02-01-17 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
February 1, 2017
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Minutes
Board Members Present: Janet Clark, Lisa Brown, Zac Ford, Laurie Otto -Bradford
Board Members Absent: Dawn Hendrickson, Dan Moderie, Nautam Patel
Staff Present: Diane Medler, Joe Unterreiner, Dawn Jackson, Vonnie Day
Visitors: Rob Brisendine; Jack Thatcher and Dan Schmauch, Kalispell PeeWee Baseball; Dent Davis, Hilton Garden Inn;
Kathryn Houghton, Daily Inter Lake; Joe Carbonari, Kalispell Chamber Board
Meeting was called to order by Janet Clark at 3:14 PM.
1. Hear from the Public— no public comments
2. Event Grant Application —Jack Thatcher and Dan Schmauch presented information about the Firecracker
Baseball Tournament June 30 —July 2.
3. Safety Awareness Updates — none
4. KCVB Event Sponsorship Report — Futsal Indoor Soccer Montana State Tournament, Rob provided
updates on the event. Two tentative dates have been penciled in for 2018: January 26 — 28 and February
2 -4. Proposed Management Agreement with Montana Sports Indoors (MSI) has been laid out. MSI will
be responsible for event infrastructure, staffing and management. KCVB will retain ownership of the
event and handle branding, marketing and facility lease. Turf sponsors will be needed to fund the
purchase of additional turf necessary to accommodate goal of 100 teams. Other cities in the region are
considering a futsal tournament. It will be to our advantage to be the first to launch one.
5. Board Discussion
a. Legislative session: update on bills pertaining to tourism - Dee Brown's bill to creative a trade center in
Calgary was tabled. A bill to expand airline revenue guarantees is scheduled for a hearing next week.
b. Pond Hockey recap — 72 teams competed, weather was good and event went well. Positive
feedback was received from teams and spectators. 80+ volunteers worked more than 400 hours.
Most properties had team business over the weekend. A local videographer is creating a film of the
event.
c. Event Updates - Spartan: the Montana Spartan Race continues to be one of the promoter's most
popular events. Dates are May 6 — 7. Incentives are being developed to attract racers to Kalispell
the Friday night before the event begins. Dragon Boat: The Rocky Mountain Championship (RMC)
has been launched to draw more competitive teams to the event and to increase overall
participation. Top teams from across the US and Canada have been invited to compete. Alida Tinch
of the Flathead DragonFlies represented the Montana Dragon Boat Festival at the Pacific Dragon
Boat Association annual meeting in Arizona. Glacier Half Marathon: 1,950 racers have registered to
date. The registration goal was 2,000. The race will take place June 24 with the course following
Looking Glass Highway and ending at East Glacier Lodge.
d. Group, M&C Updates — six key resources for meeting planners have been completed: a Linked In
page, a new trade show pull-up, the quarterly M&C enewsletter, an M&C Planning Guide, targeted
calls to recruit M&C business in the Tri-Cities, and the Bring It Home Campaign, an incentive
program to generate group business leads from local residents.
e. Marketing Updates — number of visits to website is down, however pages visited and time spent is
up. Glacier Half Marathon was the second highest referral site. Calgary regained its position as the
top city. Diane will attend the Calgary Outdoor Show in March. Star Report for December shows
economy properties up 20%, but ADR down 3.8%. Increase in economy class occupancy numbers
may be due to how dates fell for hockey jamborees and changes in Canadian travel patterns. KCVB
winter marketing campaign directed at the San Francisco market is wrapping up. It included a coop
out of home campaign with Montana Office of Tourism and Whitefish Mountain Resort to promote
the new United direct flight to San Francisco, along with social media campaign and promotion on
bay area travel blog promoting a contest to win a ski vacation in Kalispell.
6. Board Action
a. Approve minutes from the January 11, 2017 meeting:
Action: Motion was made by Lisa Brown to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Zac Ford.
Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. TBID financial statements for December, 2016:
Action: Motion was made by Janet Clark to approve the financial statements. Motion seconded by
Lisa Brown. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
c. Approval of projected revenue for FY2018:
Action: Motion was made by Lisa Brown to approve projected revenue at $560,000. Motion
seconded by Laurie Otto -Bradford. Discussion: last year's projection of $525,000 was conservative
with rollover funds of $180,000 available. Increased revenue for FY 2018 looks promising. New
properties have added to the room inventory and the Canadian economic situation appears to be
stabilizing. Board approved unanimously.
d. Approval of event grant to Kalispell Pee Wee Baseball's Firecracker Tournament
Motion was made by Lisa Brown to approve a $2,000 grant with the condition that the organization
transition to a pool play format which will encourage players to spend an additional night. Motion
was seconded by Laurie Otto -Bradford. Discussion: although the event is in its 491" year, organizers
continue to improve the tournament and are transitioning to a 70 foot format field which will attract
more teams from out of the area. They're also tentatively planning to change the nature of the
tournament to encourage all players to stay an additional day to compete in championship rounds.
e. Approval of funding for Indoor State Soccer Tournament
Motion was made by Zac Ford to approve up to $20,000 out of rollover funds. Motion was
seconded by Lisa Brown. Discussion: the tournament shows potential to be a long-term signature
event. Rob will continue to work out the agreement with MSI. He'll also present information to the
Flathead Soccer Club and research other potential turf sponsors.
Meeting was adjourned at 5:05 PM
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, please contact:
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808