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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRestaurant Association BID Minutes 11/12/2013NBRA BID Board Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013 | Page 1 Minutes of the Newport Beach Restaurant Association Business Improvement District November 12, 2013 Law Offices of Ronald B. Schwartz, ACP 1. Call to Order President Walker called the meeting to order at 9:40 am. 2. Roll Call Directors Present: Jim Walker The Bungalow Thomas Giulioni Newport Dunes, Back Bay Bistro Joe Campbell Ruby’s Diner Ronald Schwartz Muldoon’s John Robinson Amelia’s Sheri Drewry Wilma’s Patio Ali H. Zadeh Port Restaurant & Bar Cindy O’Shea Whole Foods Eldy Galietta Barolo by the Sea City Representatives: Mary Locey Public Information Specialist BID Administrators: Bob Quaid Willdan Financial Services Public: Gary Sherwin Newport Beach & Company Vicki Higgins Newport Beach & Company Jim Mosher Newport Beach Resident Peggy Fort CMC, Inc. Jenna Thompson McFarlane Promotions President Walker welcomed the Board and guests and invited them to make self introductions. President Walker stated a regular meeting may not be held in the month of December due to the holidays. 3. Public Comments President Walker requested public comments but none were made. NBRA BID Board Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013 | Page 2 4. Approval of Minutes and Financials President Walker asked the Board to review the October 23 meeting minutes for any corrections. Mr. Quaid noted that the spelling of Director Zadeh’s last name will be corrected in the final version. President Walker asked the Board if there were any additional questions and/or corrections to the minutes and there was no comment. Motion: Director Campbell moved to approve the minutes. Director Schwartz seconded. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Director Campbell, Director Drewry, Director Galietta, Director Guilioni, Director O’Shea, Director Robinson, Director Schwartz, President Walker, Director Zadeh. Absent: Director Hay, Director Tila President Walker asked Mr. Quaid to speak to the financials since a representative from Whittaker & Company was not present. President Walker also reiterated that it is the Board’s intent to present this information in a more concise and up-to-date manner in the future. Mr. Quaid clarified that the September financials were approved at the October 23 meeting. Mr. Quaid stated he had a meeting later in the day with Matt Lenton of Whittaker & Company to discuss a number of items related to the financials including adding the budget to the financials. The Board discussed the possibility of upgrading QuickBooks in order to generate customized reports. Director Campbell recommended updating the software rather than utilizing Excel to download data for custom reports, which could compromise the integrity of the data. 5. Current Business A) Chairman’s Report President Walker encouraged BID member attendance at the Christmas Boat Parade and subsequent awards banquet to be held on January 24th at the Island Hotel. He also requested the donation of gift certificates for dinner, bottles of wine, etc. Restaurants should contact the Chamber of Commerce with donations. President Walker showed a newspaper article regarding the wave of new restaurants in Newport Beach. These new restaurants should be encouraged to join the Newport Beach Restaurant Association Business Improvement District and see what they can bring to the community. Most of these restaurants are in Fashion Island. Other upcoming local events: Christmas Walk on December 8, 2013; Bowl Championship Series begins in January 2014. B) Restaurant Week Activities Update President Walker introduced Ms. Jenna Thompson with McFarlane Promotions, who gave an update on Restaurant Week. NBRA BID Board Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013 | Page 3 • A sign-up form has been distributed to BID restaurants. McFarlane Promotions will follow up to get restaurants to sign up. • Research of potential new members will also be performed. • Calendar notices have also gone out to each BID member, uploaded to events website. • Working on updating the website. Asked if the Board wanted to look into application similar to San Diego RW where restaurants can access website and make own updates making it more personal and expansive. • New logo designs were proposed to the Board for evaluation. • The estimated completion date for website update is November 20, 2013; absolute deadline for promotions is December 15th. Director Guilioni asked some questions about the database. Ms. Thompson said the database had a little over 300 restaurants as association members, but these were only restaurants with email addresses. Per Director Guilioni’s request, McFarlane Promotions will work on updating the database with a special effort on getting email addresses. Ms. Thompson clarified that the current Restaurant Week registration fee is $375 with an Early Bird rate of $325. Director Robinson wanted clarification regarding the donation of gift certificates for Restaurant Week. Ms. Thompson confirmed that gift certificates are a mandatory part of the participation this year and they are a valuable way of advertising. In prior years the certificates were optional, but the Board previously agreed to make it a requirement for 2014. Director Zadeh stated the registration form is a stumbling block because it is manual. He asked if there another way to do it such as an electronic version? Ms.Thompson stated that the form will be available on the social media sites and on the BID website. Sponsorships - Ms. Thompson proposed sticker wrapping on delivery vehicles, which would be a moving billboard. Printing and mounting would be the only costs. Director Guilioni recommended putting together a list of potential food distributors. Director Guilioni suggested target goal for Title sponsorships of $40,000 to $50,000. He recommended having a strategic meeting with some Board members in January to discuss short term and long term sponsorships. President Walker stated that he will ask for volunteers to team with Director Guilioni on the assignment at the end of the meeting. Logos - There was some discussion regarding the proposed new Restaurant Week logo designs. It was decided that the Restaurant Week logo will stay the same as the current logo, but should be cleaned up a bit. It must be generic (no food specific items). Tactical Plan: media, promotion, advertising - Ms. Thompson passed out a schedule of the Tactical Plan. Each item and the related scheduling was briefly discussed. Ms. Thompson stated that the potential promotions were listed with estimated costs and that total costs were more than what was approved so that the Board could further select desired promotions to stay within budget. NBRA BID Board Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013 | Page 4 Restaurant Week Banners: BCS banners go up around Christmas through the 1st week of January. Generally, Restaurant Week banners go up right after that. Ms. Thompson will contact Linda Leonhard from the Chamber and coordinate with her. President Walker also discussed coordinating with Linda Leonhard with the Corona del Mar Chamber of Commerce the hanging of RW banners right after the Christmas Walk banners come down. eBlasts - Ms. Thompson explained the cost of sending an email is much less than actual mailings. They have several eBlasts that they will send out prior to Restaurant Week to individuals as well as to associations (concierge association). President Walker suggested looking at the results of last year’s Restaurant Week; the majority of people who participated came from Irvine. Ms. Thompson may want to think of a focused advertising campaign in Irvine. Kick-off Party – Comments were made that in past, this event has been a kick-off / press release with media and sponsors. It is important that all member participants and sponsors are included and to give them a chance to ask questions, get all the information they need, and discuss opportunities. Get restaurants to invite their clientele. Target date for kick-off is January 8th (Wednesday). Since no Board meeting will be held in December, President Walker suggested forming an executive committee from the Board to work with Ms. Thompson to monitor Restaurant Week activity during December. Mary Locey confirmed that the BID can have up to five people (a non-majority) on an executive committee and be within the guidelines of the Brown Act. The following committee members volunteered to work with Ms. Thompson on a combined Sponsorship and Restaurant Week committee: Directors John Robinson, Eldy Galietta, Ali Zadeh, Joe Campbell, and Tom Giulioni. • Director Giulioni to be the chair of the above volunteers and to set up a meeting. • Needs to be publically noticed since they are making decisions; Mary Locey will confirm with City Council the noticing requirements under the Brown Act regarding Special Meetings. C) BID Marketing Consultant Contract Mary Locey - handed out draft scope of work for Newport Beach & Company (NB & Co.). Contract has not been finalized, but the recommend changes that Board members Walker, Giulioni and Schwartz made have been added to the contract (highlighted in scope of work - these are in addition to what was in the RFP) and presented to NB &Co. Ms. Locey suggested that the Board meet with NB &Co to finalize the terms and then move forward with agreement. Gary Sherwin from NB & Co. indicated that they were fine with the recommended changes. Mr. Sherwin recommended going back to the strategic plan and pulling out the initiatives that were the most significant to the Board. He further recommended a committee of three Board members to work with NB &Co. staff to come up with a plan and an annualized program of work to bring back to the full Board for consideration. Mr. Sherwin also explained their proposal includes a full time staff member whose main job NBRA BID Board Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013 | Page 5 would be to promote membership in the Association and provide metrics on the selected marketing programs. D) Contract Extension for CMC, Inc. President Walker expressed appreciation to Peggy Fort of CMC, Inc. for all she has done for the BID for many years and that the Board would like to continue the relationship. While the Board considers a new contract with her, he asked that she excuse herself during this part of the discussion. President Walker recommended having Ms. Fort continue as a consultant on a limited basis. Her experience and knowledge is integral to the transition with the new BID administrator, Restaurant Week firm and marketing firm. Suggested extending her consulting services, modified for a reduced scope of work if necessary, for between 3 - 6 months. Mr. Sherwin with NB & Co. expressed is opinion that a three month period would be helpful for Ms. Fort to help with the marketing transition. President Walker expressed that a three month contract with a three month extension would be more appropriate with all that the BID is currently involve with and considering it meets only bi-monthly. Mr. Quaid brought up budget considerations and that a contract with CMC, Inc. would take the BID over the marketing budget for the year. Director Campbell asked NB & Co. if they could hold off the hiring of a full time person in order to provide some budget relief. Ms. Locey stated that the NB & Co proposed fee had been negotiated and was not adjustable at this point and that Ms. Fort would need to submit a new proposal based on an hourly rate with a not-to-exceed amount and monitored closely. President Walker believed that additional revenue from new member dues will offset any additional costs of the contract with CM for three months. Director Drewry expressed preference for a contract with a fixed monthly retainer rather than an hourly rate. Director Schwartz recommended a fee of $100 per hour not to exceed $1,000 per month. Any proposal will include a specific scope of services to include helping with RW and the marketing transition, attending board meetings, etc. After additional discussion, it was determined that a $1,000 per month fee was reasonable. Motion: Director Zadeh moved to contract with CMC Inc. for a period of three months after the expiration of its current contract to help with the transition of Restaurant Week and the NBRA marketing effort for a not to exceed fee of $1,000 per month. Director Campbell seconded the motion. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Director Campbell, Director Drewry, Director Galietta, Director Guilioni, Director O’Shea, Director Robinson, Director Schwartz, President Walker, Director Zadeh. Absent: Director Hay, Director Tila E) NBRA BID By-Laws Revisions Mary Locey handed out the updated by-laws which had been modified by the City Attorney and which were presented to the Board by Director Giulioni. NBRA BID Board Meeting Minutes of November 12, 2013 | Page 6 • Article II, Section E (special meetings): City Attorney inserted the updated language. City Attorney submitted an easy to read, basic workbook so that there’s a clear understanding as far as operating procedures and what to do for meetings. • Article II, Section F: Revisions made to sequence of who can call special meeting • Article III, Section 2- A: Revision to Voting Board Members • Article VII, Section 1: Revisions to Annual report; timeliness and deadline for submission. Ms. Locey noted that the amended bylaws once approved need to be approved by the City Council. Motion: Director Schwartz moved to recommend the bylaws revisions be presented to the City Council for approval. Director Drewry seconded the motion. The motion carried by the following roll call vote: Ayes: Director Campbell, Director Drewry, Director Galietta, Director Guilioni, Director O’Shea, Director Robinson, Director Schwartz, President Walker, Director Zadeh. Absent: Director Hay, Director Tila 6. Newport Beach Restaurant Association Announcements: BCS (Bowl Championship Series) Opportunities Mr. Sherwin (NB& Co.) discussed BCS promotional activities. Restaurants may volunteer to participate at whatever level they are interested in. There is a Newport Beach app available and BCS is being added to this app. It will push out special deals that will pop up on smart phones. Director Giulioni handed out forms that will allow any of the restaurants in the Association who want to take advantage of the BCS opportunities and be added to the app to just fill out the form. He asked for the Board’s input on the form. Completed forms as well as thoughts and input should be emailed back to Director Giulioni. Director Giulioni will coordinate the changes with NB & Co. President Walker asked about having a BCS meeting to reach out to the other restaurants in the community to increase participation. Director Giulioni clarified that input by the Board on the form was the first step, then to monitor responses from the restaurants once the form goes out in order to plan for a larger event. Additional discussion continued with no additional board action requested. 7. Public Comments on Non-Agenda Items: none 8. Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m.