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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes 2023-04-17SOUTH 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 17, 2023 Meeting was called to order at 5:17 p.m. by Authority Vice Chairperson Shihadeh Authority Members Present: Francois Camou, James Coleman, Shila Narottam, Buenaflor Nicolas, BJ Patel, lyad Shihadeh, Pravin Punjiya, Richard Garbarino Authority Members Absent: Reena Maharaj Staff Present: Ali Wolf, Katie Leung, Kathleen Kearney, Jeff Liwag, and Jim McGuire Public Comment: There was no public comment. Action Items: 1. Review/Approval of Minutes from February 21, 2023, Regular Meeting. Authority Member Garbarino moved to approve the minutes and Authority Member Patel seconded the motion. The Authority, by roll call vote, agreed unanimously, except for Authority Member Camou, who was not present for the roll call vote for this Action Item. Discussion Item/s 1. Review January and February 2023 Preliminary Financial Statements. Chief Financial Officer, Katie Leung, reviewed the January and February 2023 Preliminary Financial Statements for the Authority. YTD Gross Revenue was over budget by $35,543. The YTD Total Operating Expenditures are $63,059 below what was budgeted. Administrative & General expenses were under budget by $53,827, Operation & Maintenance expenses were over budget by $23,036 and Sales & 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 1 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com crro GOLD SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO < -1— CONFERENCE CENTER Marketing expenses were under budget by $32,268. YTD Net Income, Net Depreciation Expenses are $255,686 and Net Income is $75,747 over budget. Conference Center Tax was under budget by $97,551– which represents 62% occupancy YTD. Additionally, Leung followed up on the request of Authority Member Garbarino, and gave a report on the comparison of Stripe, which is our current credit card processor vendor to Square and PayPal. Leung presented a slide that listed the pros and cons of each vendor, and after some discussion, it was unanimously agreed that the conference center stays with Stripe at this time. Vice Chairperson Shihadeh recommended that we also investigate the vendors Toast and SpotOn. 2. Update on status of parking lease issue for the property in front of Park Pointe Hotel that is included within the Agreement for Reciprocal Grant of Nonexclusive License for Parking by Patrons of the South San Francisco Conference Center. Executive Director McGuire recapped the circumstances regarding the Agreement for Reciprocal Grant of Nonexclusive License for Parking by Patrons of the South San Francisco Conference Center. McGuire reported that the PPH has begun to repay the Authority and we are still waiting to hear back from the Land Agent with PG&E regarding PPH taking over the lease. Authority Announcements, Referrals and Future Agenda Items: None Executive Director's Report: Sales Activity Report (Kathleen Kearney, Director of Sales) Director of Sales Kearney reported that we are continuing to update our website with new photos, attachments, and content. Kearney, Sales Manager San Pedro, and Executive Director McGuire hosted a client luncheon in Sacramento, and we currently have an RFP with Sacramento State – California Department of Health for October because of this. McGuire, Sales, and Catering performed sales calls to our hotel partners, civic partners, and local clients. Sales Manager San Pedro attended the CBI Pharma Forum Co -Op with The San Francisco Peninsula in New York City. Kearney sent an email blast of over 4,000 contacts that use the Unique Venues website. Some upcoming sales activities include San Pedro attending the MPI -Sacramento Vendor Showcase, MPI Ace in May and Kearney and McGuire will entertain the Filipino General Consulate, along with Vice— Mayor Nagales in the Cloud Club at Oracle Park. Other client entertainment in the Cloud Club will include 3 Association Planners and Sutter Health in the next few weeks. 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 1 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com }(CD WL7! SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER Kearney reported that our last two blogs on our website have been written by Al (Automatic Intelligence). During Q1, we saw an overall increase in YOY traffic to our website by 28.35% and organic traffic, which if free to us, continues to grow as we saw an increase of 132%, which is the largest we have seen. Our conference center ad appears on Google searches for biomedical companies in the Bay Area. Key pages that promote tourism and travel to the region saw a significant increase in visitors, as the Transportation Options page showed a 500% increase and Lodging page showed a 70% increase. Operations Report (Jeff Liwag, Operations Manager) Operations Manager Jeff Liwag stepped in for Director of Operations Cameron Fujii, who recently had a baby boy — congratulations! Liwag reported that the team completed the Staff Emergency Safety Training which included reviewing emergency procedures with staff assignments, location, and operation of all emergency equipment (gas, water, alarm panel, etc.) The team also conducted a mock emergency drill. The Operations Department is in the process of collecting bids to upgrade the sinks and countertops in the restrooms. Authority Member Patel gave us several resources of contractors to contact. Liwag also reported several completed projects that include the repair of a minor roof leak in the North Pre -function Lobby, the replacement of two (2) broken fans in HVAC unit #10 which services the Baden Room, the kitchen walk-in cooler #2 had a new evaporator installed, gaskets have been replaced on all of the five (5) food warmers and the quarterly property inspection was performed with the Executive Director and Operations Team. Executive Director's Report (Jim McGuire, Executive Director) Executive Director McGuire updated the Authority on recent activities that included several successful events that the conference center hosted since the last Authority meeting. These included the SSFPD Association's Annual St. Patty's Day fundraiser, the SSF Chamber of Commerce Annual Business Awards Dinner (the conference center received a "Special Recognition" award), the SSF Police Department's Swearing In & Badge Ceremony and the City of South San Francisco's Presidential Certificate Volunteer Event. McGuire reported that the quarterly hotelier meeting was a success with over 40 people in attendance and the hoteliers enjoyed presentations from Mayor Nicolas, John Hutar with The San Francisco Peninsula, and the Chief of Police. McGuire reported that the conference center will be hosting President Bongbong Marcos of the Philippines this coming November. President Marcos, along with other world leaders will be in San Francisco for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) conference being held at Moscone Center. 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 1 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com %.qro GOLD SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER 1 McGuire and Kearney have been working with the Office of the President and the Philippine Consulate General's Office on the details for this high-profile event. The 15` Draft of FY 2023-2024 has been completed and will be presented to the budget subcommittee on Wednesday, April 19`h. The budget subcommittee consists of Authority Member Patel, Camou, and Narottam. McGuire also reported that an additional $100,000 has been deposited into the LAIF Reserve Account, making the balance now $3,559,465. McGuire has invited the entire Authority to attend the SF Giants baseball game on Thursday, June 22, 2023, at 12:45. Vice Chairperson Shihadeh announced that the next Regular Authority Meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 5, 2023. The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 p.m. C 9e,f Reena Maharaj Authority Chairperson Arn McGuire Executive Director 255 South Airport Boulevard I South San Francisco I California 1 94080 t: 650-877-8787 ssfconf.com