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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes City Council - 02/11/2003 - 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 February 11, 2003, which were approved by the City Council on March 4, 2003. WITNESSETH MY HAND AND SEAL, this 4th day of March 2003. Armando Chapa City Secretary SEAL MINUTES JOINT MEETING OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI CITY COUNCIL AND CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU BOARD OF DIRECTORS City Hall - Sixth Floor Conference Room February 11, 2003 - 12:00 p.m. PRESENT CITY COUNCIL Mayor Samuel L. Neal Jr. Mayor Pro Tem John Longoria Javier Colmenero Brent Chesney(Arrived at 12:15 p.m.) Henry Garrett (Arrived at 12:40 p.m.) Bill Kelly Rex A. Kinnison Jesse Noyola Mark Scott City Staff Acting City Manager George Noe Acting City Attorney Jay Reining City Secretary Armando Chapa ABSENT CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU Bert Quintanilla, Chairman Vangie Chapa Tomas Duran Cristina Garza Bill Goin Bill Morgan Govind Nadkarni Jody Patel Lillian Riojas Tom Schmid Dan Viola CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU Victor Gonzalez Brad Lomax Dave Prewitt Linda Routh John Trice Mayor Neal called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. City Secretary Chapa checked the roll and verified that there were quorums of both the Council and the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) Board of Directors. CVB Chairman Bert Quintanilla called on Mr. Wayne Bennett, CEO of the CVB to present the Fourth Quarter report and the 2002 Year End Review. Mr. Bennett reported that this year marked the CVB's fifteenth anniversary. During the fourth quarter, several events of note took place, including the grand opening of the renovated airport, the November election, and the negotiations with the Ryans to bring minor league baseball to Corpus Christi. Mr. Bennett stated that the city's partnership with the Ryans will probably prove to be beneficial on many fronts. He reported that 2002 ended as a strong year. Mr. Bennett reviewed data comparing 2001 and 2002 hotel occupancy rates and concluded that Corpus Christi had outpaced most of its competitors in 2002. For the first half of FY 2003, Mr. Bennett referred to a handout detailing future conventions and bookings for 2004 in the arena and convention center. He said the numbers reflect the success of the CVB's marketing campaign. Mr. Bennett said that for the first six months of FY 2003, the CVB was below its convention sales goals, but would be working toward meeting those goals. He also briefly discussed the board retreat. Topics discussed during the board retreat included working with the arena and convention center expansion contractors to ensure that they are informed of each others progress. The board also determined that they needed to strengthen their marketing campaign. Finally, the board discussed reaching out to the hospitality worker to keep them informed of the changes taking place downtown. Since they are front-line workers and deal directly with the public, it is important to keep them informed. Mayor Neal commented that the Port of Corpus Christi has been very aggressive in building a relationship with Toyota and he suggested that future marketing plans should include Toyota. Mr. Bennett introduced Bill Pettus, who provided the quarterly marketing report. The highlights included in an insert published in Texas Travel in April will also be included in newspapers all over Texas. He also noted that Texas Monthly ran a 10 -page "editorial" regarding Corpus Christi visitors and tourism in April 2002 which was so successful that it is going to run again this April. Mr. Pettus then mentioned some convention publications that were funded by $100,000 that the Council had approved for them this fiscal year to market conventions. He felt the additional funding would greatly help in promoting the city as a convention destination. Next, Mr. Pettus discussed their spring program. In the past, the CVB had created inserts that were published and distributed during one particular weekend that had proven to be very effective. However, the marketing committee thought that this approach might be too risky. Focusing on one weekend could be disastrous if the CVB picked the wrong weekend - for example, if war was declared that particular weekend and tourism came to halt. Instead, the marketing campaign would focus on local newspapers with more shorter deadlines that would allow a quicker response. Finally, in response to a prior inquiry by Council Member Kinnison, Mr. Pettus discussed the CVB's relationship with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and its accountability in that regard. He said that the CVB had made great strides in the last six months, especially in the last quarter, to improve the relationship. Mr. Quintanilla introduced Joe Cisneros, President of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who provided an update on the Hispanic Chamber's Northern Mexico marketing campaign. Their research indicated that Corpus Christi is considered a family vacation destination. Their campaign focused on identifying peak travel times when Mexicans come to the United States (e.g. Christmas, back to school shopping) and then advertising during that time. Mr. Cisneros said that they advertised in a social magazine called Sierra Madre which catered to a upper -middle class Mexican demographic. They also advertised in Texas y Turismo, the number one publication that is distributed as an insert in El Norte magazine. He said that the Hispanic Chamber was striving to understand the Mexican market. Mr. Quintanilla then introduced Carol Dunton with the CVB to provide information on the Public Relations Activity report. Ms. Dunton reported that the city had received free advertisement in the last quarter through national television exposure. Corpus Christi is going to be featured in HGTV's Dream Drives show on March 15 and the show has approximately 80 million viewers per episode. The Travel Channel will be airing a program called Spring Break Destinations 2003 that will include a segment on Corpus Christi. It will air on various dates in March and April, with an approximate viewership of 67 million viewers per episode. The Food Network's $40 a Day program will be doing a feature on Corpus Christi and their viewership is approximately 77 million viewers per episode. Finally, the Fine Living Network is airing a program called Found in American which will include a brief segment focusing on the U.S.S. Lexington and their viewership is approximately 30 million viewers. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:05 p.m.