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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCH-OCVB minutes 091907Minutes Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board September 19, 2007 The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board met at the Horace Williams House located at 610 E. Rosemary St., Chapel Hill at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 Board Members Present: Lee Pavao Creston Wood Frances Dancy Bob Ward Jim Ward Jon Wilner Bill Crowther Moses Carey Linda Convissor Mark Sherburne Liz Parham Members Absent Rick Strunk Rachel Hawkins Staff Present: Laurie Paolicelli Willie Best Linda Ekeland Tina Roberts Guests: Irma Tejada- Author Chris Kanoy - Illustrator Elizabeth Read, Interim Director, Alliance for Historic Hillsborough CALL TO ORDER Mr. Lee Pavao, Chair, called the meeting to order at 8:05 a.m. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Mr. Pavao opened the meeting by welcoming Board Members and guests Irma Tejada and Chris Kanoy Chair Pavao introduced our host for this meeting, Ernest Dollar, Executive Director of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill. Mr. Dollar greeted and welcomed board members. Mr. Dollar briefly informed them of his plans to change the average person’s perspective on what a preservation society is and its relationship to the community – plans not only to save homes but also work with natural areas and downtown projects. Mr. Pavao gave the floor to Laurie who introduced Irma Tejada, children’s book author and Chris Kanoy, illustrator. Laurie briefly elaborated on their history, creative talents and current project – a trilogy of children’s books reflecting the ‘back yards’ of Carrboro, Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. Paolicelli felt that this project had merit for visitors and residents, and could be used as a promotional and educational item to support tourism. Ms. Tejada described the concept, characters and visualization of the books and how they illustrate the cultural offerings of our communities. Ms Tejada and Ms. Kanoy requested the assistance of the Visitors Bureau in launching the book(s). Laurie reached out to the board members for any resources. Members agreed to look over the manuscripts and bring to the table next meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Pavao asked for approval of the August 15, 2007 Board Meeting minutes. Bob Ward made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. Bill Crowther seconded the motion. With all Board Members in agreement, the motion was carried unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS Marketing Committee In Mr. Rick Strunk’s absence, Laurie Paolicelli informed the board that the VB’s staff is currently focusing on webpage development. Laurie described the sections - one of which would be public opinions on what they love about the three towns. Laurie requested input be forwarded to her, from board members, on ideas for what type of people should be interviewed. Laurie then briefed members on the feedback received from a poll she did regarding the tourism positioning lines presented for the tourism brand campaign. Paolicelli shared that she still had reservations and before the “trigger was pulled” on substantial branding items, she wanted to discuss this future brand one last time. She stated that many locals and out of town visitors expressed a dislike for “the feeling never leaves you”. Discussion followed on the whys. Paolicelli stated that she wanted to feel excited and onboard with the new campaign and her intuition was such that it should be tested one last time. Board members concurred to spend $1000 or so to have a Charlotte based company do further research and then extend the debate with the new information. Merchandise purchases are on hold until the former is settled. Laurie informed the board of her satisfaction with Jennings & Co. and that the Alliance for Historic Hillsborough has contracted with them as well. Web addresses visithillsborough.org and visitcarborrol.org were purchased in addition to visitchapelhill.org for broader representation on future marketing campaigns. Budget & Finance After reviewing the financial report, Mr. Carey stated that financial reporting was about a month behind – noting expenses were much greater than revenues and that it should even out in a few months. He explained that occupancy revenues were often delayed 30-60 days but that the bureau was operating within its designated cash budget. Laurie reminded the board that of the $958,000 budget, the actual is $725,000 plus $230,000 from fund balance that will spend this year, before asking BOCC to consider a 1% increase in 2008. Jim Ward motioned to accept the financial report. Linda Convissor seconded. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT Laurie transferred the floor to Liz Parham, executive director for the downtown Chapel Hill Partnership. Liz presented a power point presentation on the issues of panhandling. Real Change from Spare Change is a program designed to help the panhandler’s long- term not just at the spur of the moment and to educate visitors and citizens to get involved, particularly the students. There will be a funded team of outreach workers. A presentation is going out to many agencies requesting endorsements. The Town of Chapel Hill is signing on next week. Orange County already has assets to help the panhandlers. Collection cans are going to be a source of donations. Necessities can be donated rather than money. The goal is $70,000 of which 90% of funds will be used directly to help the panhandlers, 10% will be used to further promote the campaign. So far the street counselor program instituted through IFC, has seen a 10% reduction in panhandlers. It was noted that both Raleigh & Durham have a similar programs in place. Jon Wilner commented that while mental illness may be a factor, this program is a step in the right direction. Linda Convissor stated that this program is in collaboration with the Partnership to End Homelessness. For reference, the website is www.realchangefromsparechange.org. Liz made a request for the Visitors Bureau to come on board. Linda Convissor motioned in favor; Creston Woods seconded; all members were unanimous. Sales Report Linda Ekeland, VB Sales Director, introduced the FAM Tour concept to board members. Meeting Planners from NY/NJ area, Chicago, and DC will be coming to the area on November 7th to attend a two-day showcase of OC. Linda invited the board to attend. Agenda will include an Iron Chef contest, visits to all the meeting sites, a cooking class at the house of the chef, a reception, and wine tasting – if attending RSVP ASAP. American Airlines is on board with the showcase. Linda will have more details by the next meeting. Linda stated that it is a joint effort between hoteliers and the bureau. Only qualified planners were invited. The goal of the FAM trip is to expose new CEOs and decision makers of Orange County’s hotel and tourism amenities in the hopes of future bookings. Laurie informed the Board on Patty’s upcoming trip to Manhattan with the State Office of Tourism to meet with key media representatives in an effort to generate more publicity on North Carolina and its destinations. Laurie briefed the board on other marketing ventures: North Carolina High School Athletics Association – moving forward on the ad campaign designed after the hotel collaboration meeting. Allocated funds for Carrboro’s Culture Shock and Hillsborough’s Blues, Books and Bone China. Supporting Hillsborough’s focus more on daytrippers. Liz Parham briefed on the 5th Quarter. It is a partnership w/ several organizations. The purpose is to keep football traffic in town and designed to move traffic and should produce good results for local businesses. The trial last week was successful. The website is easy to navigate. Bus leaves approx every 30 minutes or when full. Two new lots – MLK and P- lot were added in 2007. Suspect it will take one full year to evaluate the benefits. Wilner suggested a park & ride in Carrboro for game day. NEW BUSINESS Paolicell i expressed concern and asked if we had any control on the graduation dates for Duke and UNC – Linda Convissor stated her belief that it is based on an academic calendar. It was suggested to meet with the Provost’s office. Paolicelli stated she would call and plan to have Elizabeth Read and Mark Sherburne attend with her. Laurie informed the board that the County Clerk is requesting updated board appointments/reappointments for the BOCC. Bill Crowther, on behalf of the Alliance’s Board, informed of their recommendation of Dave Gephart as his replacement to the Board. Paolicelli will get procedure(s) for this to Elizabeth Read. OLD BUSINESS Pavao said Downtown Partnership put welcome banners up - will stay until end of football season and then the holiday banners will go up. The Downtown Partnership was recognized for their hard work. It was noted that citizens contributed a great deal. Durham Hotels located near Fearrington Road and advertising them as Chapel Hill is requesting to distribute Chapel Hill Visitors Guides – Pavao gave a brief history. In the past the Visitors Bureau refrained from distributing guides to any hotel with a Durham address at the request of Durham CVB president, Reyn Bowman. However, 4-5 hotels near Chapel Hill borders asked Chapel Hill Visitors Bureaus to change policy. As requested by the board, Paolicelli presented the cost at an approximate $700 a year. The board concurred that customer service should be priority. Wilner stated that we should be very strategically specific in our placement of materials. Jon Wilner moved to distribute materials to hotels that are strategically placed in our area. Linda Convissor moved to amend the motion by adding to also display other counties’ materials. Wilner accepted amendment. Seconded by Convissor. All members were in favor, motion granted. Wilner updated Members that Chatham County has agreed to co-support/assist financially the culture shock campaign. Mark Sherburne announced that several others—namely restaurants-- are requesting to have representation on our board. What does the Visitors Bureau Board of Directors’ By-Laws say: can we expand our board? Paolicelli suggested the By-Laws committee meet ASAP and noted that the BOCC makes final decision. ADJOURNMENT With all business of the Board completed, Mr. Pavao asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Jon Wilner made the motion to adjourn and seconded by Bob Ward. With all Board Members in agreement, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 a.m. ________________________________ _________________________________ Minutes Drafted by: Minutes Accepted by: Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director Lee Pavao, Chair ________________________________ _________________________________ Date Date