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Approved October 16, 2013 <br />MINUTES <br />Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board of Directors Meeting <br />September 18, 2013 <br />The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau met at <br /> Extraordinary Ventures, 200 S. Elliott Rd. in Chapel Hill <br /> <br />Board Members Present: Anthony Carey, Dave Gephart, Jack Schmidt, Jim Parker, Karen DeHart, Laura Morgan, Lydia <br />Lavelle, Mark Sherburne, Mike Gering, Penny Rich, Annette Stone & Meg McGurk <br />Not Present: Gene Pease, Gordon Jameson, Greg Overbeck & Lee Pavao <br />Staff attendance: Laurie Paolicelli, Linda Ekeland, Martha Shannon, and Tina Fuller <br />Also attending: Daniel Wallace, author; Stephanie Perri and Tom Hickey from Clean Design <br />Welcome <br />Chairman Anthony Carey began the meeting at 8:11 am and welcomed everyone to Extraordinary Ventures (EV). Mr. <br />Carey introduced Cyndi Whisnant, Event Director at EV and thanked her for hosting this meeting. Ms. Whisnant <br />described for the board the organization’s history and mission to help older persons with developmental disabilities find <br />a place in the community by providing them jobs and responsibilities. Ms. Whisnant also spoke about current programs <br />and future plans of the organization. <br />Approval of Minutes <br />Mr. Carey requested a motion to approve the August 21, 2013 minutes. Dave Gephart so moved and Penny Rich <br />seconded. With all members in agreement, the minutes were approved as submitted. <br />Guest Speaker <br />Mr. Carey introduced Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish and new release, The Kings & Queens of Roam. Mr. Wallace <br />confirmed Big Fish is on Broadway and played a song from the musical. Mr. Wallace spoke on the importance of <br />highlighting this areas resource of authors in the Chapel Hill/Orange County branding to bring in visitors. Mr. Wallace <br />stated that he is amazed at how positively this one book he wrote (Big Fish cost him $70 to write) resulted in so many <br />people being employed, from book stores to artists, Broadway staff and a $14 million production. He made this point to <br />illustrate the economic power of the creative class. <br />Other News <br />Speaking about the Hampton Inn & Suites Ribbon Cutting event, Mr. Carey gave kudos to many on the successful grand <br />opening of the new hotel. He gave the floor to Annette Stone for remarks. Ms. Stone mentioned that the hotel has been <br />open for about two weeks and the (Town of Carrboro) is happy to have them. She noted that the parking deck would be <br />a great asset to the downtown area. <br />Jack Schmidt confirmed his resignation from The Carolina Inn and his new appointment as Director of Sales at the <br />Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club. Mr. Schmidt reported that The Carolina Inn is in the top two, of all the Destination <br />properties, for customer service scores and as the DOS and GM for The Carolina Inn, he is proud that he was able to <br />contribute to that honor. He gave kudos to the VB and Clean Design for their marketing abilities.