Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2021-08-16SOUTH 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 August 16, 2021 Meeting was called to order at 5:18 p.m. by Authority Chairperson Nicolas. Authority Members Present: Buenaflor Nicolas, James Coleman, Tony Clifford, Liza Normandy, Reena Maharaj, and Richard Garbarino. Authority Members Absent: Francois Camou, 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 June 7, 2021, Regular Meeting. Authority Member Garbarino moved to approve the minutes and Authority Member Clifford seconded the motion. The Authority, by roll call vote, agreed unanimously. 2. Review/Approval of Resolution of the Conference Center Authority Personnel Policies. Executive Director Grubl informed the Authority that he advised General Counsel to update the Personnel Policies to revise the Family and Medical Leave portion to be consistent with the California's Family Rights Act Leave, as well as, add June 19th as an authorized holiday. Authority Member Coleman moved to approve the Resolution of the Conference Center Authority approving the amended Personnel policies. Authority Member Maharaj seconded the motion. The Authority, by roll call vote, agreed unanimously. 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 1 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com eem ooev SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER 3. Review/Approval of an Amendment to Conference Center Catering Contract. Executive Director Grubl recommended to the Authority Board to approve the first amendment to the Food Service Agreement with South San Francisco Conference Catering, LLC. to extend the agreement for an additional five (5) years and to modify the insurance provisions. He mentioned the food service agreement will expire on December 19, 2021, and the amendment would extend the term until December 19, 2026. Grubl mentioned, in addition to extending the agreement for five (5) years, the amendment would increase the commercial general and automobile liability Insurance per occurrence limit. The amendment would also add a "force majeure" clause to account for acts beyond the reasonable control of parties, including but not limited to pandemic, that would prevent the Authority and SSF Conference Center Catering, LLC from carrying out responsibilities under the food service agreement. Authority Member Garbarino made a motion to approve the First Amendment to the Food Service Agreement. Authority Member Clifford seconded the motion. The Authority, by roll call vote, agreed unanimously. Discussion Item/s: 1. Review Preliminary May and June Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Financial Statements. Chief Financial Officer, Katie Leung reviewed the preliminary May and June 2021 Financial Statement for the Authority. She stated that due to the lack of revenue caused by COVID-19 pandemic, year to date Operating Total Revenue fell short of the budgeted amount by around $987,000. She also stated that year-to-date projected revenue surplus is approximately 975,000 under budget. The total Operating Expenditures are around $619,000 below what was budgeted. This is due in part to the Administrative and General costs being under budget by approximately $266,000, the Operations and Maintenance costs being approximately is $296,00 under budgeted and the Sales and Marketing costs being under budget by approximately $58,000. Authority Announcements, Referrals and Future Agenda Items: Grubl mentioned that Chavan & Associates, LLP will be conducting the audit for the Fiscal Year 2020- 2021 of the Conference Center on the week of August 30, 2021 and present their findings to the Authority during the December Regular meeting. 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 194080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com 4eeo oap SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER Executive Director's Report: Grubl stated that the Conference Center hosted its first General Managers and Director of Sales meeting in person on August 5, 2021. Over 33 hoteliers attended the meeting. Presentations were made by the South San Francisco Scavengers, staff from the City's Public Works Department and Jack Johnson from the County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability regarding the edible food recovery program that will take effect on January 1, 2022. A presentation was also made by John Hutar, CEO of the San Mateo County/Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau regarding the hospitality community in the County as well as the impact of the pandemic. Grubl mentioned the Conference Center's Sales and Catering teams are seeing an uptick in the leads that have been generated since the Authority last met in June 2021. The Conference Center's website and on-line marketing has generated 35 leads to date. The Conference Center has booked 22 new definite events with a forecasted revenue of $282,410 and 18 new tentative events with a forecasted revenue of $279,220. He reviewed the current activities that the Sales and Catering Departments are doing which included conducting telemarketing calls to all events that have booked the Conference Center in 2018 and 2019, placing a banner ad on Unique Venues website, as well as a Unique Venues e-mail blast at the end of the month, posting new blogs on the Center's website, and attending various webinars. The Director of Sales is holding monthly meetings with 32 Digital Degrees to review the Conference Center's website activity and strategies. Total traffic in July was 163% higher that July 2020 and 1.9% higher than July 2019 (pre -pandemic numbers). He mentioned that organic traffic increased 35%, which shows a great increase in search interest by those looking to plan events. The social event pages on the Conference Center's website have been receiving the most traffic, however the corporate and meetings pages are catching up and in return means that this is a good sign that the meetings are coming back. Chairperson Nicolas announced the next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 18, 2021 at 5:15 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 6:01 p.m. Buena I r Nicolas Authority Chairperson 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 1 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com is