February 2024 Board Meeting Minutes and Recording

The audio recording and the director's presentation of the February 2024 Board Meeting can be accessed here:

February 2024 Board Meeting Recording.mp3

February 2024 Board Meeting Presentation - Director's Report

February 2024 Board Meeting Presentation - SIR Stakeholder Engagement

Resolution to Schedule Regular Meeting Dates

Please find the meeting minutes below:
Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau
Board of Directors Meeting
February 26, 2024 – 2:00 p.m.
The Quirk Hotel Charlottesville

PRESENT: Cecil Banks, Russ Cronberg, Chris Engel, Rebecca Ivins, Emily Kilroy, Bea LaPisto-Kirtley, Jennifer Lyon, Jaruchan Palakawongs, Jay Pun, Danny Shea, Jay Simple, Brad Uhl, Juandiego Wade, John Wharton (Presence of Rebecca Ivins and Danny Shea not reflected in the recording)

ABSENT: Francois Abadie

ALSO ATTENDING: Courtney Cacatian, Lauren Bohdan, Rachel Yost, Becky Chipman, Roy Van Doorn

1. CALL TO ORDER

Chair Bea LaPisto-Kirtley called the meeting to order at 2:00 PM.

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

b. New Board Member Introductions: The new members of the CACVB board beginning at the February 2024 meeting went through to introduce themselves and highlight the businesses and organizations they were associated with.

c. Establish Meeting Schedule: A motion was made to approve the future board meeting times and dates through February of 2025. A vote was taken and all present members approved. The resolution was further resolved.

d. Election of Officers: A motion was made to have Bea LaPisto-Kirtley serve as chair of the board, and Russ Cronberg to serve as the vice chair of the board moving forward for one year. All present board members agreed, the motion passed.

e. Rules & Procedures: No new rules or procedures were discussed. The group noted the use of Roberts Rules when conducting board meetings. A motion was made to verify that Roberts Rules would be used in this year’s board meetings. All present members approved, motion passed.

f. Consent Agenda & Financial Statement: Bea asked if all members had seen the minutes and financial statement. A motion was made to approve the December meeting minutes and financial statement. The minutes and financial statement were approved, and the consent agenda was passed.

g. FY2025 Budget Presentation: Courtney first presented the plan to spend the fund balance from the previous fiscal year. A motion was made to approve the expenditures in the fund balance. The motion passed. A question was asked on how a fund balance of the size noted happened, and Courtney provided additional clarity on this. Courtney presented the proposed draft budget for FY2025. A question was asked on what would be done to highlight the recent Wine Enthusiast Wine Star Award. Courtney noted future marketing efforts and associated budget allocations.

h. Tourism Improvement District Presentation: Russ presented on the Tourism Improvement District as a way to help increase the budget for the CACVB. Russ noted that the Boar’s Head Resort marketing budget is actually larger than the budget for the CACVB. Chris clarified the CACVB funding formula through Transient Occupancy Tax as it currently stands. Russ proposed a follow-up board meeting that included Civitas, an organization well-versed in the processes involved with utilizing a Tourism Improvement District. Russ also noted that it commonly takes ten to twelve months after a decision is made to pursue the TID before funds are made available.

i. Amendment to the Resolution to Schedule Meetings: A motion was made to amend the resolution to schedule meetings in order to add a regularly scheduled board meeting on March 7th at 11 AM at the Boar’s Head Resort. The motion passed.

j. SIR Presentation: Rachel presented key metrics from qualitative interview with local stakeholders as well as short surveys used to help in the development of the Tourism Master Plan. There were 14 interviews. Interview key findings saw natural beauty, wineries, history, and UVA as regions greatest assets. Among other notes, the tourism industry would like to see more midweek business, longer stays, and more packages/partnerships. SIR also conducted a short survey that was sent to over 1000 local partners with 76 respondents. Majority of respondents felt that tourism is growing in the region, but there was also a sentiment that affordability will be the largest challenge to Charlottesville being a great place for visitors. A large area with room for development pertained to transportation infrastructure. A question was posed from the board to see the demographic breakdowns for the interview respondents, especially a breakdown of people of color. It was noted that six of the fourteen interviews were with people of color. A question was also posed from the board of how you would make the destination more affordable in the way of wine and history. Representatives from SIR then went on to present the SWOT Analysis for 2024, and compared it with the SWOT Analysis created in 2020. The board spoke on additions to the 2024 analysis, as well as reflected on the current map. SIR will utilize this input to continue working on a CACVB vision for 2025, and leveraging the SWOT analysis to achieve this. Courtney suggested the opportunity to have SIR lead some further community discussions in regards to the development of the Tourism Master Plan.

k. Public Comment: No Public Comment.

l. Board Announcements: Courtney took a moment to highlight the upcoming Tourism and Hospitality Job Fairs in partnership with Albemarle County Public Schools during the first week of March, as well as pointed out how to sign up if interested in participating.

Chair Bea LaPisto-Kirtley adjourned the meeting at 4:02 PM.