potential economic impact of over $43 million. 12 definite bookings were made representing almost 25,000 room nights and a potential economic impact of $8.2 million. The sales team participated in two site virtual inspections representing a potential of 4,900 room nights Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2020 Page 3 of 6 with an estimated economic impact of $2.6 million. The Gaylord was the only full serve hotel whose full sales team was working. Heather Egan conducted 65 targeted calls with tour operators/agents from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana and discussed "recovery tours" with which Grapevine can assist for those ready to start traveling. 53 appointments were conducted with AAA offices and the Summertime in Grapevine campaign was promoted. The Visitor Information' Center welcomed a total of 876 visitors and Settlement to City museums hosted 91. The Convention Center, Palace Arts Center and Concourse hosted a combined 43 events in May with over 6,800 attendees and an economic impact of $22,440. All venues are now fully open with seven new programs booked. Grapevine Vintage Railroad conducted 15 excursions with a total passenger count of almost 800 in May. The website welcomed almost 42,000 unique visitors in May with a total website visitation over 52,000 and over 107,000 page views for the month. Top referring sites include Facebook, Grapevinetexas.gov, Comm unityimpact. com. The top five landing pages included Grapevine -vintage -railroad, things-to-do/lake-grapevine, main-street- fest, Gaylord -Texan -resort and Grapevine -mills. Online Trade (GROUP) received almost 160,000 total impressions with two ads. Print Trade (GROUP) had one insertion with a circulation of almost 16,000. Print consumer publications had 16 insertions with a circulation of over 2 million. On-line Consumer Advertising had eight placements. TV and radio publicity had seven segments in May with an audience reach of over 13 million and an ad value of over $227,000. No action was taken by the Board. ONGOING BUSINESS MPI/WEC Grapevine Update Mr. McCallum provided an update regarding the Meeting Professionals International/ World Education Congress. Planning for the event has been ongoing for the past two years and even though affected by COVID-19, event planners have held on and were committed to having the event in Grapevine in 2020. In a cooperative effort between the Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2020 Page 4 of 6 Gaylord and MPI/WEC, the event has been rescheduled to November 3-6, 2020. The theme will encompass Reconnect -Restore -Register. The emphasis will be how to handle events in light of a crisis such as the pandemic. The event will be available both virtually and live as a full on experience. Registration recently opened and a total of 625 registrations have been received. The goal is 1,000, but numbers are anticipated to be higher. Additional industry meetings are expected to be held in conjunction with MPI/WEC to increase attendance as well. Main Street Fest Report Mr. McCallum reported that the decision to cancel Main Street Fest was delayed as long as possible. Materials were submitted to the Governor's Strike Force for review with proposed safety measures and protocols. The safety and health of staff, committee members, volunteers, civic and service clubs, vendors, sponsors and guests were taken into consideration and the risk of endangering anyone's health could not be made. Further, the reputation of Grapevine could not be adversely risked by holding the event with the possibility of it becoming a COVID hot spot and having a negative news impact. Board Chair Szymaszek, Main Street Fest co-chairs, Gail and Stacy Holt concurred with the decision as did presenting sponsor, Bank of the West. Bank of the West didn't request their sponsorship check be returned, and Mr. McCallum on behalf of the City and Convention & Visitors Bureau expressed their appreciation for the Bank of the West's support. NEW BUSINESS Visit, Shop, Dine Grapevine Summer Marketing Campaign Ms. Kimber Foster, Director of Marketing and Brand Management, presented the 2020 Visit, Shop, Dine Grapevine Summer Marketing Campaign targeting 7.5 million Metroplex residents. The campaign's message is that Grapevine is open for business with all necessary safety precautions in place. Photos for the promotion were carefully screened to avoid crowds or a lot of people. The promotion is running on TV, radio, digital platforms, and digital billboards. Social media posts are targeting those with specific interests. Positive feedback has been received and appreciation expressed for Grapevine being at the front of the effort to get things rolling again. Mr. McCallum made the Board aware this promotion targeting Grapevine residents is not setting a precedent. Convention and Visitors Bureau staff are lending support to the City Manager's Office only for this promotion in these unprecedented times but the Convention and Visitors Bureau primary target is drawing visitors to Grapevine from outside of Grapevine. No action taken by the Board. Board of Directors Meeting June 18, 2020 Page 5 of 6 Come Together in Grapevine Convention Promotion Mr. Joe Thompson, Director of Sales, presented the Come Together in Grapevine promotion. A forward -looking program, this convention sales program's purpose is to generate newly -contracted convention business with $10 per room per night for conventions with a minimum of twenty rooms and stays of a minimum of two nights. During the seven -week period since this program was implemented, over 70 leads have been generated and three site visits have been scheduled, totaling a projected $4.3 million in economic impact. No action taken by the.Board. Grapevine Main Update Mr. McCallum reported that Hotel Vin will officially be turned over to Coury Hospitality the end of this week or next week. August is targeted as the official opening date. Soft goods installation and site work completion are currently underway. Tentative grand opening for the full complex — Hotel Vin, Harvest Hall and the parking garage is anticipated to be September 16. The parking garage is expected to start charging fees for parking August 13. The marketing team is currently working with Harvest Hall chefs for strategic promotions. This complex will significantly expand Grapevine's Historic District. No action taken by the Board. GrapeFest Update Mr. McCallum reported that GrapeFest is currently anticipated to be held September 17- 20. Social distancing protocols will be in full effect. Vendors and artisan tents will be placed back to back with plenty of spacing between. Pedestrian traffic will flow northbound on the east side of Main Street and southbound on the west side. Contracted workers will be hired to direct traffic so as not to put volunteers at risk. Venues will have limited seating and stanchions will be used extensively throughout festival grounds. The festival is anticipated to be robust but it is also anticipated attendance numbers will be lower. Large evening crowds will not be permitted. People's Choice will have fewer wineries and smaller number of patrons per session. Barossa Valley and Napa Valley were originally planned as the featured regions but with travel limited, it has been decided to feature Mexico and New Mexico regions. The first GrapeFest planning committee meeting is scheduled for this evening. No action was taken by the Board. Board of Directors Meeting June 18,,2020 Page 6 of 6 HOTELS/ATTRACTIONS & ACTIVITIES Mr. Closson discussed the new collateral pieces provided to Board members. It was reported that the Storyland exhibit opened this week and will be open through September. For the month of May, DFW International Airport was the busiest airport in the nation with over 12,000 flights originating from DFW compared to the next busiest airport in May, Chicago O'Hare, at 8,500. The Gaylord Texan hotel is now open with congratulations to Chuck Pacioni and his team in their work to reopen. Members of the Burgundy Brigade are working a kiosk at the Gaylord and providing concierge services. Great Wolf Lodge is anticipated to open this week at 40% capacity with 50% capacity for this weekend. Discussion was held among Board members regarding issues and challenges each of their businesses face with reopening in the COVID-19 climate. Debi Meek left the meeting at 10:41 a.m. It was determined by the Board to suspend the July 16t" Board meeting. There being no further business to come before the Board a motion by Dan Weinberger, seconded by Cynthia Blankenship to adjourn the meeting at 10:44 a.m. prevailed by the following vote: Ayes: Szymaszek, Terpening, Weinberger, Blankenship, Pacioni and Scouller. Nays: None PASSED AND APPROVED BY THE GRAPEVINE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE CITY OF GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ON THIS 20t" DAY OF AUGUST. 2020. Joe Szym Chairman ATTEST: l I�P� Lindy Bell' {� Assistant to the -xecutive Director