HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Convention & Visitor Bureau - 02/15/1994 •
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CCACVB BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING \';;
MINUTES
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1,994
3:00 PM
CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU, 2ND FLOOR BOARD ROOM
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 3:10PMby Secretary-Treasurer, E.J. Schan farber.
As there was a quorum, the meeting proceeded.
!l. Roll Cal/
Directors attending: Al Jones (Chairman), presiding
David Coggins, Ralph Ehrlich, Cathy Harrison, Rex Kinnison, Lillian Murray, Bill Pruet,
E.J. Schanfarber and Barbara Sheppard.
Absent: Marco Arredondo, Rosario Carrizo, Ricardo Sanchez, Jean Titus, Erich Wendl
and Gene Urban.
Attending Staff: Keith E. Arnold, Mary Etta Brundidge, Marilyn Pierce, Dana Stephens,
and Dottie Sylvester.
Guests: Fred Dotts (MDL), Holly Osborn (MDL) and Steve Golan (KDF-TV).
!!l. Motion to approve Minutes of January 18, 1994 Board of Directors Meeting
A motion was made by Lillian Murray to approve the above minutes which was
seconded by Ralph Ehrlich and approved by the remainder of the Board members
Q present.
III
IV. Long Range Planning Issues Discussion
QAttention was focused on the "Results of Issues Survey" (ATTACHMENT AI. It was
Onoted that there was a significant number of returns on the survey -- 12 out of 15.
Co It was confirmed that all the surveys returned had rankings next to each issue. The
Board was asked whether it would like to start on the first ranked issue at their Margh ,6
meeting. IIS .
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410 2
It was asked if perhaps the Marketing Committee could develop a long range strategy
for effectively marketing to Mexico. The response was that tomorrow's Marketing
Committee meeting would be mainly orientation. Ms. Murray pointed out that she
considered the Marketing Committee a sounding board and did not think that it was
their place to "think strategy".
Mr. Arnold felt that it would be important to determine the Bureau's effectiveness Io-
date in Mexico. He added that "we need to find someone who understands that
market" and that "we haven't found them yet". He felt it would be wise to spend
research money to determine how the Bureau spends its money in Mexico.
Mr. Pruet stated that "we need political lobbying to hurry up our highway".
Mr. Coggins and Ms. Murray felt that marketing to Mexico was not a separate issue
but that it would have to "fit into the whole strategy" of what the Bureau does.
Mr. Arnold posed the question "what product do we need to draw more people?"
Mrs. Sheppard felt that a better partnership with shopping malls was vital.
Ms. Harrison felt that tourists from Mexico "look for a package of things -- hospitals,
malls, restaurants"and stressed that it is a family outing -- that they don't just come
for the beach.
Mr. Arnold suggested that the Board meet with State people quickly as they spend
millions marketing to Mexico. The goal would be to find out what they've done and
how successful they've been. It was determined that Dianne Mendoza Freeman,
Director - Tourism Division would be asked to make a presentation to the Board at
their March meeting. The Area Council and Marketing Committee would be asked to
sit in as well.
The Economic Development Corporation, Chamber and Bureau are currently working
on a trade mission to Monterrey. It was pointed out that traditional shopping sites
won't be as appealing in two to three years when there will be shopping sites offering
additional attributes (not just solely shopping).
Fred Dotts felt that it would be important for the CVB to develop partnerships with
people and industries that have the same interest of marketing to Mexico, i.e.
hospitals, malls, restaurants. He too felt that research and the right people was still
needed to point the Bureau in the right direction. He agreed that the right people
might be State people.
It is envisioned that at some point the CVB will need a person on staff to coordinate
Mexico as a market segment.
Marilyn Pierce felt that the "right package will be important" but added that the
components need to be in place first.
Mr. Schenfarber noted that there are a lot of small bus tour operators in Mexico and
that bus tours are a growing business. It was added that Juan Goodman, owner of
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the Frost Building, is working on starting regular charter service between Corpus
Christi and Monterrey.
Chairman Jones asked if there was a way to get professional, knowledgeable input on
marketing to Mexico. He felt that the Bureau has been missing the mark in its efforts
to successfully market to Mexico. He emphasized that the Bureau needs to "move up
on the learning curve on this". Mr. Pruet stated that "San Antonio knows". Ms.
Murray felt that Johnny Canales would know as welt She remarked that perhaps the
CVB could "sit down with him and pull him on our team". She felt there was the
potential of a "dynamite partnership" between Johnny Canales and the Bureau.
Although Mr. Goodman is not a tourism marketer, Mr. Arnold felt he would be happy
to speak to the Board and that he could refer them to someone else. In addition to
Dianne Mendoza Freeman, Mr. Arnold noted that he would try to get Mr. Goodman
to address the Board.
V. CCACVB Financial Report
Mr. Schanfarber commented in regards to the financial report that this was the first
month everything fell in line with the budget.
Mr. Arnold noted that a representative from the employee pension plan would be
making a presentation at next month's staff meeting.
It was pointed out that a certain hotel which owes the Bureau over $8,000 was now
on a payment schedule. It was emphasized that the hotel will not be included by the
CVB in city-wide conventions that require subsidies until they pay off what they owe
the Bureau. Although the $8,000 were never written off, they are now on the
Accounts Receivable book. The A/R package in Solomon (accounting software) is
now being utilized to recover outstanding bills.
On a motion made by Rex Kinnison which was seconded by Cathy Harrison, the Board
approved the submitted financials.
VI. Departmental Reports
Mr. Arnold began by reviewing the "CCACVB Marketing Plan -- Six Month Progress
Report" (ATTACHMENT B). It was pointed out that with the exception of the direct
mail program and the new video that the action steps outlined in the Marketing Plan
are right on line. The delay in the video was due to weather problems incurred while
endeavoring to shoot the live person portion of the video. Weather permitting, it is
expected to be completed by the first of April. It was emphasized that the video will
not be "your standard video postcard" but "will get us noticed in a positive vein".
A pre-tradeshow mailing recently sent to people who had registered for Destinations
Showcase was received well. The letter had made reference to Corpus Christi's warm
weather, tropical setting and dolphins. The letter also contained sand from its shores
(rather than confetti).
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To-date, bookings for conventions are 104% ahead of goal. Motorcoach room nights
have reached 127% of the goal set with tentatives growing.
The Board was invited to arrive 15 minutes early before their March Board meeting to
see how the Bureau's new computers work. The enhancement of the equipment has
brought the Bureau's capabilities from "Jurassic Park to 2001 ". In the future the CVB
will be able to fax leads to hotels and attractions rather than mailing the information.
As soon as a registration number is obtained from the Faxsys Corporation this will be
brought into effect. A hard drive was recently obtained to accommodate the faxsys
program. New software for the Sales Department has been installed and is now being
utilized. 95% of the improvements for the lobby area have already taken place.
On April 10th (right after Easter) the Bureau's Spring ad will go to 1,450,000 homes
in Texas and Tulsa.
The handout for the Seaside Trail route was also addressed(ATTACHMENT C). It was
noted that the City of Corpus Christi has been very cooperative with the Seaside Trail
project. The first set of signage is just about ready to go up around the North
Beach/Corpus Christi Beach area (one to two weeks). Mr. Arnold urged the Directors
to thank the Mayor and City Council for their efforts in supporting the project. The
map has already been laid out for the trail as well. The goal is to be done by the
month of April. It was pointed out that there was a slight adjustment made to the
logo. The icons on the signs will occur throughout the City hopefully in blue and
white colors. On the State side, there probably will not be an icon.
A 1993 convention income survey article was addressed next (ATTACHMENT 0).
The survey was taken from 73 cities that were surveyed. TACVB plans on extracting
all of the Texas cities that took part in the survey in order to find the Texan mean.
Although the article notes that the typical meeting and convention attendee stays in
the host city for 3.48 days, Mr. Arnold felt that that was probably 4.48 days for
Corpus Christi.
Ms. Murray pointed out the Marketing Committee roster which had been given to the
Board and added that they would be holding their first meeting tomorrow at 11:30AM.
She noted that the committee had doubled from last year. The committee's goal is
to have a new Marketing Plan completed in which budget numbers can be placed by
April In addition, mixed focus groups will be held(3-4 industries in each)so that their
feedback can be incorporated into the Marketing Plan as well.
Mr. Arnold reiterated that the goal would be to show the Board a Marketing Plan and
Budget in April which could be approved in May.
Mary Etta Brundidge informed the Board that she has prepared packets that will go to
each CVB Department head. They will be asked to supply detailed information on
everything they want to go in the budget for their department. The information will
then-be transferred onto Lotus. The goal is to achieve zero based budgeting. The
detailed information will eliminate guesswork as to where the figures came from that
will be placed in the budget. Initially what the Department heads submit will be a
"wish list" before it is determined what their budget will actually be.
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Mr. Arnold requested that Mr. Schanfarber form a Budget Committee made up of two
to three Board members who will work with the CVB staff on budgeting. Rex Kinnison
volunteered to work with Mr. Schanfarber on the committee. It was anticipated that
the committee would meet weekly until the budget is completed.
It was clarified that the Bureau usually gets its projections from the City on how much
it will receive in either March or April.
It was noted that "prospecting continues to pay big dividends" to the Bureau. An
example was given of Ed Persalt, Senior Sales Manager, who has recently booked
business with a man he initially made contact with on a prospecting call three to four
weeks ago.
There will be a March tam (familiarization) tour which will have the participation of
twelve "good"associations. Over the next few months the Bureau will have a heavy
travel schedule.
On Monday, February 14th, the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors approved
the Consolidation Board Composition Plan which had already been approved by the
CCACVB's Board of Directors in January.
Mr. Arnold stated that it was determined that there was a need to bid for the
American Bowling Congress 2000 Tournament. As a result, Mr. Arnold and Bill Pruet
will be meeting with the City Manager this week. The City Manager would like to ask
for subsidies from hotels. The Bureau's sense was that ABC will not go through
housing. It was emphasized that if the City agrees to give ABC money over a six year
period, their return on the money invested will probably be 20 to 1. The question
arose as to whether other entities could be tapped for subsidizing the tournament in
addition to the hotel industry. The response was that the Bureau hasn't looked into
that possibility -- that would be something the City would need to pursue. It was
suggested that RV parks and restaurants be looked into for providing subsidies as
well. Mr. Arnold noted that he did not want the CVB to become a collection agency
for the subsidies which would be an enormous undertaking and take up too much
time.
VII. Old Business
Chairman Jones noted that the Chamber was the last of the three organizations being
considered for consolidation to approve the Consolidation Board Composition Plan.
The next step is that the plan will go to City Council.
Regarding the Lexington, Chairman Jones explained that he and Mr. Arnold had met
with the appropriate Lexington representatives. A Task Force has been formed
comprised of Chairman Jones, Mr. Arnold, Mike Carrell and Bob Rowling. An outline
of what they want to achieve has been set by the Task Force.
Mr. Arnold informed the Board that the Bureau has helped the Chamber and EDC move
ahead with their financial management.
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The question was asked if a resolution would be made concerning the Lexington
within the next 30-60 days. The response was that it would be by that time frame.
Chairman Jones added that he has read over the contracts and agreements with the
Lexington and that the Bureau can't abdicate its role towards the Lexington although
it could be outsourced. The Bureau has to "assure viability of their whole process".
They are trying to work out a reasonable relationship with the ship and define both
parties'roles. It was restated that the Lexington is a subsidiary of the CCACVB and
that they will report back to the Bureau on a regular basis. In particular, any
irregularities will be reported to the Bureau. He ended by stating that the Bureau
would not be opposed to a buy-out by the Lexington.
VII/. New Business
Chairman Jones briefly read two newspaper articles regarding the efforts of South
Padre Island to promote tourism in their area. He felt that South Padre Island would
be a major competitor to Corpus Christi. It was pointed out that their budget has
increased from $1. 1 - 1.2 million last year to $4 million this year. As a result, they
are "spending money like it's water". South Padre Island also has a new Convention
Center four miles down the beach.
The CCACVB will be inserting the words "Padre Island starts here"in new advertising.
Mr. Ehrlich posed the question "how do we raise our budget?" He felt that the City
Council should be approached that the Bureau would need, for example, $750,000 to
market to Mexico. He felt this would be viable as tourism is one of the City's main
industries.
IX. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 4:25PM.
Dottie Sylvester
Recording Secretary
' ' 16 RESULTS OF ISSUES SURVEY 4
The ranking shown below is a result of a point system that was used. The following points
were alloted to each ranking:
Rankine / Points Ranking / Points
1 = 11 7 = 5
2 = 10 8 = 4
3 = 9 9 = 3
4 = 8 10 = 2
5 = 7 11 = 1
6 = 6
Ranking Issue Points
I Development of a long range strategy for effectively marketing to 96
Mexico
2 Definition of the CVB role in product development covering such things 94
as the need for Convention Center expansion, the potential riverboat
gaming legislation, new festivals and special events, development of
new hotels, downtown and Padre Island development, etc.
3 Forming better partnerships with our airlines 80
4 Budgetary considerations -- what resources do we need to be effective 78
and how can we grow the budget to meet those needs?
5 The role of the Bureau in helping to make the Corpus Christi 77
destination "visitor friendly" through hospitality training
6 Working more effectively with the Texas Department of Commerce-Division 74
of Tourism
7 Priority to be placed on staff entrepreneurial activities such as: 64
seeking corporate joint ventures and partnerships from local business
for special projects. Some of these can include the development
and upgrading of Information Centers, production of new publications,
external cooperative advertising,signage and cross-marketing
projects, etc.
8 Further definition of the CVB rale in the day-to-day operations of the 63
Lexington
9 Expectations of the Board for CEO and staff productivity 59
10 CVB role in stimulating the educational process to include more 51
tourism-related subject matter
llI CVB involvement with the minority community 41
The above figures reflect input gathered from 12 returned surveys.
ATTACHMENT A
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CCACVB MARKETING PLAN
Six Month Progress Report
ACTION STEPS
Action steps per the marketing plan are on target except for the direct mail program and the
new video.
We substituted sales blitzes for the direct mail piece and completed one successful blitz in San
Antonio last October with a second blitz in the progress for April 18-21 in Houston. A direct
mail piece for slow season dates for the remainder of 1994 is in the works at this time.
The video, though slowed by weather, will be ready by the first of April.
GROUP SALES -
ROOM NIGHT PRODUCTION
The six month sales recap is in your meeting packet. We continue to run ahead of schedule.
Definite room night production for conventions is 104% of goal and 216% of production for
the same time last year. We lost ground in January when several large contracts did not make
it in before the end of the month, but February should see us expand the lead again.
Motorcoach room nights continue to strengthen with definites now 127% of goal and
tentatives growing consistently.
Prospecting continues to be a driving force in our office with numbers holding strong and
increased tentative lead production the result.
AUTOMATION
Our new Telemagic system is installed and all sales managers have begun entering their
accounts. This process will be ongoing as new accounts are developed. The new system will
reduce handling time in our administrative process through system capabilities such as the
ability to have the modem dial your client, allow you to enter the call report notes and
information and produce a letter without having to leave the system.
The Bulletin Board part of the system should be operational by the time the spring insert
comes out. The Bulletin Board will allow member organizations to dial into our computer
system and download mailing list information to their own computers through a series of
codes.
ATTACHMENT B-1
CONVENTION SERVICES
CS has noted an increase in the servicing of one hotel meetings now that we have dedicated
one person to handle their needs. Housing for citywides is going well and our new approach
to following up on housing statistics is making subsidy billing and collection easier and more
effective.
VISITOR CENTERS
The remodeling in our center downstairs is nearly complete. We began fulfillment of visitor
information requests on January 20th and had processed 2728 requests through February 11th
(3 weeks). Using Sparkler assistance is working and we should be ready for the heavy
demand we expect with the distribution of the spring advertising insert April 10th.
The I-37 center continues to remain busy with January traffic running 7.8% above same time
last year. Texas continues to show up as the leading place of origin. Canada has been #2 for
several weeks.
COMMUNICATIONS
We're becoming more aggressive in our approach to editorial with increased production in
press releases and shell stories. .We're in the final stages of producing an editorial
calendar to use in soliciting our inclusion in publication schedules. Our biggest challenge
continues to be in our own state.
We've also activated a phone calendar of events which is updated every two weeks. Callers
can access event information by phone 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
We've developed a media plan to address spring break and the Corpus Christi position of
welcoming spring break participants in an orderly directed manner.
Communications produced a successful media campaign for the Lexington "Stage Door
Canteen" show. We also put together a short term campaign to help drive January and
February traffic for the Lexington, Columbus Fleet and Corpus Christi Museum of Science
and History through a "buy one, get one free" coupon to corporate HR offices. The results
won't be known until after the end of February, but response in the targeted cities (Houston
and San Antonio) was very strong. Dana and Chuck are currently working on promotional
ideas for summer programs, as well as the newsletters, releases, printing projects, etc.
ADVERTISING
Our spring insert will be out April 10th. This piece will reach 1,480,000 households in
targeted zip code areas via the Sunday paper and will be the largest audience we have reached
up to this time. This piece is part of a larger insert produced by TTIA and is considerably
more expensive than the fall insert we produced. The plan is to work as we did in the fall
and use the monies from the sales of advertising to finance support media in targeted cities.
ATTACHMENT B-2
SEASIDE TRAIL
BAYFRONT ATTRACTIONS
Ant Center
Art Museum of South Texas
Center for Hispanic Ans.
Columbus Fleet
Corpus Christi Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
Convention Center
Greyhound Race Track
Harbor Playhouse
Heritage Park
Museum of Oriental Cultures
Museum of Science and History
Texas State Aquarium
U.S.S. Lexington Museum
GULF BEACHES
Bob Hall Pier
Bird Island
Mala quite Beach
Mustang Island State Park
Padre Island National Seashore
OTHERS
Botanical Gardens
TAMU-CC
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Meeting SInflation
Anewly released survey of meeting ners trying to estimate the value of their spending on average $1R3 a day, for a
and convention attendees shows meetings to local economies. total outlay of$638.20 per conference.
that spending at such events is rising '1'he survey found that the typical Attendees at national and int erna-
lasterthan the rate ofinflation,and pro- meeting and convention attendee tional conferences were even bigger
'ides some useful ammunition for plan- stayed in the host city for 3.48 days, spenders:The average out-of-state del-
egate staved 4.10 days and spent$200 a
.._ ��"'t\ day, for a total of$818.82.
CONVENTIONAL SPENDING V'
.. i Commissioned by the international
t[ :`AVERAGE EXPENDITURES PER CONVENTION ATTENDEE ��
Association of Convention & Visitor
. e. r i'kA& ‘ ::`s+ra`t'a r.:w'••. ` .
Bureaus and conducted b1' Deloitte & •
i - -.!•ALL ` -� REGIONAL, NATIONAL, ' t STATE & LOCAL
• r• CONVENTIONS INT•L CONVENTIONS CONVENTIONS 'I OUChc, the survey studied the spend-
••••......,...:1,-...,-.-:Nu-- '.. . _•
; OUT-OF-TOWN DELEGATES•`'::$762.90 - • t $907.08 $448.33 ing habits of more than 17,(00 dele-
1'IN-TOWN DELEGATES l..,_ ...,z.. 93.09 ' 135.39 67.85 gates, sponsors and exhibitors at meet-
II' "M`POS T AVERAGE• • '.. ings and conventions b(x)ked through
COMPOSITE 638.20 818.82 331.06 �'
..■.Source:International Association Of Convention&Visitor Bureaus 73 convention and visitors bureaus bc-
._. . .. _....._. Continued on Page A3
IACVB Researches Spending
Continued from Page Al account(46 percent of the total)is their ho-
tween June 1992 and June 1993. tel bill, the remaining 54 percent benefits
The daily spending figure of$638 re- other vendors in the local community.
presents a 52 percent increase over the The survey did, however, point to
figure reported in a similar survey con- wide variations in spending by different
ducted by the IACVB in 1985. The types of groups. Attendees at medical
U.S. consumer price index increased meetings and trade shows,for example,
only 34 percent during the same period. spend more than twice as much as those
On top of what delegates spend, at conferences of military and religious
cities hosting a convention can count on organizations ($851 and $734 vs. $322
an additional spending of$56.81 ($16.32 and$358, respectively).
per delegate per day) from the meeting
sponsor,and$2,504 from each exhibitor. i;fi<:4^4'4i-:'»; i4•:,•. '„:Ue;-.
11'hile survey respondents noted that r
the greatest single item on their expense ' SPE.• ••frit:----EJ DO h . ,h:-
g, Yr. •^wS�1iw' 4� ', k.
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