CVB BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 6, 2011

CVB BOARD MEETING MINUTES OF DECEMBER 6, 2011 CVB Board of Directors Members: Ahmed, Ikhlas Berlage, Merri Carroll, Matthew Farlow, Jess Gilpin, Hal CVB Staff: Althof, Mary Belger, Melosa Gratton, Judy McLane, Annette Murphy, Erin Schamberger, Helen Whiteside, Randy Ruffini, Celestino Walker, Katherine GUESTS: Hillary Dickerson and Dorian Dickinson Erin Murphy made a motion to accept the November 15, 2011 CVB board meeting minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Matthew Carroll. The motion passed by Matthew Carroll made a motion to open nominations for the CVB Board of Directors Matthew Carroll made a notion to appoint Jess Farlow as CVB Board of Directors

Merri Berlage made a motion to nominate Randy Whiteside as CVB Board of Directors Vicechairperson. The motion was seconded by Helen Schamberger. The motion passed by Merri Berlage made a motion to appoint Randy Whiteside as CVB Board of Directors Vicechairperson. The motion was seconded by Ikhlas Ahmed. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Merri Berlage made a motion to accept the committees as they stand with the addition of Hal Gilpin to the Visitor Services committee. The motion was seconded by Ikhlas Ahmed. The motion passed by Merri Berlage made a motion to appoint Hal Gilpin to the Event Planning and Management committee to replace Sandy Wolfram. The motion was seconded by Helen Schamberger. The motion passed by Ikhlas Ahmed made a motion to proceed with the RFP for website and SEO as presented. The motion was seconded by Randy Whiteside. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Ikhlas Ahmed made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:57 p.m. The motion was seconded by Matthew Carroll. The motion carried by CALL TO ORDER Merri Berlage called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. ROLL CALL Roll call was answered as follows: Present: Ikhlas Ahmed, Merri Berlage, Matthew Carroll, Jess Farlow, Hal Gilpin, Erin Murphy, Helen Schamberger and Randy Whiteside. Present: 7 CVB Staff present: Mary Althof, Melosa Belger and Katherine Walker. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM A quorum was established. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Merri Berlage welcomed the guests in attendance and new CVB Board member Hal Gilpin. Gilpin told the board a little about himself. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments at this time. 2

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 15, 2011, CVB BOARD MEETING Erin Murphy made a motion to accept the November 15, 2011 CVB board meeting minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Matthew Carroll. The motion passed by NEW BUSINESS a. ELECTION OF CVB BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRPERSON Randy Whiteside nominated Jess Farlow as CVB Board of Directors Chairperson. There were no further nominations. Matthew Carroll made a motion to close nominations for the CVB Board of Directors Chairperson. The motion was seconded by Randy Whiteside. The motion passed by 3 Matthew Carroll made a notion to appoint Jess Farlow as CVB Board of Directors b. ELECTION OF CVB BOARD OF DIRECTORS VICE-CHAIRPERSON Merri Berlage made a motion to nominate Randy Whiteside as CVB Board of Directors Vice-chairperson. The motion was seconded by Helen Schamberger. The motion passed by Merri Berlage made a motion to appoint Randy Whiteside as CVB Board of Directors Vice-chairperson. The motion was seconded by Ikhlas Ahmed. The motion passed by At this time, Jess Farlow took over as the CVB Board of Directors Chairperson. c. APPOINTMENT OF BOARD MEMBERS TO PROGRAM AREA COMMITTEES AND ASSIGNMENT OF CHAIRPERSONS TO EACH COMMITTEE Merri Berlage made a motion to accept the committees as they stand with the addition of Hal Gilpin to the Visitor Services committee. The motion was seconded by Ikhlas Ahmed. The motion passed by Merri Berlage made a motion to appoint Hal Gilpin to the Event Planning and Management committee to replace Sandy Wolfram. The motion was seconded by Helen Schamberger. The motion passed by d. ILLINOIS OFFICE OF TOURISM UPDATE Katherine Walker informed the board that we have already placed our ad in both the 2012 Il Visitors Guide and the 2012 Northern Illinois Visitors Guide. We received a call from Jan Kostner. The state is thinking of doing a special audit. A trigger is often a turnover in executive directors. The CVB has had three executive directors over the past five years. We do not know for sure yet if we will be audited or not. OTHER NEW BUSINESS There was no other new business at this time.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS a. SURVEY WITH UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, CONRAD HILTON COLLEGE OF HOTEL AND RESTAURANT MANAGEMENT APPROVED BY COUNTY BOARD ON 9/13/11 Dr. Draper has finished with the survey. There were over 1,000 completed surveys which were beyond their expectations. Out of those, more than 400 have specifically been to the Depot. He is on target to have a preliminary report to us in January and a full presentation in February. The winner of the $500 gift certificate was Susan Nicholson of Moline, IL. b. 2012 GALENA TRIATHLON & DUATHLON STATUS REPORT Katherine Walker reported that we did a bid. The information is due December 19 th for the triathlon suppliers. Melosa Belger is compiling information on the Lead Rush. Belger added that the Lead Rush athlete survey has been sent out. The survey is now closed and all the responses are in. Schamberger questioned results of the triathlon. The triathlon did make a little money and registration was down this year. Walker interjected that we will have further discussion when we get the bids in and know exactly what the costs are. c. UPDATE ON RFP FOR DESTINATION MARKETING AGENCY FOR FISCAL YEAR 2012 Katherine Walker commented that proposals are due on December 15, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. We will open at 1:30 p.m. and then post official notice of who has responded or who came in past the deadline. We will start to go through them on December 16, 2011 to make sure they included everything that was asked for. If not complete we ll make a notation when Sales and Marketing starts their work this is incomplete in this respect. d. DISCUSSION, RECOMMENDATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON RFP FOR WEBSITE AND SEO Ikhlas Ahmed made a motion to proceed with the RFP for website and SEO as presented. The motion was seconded by Randy Whiteside. The motion passed by OTHER OLD BUSINESS Matthew Carroll questioned whether we were ready or not for the triathlon sign-up to go live on January 1, 2012. Walker replied that the bid is due December 19 th and depending on that information we could move forward. Perhaps there would be a special meeting called as you evaluate the RFP s for the ad agency and we could add the triathlon sign-up to that agenda. Melosa Belger added that there is still the issue of SignMeUp.com or Active.com that was never taken care of when she submitted the SignMeUp.com contract for approval. There is more to it than just the race management company. The on-line registration service is the first step to getting registration up and going. Belger then explained the differences between the two registration services. 4

Merri Berlage questioned why we couldn t register ourselves. There was much discussion regarding online payments through the county. Basically we have to leave it where it is right now and move on from there. Going forward next year we will have the discussion as to exactly what we want to do with that. Berlage stated it would be advantageous to call Joe Kratcha at the courthouse to see what he can help us with this matter. Katherine Walker will decide. MARKETING/WEBSITE UPDATE REPORT Dorian Dickinson presented the December, 2011 CVB Board Marketing Update Report. The report covered the 2012 Il Bureau of Tourism Visitors Guide and the 2012 Chicago & Beyond Tourism Development Office Visitors Guide; Shop Away While on Holiday campaign; Give the Gift of a Getaway campaign; and Additional December Emails Planned: Come Visit the White Side and Discover A New You. BOARD MEMBER COMMENTS Ikhlas Ahmed inquired if anyone knew about the monthly meetings at the DeSoto House Hotel for large lodging. Erin Murphy responded that they are run by Richard Forester of visitgalena and Dan Kelly of the DeSoto and that there have only been two meetings. Matthew Carroll commented that he had some guests last weekend who commented on how impressed they were with downtown Galena s stores being open later. He had some other guests who had been here a couple of years ago that were impressed with the amount and quality of the stores downtown as opposed to a couple of years ago. Jess Farlow thanked the board for reappointing him as the board chairperson. Erin Murphy commented that Chestnut Mountain Resort is planning to open for the season on Friday, December 9 th. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments at this time. CLOSED SESSION There was no closed session at this time. POSSIBLE ACTION AS A RESULT OF CLOSED SESSION ITEMS ADJOURN Ikhlas Ahmed made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:57 p.m. The motion was seconded by Matthew Carroll. The motion carried by NEXT CVB BOARD MEETING 6:00 P.M., TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2012 JO DAVIESS COUNTY COURTHOUSE 5