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Home My WebLink About2023-08-23 CHOCVB Minutes For Approval September 20, 2023 Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board of Directors Meeting at Sheraton Chapel Hill August 23, 2023 Board Members Present: Karen DeHart- Vice Chair, Spring Council, Karen Stegman, Tanya Moore, Sharon Hill, Beverly Payne, Jenny Schultz, Jon Hartman-Brown, Rebecca Mormino, Jeri Lynn Schulke, Shannan Campbell Not Present: Manish Atma, Grace Holtkamp, Mark Bell, Damon Seils, Heidi Werner Dawson, Earl McKee Staff Attendance: Laurie Paolicelli, Marlene Barbera, Hannah Hemphill, Susan Rice, Katie Murray Guests: Jessica Herrschaft, Glen Fellman (Clean, Inc), Meredith Saybe, Union Grove Farm, applicant for At-Large Seat vacated by Lili Englehart Call to Order Karen DeHart, Vice Chair called the meeting to order at 8:10 AM. Introductions • Jenny Schultz, Executive Director of the Arts Center, has been appointed to the board. • Rebecca Mormino has joined as the new Executive Director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. • Meredith Saybe is attending as a guest. She has applied for one of the At-Large vacant seat on the board. Approval of Minutes Karen DeHart requested a motion to approve the June 21, 2023, minutes. Sharon Hill made a motion to approve the minutes and Beverly Payne seconded the motion. With all members in favor, the minutes were approved as submitted. Executive Director's Report • NC Department of Commerce study showing a 21.3% increase in Orange County tourism growth from 2021. • Wrexham vs Chelsea key learnings: o How can we more strategically leverage our alumni network to bring other popular events to the area? o Laurie hopes to see Kenan Stadium allow other outside events. o $17 million in economic impact in the Triangle. This event demonstrated the need for a, advanced economic impact calculator, which has now been obtained via a contract with Oxford Economics • Uproar Summer Arts Event tripled the foot traffic to the Welcome Center. The hotels did not see a bump in occupancy. Most visitors originated from Triangle and NC origin points. • Carolina Inn currently has 70 rooms offline. They will be launching their new private label beer on Friday at 5:30. • Laurie is keeping informed about new development projects as visitors are often curious and we need to be able to inform people about construction delays. Including the new Orange County Library Carrboro branch to open next summer/fall, construction on Rosemary St., and Estes Dr. Board members can find a link here: hLtps://www.oranaecopgtync.gov/1710Nisitors-Bureau • There has been a spike in people at the Welcome Center who are relocating and retiring to the area. Karen Stegman mentioned the construction of over 100 affordable ownership units being developed near Southern Village. • Laurie commented on an upcoming meeting of the diversity committee to review the efficacy of www.chqpelhilldiversiiy.com after a community member inquired as to whether such a program encourages separatism. Guest Speaker—Jessica Herrschaft and Glen Fellman from Clean Advertising & Design Presentation • Laurie introduced guest speaker from Clean(Ad Agency), Jessica Herrschaft and Glen Fellman to present on media plan for FY23-24. • The new"Curiosity Campaign" focuses on small video clips, to show experiences that people can have in Orange County. 15 second interview talking about encounters of visitors with the goal of sparking greater curiosity about Orange County. Create local feel and focus on the soul of Orange County. • Phase I— 12-15 videos,repeat as time allows. • Call to action: Lists of things that they can focus on for content, experiences for people who are visiting. • New bus wrap in production for local CH Transit wrap. • For a review of presentation, see this link: https://www.orangecountync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25177/Clean Chapel-Hill-Board- Meeting 82323?bidld= Discussion • Shannan- Hillsborough has video content already in production for IG/Reels. Will share so they can work collaboratively. • Sleepy Cat Records might be able to provide sound snippet from local artist • Jeri Lynn—what information can people get from social media about the video? *There will be a landing page to give more context and link to external websites. New Business Katie Murray • Uproar is now in the data collection phase and surveys are being sent to businesses, artists, and stakeholders. • The Welcome Center traffic counts for Hillsborough and Chapel Hill have not been finalized yet. 2 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting August 23 , 2023 • Google Map had 3lk views and there were around 500-600 trolley users. • Uproar saw over 30 media stories and was a huge regional success. Hopefully the next iteration can turn into a draw for the Southeastern region. • Responses from the artists have been overwhelmingly positive. • Friday, September 1 is First Fridays at the Eno Arts Mill • The 7th Annual Paint It Orange Plein Air Paint-Out will be held October 4-6, 2023. Rebecca Mormino • Rebecca is on her second week as Executive Director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. She is currently on a listening tour to connect with and hear different perspectives from local businesses regarding what they like or want to see going on downtown. • Small, local businesses feel that bigger events (such as Wrexham v. Chelsea, Uproar) help move the needle and creates vibes of culture and art. • Jeri Lynn shared that they will be hosting "Game Day" events, in the CURRENT courtyard. • Saturday at 2pm there will be a celebration of Chapel Hill Tire & 97.9 The Hill's 70th Birthday on North Graham and West Franklin Streets. Shannan Campbell, Hillsborough Economic Development • Hog Day will be September 15&16 • The Alliance for Historic Hillsborough and Visitors Center will continue providing Outlander tours, including drink pairings with Yonder. • The Orange County Historical Museum will be hosting a"CollectoCon" at the end of September. They currently have an ongoing exhibit called"Treasure Hunters." • The Burwell School will be hosting its first Fall Festival this year. Beverly Payne, The Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation • Chapel Hill Historical Society has display in Orange County Historical Museum with an exhibit at Seymour Center. • Last Friday in Hillsborough. • Eno River Association having a Ribbon Cutting and Open House on Friday, August 25 for the park's new Visitors Center, featuring remarks, music, educational activities. Governor Cooper will attend. Meredith Saybe, Union Grove Farm • Union Grove Farm is a certified regenerative farm on the boarder of Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, where the Maple View Dairy Farm was. They have event venues, a vineyard that produced table grapes, and utilize vermicompost. • Union Grove purchased the old agricultural center and plans to provide educational classes to local farmers. They are also working to get a distillery online next spring with equipment purchased from Topo. 3 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting August 23 , 2023 Jon Hartman-Brown, Economic Development Director, Carrboro • Carrboro's Music, Film, and Poetry festivals will be coming soon! • The ArtsCenter will have its grand opening on Saturday, from 12-4pm. Karen De-Hart reminded that at next month's meeting there will be a vote to approve new board members. Next meeting: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at the Sheraton Chapel Hill The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 AM 4 1 P a g e CHOCVB BOD Meeting August 23 , 2023