12 december 16 2014 board of directors meeting minutes

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes December 16, 2014: 10:00 a.m. to 12:25 p.m.

Redding Soccer Park

The regularly scheduled quarterly board meeting of the Redding Tourism Marketing Group was held on Tuesday, December 16, 2014 at the Redding Soccer Park. The meeting was called to order at 10:03 a.m. by Chairman Dave Grabeal with the following Board members and guests present: David Grabeal – Chair – Hampton Inn & Suites Ryan Rydalch – Vice Chair – Oxford Inn & Suites Janelle Pierson – Treasurer – Bridgehouse B&B Amy Reynolds – Annual Board Member – Fairfield Inn & Suites Jay Patel – Annual Board Member – Thunderbird Lodge Dave Creager – Non-Expiring – TownePlace Suites Greg Clark – Deputy City Manager – City of Redding Brandi Merkel – Officer at Large – Holiday Inn Judy Salter – Attendee – CSAC

Greg Knoell – Non Expiring Board Member – Hilton Garden Inn Krista Buckel – Staff – CVB Laurie Baker – Staff – CVB Kallie Markle – Staff – CVB Chad New – Staff - CVB Ed Rullman – Non-Expiring – Best Western Plus Hilltop David Black – Non-Expiring – Red Lion Hotel Eric Keating – Presenter - Redding Soccer Park

Dave Grabeal called the meeting to order at 10:03 Introductions Confirm Quorum Yes Approval of Agenda  Ed motions to approve Agenda, Janelle seconds the motion: o Vote: All in favor o Motion passes Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes  Ryan motions to approve September 16, 2014 minutes as written, Ed seconds motion: o Vote: All in favor o Motion to approve minutes passes Public Comment  No public comment was made Redding Soccer Park Update  Eric Keating presented how the RTMG sponsorship helped with visitation to the Redding Soccer Park. Eric thanked the board for their support of the facility; with the sponsorship money a mobile app was created to give better service to visiting teams, and due to this added service, the SmashCup Tournament grew to 60 teams. Eric explained the mobile app is used by parents to see the entire tournament schedule and scores, get notifications about weather issues and sponsors (ie restaurants and hotels), and to get

notifications of special deals. The app had 30,000 views and 1,500 downloads. Lacrosse information is also available on the app.

Vote for new Secretary  Ed motions that Greg Knoell be nominated for secretary, Amy seconds the motion: o Vote: All in favor o Motion passes Branding Update  Krista presented the new branding look for RCVB by showing the trails video, one of the Famously Redding videos, the new website, press kit folder, local map, and flash drive.  Judy expressed hope that if the local market can see the Famously Redding and trails videos, in it could change the culture of negativity. Ed agreed that educating the Redding public is important. Judy felt a local news release would help, Ed mentioned the screen time before a movie, Greg suggested the videos be shown on TVs in the Civic and in the videos on Redding.com. Ed wondered if lobby TVs in the hotels would be a good option. Chad explained that RCVB’s three screens at the airport already loop Visit Redding videos, so duplicating that model could be accomplished at some point if the board wanted to go that direction.  Dave Grabeal appreciated the comprehensiveness of the new brand. Greg Clark thought it looked like a world class web site. Laurie explained that our website is completely custom and is being done in house.

International Report  Laurie reported on the Germany Event and the World Trade Market.

Year to date Budget Snapshot  Laurie presented the budget snapshot TMBID Renewal / City of Redding Contract Renewal  Discussion went as follows: o Current boundaries are fine and including restaurants would be a logistical nightmare  Ed motions to leave the TMBID boundaries the same as since inception. Brandi seconds.  All in favor.  Motion passes.  Discussion on the amount of the assessment and the term. o Ed motioned to leave it at 2%, make the term 10 years, and put in an option at 5 years to adjust percentage as necessary, pending City approval. Amy seconded.

Judy wondered if there should be more flexibility than the 5 year window. Dave Grabeal reminded everyone that room nights is the goal, and that more room nights will = growth, without needing to gain growth through increased percentage  All in favor.  Motion passes.  Laurie asked if the board would like to hold a special meeting to go over the draft (in 30 days) or would they like the executive committee to handle it? Ed thought the executive committee could handle it. Ryan agreed. o Ryan motioned that the board authorize the executive committee to authorize the draft. Greg Knoell seconded. Dave Grabeal wondered if it would be safer to involve more, Amy agreed. o Ryan withdrew his motion, and made a new motion: that a special board meeting inviting the entire board be scheduled to authorize the draft, Amy seconded.  All in favor.  Motion passes.

Contract with City of Redding  Laurie explained that SCWA’s contract to run the RCVB is up on 6/30/15. She’s hoping RTMG, as one of 3 signators, will approve a renewal. She wondered if the term should extend to 10 years to match the TMBID contract. Dave Grabeal said they go hand in hand. Ed pointed out that there’s no one else who would run it anyway. Greg Clark expressed that 10 years is a long time and that the city is fairly well set on 5 years. Verbiage will be loosened regarding things like minimum number of brochures and employees, and regarding getting city approval on everyday decisions. Greg Clark explained that other terms will be changed as necessary to keep up with modern marketing.

Discussion on TOT Increase Proposal for Redding Safety  Dave Grabeal addressed the Safe City Project’s idea about raising TOT to fund public safety. He’s disinclined to charge visitors to pay for locals’ safety. Ed, who was involved with Safe City Project, explained that the TOT idea was never discussed prior to the presentation, and that he contacted the Safe City Project after the presentation to explain that a TOT increase would not bring the necessary funding, so he believes that option is off the table. He encouraged people to support a sales tax increase instead, as it would mean a much higher return.

Sponsorship Committee  Laurie explained how a sponsorship committee might function. Janelle thought it was a good idea. Ed feels that the use of sponsorship should be made so simple that the decision can be made at an RCVB staff level. Laurie expressed concern about negativity directed at RCVB for sponsorship rejection, rather than at the larger target of the board. Ryan wondered if it would still be a board decision. Amy suggested we form a committee and see how well it works, and that it may not be as much work as monthly meetings. It was decided that RCVB staff will change the form to reflect a 6 month minimum, will collect applications, and then see how many there are and whether a committee is warranted to handle the workload.

Questions/Comments  None Adjournment  The meeting is adjourned at 12:25. *Next Quarterly Board Meeting will be held March 17, 2015 10:00 am; Location TBD