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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCH-OCVB minutes 092408Minutes Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board September 24th, 2008 The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitor’s Bureau Board met at the Chapel Hill Museum, 523 E. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill Hosted by Traci Davenport, Director Board Members Present: Lee Pavao, Rick Strunk, Rachel Hawkins, Dave Gephart, Linda Convissor, Creston Woods, Jon Wilner, Jim Ward Members Absent: Barry Jacobs, Frances Dancy, Bob Ward, & Mark Sherburne Other’s Present: Rosemary Waldorf of D.R. Bryan and Associates and Bradley Broadwell, O.C. EDC Director; Staff Present: Laurie Paolicelli, Linda Ekeland, and Tina Fuller CALL TO ORDER Mr. Lee Pavao, Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:15 a.m. WELCOME Chair Pavao welcomed everyone. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Pavao requested a motion to approve the August 20, 2008 minutes. Dave Gephart moved to accept as written, Rick Strunk seconded. With all board members in agreement the motion was carried unanimously. INTRODUCTION OF HOST/GUEST SPEAKER Chair Pavao introduced and gave the floor to Traci Davenport, Director of the Chapel Hill Museum. Traci informed board members of upcoming exhibits. The first, Town Treasures 2008, will be held on October 2nd and will run through November 30, 2008, which commemorates outstanding senior citizens who have made and/or documented Chapel Hill/Carrboro history. This exhibit is in collaboration with the Chapel Hill Historical Society with photos by Catharine Carter. The other upcoming event is Red Hot Chili with the Chapel Hill Fire Department. This event will be held on October 5th and will feature local firefighters, chili and a puppet show. Proceeds will help support the Museums annual Fire Safety Program. Visitor Bureau Director Paolicelli gave credit to Davenport for all that she has done with the Museum and the Town of Chapel Hill and also gave a “hats off” to Stephen and Sandy Rich who have largely contributed to the preservation of the museum and, thus, the narrative of the South. Laurie stated that an enhanced effort of support by the Town of Chapel Hill would be requested. Bureau staff member Linda Ekeland commented that the Chapel Hill Museum is open to events such as weddings and meetings and to contact Traci Davenport for further information. Chair Pavao thanked Davenport for hosting the board meeting and then gave the floor to Guest Speaker Rosemary Waldorf of Bryan Properties. Waldorf discussed projects at Chapel Hill 40 and Southern Village. Chapel Hill 40, located off of Weaver Dairy on Kingston Dr. will have contemporary office buildings on two sites, however the original proposal for that area, which was approved by the Town of Chapel Hill about a year ago for mixed usage and square footage as a cap, could possibly be modified to allow for the construction of a hotel instead of office buildings. Southern Village was already approved for a building on one side but to accommodate Weaver Street a parking lot was added. There is interest with the developers to pursue a hotel for reasons 1) Design and aesthetics and 2) economically beneficial to the surroundings. The proposal will be presented to the Chapel Hill Town Council on November 17th and if approved an application will be filed. The proposed hotel would be strongly brand affiliated with an nationally renowned reservation system and have approximately 100 rooms, meeting space, and average $150/ADR. It was noted that the Northern Chapel Hill I-40 area is (outside of UNC and the Hospital), the number one employment section in Chapel Hill. The hotel would be larger than that of Southern Village and would be centrally located to Hillsborough, the Interstate and eventually, Carolina North. It was also noted that the Southern Village hotel would accommodate athletic and hospital visitors. Waldorf stated that there is some opposition from the Southern Village residents even though the concept is to benefit the residents. She is hopeful of support from the Bureau Board. Waldorf gave a brief update on the Buckhorn Development retail status. The BOCC is scheduled to meet Oct 7th and may vote at that time. This property could eventually feature 2-3 hotels. Waldorf also stated that 86,000 cars pass this intersection daily. Board members agreed that it would be an economic benefit to the development to have an Orange County Visitors Kiosk or Welcome Center on site and to put in a request to the BOCC while development is in progress. REPORTS Budget & Finance / Executive Directors Report VB Director Paolicelli in Bob Wards absence updated the board on August financials. Paolicelli informed that it takes a few months to catch up on revenue and it is too early to tell anything at this point. She also stated that of the $1 million budget, $130,000 plus $20,000 (contingent upon gross occupancy receipts) agreed to by the Town of Chapel Hill is pending their amending last years’ agreement. Paolicelli stated that the Town recommended signing the old agreement to start the billing process but she declined and would wait on the amended agreement. Jim Ward, Lee Pavao and others encouraged her to not sign the old terms and agreement. Going straight into the Executive Directors report and following up on last months meeting, Paolicelli reminded board members that the fund balance is back up to a $500,000 and apart from using some of those funds for the arts and Hillsborough, approximately $30,000 is being considered towards an extended DC sales arm. Of approximately 30 reference calls for independent reps or firms in DC, the name Steve Beamer, COO of the Highland Group, came up who is a huge Carolina fan but a little over our budget with a $3500 monthly retainer fee. Paolicelli went on to say that he could do blitzes in DC and represent Chapel Hill in some shows. Steve already recommended hosting a Carolina-Duke basketball bash in DC, inviting all DC planners and have our sales staff on hand. Paolicelli stated it is still a work in process and asked board members to think about that possibility. The alternative is to skip Beamer completely and partner with the general Alumni Association in DC. Paolicelli will meet with the Alumni Association before the next meeting and update the board then. O.C. EDC Director Broadwell stated that it would be beneficial on the economic level if this association could lead to new entrepreneurial ventures or relocations back here. Paolicelli stated that, in any event, we need to ramp up the quantity and quality of leads to benefit hotel occupancy. Board member Linda Convissor inquired if public-private enterprise to provide meeting space would be beneficial down the road. The general consensus was yes. Discussion followed on meeting space requirements. Discussion then turned to transportation, internal and from RDU. Paolicelli inquired if buses in the Town’s fleet could be used and would the municipality be willing to help with this issue. Jim Ward replied yes, but relevant to the scheduling i.e. peak hours, etc. Ward suggested Paolicelli contact Steven in Fleet Management. Paolicelli inquired if the VB could purchase the bus as pursuant to federal law that government transportation cannot be used to compete with private charters. No definite answer was given. Board member Jon Wilner backtracked to meeting space required inquiring on the potential market for 1000 people, as he is involved in a planning of a building that would be used for extra revenue. Linda Ekeland replied that the average need is for 175 people in general session, lunch and several breakouts (three different rooms). Continuing with the Executive Directors report and referring to a handout, Paolicelli stated that $25,000 would be allocated the Hillsborough Holiday Merchants Plan. As per feedback from the board $25,000 more would be allocated to additional consumer advertising in Southern Living and State co-ops. And last, $20,000 was requested by Paolicelli to use for a design enhancement to the Visitor Center entrance. Paolicelli directed members to the email from Cal Horton describing the entrance way and recommendations. Discussion ensued with a suggestion to have Public Works hire a contractor or the Visitor Bureau solicit funding from Public Works to help with upgrade design enhancement. Paolicelli agreed to send a memo to EDC Director Broadwell and present the issue to the BOCC with a PowerPoint displaying pictures of the entranceway. Ending on this note, Chair Pavao requested a motion to approve the budget as presented. Dave Gephart motioned to approve and Rick Strunk seconded the motion. All members were in agreement and the motion was carried unanimously. Marketing Report Chair Pavao then gave the floor to Marketing Chair, Rick Strunk for a marketing update. Strunk first wanted to thank Linda Ekeland for interceding on his behalf to the hotels for his daughters wedding. As he stated at the last meeting, only Durham hotels returned his calls for quotes. However, after Linda interceded, He received numerous calls with apologies. On to the marketing report, Strunk reported that since the new campaigns began we are seeing an increase in leads, a spike in calls and web hits. All in all, the arts and Hillsborough campaigns are approved and the various sub committees were developing those now. Strunk also reported that a sponsorship ad was placed in the Occoneechee Vintage Car Show program guide and reminded members of the High School Championship game in Nov. at UNC. Strunk also reminded members to expect a research update from Equation Research/Jon Pelletier, in January. Dave Gephart informed members of the cost(s) associated with billboard advertising; recommending Alamance County placement rather than Wake County if that is an advertising medium that the VB would consider. Paolicelli confirmed that she thought it was not prudent for this board to pay for Hillsborough way finding. Nominating Report In Mark Sherburne’s absence, Board member Dave Gephart reported that the nominating committee endorsed Greg Overbeck to represent Chapel Hill/Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, replacing Lee Pavao, and Jim Parker, representing the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce, replacing Rachel Hawkins, as new board members. Gephart added that Lee Pavao would be named in an Emeritus position, serving at large, on the Board, in a non-voting position. The Committee also approved the nomination of James Harris and Dwight Bassett, Economic Directors of Carrboro and Chapel Hill, to be Ex-Officio members of the Board. Both positions are non-voting positions. After a discussion amongst board members, Chair Pavao requested a motion to accept. Dave Gephart so moved with Jon Wilner seconding. With all members in agreement, the nominations were accepted and requests will be sent in on an abstract to the County Clerks Office by October 6th for Agenda approval. NEW BUSINESS Board member Strunk acknowledged Lee Pavao as a recipient of the 2008 North Carolina Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service award. Bravo! OLD BUSINESS No old business to report ADJOURNMENT With no other business to discuss, Chair Pavao adjourned the meeting at 9:40 a.m. ________________________________ _________________________________ Minutes Drafted by: Minutes Accepted by: Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director Lee Pavao, Chair ________________________________ _________________________________ Date Date