HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-15 Board Meeting Minutes For Approval August 17, 2022
Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau
In Person Board of Directors Meeting
June 15,2022
Board Members Present: Mark Bell - Chair,Spring Council, Heidi Werner Dawson, Lili Engelhardt, Lisa
Ganzermiller, Matt Gladdek,Jon Hartman-Brown, Sharon Hill, Beverly Payne,
Not Present: Manish Atma, Shannan Campbell, Earl McKee,Tanya Moore, Katie Murray, Damon Seils,
Karen Stegman.
Staff Attendance: Laurie Paolicelli, Marlene Barbera, Susan Rice
Also present: Brian Litchfield—Transit Director, Chapel Hill Transit; Karen DeHart, NCHSAA, Martina
Brooks attending for Manish Atma, Kristin Smith Young attending for Tanya Moore.
Call to Order
Chair Mark Bell called the meeting to order at 8:06 a.m.
Approval of Minutes
Chair Mark Bell requested a motion to approve the May 18, 2022 minutes. Sharon Hill so moved and
Spring Council seconded the motion. With all members in favor,the minutes were approved as
submitted.
Introductions with question (What restaurant would you like to visit this year?)
Welcome to the Carolina Inn
• Heidi Werner Dawson welcomed everyone to the Carolina Inn
• Heidi passed out Pride Magnets to everyone
• The event spaces had been remodeled, lobby is next, rooms later on in the year
• Items that are being replaced will go to UNC Surplus, chairs will be donated to Extraordinary
Ventures
• Fridays on the Front Porch held through the summer with food trucks, cancelled when it rains
Director's Report/Sales &Marketing Plan 2023
• June is the last board meeting of this fiscal year, no board meeting in July
• The whole world wants to move here for: healthcare, education, Chapel Hill Transit System
• Tourism is coming back,April & May's numbers were up
• Heidi reported: ADR (Average Daily Rates)were increasing,June occupancy was up 94%, ending
the fiscal year strong (in spite of inflation & high gas prices,though the future may change this)
• Marlene reported that May was a huge month for leads, R&G Solutions providing many RFPs
• Business Travel/Corporate slow to come back
• Martina reported that board meetings are not back to pre-Covid numbers but better than last
year
• Laurie gave a shout-out to the 3 towns' support of Pride Month (area hurt by HB2)
• Juneteenth event in Hillsborough (mock trial of the Freedom Riders), NPR reporter will be
attending the event and bringing family members of the original Freedom Riders
• More Juneteenth events in Chapel Hill and Carrboro also
• New Welcome Center, Open House (125 attended) diverse group attended
• Budget—ending the year on budget, County Manager not allocating ARPA funds for VB for next
fiscal year, but the Visitor Bureau is in good shape fiscally, New Admin in place soon
• Thanks and individual shout-outs to members of the board and audience for their contributions
to Visitor Bureau and the Towns.
Chapel Hill Transit Presentation
https:Ilissuu.com/chocvb/docs/chapel hill transit presentation visitors bureau 6
Additional Points:
• The Chapel Hill Transit facility is being renamed to honor former Mayor Howard Lee
• The Chapel Hill Transit was started in 1974
• Chapel Hill Transit has 8 more electric buses coming, ordered 1 year ago
• Sunday Bus Service was added in 2019, discontinued until recently due to Covid
• Chapel Hill buses—Fare Free/ NOT Free Transit
• Questions asked: BRT(Bus Rapid Transit) Funding,Tours of UNC with the U & RU buses
• Intercity Transit Comparable to Chapel Hill: Canada, Richmond, Boulder
New Business
• Beverly—June 25t" Event, Historic Hillsborough Excursion Day, 10am-4pm
• There will be no meeting in July, the next meeting is August 17, 2022 at a location to be
determined.
Next meeting: Wednesday,August 17, 2022
Meeting adjourned at 9:07 a.m.
2 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting June 15 , 2022