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CCACVB BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING �r At ctcat a-'•
MINUTES
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1992
2:00 PM
BEST WESTERN-SANDY SHORES
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 2:07PM by Chairman Al Jones. He welcomed the
guests present and introduced the CVB's new CEO, Mr. Keith E. Arnold.
IL. Roll Call
• Chairman Jones called the roll.
Directors attending: Al Jones (Chairman), presiding
Stern Feinberg, Ricardo Sanchez, Berney Seal, Cathy Harrison, Roy Mayo, Lillian
Murray, Shirley Pagan, Bill Pruet, Barbara Sheppard, Erich Wendt and Eugene Urban.
Absent: LeRoy Fuglsang and Ed Garza.
Attending Staff: Keith E. Arnold, Barbara Cooper, Rob Earley, Pat Rousseau, Dottie
Sylvester, Ellen Walker, and Jan Zook.
Guests: Al Clark, Elaine Clark, Joe Jessel, Michael Levi, Mo Morehead, and Elaine
Mott.
III. Replacement of Board vacancies due to resignations during unexpired terms
CI Chairman Jones read a letter of resignation from Director LeRoy Fuglsang
z (ATTACHMENT A). A motion was made by Chairman Jones to accept Mr. Fuglsang's
z resignation which was seconded by Cathy Harrison and approved by the Board.
Q It was noted that due to Mr. Fuglsang's resignation, a vacancy for a representative
from the hotel industry on the Board of Directors was now available. It was clarified
Corpus Christi Area Convention & Visitors Bureau FMB
1201 N.Shoreline. R 0. Box 2664. Corpus Christi.Texas 78403-2664 USA FMB
(512)882-5603. 1-800-678-OCEAN, FAX: (512)882-4256 �,a�W
CCACVB Board of Directors Minutes
December 17, 1992
Page 2 of 7
that the CVB Board of Directors vote amongst themselves for an individual to fill a
vacancy which is then suggested to the City Council who must ratify the nomination.
It was noted that there were two vacancies on the Board of Directors -- one from Mr.
Fugisang's resignation and another from Mr. Sam Poteet's resignation. Mrs. Shirley
Pagan reminded the Board that it had changed their by-laws regarding the industry
categories represented on the Board. As the by-laws change was not official yet, she
suggested waiting on the appointment for one of the openings. A motion was made
by Mr. Stern Feinberg and seconded by Ms. Murray for the CVB Board to select an
individual to fill only one vacancy at this time. The motion was passed unanimously.
A motion was then made by Mrs. Pagan to nominate Mr. E.J. Schanfarber to fill one
of the vacancies on the Board. It was seconded by Mr. Feinberg and approved by the
' Board.
IV. Resolution pertaining to the management structure of the USS Lexington
Museum on the Bay and the Corpus Christi Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Chairman Jones informed the Board about a management structure that had been
devised for the USS Lexington and the CCACVB. The structure had been presented
to the Lexington Board that morning who approved and accepted it. The Board was
notified that the next called meeting regarding the above would be held on January
21st at which they were welcome.
At this point, Chairman Jones asked Mr. Arnold to handle the presentation on the
proposed management structure (A TTACHMENTBI. Chairman Jones pointed out that
it is important to start good solid control over the financials over at the Lexington and
stated that within the next 30 days there would be an operating budget for the ship.
There would probably be a negative cash flow in the early months but after that it
was expected that there would be a solid cash flow on an annual basis. A method
of monitoring as well as proceeding cautiously was emphasized. Also a prioritized
method of cutting expenditures if trends changed was stressed. There will be set
limits on aggregate unbudgeted items. Per previous Board action, attorney John Bell
would be involved in any agreements made in order to represent fully the CVB's
interests. The structure would not be dependent on personalities but rather would be
a "fluic situation".
Mrs. Sheppard pointed out that the CVB Board had underwritten costs to get the
Lexington operational with the understanding that once the ship became a money-
making organization, the Bureau would receive money from the ship to do more
marketing. She asked if this was still the case. The response was yes. It was noted
by Mr. Joe Jessel, President of the Lexington Board of Directors, that the ship has
been receiving grants. Of particular importance was a $100,000 grant recently
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CCACVB Board of Directors Minutes
December 17, 1992
Page 3 of 7
received from the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation. It was noted that grant money is
usually something that is received "with strings attached".
A question arose regarding the approval of unbudgeted items of $2500 or more. It
was decided that a $20,000 limit would be the aggregate cap for unbudgeted items.
It was affirmed that expanding the CVB Board to include 2 members of the Lexington
Board would require City approval. It was also made clear that the CVB Board has
ultimate approval of who will be on the Lexington Board. It was acknowledged that
there would be a revamping of the By-laws for both the Lexington and the CVB Board
of Directors which would employ John Bell's participation. On a motion made by Ms.
Harrison and seconded by Mrs. Sheppard, the management structure document was
approved by the Board with the $20,000 aggregate limit on unbudgeted items.
V. Consolidation Task Force feasibility study
Chairman Jones and Director Bill Pruet have, at Mayor Rhodes' request, been
participating in a weekly Consolidation Task Force over the past several months. The
Task Force was organized to explore the possibilities of consolidated back office
operations among the various developmental organizations in Corpus Christi. They
recommended to the CVB Board that they participate in a feasibility study that the
Task Force wants done. They asked if the CVB would be willing to contribute S2,000
toward the study. The study would entail such things as finding out the facilities
requirements of the entities involved by the year 2000, etc. It was noted that the
Port has started looking into improvements of the old Parks & Rec building which is
located behind the Bureau in the hopes that it could house meeting rooms that might
be shared by the entities. It was pointed out that the $2,000 investment would not
be directed towards co-mingling the CVB's money with anyone else. A question was
posed as to what the end result of the study might be. The "best case" scenario
given would be a type of coordinating body to oversee functions of the entities where
there would be experts in each of the different areas of focus. Other examples given
were a giant computer system with a database everyone could feed off of, a central
office pool everyone could use, a single systems manager, etc. On a motion made by
Roy Mayo and seconded by Berney Seal it was approved by the Board to invest
$2,000 in the feasibility study.
VI. Presentation and discussion of Miss Texas USA Pageant
Chairman Jones introduced Mr. Al Clark of Crystal Productions and invited him to give
a presentation on the Miss Texas Pageant(ATTACHMENT CI. Before proceeding with
his presentation, Mr. Clark introduced two other members of Crystal Productions --
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CCACVB Board of Directors Minutes
December 17, 1992
Page 4of7
his wife, Elaine, and their marketing person, Mr. Michael Levi. Among various points
and comments, Mr. Clark noted that San Antonio, who had housed the Miss Texas
Pageant for ten years straight, wanted the pageant back. He believed that the
pageant was responsible for enhancing tourism in San Antonio. He stated that the
pageant would be "glamorizing your beautiful city to a potential of 6 million
households". Mr. Levi's presentation pointed out that if you reached 6 million
households (which was done last year) it would cost less than 1 cent per household.
He further explained that it would only cost you 5 cents to reach 736,000 people with
fifteen minutes of live prime-time television coverage.
A lengthy question and answer period arose following the presentations. One of the
major concerns that the CVB Board had with the Crystal Productions document was
that it was not clear what they were held responsible for beyond the $40,000 they
were willing to commit to the pageant. Elaine Motl, a Corpus Christi events producer
(E.M. Marketing), was asked to elaborate on the success of her efforts on negotiating
and putting together funds for the Miss Texas Pageant. She listed the various
commitments made to-date by the local businesses. Upon request, Ms. Motl gave Mr.
Arnold a copy of Crystal Production's contract which was then reproduced and
distributed to the Directors (ATTACHMENT DI. A motion was made by Mr. Seal and
seconded by Mr. Pruet to sign the contract for the Miss Texas Pageant this year. It
was added to the motion to not exceed$40,000 for Crystal Productions and$10,000
for Elaine Moth After further discussion, it was decided an amendment on Crystal
Production's document and contract was needed so the motion was withdrawn by
Mr. Seal.
It was noted by Mr. Levi that the make-up of the people who watched the Miss Texas
Pageant last year was a "heavily young adult market" of which it was specified was
60-62% female. The point was reiterated that not only would the CVB be giving
Crystal Productions $40,000 but that it would also be paying 510,000 for Elaine
Motl's services. In light of this, the CVB wanted the contract to state that they would
make a "best effort" to help Elaine should she incur problems but that they would not
be held responsible for any additional expenses (Le. a sponsor drops out and is not
replaced). Mr. Arnold was asked to state the Board's viewpoint regarding the
preceding discussion on the Miss Texas Pageant: "We are willing to invest 540,000
at front end. Additionally, we'll pay Elaine; our total expense to the Miss Texas
Pageant will be 550,000 with no indemnity guaranteeing any of the other facilities",
It was pointed out that $40,000 had been budgeted for the Miss Texas Pageant in
light of a 520,000 rebate coming back in.
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CCACVB Board of Directors Minutes
December 17, 1992
Page 5of7
A motion was made Mr. Feinberg to end the relationship with Crystal Productions
which was seconded by Mrs. Pagan. Crystal Productions was asked if the CVB would
have control in the look of Corpus Christi during the broadcast of the Miss Texas
Pageant. The response was that they would be able to have input. Mr. Feinberg
asked for a roll call on the motion he had made. The vote was as follows:
Chairman - no
Feinberg - yes
Sanchez - no
Seal - no
Harrison - yes
Mayo - no
Murray - yes
Pagan - yes
Pruet - no
Sheppard - no
Wendt- no
Urban - no
A motion was then made by Mr. Urban and seconded by Mr. Pruet for the CVB to
participate in the 1993 Miss Texas Pageant with a limitation of $40,000 to Crystal
Productions and a best efforts expression to deliver on the requirements they are
outlining through a CCACVB separate contract with Elaine Moth A brief discussion
arose in which it was decided that the CVB would work with their attorney to rework
the Miss Texas Pageant contract and agreement. A roll call was taken on the motion
made by Mr. Urban. The vote was as follows:
Chairman - yes
Urban - yes
Wendel - yes
Sheppard - yes
Pruet - yes
Pagan - no
Murray - no
Mayo - yes
Harrison - no
Seal - yes
Sanchez - yes
Feinberg - yes
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CCACVB Board of Directors Minutes
December 17, 1992
Page 6 of 7
VII. Discussion of American Power Boat Association "Shoot-Out"
Elaine Motl gave a brief report of her efforts in bringing the APBA races to Corpus
Christi for this coming year. She asked for $20,000 from the Board in order to pay
for television coverage. The Board was willing to allot her $10,000 with the
understanding that they would try to get other participants for the remaining $70,000
funding. They asked Ms. Mott if she could proceed with that kind of commitment
from the Board. Ms. Motl's response was yes. A motion was made by Mr. Urban for
the CVB to proceed with the APBA races by investing $70,000 which would be their
top commitment to the races. It was seconded by Ms. Harrison and approved
unanimously by the Board of Directors.
VIII. President's report
Mr. Arnold gave a brief overview of his efforts during the past several weeks. He
noted the Hospitality Industry Input Sessions that he had held this past week which
provided valuable information for revision of the marketing plan and pointed out that
the retail segment would be held after the holidays. He felt cooperative advertising
would be important among the various industries and noted that there would be a
need to call on travel agents once a package was put together on Corpus Christi. A
commitment was made to send the Board of Directors a summary report of the
hospitality input sessions that had been held to-date. A newsletter entitled "Tidings"
(ATTACHMENT E) was distributed. It was explained that the newsletter will be
published monthly highlighting activities of the CVB departments. It was noted that
a special event had recently been held for the Sparklers who have contributed 24.000
hours over the past 3 years (which would have totaled close to $250,000 in salary
at 310/hour). Mr. Jim Leister had been persuaded to extend his stay with the CVB
as Chairman of the Sparklers. Mr. Arnold also noted an Austin event that he had
recently attended which involved 80 associations with 180 people in attendance as
well as the media exposure he has received. He reminded the Board of the CVB's
holiday party which would be held later on that evening at which they were welcome.
IX. Old Business
It was decided by the Board that their monthly meetings would be held every third
Tuesday of every month beginning at 3PM (except for January, which will take place
on January 21st).
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CCACVB Board of Directors Minutes
December 17, 1.992
Page 7of7
X. New Business
Chairman Jones recommended that the Board continue to fine-tune the salary package
for the CVB CEO and suggested handling the matter at a future time.
Xl. Adjournment to Closed Session
Ther being no other business to cover at this time, a motion was made by Chairman
Jones to adjourn the meeting at 5:15PM.
Dottie Sylvester
Recording Secretary
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