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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Convention & Visitor Bureau - 07/26/2001 • S r010 MINUTES CORPUS CHRISTI CONVENTION&VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, July 26, 2001 - 12:00 p.m. Museum of Science&History—Water Garden Room PRESENT: Brad Lomax-Chair, Bill Goin, Bill Morgan, Bill Pettus, Tom Schmid, Bert Quintanilla, Cristina Garza, Dave Prewitt, Vangie Chapa, Dan Viola, John Trice, Berney Seal,Jody Patel ABSENT: Mayor Loyd Neal , David Garcia, Lillian Riojas, Victor Gonzales, Linda Routh, Govind Nadkarni, STAFF: Wayne Bennett, Joey Jarreau, Terry Morales, Connie Cardamone, Martha Kleine GUEST: Debbie Wallace, Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce I. CALL TO ORDER: Brad Lomax called the meeting to order at 12:03 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Brad made a motion to approve the June 14, 2001 CVB Board of Directors meeting minutes. Motion was seconded, motion passed. III. PUBLIC COMMENT: Brad announced that there have been some emails circulating from Chris and/or Betty Stahl that have been very critical of the bureau's association with BDSI, Inc. and with the past President/CEO. He added that such information has reached city council and county judges. Brad responded to the email by inviting this person to the board meeting to answer any questions. He noted that our organization has nothing to hide and has dealt with the situation in question in a responsible and appropriate manner. IV. FINANCIAL REPORT: Joey reviewed the variance report with the board. He added that they continue to transfer the $22,000.00 monthly payment for the Columbus Fleet into the bond account. To date, there is$170,000.00 in the operating account and should finish the year as forecasted with at least $40,000.00 after all expenses are gone and accrued but,he won't know for sure until July is closed out. He is sure that we will have the$32,000.00 for the additional projects previously approved by the board. Anything over that will be accrued as an available miscellaneous expense at year-end closing. The use of the left over funds will be discussed at the next Finance and Board meetings. Joey has been talking to Bill Morgan about using the funds for additional advertising at the beginning of the new fiscal year. Brad asked for a motion to approve the financials as presented, Berney Seal made the motion,Cristina Garza seconded, motion passed. • SCANNED Page 2 Board of Directors Mtg. July 26,2001 Wayne introduced Mike Wheeler of Fite&Wheeler, CPAS, who have been working on the bureaus recent audits. Mike distributed a preliminary draft of the CVB's financial statements for the seven months ended July 31, 2000. Mike stated that the CVB started its separate operation with a 7-month statement. Even next year,with a full years audit next to the 7-month audit, there will still be a comparability problem. It may take two years to be able to make sense of it all. Mike reviewed the financial statement with the board. Mike also presented a preliminary draft of recommended management points involving internal control and operation. Tom Schmid suggested that the Finance take a look at the financial statement and make a recommendation to the board. Joey noted that it could be done however the 2000-2001 audit will not begin until the board approves the 7-month audit. It was agreed to wait for the Finance Committee to review the draft. V. COMMITTEE REPORTS: • Sales & Marketing—Bill Morgan reported that the committee reviewed the Star Report. Joey asked for their input in building a competitive set group for that report. This would include information on competitive like-size cities. Bill asked Bill Pettus to come up with a plan to use the$44,000.00 in interest savings from the bond payment. There was a lengthy discussion on the activity of the summer season. The committee discussed ideas of putting together a program of discount packages for feeder markets to be put together in a co-op program. The program was targeted for August thru mid October. Bill Pettus developed the"Corpus Christi Sand Dollar Card" which entails discounts for hotels, attractions, restaurants, etc. The card will be advertised in the major feeder markets in a% page ad beginning August 5th. Bill Pettus reported that beginning in August they will begin selling ads for the Visitors Guide and Meeting Planner's Guide and work on a new look for the brochures. Joey noted that the numbers for June were good. For July they booked the next 5 of 8 years for the VFW convention with the help of Leo Mason. He also added that attraction attendance numbers have been added to the activity report. Bert announced that the Fire Fighters Association of Texas were raving about the help the convention sales team offered in landing that convention to Corpus. Brad asked that the sales activity report be added to the agenda as a line item. Martha and Joey gave a brief update of pending conventions. Debbie Wallace presented the board with a letter from Manny Ugues,who was unable to attend the meeting due to prior commitments,thanking the board for the partnership with the CVB and Hispanic Chamber. She also presented a timeline of marketing efforts for Mexico in the next 90— 120 days. She noted that the new focus would be on the leisure and tourism market. She asked to include Manny on the agenda for the September or October board meeting. 41. V Page 3 Board of Directors Mtg. July 26,2001 There was a brief discussion regarding the importance of advertising the Columbus Fleet. Joey suggested attaching a rack card of the fleet to the Sand Dollar Card. John Trice noted that there is no visible signage on Padre Island to inform tourists of the attractions on Corpus Christi beach and downtown. • Governmental Affairs—Brad discussed coming up with program,between now and next fiscal year, to educate city council members to see the CVB as an investment rather than an expense. Berney asked for additional members on this committee. Dan Viola and Dave Prewitt were added. • Finance Committee—Bill Goin reported that the committee is working to get acclimated with Connie, the new Accounting Manager. The committee is also still working on an executive summary format for the financials. Connie gave a brief report on her education class in Dallas on MAS 90. She is working on the new format as per the committee's direction. Brad gave the board an explanation of the additional funds generated by the interest rate change of the fleet when it was refinanced. Joey reviewed the revised 2001-2002 draft budget. Brad asked for a motion to accept the budget as amended. Tom Schmid made the motion, John Trice seconded. Motion passed. • Evaluations& Guidelines—No Report. VII. COLUMBUS FLEET ASSOCIATION: Rocco Montesano reported that he attended a board meeting of the association. Rick Stryker gave a report in May indicating attendance was up 10%. Attendance was also up in June by 10%and made $1,000.00 more than forecasted. The attendance for July was down about 9%. Rocco distributed a copy of the operating report of the ships for June 2001. Rocco cautioned on longer-term advertisement of the ships, because of the shaky future. He noted that the Santa Maria is in poor shape, the Nina is in satisfactory shape and the Pinta is in fair shape,but they are getting some maintenance. The Nina will be moved to the cargo dock 2 for a hurricane drill and then taken back. He reported that Spain is trying to settle the lawsuit with Dusty Durrill. If Spain wins,there is a chance they may sell to the highest bidder. Rocco stated that there is a lot of work to be done but the window of time is narrow. He will know after July when he has reviewed their budget. XI. PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Wayne personally thanked Joey for his leadership and outstanding financial re- organization of the bureau. Wayne noted that he has been receiving positive feedback and media attention on the visitor centers, CVB's participation with the powerboats and the VFW convention. Wayne announced that while at IACVB his peers stated that their sales efforts in the future is low. Wayne complimented the CVB sales team on their bard work and successes. Wayne presented proposals for the 3-year audit. He reviewed the r Page 4 Board of Directors Mtg. July 26,2001 price breakdown with the board. Wayne pointed out that he was impressed with Fite& Wheeler's commitment and thoroughness, although they were not the cheapest. He made a staff recommendation to continue using their firm for the 3-year audit. Joey added that in the past, the audit bid usually increased with unforeseen extra hours. Fite&Wheeler originally projected to spend 150 hours on the audit,they have spent 250 hours and did not charge for it. He also added that they have been much more thorough and detailed oriented, coming up with things that have never been listed. Joey stated that every time they have to use a new auditor, many CVB staff hours are spent providing the new firm with needed information that Fite& Wheeler already have. There was a brief discussion regarding the proposals and charges. Tom Schmid suggested narrowing it down to two firms. The board agreed to have the Finance committee review the proposals in detail and return with a recommendation to the next board meeting. Bill Morgan stressed the importance of partner participation in co-op advertisement. Joey discussed the response problem of CVB faxes or memos from some partners. He suggested using Bill Pettus's letterhead. There was a brief discussion regarding leveraging dollars and participation. Brad thanked Joey on behalf of the board for his hard work. XII. NEW BUSINESS: None XIII. OLD BUSINESS: None XIV. ADJOURN: There being no further business to discuss,the meeting of the Board of Directors adjourned at 1:37 p.m.