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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Convention & Visitor Bureau - 06/20/2002 S MINUTES CORPUS CHRISTI CONVENTION&VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING Thursday,June 20, 2002 12:OOp.m Museum of Science&History/Water Garden Room PRESENT: Brad Lomax-Chair, Bill Goin,Bill Morgan, Bill Pettus, Cristina Garza, Dave Prewitt, Berney Seal, Jody Patel, John Trice, Victor Gonzalez, Bert Quintanilla, Skip Noe, Lillian Riojas,Dan Viola,Tom Schmid, Vangie Chapa, Linda Routh ABSENT: Mayor Loyd Neal, David Garcia, Govind Nadkarni STAFF: Wayne Bennett, Connie Cardamone, Carol Dunton,Terry Morales I. CALL TO ORDER: Brad Lomax called the meeting to order at 12:02 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Brad made a motion to approve the May 16, 2002 CVB Board of Directors meeting minutes. Motion seconded;motion passed. HI. PUBLIC COMMENT: Kevin Latone gave an update on Dr. Lee's progress on the economic impact study for local tourism. He stated that he has a preliminary draft of the report and should be finalized by the end of the month. Kevin shared his frustration on the pending reservation system of the convention center and arena expansion. He added that they have business booked in 2004 and 2005, particularly in 2004 leading up to the end of construction phase and actual opening. Currently they have definite business already on the books and people that want to do business with us but are concerned about the renovation problems. Meeting planners want answers to specific questions as far as room and space. Kevin stressed concern that they are losing business because they are unable to give those answers. He noted that there has to be a way to respond to those meeting planners in a way that they can work through the obstacles of construction. Wayne reported that his staff is having similar frustration. He noted that Skip Noe would be having a meeting with the construction manager. Wayne stated that Skip has reported at a meeting that all the plans will be done by August. Berney Seal said that he could provide information and contacts since he is on the Mayor's Interagency Committee. Berney also stated that the timeline is there and he can provide a contact to lay it out for him. Wayne and Berney suggested setting up a separate meeting with the hoteliers and the CVB staff to be updated. Skip reported that the final plans would be in hand the first week of August for final review. There was a lengthy discussion regarding the construction and time schedules. SCANNED 1t Page 2 Board of Directors Mtg. ' June 13,2002 IV. FINANCIAL REPORT: Connie reviewed the financials with the board. She noted that we were projected to be over budget by$11,832.00 for May, but actually came in at $2,927.00;which does not include the Columbus Fleet principle. She also reported that advertising expenditures for May were 12.3%vs. 4.9%last May. She reported that this year we have spent $331,798.00 in advertising, which is 18.2% of our budget vs. 13.8% last year. The percentage spent is over the IACVB survey average of 16.5%. She reported that she has not received invoices for the supplemental amount of$30,000.00 approved by the Sales&Marketing committee to be used toward advertising. Connie reviewed the variance report. Connie stated that total revenue for May is $155,774.00 and total expenses were $158,706.00. Brad asked for a motion to approve the financials as presented, Bert Quintanilla made the motion, Tom Schmid seconded,motion passed. V. COMMITTEE REPORTS: Sales& Marketing—Bill Morgan reported that they discussed the upcoming media plan. He also reported that they took a look at the TTIA insert and the Wahoo fall insert. He stated that Martha gave them an update on the TSAE events. Bill Pettus passed out the View master with Corpus Christi images for the board to review. This will be sent to about 300 meeting planners with updated reels to be sent out as things progress in the city. He also presented the board with the 6 new posters that have different themes. Bill explained how the conversion study by Preprint Publishing for the TTIA insert was calculated. There was a discussion regarding advertising rates in the larger Texas cities. Tom Schmid discussed how the Hispanic Chamber has identified real good publications in Mexico to advertise in. Wayne went over the Texas Poll survey that reflected Corpus Christi as the#2 choice for vacation destination in the state. Wayne also reviewed the STR report and the activity reports with the board. He reported that the traffic at the Padre Island Visitor Center is down about 2/3 due to road construction obstruction. • Governmental Affairs—There was a discussion regarding the recommendation that the city assume the debt of the Columbus Fleet from the CVB. Skip noted that they might have an answer by July. • Evaluations& Guidelines-No report. • Nominating Committee—Linda Routh reported on the slate of board members that will be presented to council for reappointment plus 2 additional people to be in compliance with the service agreement with the city. The board members to be reappointed are Jody Patel, Bill Goin, Dave Prewitt and Bert Quintanilla. The additional names to be submitted will be Elaine Motl of EM Marketing and Tom Hallick of Avis Rent-a-Car. Brad asked for a motion to approve the slate of nominees, Linda Routh made the motion, John Trice seconded,motion passed. Linda reported that she would be sending out a survey for board officer nominations. She also reported that the first meeting of the new fiscal year would be when officers are elected according to our by-laws. • Finance Committee— v V I Page 3 Board of Directors Mtg. ' June 13,2002 VI. PRESIDENT'S REPORT: Wayne reported that he attended the Coffee Club. He also reported on the San Antonio public auction. He reported that they showed the Corpus Christi 1 minute commercial eight times. He noted that the Corpus Christi auction packages went for 80%of value where other items were going for 50%of value. He noted that the total expenditures for the bureau for that trip was around $300.00 and it was great exposure. Wayne stated that Port Royal invited the entire CVB staff for a FAM trip and lunch to their property. Wayne also reported on the new quarterly luncheons for the CVB,EDC and Chamber of Commerce. Carol reported on the travel writers that she has been in contact with and those that have come to Corpus Christi. She noted that we have an 11 page ad in Kite Boarding magazine. An article will be coming out in Windsurfing magazine that will focus on Corpus Christi. Wayne also reported on the proposed trip to Round Rock, Texas to see a professional minor league baseball game that will be open to anyone who would like to go. Wayne added that Carol would like to position the city as the"Environmental Friendly Wind and Water Sports Capital of the United States". Wayne discussed the idea of portraying Corpus Christi as a diverse, unique music capital of Texas and asked for any input. He gave the board a brief update on the new office copiers and cell phones upgrades. He also reported on the new graphics computer purchase for the Public Relations Dept. to be able to create our own CDs, DVD's, and better presentations for the sales staff using the new multimedia projector. Brad asked that the CVB take action regarding adding a regional representative to the board. Brad inquired when the economic impact study would be completed to present to council. Carol responded that it is due on June 30th but she would like to add graphics/graphs to the report. There was a discussion regarding when they should present it to council. Terry gave them a tentative date of July 23`" for the next luncheon. There was a discussion regarding creating a Powerpoint presentation using the economic impact study. VII. NEW BUSINESS: Wayne reported that TXDOT sent him correspondence regarding a feasibility study to determine whether the Harbor bridge and Tuley Lake Lift bridge are adequately filling the demands. They have established a Citizens Advisory Committee and would like a representative from the board to serve on that committee. Bert Quintanilla volunteered to attend. Bert reported on their effort to bring the State Republican convention to Corpus Christi for 2008. Tom Schmid commented on idea of developing a brand for Corpus Christi and stated that it is critical that they do this in conjunction with what the Sales&Marketing Committee/Bill Pettus is doing. He also commented that in light of all the positives going on at the CVB and the city, he feels that we still have a tremendous amount of challenges on both the convention and leisure side. VIII. OLD BUSINESS: IX. ADJOURN: There being no further business to discuss, the meeting of the Board of Directors adjourned at 1:15 p.m.