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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Convention & Visitor Bureau - 01/24/2002 it MINUTES CORPUS CHRISTI CONVENTION&VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday, January 24, 2002 12:00p.m. Holiday Inn—Emerald Beach PRESENT: Brad Lomax-Chair,Bill Goin, Bill Morgan, Will Pettus, Cristina Garza, Vangie Chapa, Dave Prewitt, Jody Patel, Victor Gonzalez, Bert Quintanilla, Linda Routh, Govind Nadkarni, John Trice, Dan Viola ABSENT: Mayor Loyd Neal , David Garcia, Skip Noe,Tom Schmid, Lillian Riojas, Bemey Seal, Bill Pettus STAFF: Wayne Bennett, Connie Cardamone, Carol Dunton, Bella Zavala-Recorder I. CALL TO ORDER: Brad Lomax called the meeting to order at 12:18 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Brad made a motion to approve the November 15, 2001 CVB Board of Directors meeting minutes. Motion was seconded; motion passed. III. PUBLIC COMMENT: Kevin Latone, General Manager of the Omni Hotels, recognized the efforts of the board at the council presentation and allowing the area general managers to be a part of it. He reported that he is the new incoming Hotel Motel Condo Association president and one of his primary goals is to create awareness on the economic impact of tourism on the local community. He welcomed any ideas anyone would have on that. III. RECOGNITION OF QUADRANT PRODUCTIONS: Brad reported on the new 16mm video showcasing Corpus Christi created by Pettus Advertising. He complimented the quality of the video and the team that put it together. Will Pettus recognized Quadrant Production for their production of the film. IV. HISPANIC CHAMBER UPDATE: Manuel Ugues presented the board with the quarterly report on their marketing efforts in Mexico. He reported that he is currently trying to develop programs that will reflect activity in the next 3 months. He reported that he spent a couple of days in Monterrey speaking with various travel agents and media representatives. He also reported that they are working on a full-page color co-op with industry partners through a travel agent for better tracking. He noted that there is not enough promotion on a consistent basis. He reported that he has secured 4 issues on Corpus Christi to be release on February 8,22, March 8 and 22 and will be working with Pettus Advertising on this. He reported on his rate saving negotiations. He stated that they are working with the state association to develop an electronic value card that offers discounts and acts as a tracking mechanism. He reported on their projected expenditures for the next quarter. Wayne reported that he V Page 2 Board of Directors Mtg. January 24,2002 Was approached by Q Productions regarding a weekly music program that is syndicated in 22 different cities in the U.S. They are offering advertisement for the next 6 months on the program and are offering to split the cost with the CVB. The Hispanic Chamber is offering to help offset the cost. There was a brief discussion regarding collateral material availability. V. FINANCIAL REPORT: Connie reported that they would be reviewing November and December 2001 financial reports. She noted that November was the month she received the auditors 2001 year end entries;that reflects reversals of large accruals that had accumulated causing the cash statement to show a large available cash balance in November. Connie will be doing an in depth review of all budget items and outline what items are not being spent as budgeted. Connie reviewed the November executive summary and explained that there have been other accruals carried over since the beginning of 2001 of expenditures that invoices have not yet been received that totaled$26,900.00, she also reversed these. Connie went over the variance reports with the board. Brad inquired about the unused budgeted item of$3,000.00 for direct mail piece. Wayne responded that it is still going to be done in the near future. Connie concluded her November report by stating that the CVB was under budget by$16,167.00. Brad wanted to call the board's attention to the column on the executive summary that reflects IACVB statistic percentages for like size CVB's;the bureau is under the average in salaries and over the average in advertising expenditures. VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS: • Sales& Marketing-Bill Morgan reported that the committee met and discussed current and scheduled advertisement opportunities. The committee discussed creating a CD and decided to revisit this in the near future. Wayne reviewed the activity reports with the board and noted the increased booking pace. Wayne added that we are having a good Winter Texan month compared to other cities such as Brownsville. Martha gave a brief report on the Client Appreciation Party in Austin, Texas on January 22nd with 115-125 people attending. This is the sales team's number one meeting and convention market. Wayne reported on Home& Garden TV to be focusing on Ocean Drive in February instead of Dallas as originally planned. Also the Vacation Channel will do a special segment on Corpus Christi as on of the top ten Spring Break destinations. Wayne reported that the housing software has been purchased as previously approved by the board and is up and running to the staff's satisfaction. • Governmental Affairs-No Report • Finance-Bill reported on the reviewing of the financials. He noted that Connie is working on an easier to read format. He reported that we have a fixed asset list that outlines the bureaus/visitor center current assets on property and reconciliation against the auditor's depreciation list will be done soon. He also ift �+ 0 • Page 3 Board of Directors Mtg. January 24,2002 added that they would be reviewing the purchasing policy from the city for bureau compliance. • Evaluations& Guidelines—John reported that at the last meeting,the committee approved a CEO evaluation form that they had developed over a period of time. Wayne will complete his first full year in March 2002 and is due an annual review. He asked the board to look over the form and call him with any comments. VII. PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Wayne reported on the once a month staff trips to the area attractions to keep the staff updated on changes and additions. Wayne stated that staff has been looking into each budget line item to find areas of improvement. He noted that we switched Internet providers that will result in savings of about $400.00 per month. We are also working on consolidating to one phone company with resulting savings of about $1,500.00. VIII. CITY COUNCIL PRESENTATION RECAP: Brad reported on the city council/city staff presentation. He feels that the CVB is now an organization that the city would want to invest money in. There was a brief discussion regarding possible additional funding and the occupancy rate. Brad stressed the fact that the delegate/convention numbers shown by the Caller Times be correct. IX. MARINA DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL: There was a presentation by Skip Noe, Deputy City Manager, on the marina proposals for management and development. This marina has been underutilized and underdeveloped. He noted that there is never enough money left over from operating costs for improvements that need to be made. They would like to see an experienced development team to give the city thein vision of what the marina would be and hope they have previous waterfront and marina management experience. He reviewed the 3 proposals with the board. He added that they performed background checks on each group. There was a discussion regarding concerns about the project. Brad asked for a motion to approve the financials for November and December as presented. Bill Goin made the motion, Bert Quintanilla seconded,motion passed. IX. NEW BUSINESS: None X. OLD BUSINESS: None XI. ADJOURN: There being no further business to discuss, the meeting of the Board of Directors adjourned at 1:48 p.m.