Wine Road Board Meeting – Feb, 2018

Wine Road Board of Director’s Meeting

Feb. 8, 2018   9:00am    

Wine Road Office – Upstairs

Minutes – DRAFT pending approval

9:00    Call to order

In attendance: Aaron Krug, Julia Lander, Robert Conrad, Stacy Rafanelli, Ross Clendenen, Jenny Lamarre, Joe Foppoli, John Vislay, Carri Holdredge, Beth Costa; and via conference call, Thomas DeBiase. Absent: Mike Salinas (jury duty), Carla Jeffries (out of town), Robin Calkins, and Devin Ruddick.

9:05    Treasurer’s Report

Checking account balance: $46,914.28

Savings account balance: $200,024.06

2017 taxes were completed on Feb. 8^th; 42 page return. As a non-profit, WR does not owe any money.

9:30    Office update –

• Auction-on hold for now. WR participating in May BT television show and auction will be a part of that.
• CPR Training: no change
• Access: On hold for now. Will discuss at April Retreat
• Seminar: BT Seminar was very successful. As a result, more members have signed up for Friday participation. WR to consider doing a seminar before each major event. Created a “Best Practices” poster based upon the seminar discussions.
• Map: In the middle of final edits.
• Elections: 2 new wineries and 3 lodgings have been added to the ballot. Looking to fill one position for each category.

9:50    Retreat Agenda

April 18 & 19^th. Not yet confirmed at Vintner’s Inn, but likely. Scott is confirmed as moderator. Change of format this year – looking to do big picture business overview to measure effectiveness of WR marketing programs. Possibly bring in Honoree Comfort or Trini Amador from Graciano Winery to lead the discussion. Goal of creating a 5 year and 10 plan for marketing efforts. Beth created two visual handouts: WR Marketing & PR, and WR Mission to aide in retreat discussions.

10:10  Events

• Winter WINEland: Event was great for some wineries, less than ideal for others. No quantifiable reason why it was or wasn’t successful.
• Rancho Mirage: Wine & Food Festival by VinDiego. Seminar on Fri, tasting on Sat.
• Barrel Tasting: Tickets currently on sale.
• Cleveland: Date set for June 24^th at the Rock & Roll Hall of fame. Easily expecting 300 attendees at $75/person. 18 Wineries were originally interested; WR needs to confirm their participation with the new date. Opportunity to do a podcast from the RRHF!!
• Esprit du Rhône: Friday night almost sold out

10:20 Public Relations

• On the road –March 1 in Sacramento; March 7, Presidio dinner at Officer’s Club, highlighting the new Inn at the Presidio. Beth and Misty pouring from 6-8 for Press.
• Sonoma House – May 14-17 with reps from DC, Sonoma Valley and RRV. Alaska Air picking up all airfare.

• May SF Press Dinner & Speed Tasting: wines needed from WR members since So. County Tourism isn’t providing any this year. WR to provide shipping.

• Instagram – pairing like-minded photos with like-minded folks. Views up 41% for Jan.

• Omaha Editor coming in May.

• Podcast brainstorming: Looking to attract higher profile guests (i.e., New Zealand Ambassador, possibly James Gore). Highlighting all good things in So. County – not just wine. Might advertise on Expedia and Trip Advisor. Explore ways to be “friends” with other podcast like SKIMM. Currently posting 2x/month; 3 day itinerary every other time; 20 minutes each; getting 1,000 downloads. Need to grow our audience.

• Wine Library – donating books that Marcy reads and reviews on podcast and newsletter

10:30  Old Business

10:40  New Business

Meeting adjourned by John Vislay, seconded by Joe Foppoli.

Posted by Beth Costa

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