Full Board Meeting Minutes

December 10, 2014 11:00

Vintner’s Inn

 

In Attendance:  Renae, Ross, Beth, Stacy, Aaron, Carri, Carla, Kathleen, Derek, Jeff, Sue, Robert

Absent:  Kevin, Robin

 

11:05  Meeting Called to Order  by Renae

• Prior Meeting Minutes

• Motion to approve prior meeting minutes:  Ross / Seconded by Sue / unanimously passed

 

11: 20  Treasure Report

• Line by Line review
  • New things tried this past year that did not work out will be taken out of 2015 budget
    • Eventbrite will not be used for assessments
    • Season Pass will not longer be offered
    • No television ads
    • No Wine Road on the Road
    • No cookbooks or Calendars
    • Pick of Vine donation to be reduced by $500
  • Increases/New items
    • Part time staff will be a full time position (Megan)
    • 40th Anniversary  will be $10,000 and if WR is awarded 10K grant for film that will be added in
• Motion to approve budget: Derek / Seconded by Sue / unanimously passed

 

11:40  Events

• Wine & Food Affair
  • Recipes are being edited for online book
  • 2015 ideas
    • redesign online / maybe offer print versions for easy print out

• add in a rate/review section
• allow for serving sizes to be adjusted
• Winter WINEland
  • Comparing to last year, we are up in sales by at least 200 tickets
  • Still missing over 30 descriptions from wineries
• Barrel Tasting
  • Timeline
    • posters ready to be handed out at Winter WINEland
    • Sign-ups to participate start this week
    • Ticket Sales will launch Winter WINEland Weekend
  • Pricing
    • $40 pre-event
    • $60 at door
    • $5 for designated drivers
• Season Pass
  • Not offered for 2015 / no future plans for any type of VIP tickets
• 40th Anniversary
  • A 2016 event – plans still pending
  • Need a large area to host a gala type event – possible looking at Sara Lee Kunde’s Grove (Now owned/operated by Kendal Jackson)
  • Ideas include:  local celebrity chefs / 40 wineries / documentary film / 5 founding wineries / food stations
  • Big push in press will be needed
  • Will form a special committee just for this event
• Wine Tourism Day
  • No update
• Miscellaneous Event News
  • “How To” video for Barrel Tasting on track to premiere first week of January
  • Up to vote:  Pre-event meetings to be mandatory and tied to reimbursements for Barrel Tasting and future events in 2015
    • Motion to approve;  Robert / Seconded by Ross / Unanimously passed
  • Tracking supplies
    • Here on out, wineries will be charged ticket price for every missing wristband
    • Up to vote:  Allowing every winery 4 wristbands free of cost to give to employees for Winter WINEland and Barrel Tasting
      • Motion to approve:  Kathleen / Seconded by Robert / Unanimously passed

12:40  Marketing & PR

• Marketing Committee Report – Robin Absent
  • Beth reported that Megan will be writing  press release every 2 weeks
• New York
  • Disappointing trip in regard to SF travel
    • press breakfast was big mess – audio visual did not work / no powerpoint
    • No offers as a big draw
• Wine Tourism Conference
  • Food for thought – Mutineer Magazine founder as keynote speaker to focus on good marketing
• San Diego
  • great festival
  • 4 winemakers for lunch / 18 for grand tasting
  • App is updated and allows notes to be written next to the wineries
• Seattle
  • February 22nd – goal is to have 5 wineries total
• Wine Road App
  • All updates are complete
• SF Chronicle Ad
  • Turned out great / best ad that has been done on behalf of WR
    • Included full page with the QR code with beautiful landscape picture
• Grant for Sonoma County Advertising / SoCo Tourism
  • 2 applications submitted – one for advertising and one for the documetnary film
• Tasting Tips Video Released
  • Good feedback

 

12:50  Technology

• New website as of December 30th
  • Everything is being switched over so completion is mandatory
• Wine Road App Updates
  • Updates of links as events unfold

 

12:50 New Business

• Printed quarterly update for members – instead of online
  • There was only a reported 37% open rate with the previously monthly updates, so those updates ceased
  • New idea is a printed and mailed quarterly updated

 

1:10:  New Logo

• Review of options of new logo
  • Plan is to have 6 people come in and brainstorm with current logo ideas and possibly new ideas before moving forward with a vote for a new logo

 

1:20  Meeting Adjourned