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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2021-04-19SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER AUTHORITY South San Francisco Conference Center 255 South Airport Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080 April 19, 2021 Meeting was called to order at 5:17 p.m. by Authority Chairperson Nicolas. Authority Members Present: Buenaflor Nicolas, Vanessa McGovern, Richard Garbarino, Tony Clifford, Liza Normandy, Reena Maharaj, and Francois Camou. Authority Members Absent: Mark Addiego, B.J. Patel Staff Present: Steve Mattas, Katie Leung, and Dean Grubl Authority Chairperson Nicolas requested a roll call and members listed above were present. Public Comment: There was no public comment. Action Items: 1. Review/Approval of Minutes from the February 16, 2021 Regular Meeting. Authority Member Maharaj moved to approve the minutes and Authority Member Clifford seconded the motion. The Authority, by roll call vote, agreed unanimously. Discussion Item/s: 1. Review Preliminary January P&L and Preliminary February 2021 P&L Statement. Chief Financial Officer, Katie Leung reviewed the preliminary January and February 2021 Financial Statement for the Authority. She stated that due to the lack of revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic, year-to-date Operating Total Revenue fell short of the budgeted amount by around $456,000. She also stated that year-to-date total Net Income was $394,000 under budget. The total Operating Expenditures were around $349,000 below what was budgeted. Administrative & General was $176,000 under budget and Sales and Marketing Expense was $28,000 under budget. 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 194080 t: 650-877-8787 sstconf.com 1EEO GOLD SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER 2. Presentation and Review FY2021-2022 Proposed Capital Improvement Budget. Grubl reviewed the proposed Capital Improvements for the coming fiscal year to the Authority. He mentioned there are five items for the coming fiscal year. They are replacing and installing a booster water heater for the dishwasher, replacing evaporator fans in the cooler and freezer, a PTZ camera, and procuring new directional signs and new electronic flat monitors in the main lobby. The total cost of the planned FY2021-2022 Capital Improvement projects is $52,000. Executive Director's Report: Grubl presented a slide presentation that Kathleen Kearney, Director of Sales, assembled to give an overview of what the Sales and Catering Departments see as trends and activities in the coming months. Grubl reviewed the recent activities that including: very short-term bookings that are either 15 days to 40 days prior to the event, Clients are very anxious for in-person events, and it is expected to be a very strong April compared to previous months. All booked short-term, social events are coming back. Sales participated in various webinars for weddings, trends in the industry, and the future of the meeting industry. Staff continues with telemarketing campaign to the entire database of existing customers, organization memberships, lead sources through Cvent and Unique Venues. Grubl mentioned that the Conference Center attended a webinar hosted by the San Mateo County and Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau on safety guidelines for the meeting industry that were just released by the State of California and Cal OSHA last Friday. Grubl mentioned that General Counsel will be reviewing the contract language in the Conference Center's Use Agreement to incorporate relevant language related to the guidelines. Grubl mentioned that the Conference Center is seeing an uptick in lead request for the month of May and for the remainder of the year. The month of May, as it stands now, will be a busy month with several groups already on the calendar. Grubl updated the Authority on the website and mentioned that direct traffic to the website is up by 91% and organic traffic is up by 41%, with both of these channels driving traffic. There is a 1259/0 increase in referral traffic since the website is seeing more new visitors than it has seen in the past year and half. The meetings section of the website is one of the most popular sections, the celebrations and social visitors make up about 20% of total website traffic. Grubl stated that the website has new landing pages that targets niche markets, such as, biotech and life science, finance, fintech, banking and testing and education. These pages are specifically created for targeted ads and helps Google recognize the Conference Center for higher organic traffic. 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California i 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf. corn i>SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER Chairperson Nicolas announced the next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 7, 2021 at 5:15 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 5:57 p.m. for Nicolas Authority Chairperson 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California i 94080 t:650-877-8787 ssfconf.com LEEP OD4D