MINUTES

Lawrence Convention & Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Attending

Board Members: Vicki Bentley, Karen Christilles, Doug Holiday, Richard Johnson, Brad Kemp, Maria Martin, Lisa Patterson, Tom Rost, Constance Wolfe

Guests: Carlos Mashek, KU student

Staff: Judy Billings, Brandy Ernzen, Susan Henderson, Lavern Squier, Debbie White

The meeting was called to order by chairman Doug Holiday. No minutes were available from the November 2003 meeting.

Financial Report

Billings briefly discussed the occupancy report; however year-end figures are not available from the state yet. She also noted that the staff is preparing the budget for the next fiscal year. Final year-end numbers and budget information should be available at the next board meeting.

Old Business

i. Jayhawks on Parade Final Report: Kemp announced that the project won the gold award for community relations from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. Henderson announced that the project was wrapping up, with only one insurance claim to be settled.

ii. Cowboy Winter Gathering: Martin mentioned that traffic appeared to be down from last year, but space allocations for vendors were improved this year. The event had good entertainment and that portion was well attended.

New Business

i. Stay the Night Ad Campaign: Henderson passed around the ads for the new winter Stay the Night campaign that will run in the Wichita Eagle, St. Louis Dispatch, Des Moines Register and Omaha World-Herald. Each ad focuses on a different angle on Lawrence—the arts and culture, golf, family activities and reunion activities—and each will have its own redirect on the Web site for easy tracking.

ii. Western Music Association Awards: Ron Desch had requested payment or sponsorship of $1200 for busses from the Holiday Inn Express to Liberty Hall for performers at the awards. Desch was not present to take questions, so the request will be held for the March meeting.

iii. New Developments with the KU Natural History Museum: Kemp addressed the Lawrence Journal-World editorial denouncing KU for taking the dinosaur exhibit to Union Station in Kansas City, Mo. At the current museum location, there is not sufficient room to display the exhibits. Kemp explained that the KU First fundraising campaign included a new dinosaur hall for the Natural History Museum, and that the Union Station partnership will not affect plans to build a new building for the dinosaur exhibit on the KU campus.

iv. TIAK Legislative Day: Billings announced that the CVB staff will participate in the TIAK Legislative Day at the Capitol Building on February 13.

Staff Updates of Involvement

Structural Changes within the Chamber and the CVB: Chamber President Lavern Squier addressed the board regarding organizational structure changes that have taken place over the past several months to more closely align all departments within the Chamber and CVB. As part of the change, the accounting system has moved from a cash-based to an accrual account system. Billings added that she gets a more condensed version of the financials than in the past, and that we should be on-target for the year-end financials.

Kansas Chautauqua Planning: Billings handed out a working schedule of Chautauqua events. Henderson and Billings explained that the Kansas Humanities Council has contracted with the LCVB to provide marketing services to the four Chautauqua host communities, and an intern has been hired to assist. Coverage of the events has already appeared in several publications.

Heritage Area Report: Billings supplied the board with copies of the draft legislation that will be sent to Congress once the National Park Service has finished reviewing it. She also provided a list of entities that have supplies letters of support and/or financial contributions to the project. Billings will travel to Washington, D.C., February 7 to meet with the Kansas National Delegation to gather support for the bill and to attend a Heritage Area meeting.

Sports Events & Conference Bids: Billings announced that she and Troy Roberts plan to meet with the KU Athletic Corporation about the possibility of placing a bid for the Shrine Bowl.

Meeting Adjourned

Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 24, 4:00 pm at Holiday Inn/Holidome