HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 05/22/2001 - JointI HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Joint
Council Meeting of the City of Corpus Christi of May 22, 2001, which were approved by the City
Council on May 29, 2001.
WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, this 29th day of May, 2001.
Armando Chapa
City Secretary
SEAL
MINUTES
JOINT MEETING OF THE
CORPUS CHRISTI CITY COUNCIL AND
CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS
May 22, 2001 - 12:08 p.m.
CITY COUNCIL
Mayor Samuel L. Neal Jr.*
Mayor Pro Tem Henry Garrett
Brent Chesney
Javier Colmenero
Bill Kelly
Rex Kinnison
John Longoria*
Jesse Noyola
Mark Scott
City Staff Present
City Manager David R. Garcia
Deputy City Manager George Noe
City Attorney James R. Bray
Assistant City Secretary Mary Juarez
Recording Secretary Rachelle P. Ramon
CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
Brad Lomax, Board Chairman
Cristina Garza
Bill Goin
Bill Morgan
Govind Nadkarni
Jody Patel
Linda Routh
Tom Schmid
Berney Seal
John Trice
Dan Viola
Lillian Riojas (Ex -Officio)
BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT
Vangie Chapa
Victor Gonzalez
Bert Quintanilla
Mayor Pro Tem Garrett called the meeting to order in the Basement Training Room of City
Hall. Assistant City Secretary Juarez checked the roll and verified that a quorum was present to
conduct the meeting. Mr. Lomax also confirmed that a majority of the Convention and Visitors
Bureau (CVB) board members were present. He noted that there are two new CVB board members --
Mr. Viola, an At -Large member, and Ms. Riojas, an ex -officio member representing the Port of'
Corpus Christi Authority. He added that there is one vacancy on the board.
Mr. Lomax said the information provided to the Council was a synopsis of the CVB Board's
planning retreat held on April 28, 2001, facilitated by Ms. Susan Cable, the city's Director of
Communications and Quality Management. Mr. Lomax said the board dealt with three issues in
particular: the first was the CVB's website. He said they have given notice under the terms of the
contract with BDSI (the website provider), which will no longer be marketing the CVB's website
after mid-June. However, the CVB will retain all rights to the site. He said that action will result in
a savings of $3,000 a month.
Another issue was the CVB's relationship with the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of
Commerce. Mr. Lomax said they have asked the Hispanic Chamber to focus on the leisure market
within a 500 -mile radius to include Monterrey, Mexico and U.S.-Mexico border towns. In return,
the CVB has committed to provide $54,000 a year to the Hispanic Chamber for at least three years.
He said that amount can increase depending on the chamber's performance.
Minutes - Joint Meeting
May 22, 2001
Page 2
The third issue was the CVB's involvement with the Columbus Fleet Association. Mr.
Lomax said the CVB has made a 12 -month commitment to work with the Museum of Science and
History in supporting the Columbus fleet exhibit and in reviewing its economic feasibility. He said
the CVB is trying to alleviate the $22,000 per month expense to its budget, restore community
confidence, and nominate a successful Columbus Fleet Association Board. He said assisting in that
effort will be Rocco Montesano, Fred Dotts, Duncan Samyo, and Bert Quintanilla.
Mr. Bill Morgan, Chairman of the CVB's Sales and Marketing Committee, said they
developed a comprehensive advertising campaign based on specific guidelines, one of which is to
spend 80% of advertising dollars on the leisure travel market within a 500 -mile radius (Austin, San
Antonio, Houston, and Dallas -Fort Worth). The other 20% of the funding will be focused on
meetings and conventions utilizing trade magazines, newsletters and direct mail.
*Mayor Neal arrived at 12:18 p.m. and Council Member Longoria arrived at 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Morgan said another aspect of the advertising campaign is to increase the media
advertising budget to the 1997 level, which was $641,000; in contrast, the FY 2000-01 budget was
$189,000. Mr. Bill Pettus, of Pettus Advertising, said he was hired by the CVB on August 1, 2000
to help develop a strategic marketing plan within the existing budget. He said the first thing they had
to do was to create new collaborative material because it was outdated. He said they utilized the
state's website to compile demographics about visitors to Corpus Christi. Mr. Pettus noted that of
the top 16 attractions in the state, three are located here: North Padre Island, U.S.S. Lexington
Museum on the Bay, and the Texas State Aquarium.
Mr. Pettus also showed examples of new promotional material his company designed,
including a beach and bay guide, professional meeting planners guide, and a "rack card." He said that
because of their small advertising budget, the CVB needed the help of some of their industry
partners, such as hotels and attractions, to help pay for large, colorful advertisements in San Antonio
and Austin newspapers. Mr. Pettus also discussed other aspects of the advertising campaign. Council
members discussed the condition of the area's beaches and the importance of marketing to the Rio
Grande Valley and Laredo.
Mr. Joey Jarreau, Director of Sales and Marketing, said the CVB is now focusing on its
presence in Austin to increase its visibility among meeting planners and representatives of state
associations. He said they are also marketing toward military reunion associations and they have
added another convention sales manager, for a total of four now.
Mr. Wayne Bennett, CEO of the CVB, said the construction of the new arena will create a
major sports market that the CVB intends to target. He also described how the organization has been
restructured internally in order to free up more advertising dollars and they are examining the efforts
of successful convention and visitors bureaus around the country. Mr. Bennett said that in order to
continue their efforts to reach more tourists (with the goal of subsequently increasing the city's
tourism -related revenues), the CVB intends to submit a supplemental budget request of about
Minutes - Joint Meeting
May 22, 2001
Page 3
$100,000 for marketing and media advertising. He added that the CVB is also reviewing all of its
contracts and purchases and determining whether to out -source certain services or provide them in-
house. Mr. Bennett and Mr. Jarreau responded to Council members' questions regarding the CVB's
sales and marketing goals. They also discussed the possibility of bringing a large traveling attraction
to Corpus Christi.
Mr. Lomax informed the Council about the CVB's committees: Government Affairs, Sales
and Marketing, Finance and Evaluation. He said Corpus Christi is a finalist to host the LULAC
national convention in 2004. He said that effort is similar to the CVB's successful effort to land the
American Bowling Congress tournament in 2006. He added that the CVB board is very aware that
they are funded with public monies and they have a responsibility to restore the community's
confidence in the organization.
Mayor Neal thanked the CVB board members and staff for their efforts. There being no other
business, the Mayor adjourned the meeting at 1:20 p.m. on May 22, 2001.
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