05-03-17 Tourism Business Improvement District MinutesBoard of Directors Meeting
Kalispell Tourism Business Improvement District
May 3, 2017
3:00 pm — 5:00 pm
Location: Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Minutes
Board Members Present: Zac Ford, Dawn Hendrickson, Shawn Campbell, Janet Clark
Board Members Absent: Lisa Brown, Laurie Otto -Bradford, Dan Moderie
Staff Present: Diane Medler, Joe Unterreiner, Vonnie Day
Meeting was called to order by Dawn Hendrickson at 3:05 PM.
1. Hear from the Public— no public comments
2. Board Action Items
a. Approve minutes from the April 5, 2017 meeting:
Action: Motion was made by Zac Ford to approve the minutes. Motion seconded by Dawn
Hendrickson. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
b. TBID financial statements for March, 2017:
Action: Motion was made by Janet Clark to approve the financial statements. Motion seconded by
Zac Ford. Discussion: none. Board approved unanimously.
3. Board Discussion
a. Board member update:
Dent Davis has vacated his board seat since he has moved to Ohio. Laurie Otto -Bradford will cover
Dent's seat at least until the new Hilton Garden Inn GM arrives.
b. Event Updates:
Spartan Race - 750-800 participants are anticipated for the Spartan Guinness World Record Burpee
attempt May 6 in Depot Park. The existing world record is 689. Guinness has strict rules and
requires a lot of documentation. The Spartan Race takes place May 6 — 7 with 7,000 racers expected
over the weekend.
Indoor Soccer — a logo has been selected, the fairgrounds have been reserved the first weekend in
March of 2018, URL has been purchased and a simple website is under construction.
Event lodging packages — packages are needed for the spring drive market campaign focused on the
Bigfork Whitewater Festival, Bigfork Summer Theater and The Event at Rebecca Farm.
Dragon Boat - the Dragon Boat lodging package page of the website includes information about the
free event transportation on board the Dragon Bus that will be provided to guests registered at
Kalispell hotels during the festival. RFP issued for host hotel for the Rocky Mountain Championship
teams, Red Lion was selected.
Glacier Half Marathon — the tribe is requiring that the camping area for the event be moved to the
Browning fairgrounds. The course ends at East Glacier Lodge. More than 2,200 racers have
registered with total participation projected at 2,500. Running/travel writer from Atlanta will
participate. She will spend two days exploring Kalispell before heading to the race.
Group, M&C Updates:
Dawn is currently attending the RMI Conference in Bismarck, ND. She's observing the conference
logistics and activities and will give a presentation about next year's event in Kalispell. Dawn's
activities have included: working with Elite Legacy Education on meeting space, meeting with Doug
Russell to discuss the Montana city manager conference in 2018, working with the Leonberger Dog
Club on a March 2019 conference, helping facilitate a Rotary conference for 150 and a group of 30
at the Great Northern Resort. Dawn reminds everyone that the CVB provides welcome bags for
groups of all sizes.
d. Marketing Updates:
Website unique visits are flat or down slightly for 15Y Quarter, year over year. Visits from CA
increased 95% due to winter campaign. WA, TX, FL, CO were down. Alberta is up slightly over last
year. Spring/Summer Campaign - the drive market segment of the spring/summer campaign uses
social media to direct traffic to our website and highlight lodging packages for major local events.
The spring/summer campaign also includes promotions in the San Francisco area due to the summer
direct flight on United and building on the destination awareness from the winter digital and out of
home promotion. Press Trips — CVB will host two press trips in June, Adventure Cycling featuring
several bicycle trails in our area and Points North, an adventure publication based out of Atlanta
which includes time in Kalispell and the Glacier Half Marathon.
e. Legislative Updates:
Budget Stabilization Fund included an 8.1% reduction to MOTBD. Funding to fight invasive species
was approved. Indian Tourism bill was approved which directs 0.5% of bed tax funding that goes to
MOTBD to the State Tribal Economic Development Commission.
Meeting was adjourned at 3:42 PM
Respectfully Submitted: Diane Medler
For Further Information, please contact:
Diane Medler, CVB Director, diane@discoverkalispell.com or 406-758-2808