07-11-18 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
July 11, 2018
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Minutes
Board Members Present: Dawn Hendrickson, Zac Ford, Dan Moderie, Emily Schroeder, Sean Morris
Board Members Absent: Janet Clark, Shawn Campbell
Staff Present: Joe Unterreiner, Diane Medler, Dawn Jackson, Vonnie Day
Guests: Lucy Weeder, Marriott SpringHill Suites; Kim Morisaki, MWED; Tracy Johnson, Hockaday Museum of Art;
Grimm Storli, Blue & White Motel
Meeting was called to order by Chair Zac Ford at 3:04 PM.
1. Hear from the Public— none
2. Presentation — Glacier AERO, Kim Morisaki, MWED: AERO was started in 2014 to provide minimum
revenue guarantees to reduce the risk of opening new markets. AERO funds along with a SCASDE
grant, increased the number of airlines servicing GPIA from 2 to 4 and raised the number of hubs
accessed from GPIA from 3 to 11. AERO has a fundraising goal of $240,000 which will serve as a match
for a SCASDE grant, plus an additional goal of $80K- $90K. The state is building awareness of Montana
in Dallas and American Airlines flights from DFW to Bozeman and Missoula have been added. This
year is seen as a critical point in attracting American Airlines to GPIA. Private businesses and tourism
organizations are asked to contribute additional amounts for this year's initiative if possible.
3. Presentation —Tracy Johnson, Hockaday: the Hockaday's Timeless Legacy event is expanding its reach
this year by extending invitations to Canadians and inviting male artists to participate as well as
female. This year's theme is a celebration of Waterton -Glacier International Peace Park. 23 renowned
artists have been invited to participate, 21 of those will be attending the opening weekend August 11
—12. The Hockaday is requesting an event grant of $3,500 to fund a travel honorarium for the visiting
artists.
4. Board Action Items
a. Approval of minutes from June 6, 2018:
Motion was made by Emily Schroeder to approve the minutes. Motion was seconded by Dawn
Hendrickson. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. Approval of TBID financial statements for May, 2018:
Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve the financial statements. Motion was seconded
by Emily Schroeder. Discussion: None. Board approved unanimously.
c. Approval to purchase TBID Directors and Officers Liability Insurance:
Motion was made by Emily Schroeder to approve purchase of TBID Directors and Officers Liability
Insurance. Motion was seconded by Sean Morris.
Discussion: the carrier is Travelers Insurance obtained through Payne West. Annual coverage limit is
$1,000,000, no deductible, coverage is similar to what the Chamber has. Board approved
unanimously.
d. Approval of a $2,500 contribution from the TBID to Glacier AERO to be matched by $2,500 from the
Chamber foundation for a total Chamber/CVB contribution of $5,000:
Motion was made by Dawn Hendrickson to approve a $2,500 contribution to AERO. Motion was
seconded by Emily Schroeder.
Discussion: Chamber has approved their $2,500 match. Board approved unanimously.
5. Board Discussion
a. Event updates:
Dragon Boat — CVB is underwriting The Dragon Bus to provided free event transportation
to teams staying at Kalispell hotels. Hotels will be asked to provide information about
dragon boat guests to help determine demand and scheduling for bus transportation.
Missoula BCS team Silver Lining participated in the Lethbridge Dragon Boat Festival and won
the Best Team Spirit Award. A social media campaign is underway to fill the last Rocky
Mountain Championship slot. Registered team count is currently at 45.
Event transition — conversations have been held with the Bigfork Chamber and Flathead Lake
Brewing Company about taking over the event. They have expressed intention to keep
the festival as a two-day event on the same weekend of September. A decision whether to
proceed will be made at the Bigfork Chamber board meeting on July 12. TBID Board discussed
a Memorandum of Understanding to allow Bigfork to use event assets for the first year while
retaining ownership. Bigfork would shadow CVB staff on 2018 event operations, we
would support them on 2" year and 3rd year they would operate independently. Assets and
assistance would be offered as a substantial in -kind sponsorship.
ii. Pond Hockey— potential plans for 2019. Scott Crowder and Terry DeVries are discussing using
the Sweet Pickin's site as a venue. TBID will not pay for infrastructure but would sponsor
the event at the same level as in the past. Another substantial sponsor would be needed in
order for the event to go forward. Tamarack Brewing Co. may be interested. A decision on
continuing the event will be made next month.
b. RFP Results:
The website redesign and creative/media buy were both awarded to Flathead Beacon Productions
(FBP). Diane expressed appreciation to members of the scoring committee (Zac Ford, Dawn
Hendrickson, Kate Lufkin) for the extensive amount of work they put into reviewing and scoring
proposals. FBP had the highest average score for both RFP's and were the only ones who moved
forward to stage 2 on both. Since FBP has handled the CVB's social media for several years along
with other projects, they are familiar with the Discover Kalispell brand. The Public Relations RFP will
be reissued in the fall. CVB will contract on a per project basis for PR needs in the meantime.
Whitefish CVB disqualified both their applicants so will be reissuing their RFP.
c. Marketing Updates:
• Quarter 4 webstats - unique visitor numbers and page views were down, however session
duration increased by 28%.
• May STIR Report: occupancy was up 10.8%, ADR up 1.2%, RevPAR up 12.2%. Board members
have seen increases in leisure, group and corporate segments.
• Seasonal report — the LA area was the top search -to -book market, followed by NYC area,
Chicago and Dallas
• Travel shows — last fiscal year, Diane attended the Women's and Outdoor Adventure Shows
in Calgary and the Bike and Golf Expo in Spokane. The Travel & Adventure Show in LA,
February 16 — 17, 2019, is being considered. The booth fee is $3,700. Emily Schroeder has
attended and reported that it is a great show. National Parks are heavily represented.
Central Montana and Billings also attend the show. Rollover funds may be available to cover
the estimated $5,000+ cost of the show. If not, Diane recommended eliminating the Calgary
Women's Show but retaining the Spokane Bike & Golf Expo and the Calgary Outdoor Show.
The board agreed to eliminate the Calgary Women's Show to allow participation in the LA
show. Diane needs someone to assist her with both the Calgary Outdoor Show and the LA
Show. Emily volunteered to attend the Calgary show.
d. Recap of June M&C Fam trips:
The CVB hosted two FAMS in June that had been scheduled for last September but were cancelled
due to wildfire smoke. For the first FAM in early June, CVB partnered with Glacier Country and the
Whitefish CVB to host four 3rd party planners. Among other activities, they toured a lavender farm,
our three museums, restaurants, meeting facilities and several hotel properties. Their visit to
Kalispell was capped off with a tour and dinner at the Conrad Mansion that was attended by several
local activity providers and tourism partners. CVB is evaluating whether it makes sense to participate
in the 3rd party planner FAM in the future since Kalispell is bookended on the tour schedule by two
luxury resorts. The second FAM, June 25 — 27, was planned and carried out by Kalispell CVB for two
qualified regional meeting planners. They toured event venues, the museums, did a Red Bus ride in
GNP, visited breweries and distilleries and wrapped up with a dinner at the Conrad Mansion attended
by several Kalispell ambassadors and tourism partners. The second FAM shows strong potential in
generating meeting business for Kalispell.
e. Group, M&C Updates:
• RFP's were sent for June of 2020: the President's Summit and POMA
• Working on leads for MT Air National Guard and for HAAS which was booked for summer
2019 before organizers researched summer room rates
• Nearly 600 Kalispell welcome bags were compiled and distributed to visiting groups
• Big Sky Brews Cruise and Montana Brew Bus are offering brewery tours
• KXLY Radio in Spokane is considering organizing 1— 3 bus trips to Kalispell as a promotion
• Dorothy Meyers brought in a Bring It Home lead for MT National Guard
6. Event Grant — Hockaday Museum of Art's Timeless Legacy
Board action: Motion was made by Zac Ford to award a $500 cash grant and provide in -kind assistance
with coordinating hotel discounts for artists. Motion was seconded by Dawn Hendrickson.
Discussion: even though the event takes place during peak summer season, it brings value to the
community through association with an extremely high quality international event. Board approved
unanimously.
7. Next TBID board meeting date will be August 8 since Diane will be returning form a leadership summit on
the regular meeting date of August 1.
Meeting was adjourned at 4:45 PM.
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, please contact:
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808