Mendocino County Lodging Association
Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Ukiah Art Center, Ukiah, CA 1:00 PM
Minutes
The meeting was called to order by President Jan Rodriguez at 1:05PM

Present were: Renata Dorn, Jan Rodriguez, Jitu Ishwar, Deny Shah, Mike Bradbook, Pam Amante, Jason Hurst, Josie Perla
Phone: Jeff Stanford, Cally Dym, Kevin Gallagher, Jo Bradley
Visit Mendocino County Inc. Staff: Scott Schneider, Aimee Hanson, Richard Strom

Privilege of the Floor
• Introductions were held
• Richard noted that the 11% assessment needs to be called ‘taxes and fees’ and not ‘only taxes’
• Richard passed around a spreadsheet of businesses who have meeting space and asked for edits, additions, etc.
• VMC’s Countywide Nature Tourism guide is now available – please take them for your guests

President’s Report
• Jan reported that the County dropped the idea of raising the TOT at this time.

Approval and Posting of Last Meeting’s Minutes -
Cally motions to approve minutes from the October meeting. Pam seconds. Motion Passes.

Treasurer’s Report
Jo reported:
• Our September check should arrive tomorrow. In measuring July – Sept 2009 vs. July – Sept 2008, income is up 2.8%. It is important to note this includes a back payment of $21,500 from the Heritage House. As a result, we are closer to being 1% - 2% down vs. 2008.
• Jan asked that we always include printed financial reports in Treasurer’s Report

Administration Report VMC President’s Report –
• Sacramento CVB has offered to send groups to Mendocino during Sac conventions. Richard would like to put 1 and 2 night itineraries together; including transportation, wineries, attractions, restaurants.
o Richard wants to form an Ad Hoc committee for help with this.
• Richard suggested that we give a “Green Card” out at tradeshows to encourage people to go to participating hotels, attractions, etc. This would essentially be a discount card for visitors to use in order to encourage visitation and lengthening of stays
o Board has asked Richard figure out what this is going to cost re: time &/or resources
• Arts Council Update:
o Anna thanked us for our ongoing support
o Because of MCLA support, the Arts Council is able to meet the needs of the arts community and provide services to visitors
o Arts Council leverages MCLA support. They applied for funding from county and state and received it, although at a 15% cut from last year
o Memberships: new and renewing continue to come in (up to 270 now)
o With every $1 Arts Council receives from MCLA, Arts Council matches it with $12 from other sources including membership, donations, government funding, fee-for-service programs, and grants.
o Mendocino Arts Website Improvement Project – Arts Council received a grant to create a new website ( ) and new websites for 10 Mendocino County nonprofit arts organizations. Since MCLA is updating the www.gomendo.com site and arts is updating their site – she wants to combine calendars and look for other ways to compliment efforts.
o Arts Council has partnered with the Skunk Train to create a Mendocino County Mobile Momento – an artistically embellished special rail car. The visitor will enjoy the art while riding the train and tasting Mendocino County wines and brews. The Atrium, Beachcomber, and Weller House Inn have offered to provide lodging to any out-of-town artists selected for the project. Anna expects that the car will be running in March.
o Getting ready for another round of sculpture gallery art to be installed in March at the Botanical Gardens
o Arts Council had a Plein Air “Paint Out” contest at the Botanical Gardens in October. Expect to be a repeat event. Fun event for visitors to observe, participate.
o Online ticketing is increasing in popularity. Box Office section on arts website . Anna asked that lodging owners link to it from their websites as a service to their guests.
o Anna is talking with Richard Strom about creating a new Mendocino County Arts brochure, like the new Eco Tourism brochure.
o The Arts Council is the VMC’s link to the arts community via their MendoArts email list, website, and personal referrals
• Scott reported:
o The Q4 newsletter has been mailed. If you have any comments please let us know
o Wine and Mushroom Festival – we have received rave reviews from all over the county. Towns were busy. Mushroom walks got sold out, cooking demos got sold out. It was an all around success
o We are preparing for Crab Festival in January
o March 11th: Geo Tourism Launch is scheduled in Scotia. It is combined with North Coast Tourism Council’s “Greening Your Business Workshop”
o March 12th: Greening your Business Workshop in Scotia – make sure to reserve your room at the Scotia Inn
o First Advisory Board meeting was last week. Review of the Annual Plan and Annual Report. Next meeting is January 4th.
o MCLA loaned VMC $50K at the beginning of the year. VMC cannot pay this back due to VMC cash flow.
Jason moves that the $50K loan be modified to an advance on the contracted amount for the 2009-2010 Fiscal Year. Pam seconds. Motions Passes

Old Business -
• By Law revision update:
o The revisions are clean-up items, please fix and go forward – these are minor revisions
o By-Laws need to be included with new board member materials
Pam moves that we accept the By Laws with these minor changes. Jitu seconds. Motion Passes

• Partnership Application Revision
o Application and policy were presented by ad-hoc committee
o Further suggestions were given to the committee. Committee will present updated documents at the January meeting.

New Business
• Countywide Customer Service Course
Dottie Deerwester with Mendocino County Office of Education presented her request for $2,500.00.

• 2010-2011 Visitor Guide Accomodation Chart Options
Accommodation chart takes up ten pages of the Visitor Guide. Striker and VMC propose $1K per page to offset a higher ad ratio as well as in room copies being placed into every hotel room in the county to encourage longer stays and a return trip

Kevin motioned to fund $10K for 2010 Visitor Guide provided that we have assurance that advertising rates for lodging won’t be higher than last years. Jeff seconds. Motion passes.

• Website Redesign Funding
o Alydia Atkins gave an update: Right now we are working on code build out and bones of the website
o VMC is requesting an additional $5K for the project. This money is for specific features which will make the site more dynamic, effective and user friendly. These features are above and beyond the budgeted and contracted sums.

Jeff moves that we fund the $5K request. Jitu seconds. Motion passes.

• Marry Me in Mendocino County Partnership was presented


Partnership Requests
• Heritage Days
o Ruth Sparks called in and reported that they need the money to expand Heritage Days to the entire county
o Heritage Days is planned for 5 weekends in May, 2010
Kevin moves that we approve the request for $5K if they make it a county wide event. Jeff seconds Motion Fails

Jason moves that we award $2,500 at this time and on March 1st request a report to assess funding further. We need to see evidence that the event has moved to County Wide. Jo seconds. Motion passes.

• Trail Symposium
Tamira Jones presented the Trail Event which will take place in Fort Bragg to be followed by inland events.

Jason moves to award the Trail Symposium $1K. Pam seconds. Motion passes
Next Meeting -
Scheduled for Jan 6th at Harbor Lite in Fort Bragg

Adjournment - Jo motioned to adjourn at 5:02pm