April 2023 Board Meeting Minutes and Recording

The audio recordings and director's presentation of the April 2023 Board Meeting can be accessed here:

April 2023 Board Meeting Recording 1.mp3

April 2023 Board Meeting Recording 2.mp3

April 2023 Board Meeting Presentation

Please find the meeting minutes below:
Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau
Board of Directors Meeting
April 24, 2023 – 2:00 p.m.
The Wool Factory

PRESENT: Cecil Banks, Andrea Copeland, Russ Cronberg, Chris Engel, Susan Krischel, Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Jay Pun, Gabe Silver, Danny Shea, Juandiego Wade, John Wharton. (Presence of Cecil Banks, Andrea Copeland, and Jay Pun is not reflected in roll call on the recording.)

ABSENT: Mariane Doyle, Roger Johnson

ALSO ATTENDING: Lauren Bohdan, Courtney Cacatian, Brantley Ussery, Jay Simple, Matt Lawless, Diantha McKeel, Veronica Dumas.

1. CALL TO ORDER

Chairman Gabe Silver called the meeting to order at 2:06 PM.

a. Roll Call: Gabe Silver invited Lauren Bohdan to perform the roll call.

b. Industry Presentation: Gabe invited Courtney to introduce Jay Simple from the Bridge Progressive Arts Institute. Jay spoke on the organization and its endeavors, as well as his connection to the Arts in Charlottesville.

c. Consent Agenda: Gabe Silver asked for input on the consent agenda. A motion was made to approve the December meeting minutes. The minutes were approved and the consent agenda was passed.

d.  FY2024 Budget Adjustment Presentation: Courtney presented notes on amended budget lines in FY2024 Budget, namely increases in Salaries, Information Technology, and Lease, and decreases in Advertising and Promotion.

e.  Director's Report: Courtney presented the Director's Report. Highlights include the Albemarle Public Schools Job Fair, Interview with Virginia Tourism on Drive 2.0 Projects, DEAI Cohort Museum Meeting, VA250 Vision Meeting, and Central VA DMO's meeting.

f.  Hotel Performance: Courtney presented a few charts indicating hotel performance through March of 2023, with past performance dating back to 2018. Performance remains strong as compared to other localities around the state of Virginia.

g.  Marketing and PR Update: Courtney invited Brantley Ussery, the Director of Marketing and PR for the CACVB to present the Marketing and Public Relations Update. Highlights of the Marketing and PR efforts included national advertising successes with Food and Wine as well as Travel and Leisure publications. Click-through on ads and articles were well above the benchmark for publications as was the average time on page. Target Market Advertising successes included the Baltimore, MD and Charlottes, NC regions and targeted efforts lifting these regions from 9th and 10th in website traffic to 4th and 5th. Content Creation Update included a large increase in blog posts created year-over-year, as well as a diversification of topics. A complete overhaul of the official visitor guide has been completed over the winter months and a proof should be available at the next board meeting. These guides are distributed at the Mobile Visitor Centers, by City Select, and State Welcome Centers, through mailings and bulk orders, as well as digitally. Public Relations Update included ESPN's 3-Day Weekend Series in Charlottesville as well as "Get out of Town" spot on WETA-TV in Washington, DC. A restructure of the Marketing and PR team has added the position of Social Media and Content Manager and will allow one person to focus on owned media, paid media, and earned media respectively.

h.  Sales Efforts: Courtney gave an update on the CACVB’s sales efforts. Teresa has had meetings with many local partners including Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyards, the Virginia Discovery Museum, Camp Holiday Trails, the Comfort Inn-Monticello, and more. She has also attended a number of events including the SGMP Chapter Meeting, Itinerary Building workshop with the City of Lynchburg, Tourism Society Domestic Showcase, and others. 16 RFPs were received and distributed and one familiarization tour was hosted.

i.  Visitor and Community Relations Update: Mobile Visitor Center statistics were presented. The Visitor Services team is currently down a Travel Specialist, which is affecting the number of shifts. Almost 10,000 individual items have been distributed since the start of the Mobile Visitor Center debut in early March. Visitor Interests are topped by Historic Garden Week and Agritourism, The Downtown Mall and UVA, Trails and Parks, and Family-Friendly Experiences. Wheel the World has performed over 60 accessibility assessments for local partners and will be filming a promotional video in Charlottesville. A job fair was held at Monticello High School on March 15th with 18 employers. Roughly 650 students engaged with local employers.

j. Public Comments: No Public Comments.

k. Board Announcements: Russ spoke on working with the Charlottesville 10-Miler to grow the event in the future, and how the CACVB could assist with this endeavor. Jay noted that Chimm would be hosting the Very Asian VA Celebration at the Yard at 5th Street Station on May 13th from 2 PM to 5 PM. Activities will include music, art, food, and wine tasting. Susan noted working with the Friends of Downtown Cville to host a plant sale and encourage local businesses to add to their storefront. There will also be months along the downtown mall all during late May and June, including a Spring Cocktail Stroll. Chalkfest will be held downtown on May 20th with 13 local artists creating murals from the pavilion to the Dairy Market and the Quirk Hotel. The 3rd Annual Charlottesville Arts Festival will be held on May 27th. Gabe announced that May 7th through the 13th is National Tourism and Travel Week and encouraged those with owned media to make a post about how tourism has affected their business in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

l. Closed Session: Gabe made a motion to convene a closed meeting. Bea LaPisto-Kirtley seconded the motion. The board voted to convene a closed meeting.

m. Certification of Closed Meeting: A motion was made to certify the closed meeting. The Board voted to certify the meeting.

n. Post-Closed Meeting: A motion was made by Gabe to offer Courtney an additional two weeks of paid time off as a one-time recognition of her great work over the past four years. The motion was tabled until June Board Meeting.

Chairman Gabe Silver adjourned the meeting at 4:08 PM.