Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Convention & Visitor Bureau - 03/21/2002'Y V `i MINUTES CORPUS CHRISTI CONVENTION&VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday,March 21, 2002 12:OOp.m Room Holiday Inn-Emerald Beach/Sand Dollar Room PRESENT: Brad Lomax-Chair,Bill Goin, Bill Morgan, Bill Pettus, Cristina Garza, Vangie Chapa, Dave Prewitt, Bert Quintanilla, Linda Routh, Govind Nadkarni, Dan Viola, Berney Seal, Tom Schmid, Skip Noe ABSENT: Mayor Loyd Neal,David Garcia,Jody Patel, Victor Gonzalez, John Trice, Lillian Riojas STAFF: Wayne Bennett, Connie Cardamone, Carol Dunton, Terry Morales 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 February 21, 2002 CVB Board of Directors meeting minutes. Motion was seconded; motion passed. III. PUBLIC COMMENT: Kevin Latone gave a brief report on then efforts of identifying active partners in our community that would be key stakeholders in the continued development of tourism locally. He would like to include their involvement to establish some awareness with community leaders and citizens on what tourism is,what is represents and its benefits. He noted that his association group would get together to establish some benchmarks and expectations within the hotel association and allied members. Carol gave a brief report on information she has compiled to attempt to put together a tourism economic impact brochure similar to San Antonio's. Rocco Montesano gave a report and a brief history on the convention center's booking problems and the 2-cent per hundred-dollar valuation increase in the occupancy tax for the expansion. lie noted that there is no increase in convention center space;there are a few more meeting rooms but no extra-added exhibit space. He inquired how much exhibit space the CVB is marketing and to what conventions. He also inquired ifthe CVB is going to be allowed to book larger conventions into the arena that SMG is going to manage,if needed. He noted that the funding for the convention center expansion was based upon extra meeting rooms and exhibit space. Skip Noe responded that PKF recommended that exhibit space not be expanded because of the problem with the size of the ballroom,the number of breakout rooms and the overall quality of the space. The short-term need was to upgrade the existing rooms. He noted that a future expansion of exhibit space is to be expected. Tom Schmid added that SMG would book the arena from 0-12 months out;from 12 months forward the CVB would have the ability to book. SCANNED 1 V 1/40 Page 2 , Board of Directors Mtg. March 21,2002 IV. CVB/CITY CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS: Skip gave a breakdown of the occupancy tax expenditure;40% goes to the CVB,40% goes toward subsidizing the convention center, 20% goes to other things such as arts finding,the upcoming bowling conference, etc. He noted that the CVB get a larger percentage of the bed tax than San Antonio. Tom Schmid added that the CVB's portion of 40% also includes paying the Columbus Fleet obligation. Skip noted that there is a formula that outlines the contribution that is given to the CVB;40%up to $5 million dollars and then 25%of the amount over that based on prior year's actual receipts on a March to end of February calendar. The contract formula would be renegotiated once receipts hit $5 million. He reported that next fiscal year would provide an opportunity for additional resources. He added that the convention center would see a large savings in electrical use due to the aggregation project. The CVB's issues and request will get some level of priority. He gave a brief report on the city council retreat. He noted that the city council had a list of 4 top priorities and the CVB was one of them. He stressed that the CVB may not get the$350,000.00 additional funds as requested, but council realizes that additional funding is needed. Skip stated that he and Brad discussed the potential for a multi-year arrangement on the funding side. Skip added that he would go back to council and the city manager with the idea that if not a percentage increase,than a flat dollar amount that would supplement the formula with for the purpose of marketing the convention center. He cannot guarantee what the reaction will be. He expects that within the next 30 days,they should know exactly how much additional resources would be allocated. Bill Pettus inquired about the newly annexed area on Mustang Island and the commitment made for beach cleanup with the additional bed tax collection from those properties. Skip responded that virtually all that revenue would be used for beach cleaning and beach operations. V. NOMINATING COMMITTEE: Brad reported that he asked Linda Routh to chair the Nominating Committee this year. Linda reported that there are 4 slots available being vacated on the board. She stated that she asked the 4 outgoing board members if they would like to serve an additional 4 years. She reported that all 4 agreed to continue to serve on the CVB board. She noted that the By-Laws state that the Nominating Committee must consist of 5 board members. Those members are Tom Schmid,John Trice,Dan Viola and Jody Patel. She noted that the committee would get together to come up with additional names of potential board members to present to city council as per the By-Laws. She asked the board for recommendations for potential members. Tom Schmid suggested that they develop a Governance&Nominating Committee to nominate and review the By-Laws periodically for possible updates and come up with a slate of officers/board members. Brad asked for a motion;Tom made the motion to rename the Nominating Committee to Governance& Nominating Committee;Govind Nadkarni seconded,motion passed. VI. FINANCIAL REPORT: Connie reviewed the financials for month ending February 2002 with the board. She noted that it was projected that expenditures exceed revenue by$23,892.00, actual y v Page 3 , Board of Directors Mtg. March 21,2002 expenses and net revenue came out to a positive $7,355.00;which leave us at$31,247.00 under budget for the month of February. She noted that the salaries percentage is under the IACVB survey percentage. Connie reported that we received $330.00 received from TravelHero website advertising; she added that she is seeing about$200-$300 revenue every month from the website. Linda inquired about the amount of CVB expenditures that has to have prior board approval. Terry responded that it was approved at a prior board meeting around 2-3 years ago that any expenditure over$5,000.00 would need to go to the board. Connie noted that she always scrutinizes and compares expenses against the budget and gets approval of all expenses paid. Connie reported on her project of trying to get refunds on sales taxes that were paid on the phone service and electrical service at the bureau. She also reported that the city requires the 2002-2003 year budget request to be ready by April 276. She and Wayne are working with the department heads on this and will have a preliminary budget ready after Easter. VII. COMMITTEE REPORTS: • Sales & Marketing-Bill Morgan reported that the committee reviewed and updated the media plan and where we are with the current marketing plans in place. They also discussed the additional$30,000.00 allocated to marketing through budget savings. They are going to reserve some of those funds for any co-op shortfalls on the fall insert in TTIA. The rest will be utilized for the convention sales marketing effort. He gave a brief report on the market study Texas A&M is currently working on. Bill Pettus presented the current Texas Monthly Magazine. He reported that the $10,000.00 budgeted expenditure for the Texas Monthly ad was leveraged to about $200,000.00-$250,000.00 worth of advertising coverage for the city. He thanked all the coop participants that included hospitals, EDC and Port Aransas; showing a community and regional effort. Wayne reviewed the activity report with the board. • Governmental Affairs-Berney gave a brief report on the runoff race. He also gave a report on the marina project proposal and stressed his support. • Finance-Bill reported that the committee is working on adding a forecast line in the variance report for added accuracy. John Trice is going to work with Connie about generating a variance report off of the computer. He reminded the board that although the financials show an excess of revenue over expenses of $165,000.00, there are several commitments that have not hit the books yet. There may be some additional resources left over to apply to the marketing effort. • Evaluations& Guidelines-No Report. VIII. PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Wayne reported on the upcoming 25th anniversary luncheon with Southwest Airlines. He stated that we have received a lot of media coverage lately from local TV and radio stations. He noted that HGTV came in this week to shoot photos along Ocean Drive. Carol gave a brief report on her meetings with travel writers and spring break. There were also photographers from a national kite magazine. The Q Productions segment has been airing currently. He also reported on the cheerleader convention and chess championships that were in town. Page 4 , Board of Directors Mtg. March 21,2002 IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Convention&Visitors Bureau Board went into executive session at 1:28 p.m. Session ended at 1:42 p.m. X. NEW BUSINESS: Brad reminded the board that the next CVB/City Council luncheon would be held on Tuesday, April 30, 2002. Dave Prewitt offered to sponsor the luncheon. Brad also reported that Joe Cisneros is the new president of the Hispanic Chamber. Brad gave a brief report on the Artesian Park project. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the marina development project. It was agreed to put the marina development project on next month's meeting agenda. XI. OLD BUSINESS: None XII. ADJOURN: There being no further business to discuss,the meeting of the Board of Directors adjourned at 2:03 p.m.