Agenda


NOTICE OF SEPTEMBER 13, 2023 REGULAR MEETING OF MEMBERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
To: Board of Directors and Members PURSUANT to the call of a majority of the Board of Directors named in the Certificate of Formation of the Corporation, NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Directors and the Members of The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau, a Texas non-profit corporation (the “Corporation”), will meet at the principal office of the Corporation, at 2801 Technology Forest Boulevard, The Woodlands, Texas 77381, on September 13, 2023, at 8:30 a.m., for the purpose of:


1.					Pledge of Allegiance;

2.					Call to order and adoption of Agenda;

3.					Public Comment;

4.					Consider and approve Minutes from the August 2023 Special Board Meeting;

5.					Consider and approve Financial Report through July 2023;

6.					Receive, consider and act upon the retirement of Vice Chairman Fred Domenick;

7.					Receive, consider and act upon the election of a Director to Visit The Woodlands Board of Directors;

8.					Receive, consider and act upon the appointment of a Vice Chairman;

9.					Receive, consider and act upon the request to negotiate a contract for Destination Marketing Media Buying & Creative Services;

10.					Receive, consider and act upon Staff Initiatives;

11.					Receive, consider and act upon the request to negotiate a contract for Destination Marketing and Management Reporting Software;

12.					President’s Report;

13.					Recess to Executive Session to discuss matters relating to real property pursuant to §551.072, Texas Government Code; deliberation of economic development negotiations pursuant to §551.087, Texas Government Code; discuss personnel matters pursuant to §551.074, Texas Government Code; and to consult with the Corporation's attorney pursuant to §551.071, Texas Government Code;

14.					Reconvene in public session

15.					Board Announcements;

16.					Agenda items for next meeting;

17.					Adjournment.

Dated at The Woodlands, Texas, the 13th day of September, 2023.

______________________________________________________
President of The Woodlands Convention & Visitors Bureau


CVB Special Board Meeting		4.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:
Consider and approve Minutes from the August 2023 Special Board Meeting;
BACKGROUND:

RECOMMENDATION

Attachments
VTW August 2023 Minutes


CVB Special Board Meeting		5.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:
Consider and approve Financial Report through July 2023;
BACKGROUND:

RECOMMENDATION

Attachments
July 2023 Financial Report CVB


CVB Special Board Meeting		6.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:
Receive, consider and act upon the retirement of Vice Chairman Fred Domenick;
BACKGROUND:
It’s with mixed emotions, Visit The Woodlands Board of Directors and Staff accept the retirement of Fred Domenick as Vice Chairman and as a Director. Fred is an initial founding Director on The Woodlands Convention & Visitor Bureau’s Board of Directors. He also has retired by Marriott International where he served as General Manager of The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center. He retired after a 40 year career with Marriott. Fred started as a Banquet Houseman at the Providence Marriott Hotel while attending Johnson and Wales University. Upon graduation he earned many promotions leading to the Beverage Manager for the Hotel and nightclub. Fred went on to be the Assistant Food and Beverage Director, then Food and Beverage Director for Marriott’s Hotel Galvez, where he won several Food and Beverage awards. More importantly, while there 35 years ago, Fred met his wife, Astrid. In 1988, Fred joined Marriott International at the Downtown St. Louis Marriott Pavilion as Director of Restaurants. Fred was then promoted to Director of Food and Beverage at the St. Louis Airport Marriott, where he won several awards including best overall Food and Beverage department for the region. Thereafter, he became Director of Operations at the South Bend Marriott where he won the Mustang leadership award. He was then promoted to Director of Operations at Marriott’s Lincolnshire Resort, where the hotel won Hotel of the year in 2000. Fred returned back to The South Bend Marriott as General Manager where he won the Leadership Excellence Award for the Midwest region. In 2006, Fred was promoted to be General Manager of the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and the rest is history. In 2007, Fred was General Manager of the Year for the Americas. In 2013, the Woodlands Waterway Marriott was awarded the Hotel of the Year for Marriott. During Fred’s tenure, the Woodlands also won Event Management awards for the Americas in 2007 and 2011 and he was a proud member of the first General Managers Advisory Committee. Finally, capping off Fred’s amazing career, the Woodlands Waterway Marriott won Hotel of the Year in 2022! Outside the hotel Fred chaired the Houston Business council for six years and hosted the Children’s Miracle network Torch relay for twelve years. Fred took great pride in the countless leaders he saw develop, grow, and be promoted through the years including numerous General Managers. Fred was vice chair of the Woodlands CVB, a Woodlands Rotary Club member, part of the Houston Hotel Association, the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association and a board member of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. In retirement, Fred plans to spend more time with his family, enjoying South Padre Island, Lake Conroe, traveling, fishing, and a wide array of other sporting events. We are so grateful for Fred’s many contributions. Please join us in wishing Fred all the best as he enters this new exciting chapter.
RECOMMENDATION
Accept the retirement of Fred Domenick as Vice Chairman and Director of The Woodlands Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Attachments
No file(s) attached.


CVB Special Board Meeting		7.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:
Receive, consider and act upon the election of a Director to Visit The Woodlands Board of Directors;
BACKGROUND:
With the retirement of Fred Domenick as a Director, there is an opportunity to fill this vacancy with on the Board. The Chairman is recommending Jennifer Gohagan to replace Mr. Domenick on the Board. Jennifer is the General Manager of The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, effective August 21, 2023. Ms. Gohagan started her Marriott career journey 29 years ago with Stouffer / Renaissance Hotels in St. Louis, working first as Event Manager, then as Sales Manager and finally as Director of Reservation Sales. From there, Ms. Gohagan went on to hold leadership roles in Revenue Management, was promoted to Director of Market Strategy in St. Louis and then, New Orleans. There, Ms. Gohagan served as Area Director of Revenue Management supporting hotels in CALA, Florida and New Orleans and ultimately crossed over as Area Director, Select Service/Extended Stay supporting MSB hotels in the Southeast. From there, Ms. Gohagan was promoted to Hotel Manager for the 1110-room Sheraton New Orleans, where she supported total hotel operations and led the property to achieve record high rooms profit margin. In her most recent role as General Manager of the Houston Marriott Medical Center / Museum District, Ms. Gohagan led the property to strong overall results, all while successfully completing public space and lobby transformations and, introducing three new food and beverage outlets at the hotel. Ms. Gohagan is an insightful and collaborative leader who brings vast experience and leads her teams to achieve best-in-class balanced scorecard results. Since arriving in Houston in 2021, Ms. Gohagan has become actively involved, serving as Co-Chair for the Houston Marriott Business Council and on the Board of Directors with the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Houston and the Houston Hospitality Alliance (former GHCVB). Ms. Gohagan is looking forward to moving to The Woodlands area and immersing herself in the amazing community.
RECOMMENDATION
To consider Jennifer Gohagan to Visit The Woodlands Board of Directors.

Attachments
No file(s) attached.


CVB Special Board Meeting		8.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:

Receive, consider and act upon the appointment of a Vice Chairman;

BACKGROUND:

In accordance with the Bylaws of The Woodlands Convention and Visitors Bureau (TWCVB), a 501 (c) (6) nonprofit corporation, the Board of Directors of TWCVB is charged with the responsibility of electing Officers of TWCVB and Officers to serve on the Board of Directors for TWCVB. The election of Officers by Directors take place at the Annual Meeting at the principal office of TWCVB, 2801 Technology Forest Boulevard, The Woodlands, Texas 77381. The most recent Annual Meeting took place on December 14, 2022 at 11:30 a.m.

At this meeting, the Directors elected Fred Domenick as the Vice Chairman. With his retirement, Directors will need to consider and vote on a new Vice Chairman.

Vice-Chairman: ______________________

RECOMMENDATION

Elect and appoint a Vice Chairman to serve Visit The Woodlands Board of Directors until the next Annual Meeting.

Attachments
No file(s) attached.


CVB Special Board Meeting		9.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:
Receive, consider and act upon the request to negotiate a contract for Destination Marketing Media Buying & Creative Services;
BACKGROUND:
The Woodlands Convention & Visitors Bureau (TWCVB, dba Visit The Woodlands) is the official destination marketing organization responsible for promoting The Woodlands to drive demand for both hotel and retail tax collections. The mission is to establish The Woodlands, Texas as a beautiful, lively and welcoming destination recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for first-class business, convention and leisure travel. Visit The Woodlands is a 501 (c) (6) organization funded by The Woodlands Township Hotel Occupancy Tax and managed by a Board of Directors whom oversee the mission, vision and budget of Visit The Woodlands. In 2018, TWCVB worked with its previous Agency of Record, Adcetera Design Studio, to develop a brand story and identity for The Woodlands. A new advertising campaign to reflect this branding was rolled out in 2018 with a new website following in 2020. As The Woodlands began to see the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry in 2020, Visit The Woodlands reduced advertising expenditures and moved media buying and creative services in-house. In 2021, TWCVB issued an RFP for these services and selected Madden Media, a well-known agency in the tourism industry, as the vendor. TWCVB is currently in the second year of a contract with Madden Media. In May of 2023, Visit The Woodlands Board of Directors authorized TWCVB to issue an RFP for Destination Marketing Media Buying & Creative Services. Visit The Woodlands had a team of 6 people with 70 years of destination marketing experience analyze the 18 proposals that were received. This list was narrowed down to 4 finalists, who were sent additional follow up questions. A final recommendation will be made to the Board of Directors for their review and/or approval.
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize Visit The Woodlands Chairman and President to negotiate a contract for Destination Marketing Media Buying & Creative Services.

Attachments
No file(s) attached.


CVB Special Board Meeting		11.
Meeting Date:	09/13/2023

SUBJECT MATTER:
Receive, consider and act upon the request to negotiate a contract for Destination Marketing and Management Reporting Software;
BACKGROUND:
The Woodlands Convention & Visitors Bureau (TWCVB, dba Visit The Woodlands) is the official destination marketing & management organization responsible for promoting The Woodlands to drive demand for both hotel and retail tax collections. Our mission is the establish The Woodlands, Texas as a beautiful, lively and welcoming destination recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for first-class business, convention and leisure travel. Visit The Woodlands is a 501 (c) (6) organization funded by The Woodlands Township Hotel Occupancy Tax and managed by a Board of Directors whom oversee the mission, vision and budget of Visit The Woodlands. Visit The Woodlands currently uses a reputable comparable vendor but after extensive research into destination marketing and management reporting software staff recommends a change in service to a vendor that offers valuable Spend Data to further illustrate economic impact. The software will provide Visit The Woodlands with in-depth information on visitors to The Woodlands, allowing the organization to make educated decisions related to sales and marketing efforts. An overview of the software is provided below. REPORTING SOFTWARE OVERVIEW Daily Visitation Intelligence: Daily visitation data for domestic and international travel to The Woodlands. Includes: top origin markets, length of stay, opportunity markets, 50 points of interest. Visitor Spend Data: Quarterly spend data for domestic and portion of international travel to The Woodlands with access to 70% of credit card transactions. Includes: total transactions, average purchase per visitor, revenue by category (retail, grocery, hotel, dining / nightlife, entertainment / recreation, gas stations and more), revenue by market, total visitors and total visitors by market. Destination Management Data: Integrates all Visit The Woodlands current reporting including: STR Reports, HOT Tax Reports, Simpleview CRM, Google Analytics, Media Monitoring, PR and others. Will also receive access to short-term rental data. Marketing Performance: Tracks paid media and paid social performance as well as Visit The Woodlands website contribution to visitation. Includes competitive intelligence for paid media, keywords insights and more. Questions this Software Answers: What is the overall visitation movement before, during and after an event? Where do visitors come from? How does visitation change over a given time period? Which markets drive the most visitor spend? Which markets should we be targeting to increase overnight visitors?
RECOMMENDATION
Seeking approval for the Board Chairman and TWCVB President to negotiate a contract for Destination Marketing and Management Reporting Software.

Attachments
Presentation