Date / Destination Missoula & TBID
Board of Directors Meeting
January 15, 2015 / Start Time
Stop Time / 3:06 PM
4:57 PM
Place / MSO Hub Conference Room
101E. Main St
Missoula, MT 59802
Phone: 406.532.325
DESTINATION MISSOULA BOARD MEMBERS
1 / Kate Leonberger – DM President / 2 / Jim Galipeau – President-Elect & Treasurer
3 / Matt Ellis – Secretary / 4 / Christine Johnson– Vice President
5 / Brad Murphy – Vice President / 6 / Bob Terrazas – Counsel
7 / Matt Doucette / 8 / Bryan Flaig
9 / Anne Guest / 10 / Philip Mason
11 / Linda McCarthy / 12 / Scott Richman
13 / Ad Hoc – Erika McGowan / 14
15 / 16
17 / 18
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
January 2015
TBID BOARD MEMBERS1 / Lucy Weeder – TBID President / 2 / Dan Carlino
3 / Matt Doucette / 4 / Kate Leonberger
5
Staff
Barbara Neilan, Executive Director / Sage Grendahl, Director of Operations
Mary Holmes, Destination Marketing Sales Manager
mEMBERS ABSENT
1 / Barb Koostra / 2 / Cris Jensen -EXCUSED (DM)3 / Justin Philibrick (DM) / 4 / Regina Rhodes-EXCUSED (DM & TBID)
5 / Kim Sawyer –EXCUSED (DM) / 6
7 / 8
9 / 10
Other Guests Attending
· Alicia Jones, Wingate
· Mark Spring, Quality Inn & Suites
· David Lawrence, Pangea River Rafting
· Tim Giesler, Ruby’s Inn’s & Convention Center
TBID Approval of Minutes & Financials
There was not a quorum present.
Destination Missoula Approval of Minutes & Financials
Bob Terrazas stated that in the minutes, Montana Development Cooperation should read Montana Development Corporation. Bob Terrazas motioned to approve the minutes. Christine Johnson seconded and all voted in favor.
Jim Galipeau stated on the private account it is going to be juggling for the next five months to get us through. We have had some revenue sources that haven’t come through such as the banner ads income, Travel Expo, etc. Bed tax financials look good. Bob Terrazas motioned to approve. Matt Ellis seconded and all voted in favor.
Big Sky Conference RFP (Request for Proposal) Presentation—Chuck Maes & Kent Haslam
Chuck Maes stated the Big Sky Conference was soliciting bids for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. We couldn’t do both, so we focused on the women. We have the largest fan base for the women’s team. They want it to be more of a championship atmosphere. They want to bid a certain dollar amount that the Big Sky Conference would get as a minimum, and then we would manage it and put it on. It would cost $100,000 to $150,000. It would be a 12-team tournament. This is 11 games and six sessions. In the past it was smaller. UM Athletics is putting themselves on the hook roughly for $100,000. The tournament would take place the second weekend in March. It would be a three-year bid with an option to make it five years. They are looking for $40,000 from the Missoula community per year in cash and in-kind donations. They need to say what the net revenue split is for the conference. Our biggest competition for the bid could possibly be Spokane or Northern Colorado. Both of these communities would probably bid to host both the men’s and women’s teams, which we don’t have the space for. The Big Sky Conference would like a welcome event for guests and are looking for folks to help make this a success. From the TBID, UM Athletics is looking for financial and manpower support. The RFPs are due next Wednesday. Chuck said selling tickets, branding this tournament and drawing folks here would be very helpful. Linda McCarthy stated having worked in athletics, these tournaments are a lot of work, but it’s really good for the community. Linda volunteered to help personally. Brad Murphy added it would get easier after year one. The cash would be paid out upon receiving the bid. The money would go to the University. It could be paid out after July 1, so we’d be a new fiscal year. Since there is not a quorum for TBID, TBID could have a special meeting for early next week to determine an amount. Chuck said even if TBID could take on half the risk of $40,000, so $20,000. Estimated total room nights are 1,141. Part of the evaluation is looking at the hotel rate structure. The number one seeded team gets the first choice of the hotel. Kate Leonberger asked Barb Neilan or Matt Doucette to get a meeting scheduled on Monday for TBID. Bob Terrazas motioned that the DM recommend and support the TBID to give up to $20,000. Matt Ellis seconded and added that the UM makes it exclusive to the TBID for hotel rooms and conference space. Barb added from the DM side that we support from them from the marketing standpoint. All voted in favor. Christine Johnson stated that from the Hospitality Committee, they need people. UM Athletics will also visit with the Chamber for additional funds.
Retreat Goals Review & Discussion
Kate Leonberger stated that she wanted to make sure we are on track. For various tasks, she’s looking for people to help:
· Develop DM/TBID orientation video—This was putting together a short training video about DM and TBID about the different resources available for frontline staff. Linda McCarthy stated MDA has done videos for $2,500 for a 2-5 minute video. We need to figure out what we want in the video first before bidding it out. Kate will reach out to Kim Sawyer on this. Barb Neilan stated we need a sales video. We should put these together. Christine Johnson stated she’d be involved. Jim Galipeau mentioned Gravity Productions as a possible option; they work in his building.
· 1) Value analysis of current members. Is the membership strong enough to sell? Reach out to current partners. 2) Out of area value analysis. Go to other tourism agencies and do research. Matt Ellis stated he thinks the first two are staff functions by conducting a survey, etc. 3) Develop a data ‘tool’ to increase awareness of ‘what’ is actually happening to member value. Communicate data to members. Matt Ellis stated for #2, we would get info from other CVBs. For #3, we can work with Windfall on this.
· Revisit the management agreement. Bob Terrazas stated they will be looking at those at the next meeting and then look at the organization chart and job descriptions. We have succeeded in hiring a partnership development position with David Lawrence.
Kate stated that if you are a committee chair, please clean up your committee list and get them back to Sage Grendahl. There is no special task force committee any more. It’ll be hospitality and frontline training.
Travel Expo and Front Desk Training & Showcase
Barb Neilan stated that our hope with the Travel Expo was to make it a bigger event with more partners including the Missoulian and Xanterra. There is now a new publisher at the Missoulian and there is no guarantee of a partnership. We were going to do an online presence with the papers across that state for a month and then there would be a one day event. The prices were bumped accordingly. We could bring it in house, but then we have to buy the exposure so that would eliminate any profit on the event. The Executive Committee felt in good faith, we wouldn’t be able to execute it. If we drop it, it would be a minimum of three to five years before we ever bring it back. It would be a net loss of $3,000 to DM.
The Front Desk Training and Showcase will take place in May. We need to connect with Linda McCarthy on her customer service trainer on May 7-8 and partner. Linda is ready to get started. Kate Leonberger will schedule a meeting with her. We can create the agenda and subject matter.
Call Center Report
The call center report is in the agenda. No one from Windfall is here to present. Barb Neilan stated our numbers are looking good and we have our spring campaign. We will be in iExplore and Food & Travel. This is the first time we have advertised in Food & Travel.
Director’s Report
Barb Neilan stated February 6-8, there will be Chinese puppeteers from the Silk Road visiting our community. Typically, the Chinese don’t travel from the Silk Road region. They are only stopping in Missoula and the Kennedy Center in the US. This is coming through the Arts Commission in China and our Embassy. Performances will take place on February 7 at MCT. Tickets are being sold at the MSO Hub. There will be both an afternoon and evening performance. The Rocky Mountain Ballet will also be presenting the Destination Missoula ballet in the evening. The visitors will visit the Montana Museum of Art and Culture, go to Rockin’ Rudy’s, Big Dipper and the Larry Pirnie Gallery. The Holiday Inn could possibly donate one of their vans from 3-4 pm for the guests.
The Montana Office of Tourism is having an understanding the Chinese Visitor on January 29 in Kalispell. It’s free. It’s from 9 am to 1 pm. Linda McCarthy stated she’d like to have their downtown ambassador possibly go.
The legislative session is full swing. Please follow the bills that can impact tourism. Please support the bill to continue the MT film office tax credits. There is another bill that is being carried that brings more dollars from bed tax back to us.
Barb wants everyone to look at The Economic Review of the Travel Industry in Montana produced by the Institute for Tourism & Recreation Research.
The Missoula Business Women’s Symposium is from 8 am to 5 pm on January 24 at the Hilton Garden Inn. They have a lot of national presenters coming in. The presenters are going to Double Arrow, so they can experience MT and bring their corporate meetings and families back. We are looking for items for the gift baskets.
The Tourism Advisory Council is in Helena on February 2-3 and it’s at the Colonial Inn. The Governor’s Conference on Tourism is March 22-24. Early bird registration is through March 1. Barb will be at the Glacier Country Board meeting on Monday and Tuesday.
Sales Reports
Mary Holmes stated that she’s working on the Big Sky Conference. She is also working on American Legion AA State tournament in 2016. She is working on an RFP for a Fat Bike event that is one day long and is a two-year bid in February. Mary is in Kalispell for the Montana High School Association (MHSA) on Sunday and Monday. Mary will go to the Chinese Visitor workshop and she’ll be at Go West in Colorado Springs. China has really taken over the Go West market, which is going well.
Tour of Montana pitched to a major national sponsor. Hopefully, we will know the outcome of that soon. They are getting smaller sponsorships. They have confirmed dates with Caras Park. The Tour of Montana went live a couple of weeks ago.
David Lawrence stated the bottom line is he hasn’t sold anything yet. He has a list of 205 leads. He has 10 hot leads, but 0 conversions so far. January 20 from 3-4 pm at Comfort Inn, he’ll be hosting a Mastermind workshop for current and potential partners. He is hoping to use it as a member recruitment event as well.
Committee Reports
Marketing—Barb Neilan reported quite a bit in the call center report. At the next meeting we will begin rewriting our marketing plan.
Personnel— Bob Terrazas stated they met on the 18th and will be meeting again on the 23rd. Jim Galipeau also suggested setting aside time on February 5. There is a subcommittee set up to rewrite the management agreement that will meet before February 6. We also need to do our conflict of interest disclosure for the entire board. Bob will bring those for the February board meeting.
Partnership— No report was given.
Wayfinding—Linda McCarthy stated that the planning process is completed. There is a sign-off from the Montana Department of Transportation (MT DOT). Merj needs to send us the nine original files. We got the Tourism Infrastructure Investment (TIIP) grant switched to the pedestrian layer approved by the Montana Office of Tourism (MOT). Parking and pedestrian signage will get done this year with these funds and MDA and Business Improvement District (BID) funds. They need to do all of the final presentations to get money for implementation. They will meet again the first week in February. Jessica from the city will write the RFP for installation. The City could maybe do a Special Improvement District (SID) through the general fund for the vehicle portion.
Legislatively— The report was given above.
Special Task Force—No report was given.
Sports Commission—Brad Murphy stated they are looking at the State Swim Meet and Class C Girls Basketball and Legion AA Baseball. We will have a press conference in the spring. The Sport Commission meets next week at Ruby’s and they will focus on hospitality.
On a different note, the dance competition with the Austrian ballet has gone from a possibility to a reality. It’ll take place in October around the 17th. It’ll bring in dance troupes from Canada, Mexico and the US. They are competing for an invitation to the Austrian festival, which is the most prestigious festival in the world. It is the only time this has ever been held in the US; it’s usually in Europe. There will be 2,000 people that will come to Missoula. There will be three venues going 24 hours a day for a week. There will be major events planned around this. That included a Viennese gala at the end. Barb Neilan stated that she and Linda McCarthy and met with the Mayor regarding this. If we can do the event well, it’ll be here all of the time. It can be a signature event in Missoula and put us on the map culturally. Meetings will commence after February 7. Christine Johnson volunteered to help with this.