Mendocino County Lodging Association
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Baechtel Creek Inn, Willits, CA

The meeting was called to order by President Jan Rodriguez at 11:05pm. Present were Scott Schneider (ED), Cally Dym, Richard Strom, Josie Perla, Louis Bohannan (guest), Aimee Hanson (staff), Pauline Zamboni, Mike Bradbrook, Pam Amante, Jo Bradley, Christina Affinito, Stuart Marcus, Jason Hurst, Jitu Ishwar, Raakesh Patel. Phone: Renata Dorn

Privilege of the Floor
• Introductions were held
• Jo presented a letter from Anderson Valley wineries regarding the general plan that she has been asked to sign on behalf of the Lodging Association. Richard motions we support the letter by sending it out over the list serve and encouraging members to send letters on their own. Cally seconds. Motion Passes.
• Richard mentioned CA recently implemented a tax incentive for filming in the State of CA.

President’s Report – A member requests a copy of the editors that have visited in the past and where they have stayed. In the past, the Board decided this was information which was too specific to hand out to individual members. Members can have access to articles and our policy with placement of media.

Approval and Posting of Last Meeting’s Minutes
Pam moved to approve minutes from the April 1 meeting. Christina seconded. Motion passes. Mike motions to approve minutes from April 24 meeting. Richard seconds. Motion Passes.

Treasurer’s Report
Savings Account - $39,969.69
Checking Account - $11,103.49
Cally motions to approve treasurer’s report and updated financials. Josie seconds. Motion Passed.

MCPA Report:
• Invited local publications to meeting to discuss Visitors Guide- Roy from Mendocino County Travelers Guide attended
• Board Retreat scheduled for May 26 at Well Springs Resort in Philo
• SEM funding tabled to May 2009 meeting
• Giving the Roots of Motive Power 2K for marketing and development
• Giving $250 to Mendocino Heritage Days to help offset printing costs
• Approved the 2009-2010 Visit Mendocino County, Inc Marketing Plan
• Approved the 2009-2010 Visit Mendocino County, Inc budget
• Approved up to $1000 for the San Jose Meeting and Convention tradeshow
• Approved the Visitor Services plan put forth by Richard and the Visitor Center committee.
• Approved advertising on KKGN a Matter of Taste

Administration Report
• Attending TIA POW WOW on behalf of North Coast Tourism Council at no cost to MCLA
• Spring photo shoot is on schedule and will not exceed the $2,000 budgeted. Choice has been narrowed down to 3 local photographers and decision will be based on quality and availability
• Looking for volunteers to help with Sunset Show. Email will be sent over list serve. Board felt this was a good idea and support the idea of having members volunteered once they are briefed.
• Seeking ideas on topics and location for annual meeting in September; ideas were the Skunk Train (both trains meeting in Northspur), Parducci, Solar Living Committee consists of Jitu, Stuart, Jan. Time should be 2 – 6 or 7pm on Thursday, September 24.
• Questioned the Board as to the MCLA phone number and address – should it be kept once VMC is underway? Po Box in Little River should be kept as MCLA. 964-9010 should be kept as MCLA’s phone number.

Marketing Activities
• Partnership Requests
o Paul Bunyan Days – Requests $1,500 for their 2009 event – Cally motions to deny the Paul Bunyan Days request. However, they will be able to use the MCLA list serve to get donations for the event. Pam Seconds. Motion Passes.
o Mendocino Heritage Days – Requests $1,000 for May Festival – Jitu motions to approve $250 of funding. Stuart seconds. Motion Passes.
o EcoMotion Mendocino – Requests $5,000 – tabled to June meeting
o Yorkville Highlands Festival – Requests $1,000 – Cally motions to approve $1,000 for the festival. They must use the “M” on promotional materials and link gomendo on their website. They are encouraged to promote Mendocino County lodging in the promotion of their festival. Richard seconds. Motion Passes.

Old Business
• By-Laws – Sub-committee formed to look at VMC contract will also take another look at By-Law edits. Sub-Committee should bring back updated by-law revisions to Board at the June meeting. Pauline motions to turn over the review of the MCLA By-Laws to the current ad-hoc committee dealing with the VMC contract and report back with edited By-Laws at the June MCLA Board Meeting. Ad-hoc committee will also review VMC By-laws to ensure consistency. Jo seconds. Motion Passes.
• Contract with Visit Mendocino County, Inc. – subcommittee met with BID attorney. Meeting was very productive. Draft contract being written by BID attorney and will be presented to MCLA Board at a future meeting.

New Business
• VMC 2009-2010 Marketing Plan & Budget – Plan was discussed with edits requested regarding some wording. Requested to add “Advisory Board” to organizational chart as well as include a summary of “goals/outcomes” at the end of the plan. Jitu motions to approve marketing plan and budget with suggested edits. Pam seconds. Motion Passes.
• Updated trade show booth – request to use $2,500 of budgeted Joint Marketing funds – Pam motions we spend up to $2,500 to update trade show booth. Jitu seconds. Motion Passes.
• Request to use $12,000 budgeted Welcome Center funds for Countywide Visitor Center Enhancement – Monies requested to increase hours of operation as well as improve services including storage and bathroom facilities (port-o-potty), beautification, etc. Monies to be used between now and June 2010. Jitu motions to allocate the budgeted $12,000 under “Welcome Center” to a new line item titled “Visitor Services”. Cally seconds. Motion Passes.
• 2009-2010 Contract with County of Mendocino - draft presented with minor changes from 2008-2009 contract. Edits were suggested and changes. Under exhibit “B”, revert to language in 2006-2007 contract with regard to the matching fund % required by the County. Also the payment schedule needs to go according to the Ordinance stating we get paid within 30 days following the collection of the assessment. Richard to review past and proposed contracts and send comments to the Board by end of the week. Board will have time to review proposed changes. Updated contract will be brought to the Board at the next meeting.

Next Meeting
Scheduled for May 27 @ 1pm, Harbor Lite Lodge, Fort Bragg, if necessary
Scheduled for June 3 @ 11am, Holiday Inn Express, Ukiah

Adjournment - Jitu motioned to adjourn 2:55pm