Mendocino County Lodging Association Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 Harbor Lite Lodge, Fort Bragg, Ca
The meeting was called to order by President Jan Rodriguez at 1:20pm. Present were: Jason Hurst, Mike Bradbook, Cally Dym, Renata Dorn, Jan Rodriguez, Pam Amante, Josie Perla, Jeff Stanford Phone: Denny Shah, Jo Bradley, Stuart Marcus
Visit Mendocino County Inc. Staff: Scott Schneider, Aimee Hanson, Richard Strom Visitor: Jonie James with Stevenswood, Justin Calvino with EcoMotion, Carolyn Cathey with MAPA, Bert Mosier with Ukiah Chamber (phone)
Privilege of the Floor Richard Strom expressed concern of the Art Centers decision to cancel the Annual Thanksgiving Craft Fair. Jeff will talk to the new executive director and let her know of the Board’s concern Renata reported that she is pained to print the board packet. She would like us to look into buying a projector to enable us to do a PowerPoint presentation. VMC staff to look into request Pam is attending the Fort Bragg Promotion Committee and the North Coast Chamber meeting next week in order to increase overall communication and partnership possibilities within the Fort Bragg community. She will report back.
President’s Report Jan welcomed all new and returning BOD members
Approval and Posting of Last Meeting’s Minutes - Jeff motions to approve minutes from the July meeting. Mike seconds. Motion Passes.
Treasurer’s Report Jo reported: Update on Current Financial Status: There was money collected from the lawsuit between the County and the Heritage House. We should be receiving the funds with our July BID check. A letter received from the DA’s office was read to the Board announcing the settlement of the lawsuit. No monies have been received for the 2009-2010 FY to date. Year End report for FY 2008-2009: BOD has been very fiscally responsible to date as the total contingency is over $160,000.00 The goal after three years was $100,000.00. Some minor expenses are yet to be paid, with the budget being met for the 2008-2009 FY. VMC Requests $100,000.00 of Initial Contractual Funding: Jeff motions: MCLA to provide a $50,000.00 advance on the first major check should that check not be received by September 8th. An additional $50,000.00 will be advanced, if necessary. VMC will have pay off the total advance by the end of December, if not sooner. Cally seconds. Motion passes
Administration Report VMC President’s Report - Annual Meeting: Aimee reported that the Meeting will be held Sept. 24 from 3:00 – 7:00 at Parducci Winery in Ukiah. There will be the annual meeting part plus prizes, food and winery tours. Cally distributed regional call lists to all Board members to have them call and invite lodging members in their areas. Board members are to report back to Cally once calls have been made. Update on activities and Visit Mendocino County, Inc: o Fall advertising campaign has begun. o Co-Op with San Jose CVB will be published in January. o Social Media is going strong with Twitter and Facebook. o Search Engine Marketing is in effect and Distinctive Arrangements is doing an excellent job making sure the optimization is supporting the marketing. o The RFP for the gomendo.com website redesign has been sent out. If anyone has any suggested firms, please send to Scott ASAP. o Public Relations is going strong. We have had many articles written about Mendocino, ie; Scholastic Magazine, Coastal Living, Meetings West, Sunset, and Via Magazines. o Group and Leisure sales: Richard is attending a bridal show at Claremont in January. Richard is attending the sportsman show in Bay Area & Sacramento, in January. o Visitor Center and Signage: we are working with CalTrans to find locations for gateway signs. CalTrans allows two signs on their property. o NCTC has applied for a grant with the state to work with Australia and New Zealand. A second grant has been applied to work with the Central Coast to develop itineraries in Korean, Japanese and Chinese languages. Since we administer NCTC we save the $7,500.00 membership. NCTC placed a full page ad in the California editions of the UK/Germany guides. o Update on Visitor Guide distribution and comments received: . Scott reported that most feedback has been very positive. Some properties have shown concern for how much editorial some properties received versus others. Properties with stories to tell that are known generally received editorial. . A more comprehensive list of Festivals will be included with the next guide with a statement asking people to go to gomendo.com for a complete listing. . There is a comment form on gomendo.org and all are encouraged to submit comments on how to improve the guide next year. These comments will be considered when planning for next year’s guide has begun. . MCLA will consider whether the accommodation chart will remain in next year’s guide or if a separate brochure should be produced. VMC will need additional funds for the guide should the accommodation chart remain. This is to be put on the November agenda. . VMC has rights to use the John Birchard photos used in the Guide for county wide promotion. . Distribution – 75,000 – 20,000 direct mail; 20,000 trade shows and sales calls; 35,000 CA events (Airstream program), CA Welcome Centers, Visitor Centers and other distribution points in the Bay Area & Sacramento Valleys.
Update on activities and Visit Mendocino County, Inc.: Partnership Requests: 1. EcoMotion Mendocino - $5,000 requested – Tabled until October meeting 2. Ford House Visitor Center - $24,000 – Tabled until October meeting 3. Ukiah Chamber of Commerce - $25,000 – Tabled until October meeting Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens - $1,000 – Jeff motion that we give the Botanical Gardens $1K to use any way they wish for this fiscal year. Cally seconds. Motion passes Jeff motions that Jan and Scott reformat the partnership application so that it meets the criteria of receiving requests at least 30 days prior to the Board considering the request and states explicitly our mission. It is recommended that October & April are the only dates to review funding. Jason seconds. Motion Passes.
Old Business - Update on [email protected] legal use – Jo reported that the attorney that we hired did what he said he would do. There has been no more use of this email address. Google is aware of what was happening. If there is further use, the attorney will take further action. By-Laws revision(s) – update & recommendation from committee – Discussion ensued regarding members being removed or resigning. Non attendance or non participation should be addressed in the By Laws; we need a procedure to remove a board member. If a board member misses four (4) BOD meetings that member is out. In an emergency situation…there can be excused meetings. “Excused Absences” are approved by the board due to hardship. A board member is “Unexcused” if they did not provide an excuse prior to the BOD Meeting. A Board Member needs to provide an excuse before the meeting and will be excused at the missed meeting. Jeff motions to approve the By Laws with the two changes. Cally seconds. Motion Passes. o Scott reminded the board that a document needs to go out by mail – give them 7 days to comment then based on the comments we adopt the comments o Jo will send it to the committee members, send it to John Lambeth to get his feedback and have it to Scott within 10 days
New Business Heritage Website Proposal - $2,375: Josie motions to accept the proposal and commit to two years spending no more than $5,000. Pam seconds. Motion Passes. PGA Tour Funding Request - $5,000 – Jeff moves to set aside $5K to be dispersed by VMC as necessary. The money is to go into the Visiting Media Budget. Jason seconds. Motion passes. MCPA Representatives – Three needed to replace Pam, Jan and Scott. Jeff will take Jan’s seat. Pauline will be contacted to replace Pam. Jason will replace Scott
Next Meeting - Scheduled for October 7th, Willits, at Baechtel Creek Inn from 1-4pm
Adjournment - Cally motioned to adjourn at 4:30pm