* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:05] GOOD [CALL TO ORDER] MORNING AND WELCOME TO THE VISIT MCKINNEY BOARD MEETING. MY NAME IS BRIAN MEDINA AND TODAY IS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27TH, 2026. AND THE TIME IS 8 0 3. WE'RE MEETING IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL, LOCATED AT 4 0 1 EAST VIRGINIA STREET, MCKINNEY, TEXAS. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT. JILL BARNES, PATRICK MCGUIRE, KATHY BLANK, KEITH GALL, JESSICA RATTON, ANGEL FARNELL, AND MYSELF. BOARD MEMBER CAROL SULLIVAN IS ABSENT TODAY. UH, NO CITY COUNCIL PRESENT AT THE MOMENT. CITY STAFF AND BOARD LIAISONS PRESENT. BARRY SHELTON. MIKE, OH, REPRESENTING MEDC IS AARON WARNER. UM, ANDREW JONES, DIRECTOR OF CULTURAL DISTRICT, MAIN STREET AND SPECIAL EVENTS. JOSHUA ARIES AUDIO AND VISUAL ADMINISTRATOR AND NO MCDC REP. UH, VISIT MCKINNEY. STAFF PRESENT. ALICIA HOLMBERG, SARAH TING, EMILY MYRICK, TONY ADAMO, AND PAULA MARTIN. ALRIGHT. OKAY. [26-1047 Oath of Office for New and Reappointed Board Members Keith Gall Kathy Blank Angelia Farnell Jessica Rattan] WE'LL BEGIN TODAY'S MEETING WITH, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER 26 DASH 10 47, WHICH IS THE OATH OF OFFICE FOR NEW AND REAPPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS WITH THE NEWLY APPOINTED AND REAPPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS. PLEASE STAND, RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND AND REPEAT AFTER ME WITH THE MIC. OKAY. OKAY. RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND, PLEASE RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND AND REPEAT AFTER ME. I STATE YOUR NAME. I, KEITH GALL. DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR. DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR THAT I WILL FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE DUTIES AS MEMBER OF THE VISIT MCKINNEY BOARD THAT I FAITH FAITHFULLY EXECUTE THE DUTIES AS A MEMBER OF THE VISIT MCKINNEY BOARD. GIVE YOU A LONG ONE THERE. UH, OF THE CITY OF MCKINNEY, STATE OF TEXAS, THE CITY OF MCKINNEY, STATE OF TEXAS. AND WILL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY, PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND AND WILL AND WILL TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. PRESERVE, PROTECT, AND DEFEND. PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, UNITED STATES, AND THIS STATE. SO HELP ME, GOD. STATE. STATE. SO HELP ME. GOD. HELP ME GOD. CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU. GREAT. ALL. ALRIGHT. [26-1048 Election of Officers a. Chair b. Vice Chair c. Treasurer] UM, NEXT ON THE AGENDA IS THE ELECTION FOR OFFICERS PER THE VISIT MCKINNEY BYLAWS, THE OFFICERS BEING ELECTED ARE CHAIR, VICE, CHAIR AND TREASURER. NOMINATIONS WILL BE CONDUCTED IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER. CHAIR, VICE CHAIR AND TREASURER AND BOARD MEMBERS MAY SELF NOMINATE. ONCE NOMINATIONS FOR EACH POSITION ARE COMPLETE, WE WILL VOTE ON THE SLATE OF OFFICERS. VOTING WILL BE DONE BY A SHOW OF HANDS. VOTES WILL BE TALLIED BY THE MEETING CLERK, PAULA MARTIN. FOLLOWING ALL VOTING, THE NEWLY ELECTED BOARD CHAIR WILL PRESIDE OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE MEETING. IF THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS REGARDING THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS, WE WILL MOVE FORWARD WITH THE ITEM. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ELECTION PROCESS? OKAY. WE'LL MOVE FORWARD. OKAY. UH, FOR CHAIR, DO WE HAVE ANY NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD CHAIR, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A NOMINATION FOR BRIAN MEDINA AS BOARD CHAIR. YOU'VE DONE A GREAT JOB AS THE VICE CHAIR, UM, AND, UH, I THINK YOU'D BE A GREAT CHAIR. THANK YOU. I RESPECTFULLY ACCEPT . GREAT. ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD CHAIR? OKAY. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF BRIAN MEDINA AS BOARD CHAIR. PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND. ALL OPPOSED? WAIT. OH, WAIT. SORRY. I THREW THE EXTRA LINE IN THERE. , RAISE YOUR HAND. STILL A ROOKIE UP HERE. DON'T OPPOSE ME. JUST KIDDING. . ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF BRIAN MEDINA. BOARD CHAIR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND. OKAY. ALL THOSE OPPOSED OKAY. NOMINATION PASSES. THANK YOU. CONGRATULATIONS. I'LL DO MY BEST. THANK YOU. VICE CHAIR. WE WILL NOW TAKE NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD. VICE CHAIR. I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION FOR KEITH GAUL. I THINK KEITH HAS BEEN ON THIS BOARD FOR SEVERAL YEARS. UH, HE'S VERY MUCH A, A PART OF THE COMMUNITY. HIS, HIS TRUE DAY JOB IS VERY MUCH PART OF OUR COMMUNITY IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. UH, SO I'D BE HAPPY TO NOMINATE YOU. I RESPECTFULLY ACCEPT. THANK YOU. GREAT. DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS? OKAY. UM, ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS? I DID THAT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF KEITH GALLS BOARD. VICE CHAIR, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND. ALL RIGHT. [00:05:01] NOMINATION PASSES. KEITH IS THE NEW VICE CHAIR. THANK YOU. CONGRATULATIONS. GREAT. ALL RIGHT. NEXT STEP IS TREASURER. DO WE HAVE ANY NOMINATIONS FOR BOARD TREASURER? I'D BE WILLING TO SERVE AS BOARD TREASURER IF I, IF I WOULD BE SO NOMINATED. . GREAT. YOU CAN SELF NOMINATE AND THAT'S, THAT'S PART OF THE PROCESS, BUT I THINK SOMEONE MAY IS GONNA NOMINATE YOU, BUT WE'LL GO RIGHT FORWARD. . UM, OKAY. SO WE HAVE KATHY BLANK AS A NOMINATION FOR TREASURER. I THINK KATHY WOULD BE A GREAT TREASURER. SHE'S VERY MUCH PAST HISTORY IN WORKING WITH THE CHAMBER AND FINANCE. I THINK SHE'S DONE HER HOMEWORK ON THE HOT TAX AND SEVERAL THINGS RELATED TO THE ROLES OF THE TREASURER AND WORKING WITH THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. UM, IS THERE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR TREASURER? I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SELF NOMINATE GREAT . PATRICK IS ALSO NOMINATED. AND AGAIN, PATRICK HAS BEEN A PART OF THIS BOARD FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND HE'S BEEN A PART OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE AND HAS A QUITE A BIT OF UNDERSTANDING WORKING IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY. SO I THINK BOTH OF THESE ARE GREAT NOMINATIONS. IS THERE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR TREASURER? OKAY. AND NOW WE'VE GOT THE PROCESS WITH TWO PAUL. I WANNA MAKE SURE I GET IT. DO THE FIRST ONE. OKAY. UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF KATHY BLANK AS TREASURER, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND. OKAY. ALL THOSE OPPOSED? OKAY. . OKAY. ALL OKAY. . ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF PATRICK MCGUIRE'S. TREASURER, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND. OKAY. NOMINATION PASSES AS KATHY BLANK AS TREASURER. THANK YOU FOR BOTH OF THEIR NOMINEES. THANK YOU. CONGRATULATIONS. THANK YOU. OKAY. THE SLATE OF OFFICERS NOMINATED AS FOLLOWS. BRIAN MEDINA. BOARD CHAIR KEITH GAUL, VICE CHAIR KATHY BLANK AS TREASURER. MAY I GET A MOTION AND A SECOND TO APPROVE THE SLATE OF OFFICERS AS NOMINATED? SO WE'LL NEED A MOTION. I MOTION, UH, JESSICA, UH, MOTION STATED BY JESSICA RATTON. SECOND. SECOND, SORRY. ANGELIA. GREAT. SECOND BY ANGELIA PARNELL. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? AYE. AYE. AYE. VOTING HERE? YES. YOU CAN VOTE ON YOUR SCREEN. OKAY. I'LL ADD THE MOTIONS. OKAY. OKAY. MOTION PASSES. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 26TH, 27 OFFICERS. OKAY. [26-1049 Appointment of Visit McKinney Committee Members and Board Liaisons a. Finance Committee b. Marketing Committee c. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board Liaison] UP NEXT ARE THE COMMITTEES AND LIAISON APPOINTMENTS. AGENDA ITEM 26 DASH 10 49. APPOINTMENT OF VISIT MCKINNEY. UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS. EACH COMMITTEE WILL BE MADE UP OF THREE BOARD MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE BOARD CHAIR. DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS PROCESS AND WHAT WE'RE DOING NEXT? JUST WANTED TO BE CLEAR. OKAY. GOOD. FINANCE COMMITTEE TREASURER IS A COMMITTEE CHAIR. THERE'S A TREASURER IS THE COMMITTEE CHAIR, AND THEN THERE'S GONNA BE TWO BOARD MEMBERS. SO FINANCE COMMITTEE ARE PAULA, AM I GONNA JUST, OKAY. SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE ASK, OR YOU CAN JUST GO AHEAD AND POINT YOURSELF. OKAY. SO THOSE INTERESTED IN THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, WE'D LIKE YOU TO KIND OF MAKE YOUR POINT OR BRING UP YOUR INTEREST. IS THAT KIND OF WHAT WE'RE MM-HMM . YEAH. YEAH, . OKAY. I'M NOT GONNA DO IT FOR YOU. SO, UM, I, I'LL, UH, VOLUNTEER OKAY. TO, UH, WORK ON THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. I'VE, UH, BEEN TREASURER, UH, BUDGET PERSON FOR A NUMBER OF, UH, ORGANIZATIONS AND FOR, UH, SOME NON-PROFITS. SO I'LL BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH, UH, KATHY. GREAT. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WE'LL NEED ONE MORE PERSON FOR THE FINANCE COMMITTEE. I'LL DO IT AS WELL. I'D LIKE TO. YEAH, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT MOVE, PATRICK. THANK YOU. OKAY, SO WE'VE GOT FINANCE COMMITTEE, KATHY BLANK AS TREASURER. THEN WE HAVE ANGELIA FARNELL, AND PATRICK MCGUIRE OF THE OTHER TWO APPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS. NEXT FOR THE MARKETING COMMITTEE, THOSE THAT ARE INTERESTED IN THE MARKETING COMMITTEE, I'M INTERESTED IN THE MARKETING COMMITTEE. GREAT. JESSICA RATTON. I AM AS WELL. JILL. WONDERFUL. UM, WHERE DO WE PUT CAROL? [00:10:01] SHE WOULD JUST BE ASSIGNED. OKAY. AND THEN KEITH, YOU ALSO STILL NEED TO BE ON A COMMITTEE. WHICH COMMITTEE? KEITH, ARE YOU INTERESTED IN? WE MARKETING OR PARKS LIAISON? UM, MARKETING SOUNDS FANTASTIC. . OKAY. . OKAY. ALL RIGHT. I THINK WE HAVE OUR MARKETING COMMITTEE ESTABLISHED. ALL RIGHT. NEXT IS OUR PARKS AND RECREATION LIAISON. I THINK MOST OF Y'ALL ARE FAMILIAR. THIS, UH, ROLE IS HANDLED BY THE STAFF. THEY GIVE YOU QUITE A BIT OF THE INFORMATION. UH, THE MEETINGS ARE THE SECOND THURSDAY OF THE MONTH AT 5:30 PM AND WE'D LIKE FOR YOU TO PARTICIPATE AND COME BACK AND PROVIDE SOME FEEDBACK. SO, IS THERE ANYBODY THAT WOULD LIKE TO ALSO HANDLE THIS RESPONSIBILITY? THAT WOULD LEAVE CAROL? THAT WOULD LEAVE IT TO CAROL? EVERYBODY HAS TO BE ON A COMMITTEE. ALL RIGHT. CAROL, YOU'RE VOLUNTOLD. . . OKAY. I THINK THAT COMPLETES THIS PROCESS OF THE MEETING. GREAT. THANK YOU. THANKS EVERYBODY FOR VOLUNTEERING AND STEPPING UP. UH, PUBLIC COMMENTS. WE'RE GONNA SEE, WE WILL NOW TAKE PUBLIC COMMENTS ON POSTED AGENDA ITEMS. ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS? THERE ARE NONE. [CONSENT ITEMS] UH, WE'LL NOW VOTE ON CONSENT. AGENDA ITEM 26 DASH 10. 50 MINUTES OF VISIT MCKINNEY BOARD MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 26. 2026. MAY I HAVE A MOTION FOR THE MINUTES? I MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES. I SECOND. THANK YOU, KEITH. THANK YOU, KATHY. UH, PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTE. MOTION APPROVED. I'M JUST HUMMING ALONG FOLKS. MM-HMM . ALL RIGHT. UM, [26-1051 Board and Liaison Reports City of McKinney MEDC MCDC McKinney Main Street / MPAC Visit McKinney Finance Report Visit McKinney Marketing Report] NEXT, MOVING TO THE BOARD AND LIAISON REPORTS. AGENDA ITEM 26 10 DASH 10 51. BOARD LIAISON REPORTS, CITY OF MCKINNEY. GLAD TO SEE COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN. . WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS? NOT A TON OF COMMENTS TODAY, OTHER THAN THERE'S EARLY VOTING GOING ON RIGHT NOW. IF YOU HAVE NOT VOTED, PLEASE GO AND DO SO. I LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE. ONE OF THE STATIONS THAT I USUALLY VOTE IN AT IS THE JOHN AND JUDY GAY LIBRARY. IF YOU DON'T LIKE LINES AND A LOT OF DRAMA, I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT. CITY HALL IS A FANTASTIC PLACE TO VOTE. UM, BUT THERE ARE SEVERAL ACROSS THE CITY, UM, THAT YOU CAN LOOK AT. THERE'S ON THE COUNTY WEBSITE A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN GO AND ACTUALLY SEE WHAT THE WAIT TIMES ARE, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAND IN LINE FOR 45 MINUTES. I WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO DO SO. UM, THE OTHER THING IS AVELO IS TAKING OFF FROM MCKINNEY NATIONAL AIRPORT IN JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS HERE. FIRST FLIGHT IS GOING TO FLORIDA ON NOVEMBER THE 11TH. UM, WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE MORE DESTINATIONS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE LISTS OF PLACES THAT WILL BE TAKING US TO PLACES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AND BRINGING IN VISITORS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY AS WELL. UH, THIS AFTERNOON WE HAVE A JOINT SESSION WITH THE EDC, AND WE'RE GONNA BE DISCUSSING SOME OF THE DOWNTOWN REDEVELOPMENT THAT IS PLANNED FOR THE CITY. AS YOU REMEMBER, WE HAVE THREE PROPERTIES THAT, UM, WE'RE LOOKING AT TO DEVELOP CITY HALL. THE OLD CITY HALL IS ONE OF THOSE PLACES NOW GONE. THE OLD DEVELOPMENT BUILDING IS ALSO GONNA BE GONE AS WELL. SO WE ARE EXCITED FOR WHAT IS COMING THERE. MORE TO COME. HOPEFULLY AFTER THAT SESSION WE'LL BE ABLE TO PRESENT SOME IDEAS TO YOU ALL. THANK YOU. GREAT. UM, NEXT FROM THE CITY, WE GOT WHAT? GOT HER NAME COME ON UP. BARRY. BARRY. BARRY, BARRY SHELTON. THANK YOU. GOOD MORNING. BARRY SHELTON, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER. UH, A COUPLE THINGS. UH, MISS FELT THIS ALREADY. UH, MENTIONED THE AIRPORT. I WAS JUST OUT THERE YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. UH, MOSTLY PUNCH LIST ITEMS NOW. UH, THE ROUNDABOUTS FINISHING UP THE TAXIWAY SHOULD BE OPEN, UH, LATER THIS WEEK. SO REALLY EXCITING TO SEE THAT THE FINISHING TOUCHES, IT'S KIND OF LIKE FINISHING A HOME WHERE YOU GO THROUGH AND SEE ALL THE PROBLEMS AND HAVE TO PUT THE BLUE TAPE ON IT AND HAVE 'EM FIX IT. SO YEAH, THE FIRST FLIGHT IS NOVEMBER 11TH. THAT'S FORT MYERS. THE DESTINATIONS, WE NOW HAVE 11, UH, THAT WE'LL BE FLYING TO EVERY WEEK OUT OF MCKINNEY. SO THAT INCLUDES LAS VEGAS, DENVER, NASHVILLE, NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA OR ORLANDO, FORT MYERS, FORT LAUDERDALE, TAMPA, SARASOTA, AND WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA. SO A LOT OF VACATION DESTINATIONS HERE FROM MCKINNEY WILL BE HITTING 42 FLIGHTS A WEEK, STARTING, I THINK IT'S DECEMBER 15TH, UH, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN WE ANTICIPATED FOR THE FIRST YEAR OF OPERATIONS. I THINK WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO DOUBLE OUR ESTIMATES, UM, [00:15:01] WITH THESE FLIGHTS. UH, WE ARE PLANNING A PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE ON NOVEMBER 6TH. UH, THE INFORMATION ON THAT SHOULD BE GOING OUT SHORTLY, BUT IT'LL BE FROM 10 TO ONE TO ALLOW THE PUBLIC TO COME IN AND VIEW THE TERMINAL BEFORE WE, WE LOCK IT DOWN WITH TSA TO WHERE YOU NEED A TICKET TO GO SEE THE HOLD ROOMS AND WHATNOT. UH, ALSO, UH, THE AIRLINE, WE HAVE WEEKLY CALLS WITH THEM ABOUT THEIR, UM, TICKET SALES. THEY'RE VERY, VERY HAPPY WITH 11, OR I'M SORRY, 10 OF THE 11 ROUTES ARE ABOVE THEIR ESTIMATES FOR THIS TIME. UH, SO THAT'S GREAT NEWS. THE, THE ONE THAT'S LAGGING BEHIND A LITTLE BIT, UH, THERE'S, THEY STILL PUT IT IN A YELLOW CATEGORY. IT'S SATISFACTORY, BUT THE OTHERS ARE EXCEEDING THEIR ESTIMATES. AND THEN, UH, A COUPLE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON. THIS IS COMMUNITY PLANNING MONTH. I KNOW THAT ALL OF YOU HAVE BEEN CELEBRATING THAT ALL MONTH LONG, UH, HERE IN OCTOBER. AND THE, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, UH, DOES A GREAT JOB OF CELEBRATING COMMUNITY PLANNING MONTH. AND THEY HAVE SOME ACTIVITIES THAT PEOPLE CAN PARTICIPATE IN, INCLUDING A, UH, COMMUNITY PASSPORT THAT YOU CAN GO ON OUR WEBSITE AND FIND SOME LOCATIONS. YOU, YOU, UH, KIND OF GET YOUR, UH, COMMUNITY PASSPORT STAMPED. AND THEN, UH, A COUPLE OF EVENTS THAT ARE COMING UP THIS WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEKEND. SO WE HAVE A VETERAN'S DAY CEREMONY ON THE SEVENTH OUT AT THE ARTIE FOSTER VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK, WHICH IS IN CRAIG RANCH ON, UM, UH, WESOFF DRIVE, AND THEN LOVE MCKINNEY EVENT, WHICH IS A GREAT EVENT THAT'LL BE HERE THIS YEAR ON THE PLAZA AT CITY HALL FROM ONE TO THREE ON THE SEVENTH. UM, SORRY. AND ALSO THE VETERAN'S DAY IS AT 11:00 AM ON THE SEVENTH. AND THEN THE FOLLOWING WEEK HERE ON THE PLAZA, AGAIN, WE HAVE THE SHARE THE SHADE ARBOR DAY EVENT THAT IS PUT ON BY OUR PLANNING DEPARTMENT FROM 10 TO ONE, UH, WHERE THEY'LL BE GIVING AWAY FREE SHADE TREES FOR PEOPLE TO, TO PLANT IN MCKINNEY. AND THEN, UH, WE ALREADY MENTIONED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE JOINT CITY COUNCIL MEETING THIS AFTERNOON, BUT NEXT WEEK ON THE THIRD, THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION, THERE'LL BE A COUPLE BIG UPDATES COMING. UH, ONE OF THEM IS THE BETTER TOGETHER, UH, HOMELESS INITIATIVE, UH, UPDATE. SO KIND OF WHERE IS THAT STUDY AND WHAT'S, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THAT. WE'LL HAVE FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS OVER AT THE OLD CITY HALL AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES SITES. AND THEN SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON WITH OUR PLANNING DEPARTMENT AND OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT ARE SOME POTENTIAL REGULATIONS FOR VAPE STORES IN MCKINNEY. SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE BEEN, UH, HEARING ABOUT AND WE'RE LOOKING INTO OPTIONS THAT WE CAN DO TO FURTHER REGULATE THOSE TO, TO, UH, MAKE OUR CITIZENS HAPPY WITH, UH, WHERE WE ARE ON THAT ISSUE. UH, OTHER THAN THAT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ON THESE ITEMS OR ANYTHING ELSE YOU, YOU HAVE FOR THE CITY. ANY QUESTIONS FOR BARRY? BARRY? DO SO YOU'RE HEARING ABOUT THE TICKET SALES PEOPLE FROM HERE, GOING TO THESE DIFFERENT DESTINATIONS. ANYTHING KIND OF ON THE RECEIVING END, WHAT'S JUST THERE? UM, IT DEPENDS ON THE MARKET. SO THEY DO GIVE US A LITTLE BIT OF INFORMATION ON THAT AS WELL. THEY ARE SEEING TICKET SALES FROM THE DESTINATIONS COMING HERE. SOME ARE DOING BETTER THAN OTHERS. OKAY. UM, I WILL SAY ONE, LIKE THE VERY FIRST FLIGHT TO FORT MYERS FROM HERE LOOKS GREAT ON THE WAY OUT. AND IT LOOKS OKAY ON THE WAY BACK BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE JUST DOING THE ROUND TRIP FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIRST FLIGHT. YEAH. SOME OF THE OTHER MARKETS, THE EARLY FLIGHTS, THE FLIGHT OUT IS PRETTY GOOD BECAUSE WE GET A LOT OF PRESS HERE IN THIS REGION. SO A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE LOOKING INTO THE, THE FLIGHTS. BUT TAKE LAS VEGAS FOR INSTANCE, YOU HAVE A LOT OF OPTIONS. SO THE FLIGHTS COMING BACK, THERE'LL BE, UH, SOME AVAILABLE SEATS. SO, UM, BUT IT'S OUR JOB TO GET THOSE PEOPLE COMING. THAT'S RIGHT. AND THERE ARE SOME MARKETING EFFORTS THAT HAVE LAUNCHED JUST IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS IN ALL OF THE OUT MARKETS TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE AWARE OF, UH, MCKINNEY NATIONAL AIRPORT. BUT IF YOU'RE, IF YOU LIVE IN VEGAS AND YOU'RE LOOKING TO COME TO DALLAS, YOU MAY NOT INITIALLY THINK OF MCKINNEY BECAUSE YOU KNOW, YOU CAN FLY ANY NUMBER OF AIRLINES TO GET HERE. FAIR, FAIR ENOUGH. GOOD INFORMATION. THANK YOU. AND BARRY, I HAVE A QUESTION WITH THE, UM, THE VOLUME OF THE AIRLINE TICKETS, DOES THAT MEAN OUR REVENUE FOR THE CITY IS GREATER THAN WHAT'S EXPECTED FOR THE AIRLINES? YES. SO WE, WE DID ESTIMATES FOR OUR REVENUES FOR THE AIRLINE, WELL, THE AIRLINE REVENUES FOR THE CITY, UH, THE PARKING REVENUES, THE CONCESSION REVENUES, AND THOSE WERE ALL BASED OFF 130,000 ANNUAL EMPLOYMENTS. SO AN EMPLOYEMENT IS A PASSENGER BOARDING HERE AND FLYING OUT. WE ANTICIPATE WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BE SOMEWHERE NEAR TWICE THAT NUMBER IN THE FIRST FULL YEAR. UH, SO YEAH, ALL OF THE REVENUES WOULD EXCEED OUR ESTIMATES. THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU, BARRY. ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. UH, NEXT UP WE HAVE AARON WARNER WITH MEDC. GOOD MORNING, MR. CHAIR, MADAM INTERIM DIRECTOR MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE OFFICERS IN THE ELECTIONS TODAY. CONGRATULATIONS, MR. CHAIR. VERY, UH, VERY WELL DESERVED, UH, TO HAVE YOU IN THAT ROLE. UH, ALSO, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS. UH, [00:20:01] I THINK THIS IS YOUR FIRST, UH, MEETING TO BE SEATED AT THE DAIS. SO YOU'RE GONNA, YOU'RE IN A GREAT BOARD. YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF FUN. UH, I'M ERIN WARNER. I'M THE SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AT MEDC, AND I'M EXCITED TO GIVE YOU A FEW UPDATES TODAY. UH, ONE OF THEM IS A STORY THAT I THINK IS, UH, UNDERTOLD WITH THE MEDC. A LOT OF TIMES WE GET TO BE THE PHYSICAL HANDSHAKE OF MCKINNEY AROUND THE WORLD, TRULY TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD AND, AND, UH, MEET PEOPLE AND HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, SHARE THE MCKINNEY STORY AND BRING THEM BACK. AND THAT WORKS. UM, JUST IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS, WE'VE HOSTED TWO DELEGATIONS. UH, LAST WEEK, A FINISHED DELEGATION, UH, JUST YESTERDAY, A KOREAN DELEGATION AT OUR OFFICE AND GOT TO SHARE THE MCKINNEY STORY. UH, WHAT'S COOL ABOUT THESE THOUGH, IS THEY LITERALLY BRING SMALL BUSINESSES, STARTUP AND INNOVATIVE COMPANIES TO MCKINNEY THAT ARE PITCHING US THEIR STARTUPS AND THEIR IDEAS TO TRY TO BE A PART OF OUR INNOVATION FUND THAT WE HAVE THAT'S, UH, UNLIKE ANYTHING ELSE YOU SEE IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT AROUND THE COUNTRY. AND SO, UH, YESTERDAY WE, WE GOT TO HEAR SOME REALLY COOL IDEAS COMING OUTTA KOREA AND THEY, THEY WANT TO BRING THEIR BUSINESS TO MCKINNEY. UM, AND SO REALLY EXCITING, UH, STUFF HAPPENING OVER THERE. WE ALSO HAVE, UM, PLUG AND PLAY. Y'ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH OUR PARTNERS PLUG AND PLAY. UH, THIS THURSDAY WE HAVE THE BATCH SIX. SO THIS IS THE, UH, SIXTH ROUND, UH, OF THEIR STARTUPS COMING TO PITCH IN MCKINNEY. UM, AND WE'RE DOING IT A LITTLE DIFFERENT THIS YEAR. UH, WE'RE DOING A TOUR DAY MCKINNEY, SO IT'S, UH, HEAVILY FOCUSED IN DOWNTOWN AND THERE'S BUSES INVOLVED, AND WE'RE GOING TO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AND THEY ACTUALLY PITCH, UH, THEIR, THEIR, UH, STARTUPS AT DIFFERENT SPOTS THROUGHOUT DOWNTOWN. SO, UH, NOT ONLY A NEAT WAY TO, UM, CONTINUE THAT PARTNERSHIP WITH PLUG, PLUG AND PLAY, BUT WE ALSO GOTTA SHOWCASE THE CITY, UM, IN, UH, IN A MORE HANDS-ON, UH, WAY THIS TIME. SO WE'RE EXCITED FOR THAT. LAST WEEK WAS BUSY. UH, WE ALSO HOSTED THE NORTH TEXAS CONNECTED. THIS WAS THE FIRST YEAR THAT WE PARTNERED WITH FRISCO, EDC AND ALSO ANOTHER NONPROFIT HERE, UM, IN COLLIN COUNTY TO CREATE THIS EVENT. IT WAS A STARTUP PITCH COMPETITION. UH, IT WAS HELD OVER IN FRISCO AND THERE WERE 200 ATTENDEES THERE. UM, WE HAD, UH, UH, PARTNERS FROM BOTH CITIES, BUT, UM, WE HAD CITY STAFF THAT SAT IN THE PANELS AND THEY JUDGED THESE STARTUPS, ASK THEM QUESTIONS. AND ULTIMATELY THERE WERE WINNERS. AND THESE STARTUPS THAT WIN GET TO COME AND REALLY GET, UH, SIT DOWN WITH OUR DIRECTORS OF WHATEVER DEPARTMENT THEIR, THEIR, UM, THEIR IDEA HELPS. UM, I LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, IF IT WAS PUBLIC WORKS AND THEIR IDEA HELPS SOMETHING IN PUBLIC WORKS, THEY NOW GET TO SIT DOWN WITH THE PUBLIC WORK PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR AND HOPEFULLY, UH, COME UP WITH A WAY TO DO A PILOT PROGRAM IN MCKINNEY AND SHOW THAT TECHNOLOGY AND HOW IT WORKS, UH, IN MCKINNEY AND FIXES ONE OF THEIR, THEIR NEEDS. AND LASTLY, UH, MOST OF OUR TEAM IS AT IEDC IN NEW ORLEANS, JUST A FEW WEEKS BEFORE THEY COULD HAVE FLOWN A VELO, UNFORTUNATELY, , UH, SO COMING SOON. UH, BUT THEY'RE THERE NOT ONLY FOR THE CONFERENCE NETWORKING AND LEARNING, BUT THEY'RE ALSO THERE TO PICK UP FOUR AWARDS THAT, UH, MEDC WON, UM, THIS YEAR. AND SO EXCITED TO BRING BACK A LITTLE EXTRA HARDWARE. HOPEFULLY SOMEBODY HAD SOME EXTRA ROOM IN THEIR SUITCASE, SO, VERY GOOD. UH, THEY'LL DO THAT. AND WITH THAT, I'LL STAND FOR ANY QUESTIONS. ANY QUESTIONS FOR AARON? THANK YOU GUYS. THANK YOU. NEXT MC, DC DEBORAH RADFORD. GOOD MORNING, MR. MEDINA. UM, INTERIM DIRECTOR, MS. HOLLENBERG. CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THE, UM, NEW BOARD MEMBERS, RETURNING BOARD MEMBERS. GOOD TO SEE YOU ALL THIS MORNING. UH, MCDC IS A PROUD SUPPORTER AND INVESTOR AND TO THE, UM, AIRPORT. SO I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO FLYING A BELLOW HERE VERY SHORTLY TO NEW ORLEANS . SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT. UH, ALSO AT OUR LAST BOARD MEETING, THE OATH OF OFFICE AND, UH, NEW AND REAPPOINTED BOARD MEMBERS, UH, TOOK PLACE. AND WE NOW HAVE BARBARA THOMAS AND BILL BAYOU, IF I'M PRONOUNCING HIS NAME CORRECTLY, FORGIVE ME BILL, IF YOU'RE WATCHING. AND I PUT YOUR, YOUR NAME AND ALSO OUR ELECTED OFFICER. SO I'M PROUD TO BE THE SECRETARY OF THE BOARD AGAIN FOR MCDC. SO COMING UP, WE HAVE THE FIRST CYCLE OF THE PROMOTIONAL AND COMMUNITY EVENT GRANTS, UH, WHICH WILL OPEN ON NOVEMBER THE FIRST AND CONTINUE THROUGH NOVEMBER 30TH. AND OUR PRESENTATIONS WILL BE MADE AT THE DECEMBER 17TH MEETING, UH, PROJECT GRANTS. YOU CAN SEE THE SUMMARY OF THE FISCAL YEAR 26 GRANTS. IT'S ATTACHED TO YOUR REPORT. AND WE WILL BE DOING THOSE APPLICATIONS DECEMBER ONE THROUGH DECEMBER, THE 30TH AS WELL. WE HAD TWO RETAIL INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, GRANTS. I MENTIONED THOSE THE LAST TIME I GAVE THE REPORT. AND THAT SHORTIES IN MCKINNEY AND ALSO THE REALLY COOL ASIAN FUELS, UH, FUSION SUSHI PLACE THAT I WILL BE FREQUENTING VERY OFTEN. AND THAT IS IN THE HOPE HARDWARE BUILDING. UPCOMING EVENTS SUPPORTED BY MCDC FOR PROMOTIONAL AND COMMUNITY EVENT. SO THIS SATURDAY, OF COURSE, THE HISTORIC MCKINNEY FARMERS MARKET, UM, OR EVERY [00:25:01] SATURDAY, I'M SORRY. AND THEN ON THE 31ST, THE MCKINNEY SPECTACULAR BRUISE AND BOOZE. AND WE HAVE THE HOLIDAY TOUR OF HOMES ON THE FIFTH AND THE SIXTH. AND THEN MILLHOUSE MAKER'S MARKET. WE HAVE NOVEMBER 14TH AND DECEMBER THE 12TH. AND AGAIN, THE, UM, FISCAL YEAR 26 GRANTS ARE ATTACHED. AND AT THIS TIME, I WILL STAND FOR ANY QUESTIONS. ANY QUESTIONS FOR MS. BRADFORD? THANK YOU. THANK YOU. NEXT UP MCKINNEY, MAIN STREET, ANDREW JONES. GOOD, GOOD MORNING. UH, VISIT MCKINNEY BOARD, UH, NEW CHAIR, UH, MEDINA, UM, AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR HOLMBERG, ANDREW JONES, CULTURAL DISTRICT DIRECTOR. A FEW UPDATES, A FEW THANK YOUS, ACTUALLY FOR OCTOBER FEST, UH, WE HAD A GREAT YEAR. UH, THE WEATHER WAS A LITTLE WARM, BUT, UH, DESPITE ALL THE CHALLENGES WITH IMPACT BEING CLOSED AND BEING KIND OF SPREAD OUT IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, WE HAD A GREAT YEAR RECORD TURNOUT FOR THAT. UM, I KNOW YOU'LL GET AN UPDATE ON THE NEW VISIT MCKINNEY, UH, WEBSITE, BUT, UH, WE ARE FORTUNATE TO BE, UH, PARTNERED WITH Y'ALL TO, UH, ACTUALLY LAUNCH A NEW DOWNTOWN MCKINNEY WEBSITE. UH, TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. UM, WE'RE ENJOYING ALL THE GREAT BENEFITS OF, UH, WORKING WITH Y'ALL ON THAT. SO THANK YOU. UH, WE, UH, APPLIED FOR SOME STATE AWARDS FOR SOME DOWNTOWN, UH, BUSINESSES AND PROJECTS IN, IN DOWNTOWN MCKINNEY. AND THIS IS THROUGH THE TEXAS DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION. AND, UH, WE APPLIED FOR FIVE AWARDS AND, UH, WE'RE FINALISTS IN FOUR. I'M PRETTY SURE WE'RE GONNA WIN A FEW. UH, BUT OUR FINALIST, UH, CATEGORIES WAS UNION BEAR FOR BEST COMMERCIAL INTERIOR. AND AGAIN, THIS IS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, UH, MCKINNEY CITY HALL IN THE PLAZA FOR BEST NEW CONSTRUCTION, WHICH I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE. IT'S BEEN A GREAT ENVIRONMENT TO HOST, UH, UH, LOVELY EVENTS LIKE THE ASIAN FESTIVAL. UM, WE HAVE THE CHESTNUT SQUARE FARMER'S MARKET FOR BEST DOWNTOWN PARTNER AWARD-WINNING CHESTNUT, UH, FARMER'S MARKET, AND THEN, UH, TOPS BREWERY FOR A BEST ECONOMIC GAME CHANGER FOR DOWNTOWN. SO, UH, LOTS OF THINGS TO BE PROUD OF ON THE STATEWIDE LEVEL. UH, WE'RE EXCITED FOR THE, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL KNOW AT THE, UH, DOWNTOWN TEXAS DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE, UH, NEXT WEEK. UH, WHAT, WHAT WON? SO WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THAT ON THE ARTS COMMISSION FRONT. UH, WE ARE WORKING ON TWO MURAL INSTALLATIONS AT THE AIRPORT, SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED TO WRAP THOSE UP THIS WEEK. UM, AND WE'RE ALSO WORKING ON AN ART INSTALLATION ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE NEW DOWNTOWN LIBRARY, SO WE'RE EXCITED FOR THOSE TO COME ON BOARD HERE IN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS. A FEW UPCOMING EVENTS. UH, OBVIOUSLY THE BRUISING, BOOZE, UH, BEER WALK. OCTOBER 31ST, NOVEMBER 11TH IS WHEN OUR, UH, DOWNTOWN CHRISTMAS TREE ARRIVES. AND THEN NOVEMBER 27TH THROUGH 29TH, WE'RE GEARING UP FOR THE HOLIDAYS WITH HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS. SO, WITH THAT, I'LL STAND FOR ANY QUESTIONS. I WAS JUST GONNA SAY REAL QUICK, UM, YOU KNOW, I CAME DOWN TO THE FESTIVAL HERE, THE ASIAN FESTIVAL. I REALLY LIKED HOW THEY HAD THE STAGE AND THE BACKDROP OF THE SILOS. I MEAN, JUST A LOT OF GOOD COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE ALL OVER. IT WAS REALLY A GREAT EVENT. I HOPE IT WAS A GOOD TURNOUT FROM WHAT YOU HEARD. ABSOLUTELY. GOOD. AND MY QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH OCTOBER FEST. UH, I HAD MY KIDS COME IN, MY ADULT CHILDREN, AND WE WERE LIKE, THE WIENER DOG RACES WERE VERY POPULAR AS WELL AS I KNOW A LOT OF OTHER THINGS. YES, THERE WERE SO MANY CROWDS THERE THAT I THINK WERE AT THE POINT WHERE WE HAVE TO CONSIDER TECHNOLOGY AND LIKE A BIG SCREEN TO BE ABLE TO SEE IT BECAUSE WE, EVERYONE, WE'RE ALL TRYING TO GET OUR INSTAGRAM VIDEOS AND WE WERE LIKE SHOVING PEOPLE AWAY. BUT THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING TO CONSIDER SERIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE SOME VIDEO SCREENS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE PUBLIC THAT'S NOT UP CLOSE. UH, SEE IT. YEAH, THE, WE NEED DOGS IN PARTICULAR ARE AWESOME FAN FAVORITES. UM, WE ACTUALLY ADDED A WHOLE NOTHER DAY BECAUSE OF THAT. SO WE EXPANDED NOT JUST ON SATURDAY, BUT ALSO SUNDAY THIS YEAR. AND WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA PROBABLY HAVE TO DO AGAIN, ADDITIONAL DAYS AND ADDITIONAL HOURS AND, AND RACES. SO, GOOD FEEDBACK. I GOTTA CATCH THAT RACE NEXT YEAR. IT'S THE BEST. IT IS REALLY GREAT. THANK YOU, ANDREW. UH, NEXT VISIT MCKINNEY, UH, FINANCE REPORT FROM ALICIA HOLBERG. ALL RIGHT. OKAY. YOU WANNA? YEAH. OKAY. SO WE ARE, AGAIN, THIS IS WHERE THE FINANCES FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST. UM, SO AT THAT POINT WE WERE 92% COMPLETE WITH OUR FISCAL YEAR. YOU CAN SEE THERE, UM, THAT WE AT THE TIME HAD SPENT ABOUT 75, ALMOST 76% OF OUR ALLOTTED, I'M SORRY, 76% OF OUR ALLOTTED BUDGET. UM, UH, YOU'LL SEE ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE, THE ONE OF THE ONES THAT IS SLOW IS SLIGHTLY DOWN, WHICH IS THE MERCHANDISE PURCHASE PURCHASES AT 61% THERE. UM, THAT IS BECAUSE WE SLOWED DOWN DUE TO THE RENOVATIONS [00:30:01] AT THE STORE, WE DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF STORAGE SPACE FOR ADDITIONAL MERCHANDISE. SO WE WERE TRYING TO BE MINDFUL OF HOW MUCH WE WERE PURCHASING. UM, YOU KNOW, SO WE DIDN'T HAVE, WE ARE LIMITED ON SPACE, UH, SO TRYING TO KIND OF TUCK THINGS AWAY HERE AND THERE ALL OVER THE STORE. BUT, SO THAT'S WHY, UM, TYPICALLY WE WOULD TRY AND SPEND, SPEND, SPEND THAT MONEY AND MAKE SURE WE HAVE PLENTY OF MERCHANDISE. BUT DUE TO THE POTENTIAL, UM, RENOVATION, WE KIND OF HELD OFF ON ON THAT A LITTLE BIT. EXCELLENT. UM, SO NEXT SLIDE SHOWS OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX REVENUE, UH, STRONG FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST. UM, YOU'LL SEE THERE, IT WAS UP 18.5%, BUT YOU WILL SEE IF YOU LOOK DOWN AT THE HOTELS THE MONTH PRIOR, THERE WAS ONE HOTEL THAT, UH, THERE WAS A HOTEL THAT DID NOT REPORT. SO THAT WAS PUT INTO, UM, THE MONTH OF AUGUST. SO THAT IS WHY IT WAS UP SLIGHTLY MORE THAN NORMAL. UM, BUT STILL STRONG, STRONG NUMBERS FOR AUGUST. SO ALWAYS HAPPY TO SEE THAT, UM, UH, COMPARED TO LAST YEAR FOR SURE. UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. THANK YOU. SO HERE IS, UM, AUGUST OF THIS YEAR VERSUS LAST YEAR. UH, STRONG NUMBERS, AGAIN, 70, UH, A LITTLE OVER 70% OCCUPANCY FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, WHICH IS, UH, SLIGHTLY UP FROM LAST YEAR. UM, BUT STILL HOLDING STRONG. AGAIN, THOSE ARE THE STRONG NUMBERS ACROSS THE BOARD. MOST CITIES ARE NOT SEEING THAT KIND OF OCCUPANCY. UM, OUR, OUR, UH, A DR AND REVPAR WERE SLIGHTLY UP, BUT AGAIN, WE'D LIKE TO SEE THAT, UM, CONTINUE TO CLIMB. UM, UH, AND THEN YOU'LL SEE THERE AGAIN, HOLDING STRONG FOUR YEAR TO DATE TO AUGUST WAS AT 70%. UM, AND AGAIN, YOU'LL NOTICE THOSE NUMBERS THERE. 1 0 3 FOR THE A DR, THE, UM, AVERAGE DAILY RATE, AND THEN THE REV PAR REVENUE PER AVAILABLE ROOM AT 72, UM, 72 94. SO SLIGHTLY UP, BUT AGAIN, HOPING TO CONTINUE TO SEE THOSE. CLIMB WITH THE ADDITION OF SOME NEW HOTELS. THERE MIGHT BE SOME CHANGES IN THERE, WE'LL SEE IN THE COMING MONTHS. UM, HOW THAT KIND OF SHAKES OUT. UM, NEXT IS OUR COMPETITIVE SET. UM, AGAIN, THERE AGAINST OUR, OUR NEIGHBORING CITIES AND GEORGETOWN. UM, FOR THOSE BOARD MEMBERS THAT ARE NEW, WE TYPICALLY PUT GEORGETOWN IN THERE BECAUSE IT'S A SIMILAR, UM, SIZE. THEY HAVE SIMILAR HOTEL PRODUCT, THEY HAVE A DOWNTOWN SQUARE. SO THAT IS WHY, UM, THAT CITY IS ALWAYS IN OUR, UM, COMPETITIVE SET. UM, YOU CAN SEE THERE AGAIN, WE ARE, WE ARE, UH, OUR OCCUPANCY IS QUITE A BIT HIGHER THAN MOST, UM, BUT WE WE'RE LACKING A LITTLE BIT, IS THAT THE A DR AND REVPAR NUMBERS. UM, YOU KNOW, WE PROBABLY WON'T HIT FRISCO. WE DON'T HAVE THOSE BIG OMNI STYLE HOTELS, AT LEAST NOT YET. UM, BUT THE HOPE IS THAT WE CONTINUE TO CLIMB, UH, EACH MONTH. AND THEN LASTLY I BELIEVE IS OUR, UM, HERE'S THE TOP PROPERTIES THAT REPORTED THEIR HOTEL REVENUE, HOT TAX REVENUE. UM, AS ALWAYS, THE AIRBNB, UM, IS ALWAYS TYPICALLY OUR, OUR TOP COLLECTION. AND THEN WHEN IT IS COMBINED WITH THE HOMEAWAY IS VRBO. UM, THAT'S OUR, OUR BIGGEST, WE DON'T, UH, FOR THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS, WE DON'T GET ANY, UM, MORE DATA FROM THEM OTHER THAN A CHECK THAT THEY REPORT TO US. UM, BUT WE ARE THANKFUL THAT WE GET THAT WE ARE GRANDFATHERED IN TO RECEIVE THOSE FUNDS. AND NOT ALL CITIES RECEIVE HOT FUNDS FROM AIRBNB. UH, AND THEN YOU CAN SEE GOING DOWN THE LIST THERE, SHERIDAN, UM, IS OUR NEXT BIGGEST COLLECTOR AND THEN SPRING HILL, FAIRFIELD, UM, HOME TWO AND SO ON. SO, UM, AUGUST WAS A STRONG MONTH. UM, SO WE ARE HOPING TO CONTINUE TO SEE THAT THROUGH SEPTEMBER. UM, WE, GOING BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE, UM, SLIDES, WE ARE ALREADY OVER WHERE WE WOULD, UM, NEED TO BE. WE SURPASSED ALREADY IN AUGUST, LAST YEAR'S TOTALS FOR COLLECTION. SO IT'LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE NEXT MONTH WHERE WE END THE YEAR, UM, OUR FISCAL YEAR. AND DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? GREAT. ARE WE, ARE WE GETTING, UH, MONEY FROM VRBO AS WELL? YEAH, THAT'S COMBINED. IF YOU SEE ON THAT SLIDE THERE, THE SHORT TERM RENTALS AT HOMEAWAY, THAT'S WHAT, UM OH, OKAY. IS THE COMBINATION. IT'S A SMALLER AMOUNT THAT THEY'RE GIVING, WHICH IS WHY THEY'RE NOT IN THE TOP PROPERTIES THERE. GOT IT. BUT THAT COMBINATION IS WELLS ADDED, THERE'S GOOD. MM-HMM . GOOD. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR ALICIA? NO, I'D JUST LIKE TO MAKE A STATEMENT IS THAT THIS WHOLE YEAR HAS BEEN FANTASTIC AND YEAH, WE ARE, EVEN THOUGH YOU THINK, I MEAN, WE SAY THE A DR AND THE REVPAR IS SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN SOME OF OUR SURROUNDING CITIES, SO WE'RE ALL TRENDING IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION. MM-HMM . SO I THINK WHAT, WHAT IS, WHAT IS WORKING IS WORKING. SO YES, IF YOU LOOK AT OUR, UM, OUR TIERED HOTELS, THAT TOP TIER HOTEL, WHICH IS MOST OF THE ONES THAT YOU'LL SEE ON THE TOP PROPERTIES LIST, THEIR, THEIR AVERAGE DAILY RATE IS MUCH HIGHER. IT'S CLOSER TO WHAT'S IN LIKE THE ONE 20. IT'S JUST SOME OF THOSE LOWER TIER THAT BRINGS THE AVERAGE DOWN. UM, SO THOSE TOP PROPERTIES ARE BRINGING IN A CLOSER NUMBER TO WHAT SOME OF, OF OUR SURROUNDING SISTER CITIES ARE BRINGING IN. BUT WE JUST HAVE A WIDE VARIETY OF, UM, LEVELS OF PROPERTY. AND ALICIA, THANK YOU FOR [00:35:01] EXPLAINING TO ME THE MONTHS THAT MAYBE WE'RE JUST ONE OR 2%, 5% ABOVE YEAR BEFORE MM-HMM . VERSUS SOME OF THE OTHER STRONGER MONTHS. BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S WHEN THE HOTELS ARE REPORTING TO US, THAT'S THE VARIANT. SO IT'S NOT YEAH. A BAD MONTH, IT'S JUST WHEN THE REPORTING COMES IN. YES. SO THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THAT TO ME. YEAH, NO PROBLEM. WE DO HAVE, THERE'S SOME LOWER MONTHS. FEBRUARY IS TYPICALLY ACQUIRED OR MONTH, UM, BUT THAT IS THAT KIND OF, AND I'LL MAKE SURE TO MAKE A NOTE OF THAT WHEN THERE'S SOME THAT ARE JUST A LITTLE BIT LATE ON THE REPORTING IT GETS PUT INTO THE NEXT, I THINK THESE HOTELS ARE DOING WELL 'CAUSE TONY'S BOOKING A LOT OF BUSINESS WITH THEM. THAT'S RIGHT. SURE. RIGHT. TONY . ALRIGHT, GREAT. UM, NEXT VISIT MCKINNEY MARKETING REPORT. SARAH ING AND EMILY MYRICK. GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY. CONGRATULATIONS BRIAN. THANK YOU. I HAVE NOBODY ON THERE APPOINTMENTS THIS MORNING. UM, SO WE'RE GONNA BE REPORTING ON SEPTEMBER SINCE WE ARE STILL IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. UH, SOCIAL MEDIA WAS SUPER STRONG. UM, COMING INTO SEPTEMBER. UH, WE HAD A LOT OF EVENT FOCUSED CONTENT, UM, A LOT OF PARTNER CONTENT, WHICH WAS REALLY GOOD. AND THEN WE ALSO HAD, UH, AN INFLUENCER CAMPAIGN WITH EXPLORE WITH WESLEY AND THAT DID REALLY WELL. SO THAT BOOSTED OUR OVERALL NUMBERS. UM, WE HAD OVER 2,500 NEW FOLLOWERS ACROSS ALL OF OUR CHANNELS AS WELL AS 2,500 LINK CLICKS, WHICH IS GREAT. SO IT SHOWS THAT PEOPLE ARE ENGAGED AND, YOU KNOW, TAKING THE, TAKING THE STEPS TO GO FURTHER DOWN THE FUNNEL. UM, SO NOW WE'RE JUST BUILDING THAT INTEREST GOING INTO OCTOBER AND TURKEY TIME. , UH, FOR THE WEBSITE, WE STAYED PRETTY STEADY OVER THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. THAT WAS WHEN WE WERE TRANSITIONING OUR WEBSITE. UM, AND THANKFULLY WE DIDN'T REALLY SEE A DIP IN ANY OF OUR NUMBERS, WHICH WAS GREAT. AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THE WEBSITE MORE IN A LITTLE BIT. UM, BUT WE WERE HAPPY TO JUST STAY KIND OF, EVEN FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, SOME OF OUR TOP WEBPAGE WAS THE MCKINNEY OCTOBER FEST EVENT. OBVIOUSLY A VERY POPULAR EVENT, SO NO SURPRISE THERE. AND THEN THE EVENTS PAGE, OF COURSE, AND CANON BEACH IS ALSO STILL SERVICING IN OUR TOP FIVE EVERY MONTH. AND THEN FOR OUR APP, THE VISIT WIDGET, UM, WE STAYED PRETTY STEADY ON THAT AS WELL. WE'RE STILL SEEING A LOT OF NEW USERS ON THE APP, WHICH IS ALWAYS EXCITING. WE'RE TRYING TO ADD NEW TOURS AND THINGS, UM, THAT PEOPLE CAN DO WHEN THEY'RE IN TOWN. AND OUR TOP FEED PAGES ON THE APP WHERE THE TINY DOORS, UM, MURALS OF MCKINNEY AND THE BIRDS OF DOWNTOWN, WHICH IS TYPICALLY ABOUT THE SAME FROM MONTH TO MONTH AS WELL. YEAH. UH, SO EMAILS, WE HAD FIVE CAMPAIGNS SENT, UH, SEGMENTED ACROSS A COUPLE DIFFERENT, UH, AUDIENCES, UM, WITH AN AVERAGE OPEN RATE AT ABOUT 46, WHICH IS PRETTY AVERAGE FOR US, VERY STRONG INDUSTRY WIDE AND WE'RE REALLY HAPPY WITH THOSE RESULTS. AND THEN AS FAR AS THE MEDIA GOES, EARNED MEDIA, WE PITCHED TWO STORIES. ONE WAS ABOUT THE STICKS AND THEIR, UM, POPUP FOR THE STATE FAIR OF TEXAS AND THEN ALSO ABOUT OUR NEW WEBSITE. UM, AND WE GOT FOUR MEDIA PLACEMENTS WITH THAT. AND WE'LL STAND FOR ANY QUESTIONS. I WAS JUST GONNA MAKE A COMMENT. SO THE EMAILS THAT YOU GUYS SENT OUT ARE, ARE GREAT AND IF THE NEW BOARD MEMBERS AREN'T GETTING THOSE, JUST GO IN, MAKE SURE OR TELL US HOW TO GET ACCESS TO THAT IN CASE WE HAVEN'T FOR ANYBODY HERE. YES. SO ON OUR WEBSITE IN THE MENU, THERE'S A SIGNUP FOR THE NEWSLETTER OPTION. IF YOU GO TO THAT PAGE, YOU CAN, UH, GO TO THE PAGE WILL TAKE YOU TO WHERE YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR ALL OF OUR EMAILS AND YOU CAN CLICK, UH, WHAT SEGMENTS YOU WANNA BE A PART OF. SO IF YOU WANNA GET THE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER, YOU CAN GET THAT. UM, YOU CAN SELECT, WE HAVE LIKE STUFF FOR FOODIE PEOPLE, UM, EVENTS, ALL KINDS OF SHOPPING. WE HAVE LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE 10 DIFFERENT LISTS YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR. SO YOU CAN REALLY CHOOSE WHAT INFORMATION YOU WANT. THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I'D JUST LIKE TO MAKE A COMMENT THAT IT IS ALWAYS WONDERFUL TO, TO SEE YOU GUYS MAKE THE PRESENTATION BECAUSE EVERY TIME I CLICK ON SOCIAL MEDIA I'M SEEING SOMETHING NEW AND IT'S GREAT. AND YOU GUYS HAVE JUST DONE A REALLY GOOD JOB WITH THIS TEAM AND IT'S JUST FANTASTIC. SO KUDOS TO Y'ALL. THANK YOU. WELL DESERVED. GOOD JOB. ALRIGHT, NEXT ON THE AGENDA, [26-1052 Interim Director’s Report] AGENDA IS 26 DASH 10 52 INTERIM DIRECTORS REPORT PRESENTED BY ALICIA HOLMBERG. OKAY. UM, WELL, AGAIN, WELCOME TO OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THOSE, UM, APPOINTMENTS THIS MORNING. UH, SO WE HAVE, UM, EXCITING NEWS, NEW HOTELS. UM, WE HAD THE LA QUINTA, UM, HAWTHORNE EXTENDED STAY. IT'S A DUAL PROPERTY. IT HAS OPENED EARLIER THIS MONTH. UM, SO TONY AND I WENT OUT THERE AND STOPPED BY LAST WEEK. IT'S, UH, UNFORTUNATELY THE MAIN PERSON WASN'T THERE, SO WE DIDN'T GET A FULL TOUR, BUT WE WERE IN THE LOBBY AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. UM, SO WE'RE GONNA HEAD BACK OVER THERE AND TRY AND GET A TOUR OF THE PROPERTY. IT IS AT SOUTH HARDIN AND MCKINNEY RANCH PARKWAY, RIGHT NEAR THE, UM, MCKINNEY ISD STADIUM. UM, AND THEY, SO ON ONE SIDE IS THE HAWTHORNE EXTENDED SAY, AND THAT HAS ABOUT [00:40:01] 30 ROOMS. AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LOBBY, UM, IS THE LA QUINTA AND THEY HAVE 69 ROOMS. SO IT ADDED A TOTAL OF 99 ROOMS TO OUR, UM, INVENTORY AC MARRIOTT, WHICH JILL, UM, IS A MEMBER OF OVER THERE. UM, THEY ARE HOPEFULLY OPENING EITHER LATER THIS MONTH OR NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER 12TH, NOVEMBER, NOVEMBER 12TH IS, IS WHAT THEY'RE OPENING. OKAY. 12TH. AND YOU, I BELIEVE IT'S, UH, 137 ROOMS WITH EIGHT SUITES. MM-HMM . IT'S A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL PROPERTY. AGAIN, TONY AND I STOPPED THERE. WE MADE OUR ROUNDS LAST WEEK, UM, AND, UH, BEAUTIFUL UPSCALE, UM, KIND OF ELEVATING SOME OF OUR PROPERTY THAT WE HAVE HERE IN MCKINNEY. WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO HAVE THEM, UM, OPEN UP. UM, AND THEN THEY ALSO HAVE A, UH, A RESTAURANT THERE CALLED GOOD AND PROPER. UM, IT'S AT THE TOP FLOOR OF THE FIFTH FLOOR AND THEY REALLY WANT TO, THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A, UH, AN EXECUTIVE CHEF AND A, AND A HIGH-END MENU. UM, AND IT HAS ITS OWN ENTRANCE, UM, FROM THE OUTSIDE. SO THEY'RE REALLY TRYING TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE WHO NOT NECESSARILY EVEN STAYING AT THE HOTEL, THEY WOULD LIKE IT TO BE COMMUNITY THAT COMES IN AND ENJOYS THAT RESTAURANT. IT'S NOT YOUR TYPICAL HOTEL RESTAURANT. UM, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO, TO THEIR OPENING, UM, THEIR LATER THIS MONTH, UM, EARLIER THIS, THIS MONTH I THINK. YES. UH, TONY ATTENDED A SPORTS, THE RELATIONSHIP CONFERENCE, UM, IN VIRGINIA BEACH. AND HE MET WITH ABOUT 25 OR SO SPORTS PLANNERS. UM, MOST WERE FROM THE EAST COAST, SO THEY WERE NEW CONTACTS FOR HIM. HE HADN'T MET THEM, THEY WERE NOT FAMILIAR WITH MCKINNEY. UM, SO THAT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR, UH, MCKINNEY TO BE SHOWCASED TO THESE PLANNERS AND TRY AND BRING THEIR EVENTS HERE TO, TO, UH, TO NORTH TEXAS. UM, UH, AS BARRY MENTIONED, AVELO MARKETING. SO OUR TEAM, SARAH AND EMILY HAVE WORKED WITH AND HAVE A CONTACT WITH AVELO. SO WE ARE TRYING TO DO SOME, SOME MARKETING WITH THEM TO HELP PROMOTE, UM, MCKINNEY AS A DESTINATION FOR PEOPLE COMING IN. SO AS THAT CONTINUES, I'M SURE AT SOME POINT WE'LL, WE'LL GIVE YOU SOME MORE INFORMATION ON HOW THAT IS EVOLVING. UM, AND THEN AS AARON MENTIONED, UM, THE, THE NORTH TEXAS PITCH COMPETITION THAT, THAT THEY HAD, UM, SARAH ASSISTED, UM, MEDC WITH SOME OF THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA DURING THAT EVENT BECAUSE THEIR STAFF WAS BUSY RUNNING THE EVENT. SO THEY REACHED OUT TO US AND SHE WAS ABLE TO ASSIST. SO SOME GOOD PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS GOING ON. UM, TURKEY TIME, AS EMILY JUST SAID IS COMING UP. WE, UM, WATCH OUR SOCIALS SOME GOOD FUN VIDEOS THIS AFTERNOON. WE ARE FILMING A A, A GREAT VIDEO THAT YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR WITH, UM, MAYOR COX. UH, SO THAT'S GONNA BE A FUN ONE. THAT'LL BE ON OUR SOCIAL CHANNELS A LITTLE LATER, UM, IN NOVEMBER. AND THEN, UM, STARTING ON NOVEMBER 2ND, UM, BE SURE TO LOOK OUT FOR IN MITCHELL PARK, THE 20 FOOT TURKEY THAT'S GOING UP THERE, INFLATABLE TURKEY IN MITCHELL PARK WITH A BIG MONUMENT SIGN, UM, ANNOUNCING THAT WE ARE THE INFLATABLE TURKEY CAPITAL OF TEXAS. UH, SO THAT'LL BE ANOTHER FUN THING. UM, JUST A COUPLE THINGS OF NOTE FOR YOU GUYS. UH, THE TOURISM PARTNER OF THE YEAR, THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN ON THE BOARD, UM, BEFORE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THIS. SO THIS IS, UM, THROUGH THE MCKINNEY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY AWARDS THAT GO ON, UM, TYPICALLY IN LATE FEBRUARY. SO OUR BOARD GIVES OUT AN AWARD TO A TOURISM PARTNER THAT WE WORK WITH THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. UM, THOSE NOMINATIONS, UH, WILL BE COMING UP. WE'LL BE VOTING AT OUR NEXT MEETING IN NOVEMBER. UM, OUR TEAM WILL SEND YOU OUR NOMINATION, BUT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN TO US AND THEN WE WILL, UM, PUT THAT TOGETHER FOR YOU GUYS AND THEN WE WILL DO A KIND OF SECRET BALLOT, UM, DURING THAT MEETING AND THEN WE CAN, UM, NOTIFY THE WINNER SEPARATELY OUTSIDE OF THAT MEETING. AND, AND ALICIA, WHAT'S THE CRITERIA FOR A NOMINEE? UM, SO IT'S REALLY JUST WHO MAYBE WE HAVE WORKED WITH THAT WE FELT WAS A VALUABLE PARTNER DURING THIS PAST YEAR, UM, IF WE'VE, YOU KNOW, PARTNERED WITH THEM ON DIFFERENT THINGS THAT HELP PUT UP, PUT OUT, I'M SORRY, SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT VISIT MCKINNEY. UM, ANYTHING LIKE THAT IN THE PAST LAST YEAR, UM, THE BOARD CHOSE THE FAIRFIELD INN HOTEL. THEY HAD BEEN NOMINATED A COUPLE YEARS. THEY WERE ONE OF OUR TOP PERFORMING HOTELS. UM, AND WE'D WORKED WITH THEM QUITE A BIT FOR SOME DIFFERENT GROUPS THAT CAME IN. UM, THE YEAR PRIOR WAS THE WELLS GROUP, UM, A BIG, BESIDES BEING, YOU KNOW, THE, HAVING THE GRAND HOTEL, BUT THAT WAS AROUND THE TIME WHEN, UM, HARVEST OPENED AND BEING RECOGNIZED AS A MICHELIN, UM, RESTAURANT. UM, AND JUST PUTTING OUR NAME ON THE MAP, UM, IN THAT SENSE AS FAR AS HAVING VISITORS WANNA COME TO MCKINNEY FOR THOSE, UH, UH, ACCOLADES. GREAT, THANKS. MM-HMM . SURE. UH, SO JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND AND YOU CAN SEND ANY NOMINATIONS TO ME OR PAULA. UH, AND THEN WE'LL PUT IT ALL TOGETHER FOR EVERYONE TO SEE BEFORE THE MEETING. UM, LAST DATE, RSVP FOR THE STATE OF THE CITY. LUNCH IS TOMORROW, SO PLEASE LET PAULA KNOW IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND. AND THEN I BELIEVE SHE PROVIDED, UH, A FULL LIST THERE OF ANY OTHER IMPORTANT DATES FOR, FOR YOU GUYS TO KEEP UP ON. AND THAT IS ALL I HAVE FOR YOU AND I WILL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. NOPE. ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE TOURISM PARTNER? YES. UM, [00:45:01] JUST OUTTA CURIOSITY, ARE THERE, DO YOU KNOW OF ANY FEATURES TO SEE IF LIKE THE SAME ORGANIZATION DOESN'T GET RECOGNIZED FROM SOME OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS FROM SOME OTHERS? WE CAN TRY AND PUT SOME FEELERS OUT. UM, IT'S TOUGH BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T NOMINATED THEIRS EITHER. YEAH. YET. UM, BUT WE, I CAN CAN CERTAINLY ASK IF THAT HAPPENS, BUT BECAUSE IT THERE, I THINK THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE WELLS GROUP, 'CAUSE THAT WAS EVERYONE WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THE HARVEST. UM, SO WE CAN CERTAINLY PUT OUT SOME FEELERS TO SEE WHO THEY'RE KIND OF THINKING OF NOMINATING AND LET YOU GUYS KNOW. GOOD QUESTION. THANK YOU. SURE. ALRIGHT. UM, NEXT [26-1053 Reimaging How Visitors Discover McKinney: A Refreshed VisitMcKinney.com] VISIT MCKINNEY, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SPECIALIST SARAH TING WILL PRESENT ON AGENDA ITEM 26 DASH 10 53. GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY. AGAIN, I'M SARAH ING, SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA SPECIALIST FOR VISIT MCKINNEY LITTLE PROJECT WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON NEW WEBSITE. UM, SO TODAY I'M GONNA PRESENT ABOUT KIND OF WHAT WENT INTO THIS DECISION AND KIND OF WHAT WE DETERMINED ABOUT OUR WEBSITE AND HOW WE WANTED TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR OUR VISITORS. UM, WHEN WE FIRST STARTED TALKING ABOUT, UM, RETHINKING OUR WEBSITE AND HOW WE WERE SHOWING UP FOR PEOPLE, WE SET A FEW GOALS FOR OURSELF. WE WANTED TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR VISITORS TO DISCOVER THINGS TO DO. AND WE ALSO WANTED OUR SITE TO BE MORE ENGAGING. EVERYBODY'S TRAVELING FOR A DIFFERENT REASON. EVERYBODY HAS, UM, DIFFERENT AGE RANGES AND DEMOGRAPHICS WHEN THEY'RE COMING AND TRAVELING. SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE SHOWING UP FOR EVERY VISITOR WHERE THEY WERE. UH, WE ALSO WANTED TO GIVE VISITORS A MORE PERSONALIZED AND INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE. A LOT OF TRADITIONAL DMO WEBSITES IS ARE VERY HEAVY ON, UH, BUSINESS LISTINGS. AND WE WANTED TO REALLY TELL THE MCKINNEY STORY AND MAKE IT MORE PERSONAL. AND OUR LAST GOAL WAS TO GIVE STAFF VISIT MCKINNEY STAFF A MORE FLEXIBLE PLATFORM THAT WE COULD UPDATE EASIER FOR WHERE WE STARTED. WE REALLY TOOK A LOOK AT ALL OF THE DATA. WE LOOKED AT OUR VISITOR BEHAVIOR, HOW WERE OUR VISITORS TRAVELING THROUGHOUT OUR SITE, WHAT PAGES WERE THEY LOOKING AT? WHAT INFORMATION WERE THEY SEARCHING FOR? WE REVIEWED OUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS AND SOME OF OUR SEO REPORTS. WE CREATED SEVERAL DIFFERENT FUNNELS IN OUR GOOGLE ANALYTICS TO SEE WHERE PEOPLE ENTERED THE SITE, WHERE THEY EXITED THE SITE, HOW QUICKLY THEY WERE LEAVING THE SITE. AND THAT KIND OF DROVE SOME OF OUR DECISIONS ON THE BACKEND. WE ALSO LOOKED AT STAFF EXPERIENCE AND WE FOUND THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF INTERNAL STRUGGLES WITH UPDATING INFORMATION AS FAR AS HOW EASY IT WAS FOR STAFF TO UPDATE INFORMATION AND ALSO THE DESIGN WISE, HOW, UH, DIFFICULT IT KIND OF WAS TO MAKE CHANGES TO COLORS OR FONTS. UM, AND TO DO AN ENTIRE REFRESH. IT WAS GOING TO BE A LOT OF STAFF HOURS AND A LOT OF WORK. WE ALSO LOOKED AT OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS. SO ALL OF THE BUSINESSES, THE LOCAL, UM, PEOPLE THAT WE WORK WITH, THE COFFEE SHOPS, UM, THE THINGS DO THE ATTRACTIONS. UH, WE IDENTIFIED THAT THERE WERE SOME BARRIERS WITH HOW PEOPLE WERE SUBMITTING THEIR EVENTS TO US ON THE CALENDAR, HOW THEY WERE UPDATING THEIR OWN BUSINESS LISTINGS, SUBMITTING DEALS AND SPECIALS, AND JUST GETTING US THE INFORMATION WE NEEDED TO KEEP THE SITE UP TO DATE. AND WE DEFINITELY WANTED TO MAKE THAT EASIER FOR PEOPLE AND NOT A HINDRANCE, UM, FOR THEIR BUSINESS LISTING ON OUR SITE. UH, SO THIS IS KIND OF WHAT WE FOUND. WE FOUND THAT FOR THE VISITOR EXPERIENCE THERE WAS LIMITED PERSONALIZATION. YOU CAME TO THE SITE AND YOU SAW WHAT YOU SAW. THERE WASN'T ANYTHING CUSTOM ABOUT IT. IT WAS HARD TO FIND RELEVANT CONTENT FOR PEOPLE. IF YOU WERE COMING TO MCKINNEY WITH YOUR KIDS, YOU WERE GONNA SEE THE SAME EXACT INFORMATION AS IF YOU WERE COMING TO MCKINNEY AS A COUPLE FOR A ROMANTIC GETAWAY. UM, WE ALSO SAW THAT THERE IS A HIGH, UM, EXIT FROM OUR SITE. PEOPLE WEREN'T SPENDING A TON OF TIME, UM, IN OUR REPORTING OVER THE PAST YEAR OR SO. WE'VE GOTTEN UP HERE AND SAID PEOPLE ARE SPENDING 30 SECONDS ON OUR SITE AND THAT'S NOT REALLY ENOUGH TIME TO TELL THE MCKINNEY STORY AND GET PEOPLE HERE. SO WE SAW THAT PEOPLE WERE QUICKLY LEAVING THE SITE AND WE THINK THAT IT'S PRIMARILY BECAUSE WE HAD A TON OF INFORMATION, A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION, BUT IT WAS IN A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT PLACES SO PEOPLE COULDN'T FIND WHAT THEY NEEDED AND JUST WOULD GO TO GOOGLE AND SEE IF THEY COULD FIND THERE INSTEAD. AS FAR AS STAFF EXPERIENCE WENT, WE WERE RELYING VERY HEAVILY ON SUPPORT FROM OUR PREVIOUS PROVIDER. THERE WERE MANY TIMES WE HAD TO PUT IN TICKETS FOR VERY SIMPLE, UM, EDITS AND THINGS AND IT WOULD TAKE WEEKS AND SOMETIMES MONTHS TO GET THOSE THINGS FIXED. AND YOU NEVER WANNA SPEND THAT MUCH TIME ON A SUPPORT TICKET AND TALKING BACK AND FORTH AND FIXING THOSE THINGS. WE WANNA MAKE SURE OUR WEBSITE IS UP TO DATE. UM, AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THERE WAS ALSO LIMITED ABILITY TO ADD NEW THINGS TO OUR SITE. WE WOULD HAVE TO PUT IN TICKETS AGAIN AND WORK WITH THE TEAM, UM, WHICH AGAIN WOULD TAKE SOMETIMES WEEKS AND MONTHS FOR OUR PARTNER EXPERIENCES. WE NOTICED THAT THE BUSINESS LISTINGS WERE VERY HARD TO MAINTAIN. UM, WE HAD OVER A THOUSAND PAGES ON OUR LAST WEBSITE, WHICH IS A LOT. UM, IT'S A LOT TO MAINTAIN FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE AND JUST WORKING WITH THE BUSINESSES AND TRYING TO FIND CONTACTS FOR ALL OF THEM AND REACH OUT TO THEM AND ASK FOR PICTURES AND UM, INFORMATION FROM THEM. SO WE FOUND THAT IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN ALL OF THE INFORMATION IN OUR ENTIRE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM. [00:50:01] WE ALSO NOTICED THAT OUR PARTNER PARTICIPATION WAS A LITTLE BIT LIMITED. WE HAD A PARTNER EXTRANET, WHERE OUR PARTNERS COULD GO AND LOG IN AND UPDATE THEIR INFORMATION. THEY COULD GIVE US THEIR, UM, NEW PICTURES, THEIR UM, EVENTS, THEIR DEALS AND SPECIALS. AND WE RAN THE REPORTS ON IT AND ABOUT 10 OF OUR UH, PARTNERS WERE UTILIZING THAT OVER WITH OVER A THOUSAND PEOPLE ACTUALLY BEING LISTED ON OUR SITE. SO IT WAS LIMITED AND WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WAS EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO UPDATE THEIR INFORMATION. THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE SWITCHED TO, WE SWITCHED TO A PROVIDER CALLED STEEPLE SYSTEMS AND CHAD IS HERE TODAY IN THE BACKGROUND. UM, HE'S GONNA COME UP IN A LITTLE BIT AT THE END AND I'LL INTRODUCE HIM. HE'S THE FOUNDER OF STEEPLE. UM, IT'S AN AI POWERED PLATFORM BUILT FOR DESTINATION SPECIFICALLY. AND BACK IN THE SUMMERTIME, IN ABOUT JULY, WE WERE TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE WANTED TO DO WITH OUR SITE AND HOW WE WANTED TO IMPROVE IT FOR OUR VISITORS. AND WE WERE ALREADY DEMOING A SEPARATE PRODUCT WITH CHAD AND HE CAME TO US AND HE SAID, WHAT IF I COULD CHANGE YOUR ENTIRE WEBSITE AND YOUR ENTIRE DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM? AND AT THE BEGINNING I WAS LIKE, THAT'S A LITTLE BIT CRAZY . UM, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT. AND HE REALLY PROVED TO US THAT WE COULD DO SOMETHING NEW AND INNOVATIVE WITH OUR WEBSITE AND SHOW UP FOR OUR VISITORS IN A DIFFERENT WAY. AND WE KIND OF WENT FROM ASKING OUR CURRENT WEBSITE PROVIDER, CAN YOU DO THIS TO NOW WORKING WITH CHAD AND STEEPLE TO BE LIKE, YES, WE CAN DO ANYTHING AND WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? SO IT'S REALLY CHANGED HOW WE'VE SHOWN UP. UM, IN OUR OWN DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM. IT IS VERY FOCUSED ON, UM, AI SEARCH AND DISCOVERY. PEOPLE ARE NOW GOING TO GOOGLE TO SEARCH FOR WHATEVER THEY'RE LOOKING FOR AS FAR AS TRAVEL. AND IT COMES UP WITH THAT LITTLE SYNOPSIS, UM, FROM AI, FROM CHAT, GBT, WHATEVER THEY'RE SEARCHING ON. AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE SHOWING UP IN THOSE SPACES AND WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT NOW WITH STEEPLE. SO WHAT'S NEW ON OUR WEBSITE, THERE'S A LOT THAT'S NEW. IF YOU HAVEN'T VISITED IT, IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT LOOK. UM, WE CAN NOW, BESIDES THE LOOK OF IT AND THE FONTS AND THE COLORS AND EVERYTHING, WE CAN ALSO NOW UPDATE INFORMATION QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY. THERE ARE MANY THINGS NOW THAT IS BASICALLY A ONE CLICK UPDATE, WHICH IS REALLY GREAT FOR STAFF TIME. THERE'S NEW INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCES. I'LL SHOW YOU GUYS SOME OF THE PAGES HERE IN A MINUTE. THAT STAFF REALLY HAVE ENJOYED WORKING ON AND LOOKING AT. IT'S A LOT EASIER TO DEPLOY NEW WIDGETS INSTEAD OF SPENDING HOURS WITH THE SUPPORT TEAM. UH, WORKING WITH STEEPLE NOW IS REALLY QUICK AND EASY. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS FANTASTIC. UM, MOST ISSUES ARE FIXED WITHIN 24 HOURS IF NOT LESS. UM, WE'RE ALSO ABLE NOW TO RESPOND TO TRENDS QUICKER AND DO NEW CAMPAIGNS. SO WHEN SEASONAL THINGS COME UP, LIKE THE TURKEYS, WE CAN QUICKLY UPDATE THE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE AND MAKE SURE IT'S UP TO DATE. UM, AND THEN ALSO IT GIVES US A NEW OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIMENT WITH NEW WAYS OF ENGAGING WITH VISITORS. WE CAN SEE WHAT THEY'RE CLICKING AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING, WHERE THEY'RE TRAVELING ON THE SITE AND MAKE CHANGES BASED ON THEIR, UM, WHAT THEY'RE DOING. WHY THIS MATTERS FOR MCKINNEY. I THINK THERE'S A FEW REASON THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT. UM, WE'RE ALWAYS CHANGING. THE TECHNOLOGY IS ALWAYS CHANGING IN THE WORLD AND WE WANNA BE ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THAT. AND ALSO TRAVEL DISCOVERY IS CHANGING. UM, A YEAR AGO IF YOU WOULD'VE TOLD ME I COULD PLAN A TRIP FULLY THROUGH CHACHI BT OR CLOT OR ANY OF THESE PLATFORMS, I WOULD'VE TOLD YOU THAT'S CRAZY AND I WOULD HAVE TO DO A BUNCH OF RESEARCH TO PLAN MY TRIP. BUT TRAVEL SEARCH AND DISCOVERY IS CHANGING AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE SHOWING UP FOR PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE. SOME PEOPLE ARE MORE TRADITIONAL IN THE WAY THEY PLANNED THEIR TRIPS AND SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING THESE NEW PLATFORMS AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE SHOWING UP IN BOTH WAYS. SO THIS UH, SWITCH TO A NEW PLATFORM WAS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US SO WE COULD KEEP UP WITH THE TECHNOLOGY SIDE OF THINGS AS WELL AS JUST WITH WHAT MCKINNEY IS DOING AS A WHOLE. YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THE NEW ATTRACTIONS THAT ARE COMING ONLINE, THE AIRPORT, THE VENUE AMPHITHEATER, CANON BEACH, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALSO CHANGING WITH HOW THE CITY IS CHANGING. SO SOME OF OUR FAVORITE PAGES, UM, IT'LL KINDA HOPEFULLY SCROLL ONE IS THE INFLATABLE TURKEY PAGE AS I MENTIONED. YOU CAN GO ON THIS PAGE AND POP UP YOUR OWN INFLATABLE TURKEY. UM, AND ONCE YOU GET IT PAST A HUNDRED PERCENT IT'LL SAY IT'S ALL THE WAY PUMPED UP . AND YOU CAN ALSO SHARE THAT ON ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS WHEN YOU DO IT. SO I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT, UM, THINGS TO DO. YOU CAN SELECT WHAT YOU'RE COMING TO MCKINNEY FOR AND WHAT YOU'RE INTERESTED IN AND IT WILL CHANGE THAT INFORMATION ON YOUR PAGE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. SO AS YOU CHANGE WHAT YOU'RE PUTTING INTO THAT TABLE, IT'S GONNA SUGGEST DIFFERENT ITINERARIES FOR YOU BASED ON WHAT YOU'RE INTERESTED IN. WOW. COOL. THE AIRPORT PAGE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. I THINK IT'S A REALLY PRETTY PAGE . IT KIND OF IS COOL TO SEE, UM, ALL THE DIFFERENT, UH, PLACES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO FLY TO. THERE'S A FLIPBOARD AND THEN THERE'S ALSO THE, UM, MAP OF THE UNITED STATES THAT SHOWS EXACTLY WHERE EVERYBODY CAN GO TO, UM, FROM MCKINNEY. AND UM, I THINK THAT'S JUST A REALLY COOL PAGE. THE WEDDINGS AND ALL OF OUR SALES TYPE PAGES. SO WEDDINGS, SPORTS, AND UM, MEETINGS. THEY ALSO HAVE A VERY SIMILAR STRUCTURE TO THE THINGS TO DO PAGE WHERE YOU PEOPLE CAN SELECT EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE INTERESTED [00:55:01] IN IN MCKINNEY AND IT WILL POPULATE THE INFORMATION FOR THEM. SO IF THEY WANT A MORE INTIMATE MICRO WEDDING AND THEY WANT IT DOWNTOWN, IT'S GONNA SUGGEST DIFFERENT PLACES WHERE THEY CAN HAVE THEIR WEDDING VERSUS IF THEY WANT A LARGER WEDDING AT A MORE, UH, LIKE A BARN LIGHT FEEL OR WHATEVER THEY'RE LOOKING FOR. AND THEN PLACES TO STAY AS WELL. THIS ONE IS SUPER COOL PAGE. YOU CAN GO IN AND SELECT ANY OF THOSE TOP FOUR THINGS AND YOU CAN ALSO SELECT, UH, WHAT YOU'RE TRAVELING TO MCKINNEY FOR HERE AS WELL. AND IT WILL SUGGEST DIFFERENT HOTELS FOR YOU TO STAY OUT. MAYBE WHAT'S BEST FOR YOUR GROUP. UM, IT'LL SUGGEST THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE IN THAT AREA AND WHAT'S BY THAT HOTEL SO PEOPLE KNOW EXACTLY UM, WHAT THEY'RE GONNA GET WHEN THEY COME HERE. I WILL BRING UP CHAD NOW, UM, SO HE CAN KIND OF INTRODUCE HIMSELF, BUT HE'S A LOCAL FOUNDER. HE LIVES IN MCKINNEY. HE LIVES IN DOWNTOWN. YOU'LL PROBABLY SEE HIM AT HABITAT COFFEE SHOP, UM, MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK. BUT HE WAS REALLY THE BRAINS BEHIND THIS. UM, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA SAY ANYTHING ABOUT STEEPLE SPECIFICALLY. SURE. WELL, FIRST OF ALL, UH, HONORED TO BE HERE. I SERVED ON A BOARD MANY YEARS AGO, ACTUALLY, IRONICALLY WITH WITH KATHY. BUT FYI, YOUR, YOUR HEADSHOTS GET TO BE ON THE WEBSITE, SO I KNOW IF SARAH'S TOLD YOU THAT YET. SO NEW BOARD MEMBERS, YOU'LL BE ON THERE. UM, STEEPLE IS A COMPANY THAT, THAT COULDN'T HAVE EXISTED ABOUT YEAR AND A HALF AGO. IT REALLY IS THE, THE PACE OF AI AND WHAT AI IS ABLE TO DO HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED THE GAME, UM, IN A LOT OF WAYS, BUT SPECIFICALLY WITH, UH, DIGITAL MARKETING, WEBSITE MANAGEMENT. AND, AND I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE ONE OF THE THINGS, LIKE YOU CAN GO TO THE WEBSITE AND SEE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN ALL OF THAT, THE BACKEND, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES IT VERY COMPLEX AS A WEBSITE IS WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT THEY HAVE A THOUSAND PAGES. I THINK YOU GUYS HAVE 800 INDIVIDUAL SMALL BUSINESS PAGES THAT ARE HOSTED WITH LISTINGS, INFORMATION ABOUT THOSE BUSINESSES PREVIOUSLY, THE, THE JOB, WHICH WHEN I, WHEN I FIRST FOUND OUT THIS, AND, AND BY THE WAY, IT STARTED WITH WHEN AARON WAS, UH, AT, AT THE VISIT MCKINNEY, I WAS BLOWN AWAY THAT, THAT THEY ACTUALLY MAINTAINED THE INFORMATION ON 800 BUSINESS LISTINGS. IT'S JUST A CHORE OF DATA HYGIENE AND ALL OF THIS. SO BEHIND THE SCENES STEEPLE RUNS AI AGENTS THAT GO OUT AND TRACK ALL OF THAT INFORMATION FOR THEM. SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT. AND LIKE SHE'S SAYING, IT WILL SHOW HER, HEY, THIS, THIS BUSINESS, THEIR HOURS CHANGED OR THEIR ADDRESS CHANGED, OR WHATEVER, AND SHE'S ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THAT ON THE WEBSITE VERY QUICKLY, SAVE A LOT OF TIME. THE OTHER COOL FACTOR TO, TO PULL IN IS MAIN STREET. IT WAS SORT OF A, A TWO FOR ONE THING, WHICH, WHICH WAS ALWAYS ON THE ROADMAP FOR STEEPLE, BUT THIS WAS IN MY HOMETOWN, WAS LIKE THE PERFECT SORT OF CASE STUDY. UH, THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT WEBSITES, BUT IT'S ACTUALLY ONE KNOWLEDGE BASE BECAUSE THEY OVERLAP. THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, THE SAME BUSINESSES THAT ARE ON BOTH WEBSITES. UM, BUT THEY'RE IN, THEY'RE ONE RECORD FOR EACH THAT THEY SHARE. SO IF A CHANGE HAPPENS ON VISIT MCKINNEY, THAT APPLIES TO A BUSINESS THAT'S ALSO ON DOWNTOWN MCKINNEY. THEY DON'T BOTH HAVE TO DO THAT. THEY'RE ALWAYS IN SYNC. AND SO THOSE AI AGENTS ARE BASICALLY BEING USED TWICE, UH, FOR BOTH. THE OTHER THING I'LL SAY IS THIS IS THE STARTING POINT. I MEAN, THE IDEAS THE TEAM IS, IS, IS COMING TO, TO ME WITH AS MANY IDEAS AS I'M COMING TO THEM WITH. UM, AND I THINK IN THIS INDUSTRY SPECIFICALLY, IT REALLY IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR VISIT MCKINNEY TO LIKE TRULY BE A TRENDSETTER IN THE DMO SPACE, UH, BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A NORMAL WAY TO, TO MANAGE, UH, A DMO WEBSITE OR, OR THE OPERATION. SO IT TOOK A LOT OF BRAVERY ON THEIR PART. UM, AND YEAH, I'VE LIVED HERE FOR 15 YEARS, SO IT WAS LIKE THE, THE PERFECT LIKE THING FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO, TO START WITH. SO THANK YOU. HOLD ON, CHAD , YOU CAN'T GET AWAY THAT FAST. NO. SO, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU PART OF THE COMMUNITY AND REALLY INVESTED IN IT. AND I THINK IT'S COMING OUT ON THE WEBSITE AND TO SEE HOW ANDREW AND THE TEAM ARE JUST BEAMING ABOUT WORKING WITH YOU. IT IS A GREAT COLLABORATION. SO JUST GLAD TO HAVE YOU JUST AROUND THE CORNER AND THANKS AGAIN. ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY COMMENTS FOR CHAD OR, I, I JUST WANNA SAY IT'S THE PERFECT USE OF AI, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT LOOK GENERIC LIKE ALL THE OTHER CONTENT MARKETING DOES. SO IT STILL LOOKS LIKE OUR UNIQUE, UM, INNOVATIVE MCKINNEY, BUT IT MAKES IT SO MUCH EASIER. AND, UH, I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, DO THE, YOU KNOW, THOSE 800 PAGES OF BUSINESSES, CAN THEY ALSO EDIT THEIR CONTENT OR HOW DOES THAT WORK FOR THEM TO MAINTAIN THINGS? SO STEEPLE WILL SUGGEST TO US EVERY MORNING I GET A REPORT, UM, AND THEIR BUSINESS LISTINGS ARE TIED TO THEIR GOOGLE ACCOUNT. SO INSTEAD OF HAVING MULTIPLE PLACES FOR THEM TO COME AND LIKE UPDATE THEIR, THEIR INFORMATION, LIKE BEFORE THEY HAD TO LOG INTO THE EXTRANET, NOW AS [01:00:01] SOON AS LONG AS THEY'RE UPDATING THEIR GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE, IT WILL TELL ME, OH, PRETTY. AND EVERY MORNING I GET A REPORT THAT SAYS THESE BUSINESSES HAVE CHANGED THEIR HOURS, OR THEY'VE CLOSED, OR, UM, THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT URL NOW FOR THEIR WEBSITE. AND IT'S BASICALLY JUST A REVIEW FOR ME, AND I MAKE SURE IT'S CORRECT AND ACCURATE INFORMATION, THEN IT GOES LIVE ON THE SITE. GREAT, THANK YOU. I DO ALSO WANT TO SAY THAT, UM, THIS DOESN'T TAKE THE HUMAN OUT OF OUR CONTENT. WE'RE STILL WRITING CONTENT, WE'RE STILL UPDATING THINGS. IT JUST GIVES US AN EASIER WAY TO TELL THE MCKINNEY STORY. UM, AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY EXCITING FOR US BECAUSE IT LETS US STAY ON TRENDS. IT LETS US UPDATE THE INFORMATION QUICKLY. UM, IT HELPS US WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS BETTER. UM, YOU KNOW, INSTEAD OF THEM COMING TO US AND SAYING, OH, OUR INFORMATION'S ALL OUT OF DATE, MOST OF THE TIMES IT'S ALREADY UP TO DATE, UM, AFTER THE SECOND THEY'VE UPDATED ON GOOGLE. SO IT'S BEEN A GAME CHANGER, I THINK, FOR US AND OUR INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE. AND IT'S INNOVATIVE AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE ALWAYS TALKED ABOUT HOW WE WANNA BE INNOVATIVE IN OUR INDUSTRY, AND I THINK THIS IS JUST THE FIRST STEP FOR US. AND SARAH, HOW ARE YOU SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT THIS TO THE COMMUNITY SO THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR RESIDENTS AND OUR VISITORS KNOW ALL THESE TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE NOW? YEAH, SO WE DID A SOCIAL MEDIA POST ON INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK RIGHT WHEN IT LAUNCHED. AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE DONE A FEW POSTS ON LINKEDIN. AND THEN EMILY'S ALSO DONE SOME STORIES ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS AS WELL. TRY TO TRY AND GET PEOPLE, UM, TO KNOW ABOUT THE NEW WEBSITE AND ALL THE THINGS THEY CAN DO. AND THEN IN OTHER SOCIAL POSTS, WE LINK TO THE WEBSITE SO PEOPLE CAN SEE THE DIFFERENT PAGES. SO RIGHT NOW IT'S A LOT OF TURKEY INFORMATION, SO WE'RE LINKING TO THE TURKEY PAGE ON THE SITE RIGHT NOW. GREAT. UH, SO WHEN, JUST WHEN SARAH SAYS STAFF TIME, SHE'S SAYING STAFF, A LOT OF THAT REALLY IS SARAH. SHE JUST DOESN'T WANNA GIVE HERSELF THE CREDIT. UM, BUT THIS WAS A MASSIVE UNDERTAKING AND AARON WAS THERE FROM THE BEGINNING AS WELL, SO I WANNA GIVE HIM SOME CREDIT. UM, BUT TO SAY WHEN SHE SAID THAT CHAD SAID, HEY, IN JULY, UM, WE CAN GET YOU A NEW SITE, IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR. IT, IT SOMETIMES COULD TAKE MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS TO CREATE A BRAND NEW SITE. AND THIS WAS DONE IN LIGHTNING TIME. UM, AND IT'S SO INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL. IT LOOKS SO GREAT. SO I JUST WANNA THANK SARAH. THERE WAS A LOT, A LOT OF WORK, HEAVY LIFT ON HER END. UM, AND THEN CHAD OBVIOUSLY AS WELL. UM, SUCH AN INCREDIBLE PRODUCT AND WE ARE SO EXCITED ABOUT IT. BUT I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A HUGE KUDOS TO SARAH 'CAUSE THIS WAS A BIG, BIG PROJECT AND IT GOT DONE SUPER, SUPER FAST AND, AND IT'S JUST FANTASTIC. IT'S SO NICE TO SEE THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN, UM, DOWNTOWN MCKINNEY AND VISIT MCKINNEY, BUT ALSO A LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER WHO'S REALLY INVESTED IN THE COMMUNITY. IT REALLY MAKES IT, UH, THAT MUCH MORE POWERFUL. PERFECT. THANKS AGAIN, SARAH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY. WE WILL NOW TAKE PUBLIC COMMENTS ON MATTERS NOT LISTED ON THE AGENDA. UM, THERE ARE NO COMMENTS. GREAT. UM, NOW, UH, ARE THERE [BOARD AND INTERIM DIRECTOR COMMENTS] ANY COMMENTS FROM THE BOARD OR INTERIM DIRECTOR? ANYBODY HAVE ANY COMMENTS? I, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SAY IT'S BEEN SO IMPRESSIVE, UM, I'VE BEEN WATCHING THE MEETINGS ALL LAST YEAR, BUT WATCHING, UH, ALICIA, YOUR LEADERSHIP COME, COME THROUGH AND YOUR TEAM, IT'S LIKE YOU HAVEN'T SKIPPED A BEAT. AND IT'S AMAZING TO SEE THE, THE INCREDIBLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT YOU'VE, UH, DONE AND YOUR TEAM HAS DONE. GREAT FEEDBACK I'D LIKE TO SAY AS WELL. JUST EXCITED ABOUT THE NEXT CHAPTER. THIS GROUP, A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE THAT REALLY CARE ABOUT OUR TOWN, WE HAVE THAT COMMON DENOMINATOR OF JUST LOVING MCKINNEY AND WANNA SHARE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO US INDIVIDUALLY. AND I THINK THIS IS GONNA BE A GREAT BOARD AND I'M JUST HAPPY TO BE THE CHAIR AND LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING TOGETHER. GREAT. NEXT PAGE. ALL RIGHT. UM, MAY I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND TO ADJOURN THE MEETING? I'LL MAKE A MOTION. PATRICK'S MADE THE FIRST MOTION. SECOND. MOTION. SECOND. GREAT. JESSICA, THANK YOU. ALL IN FAVOR? GREAT. MOTION PASSES. MEETING ADJOURNED. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.