CHOCVB Board Meeting Minutes 061720

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4 | P a g e C H O C V B B O D M e e t i n g J une 1 7 , 2 0 20 the rest of the year. From there, we went into what is called a “dead “ period where none of the coaches can have contact or anything based on, obviously, kids not being on campuses. On Monday, we lifted that “dead” period for coaches, basically stating that now we can go into what is technically called our summer hours. That is based on the school systems and what the school systems are allowing on their campuses. On June 15th, we had a couple school systems start back. A majority of our school systems have not actually gone back to athletics and are waiting until July 6th which is after another dead period that we always have in place over the July 4th week. With that being said, we are still on track to start August 1st. Shannan Campbell and Mark Bell – Town of Hillsborough updates Shannan: Hillsborough is slowly reopening. We started on June 8th. A lot of our retail businesses are opening on Wednesday and Sunday. A lot of our restaurants have opened back up for dining. We lost James Pharmacy but the owners are working in that space. The Town Board passed a resolution to loosen some of the restrictions on sidewalk dining. So, we are allowing our restaurants to take up more of the sidewalk then they were previously allowed to. From the Visitors Center, we have two campaigns that we have launched on the 8th, softly. One of them is with WRAL. We have six sponsored articles floating around their website that highlight various things in Hillsborough. We have an “Authors in Our Backyard” article and “Top Five Things to do in Hillsborough”. Just to generate some buzz and some interest and they link back to our website. Mark: The Colonial Inn is very far along on the interior renovation of the property. They finished the construction of the new part of the hotel. They gutted the old part of the hotel. They have been doing sheet rock. They have painted the interior. I have heard various dates on when they might open for business and I think it will definitely be later this summer. It is moving full steam ahead even in the downturn. They are over there seven days a week working on it. Katie Murray: We have events that are in the works for next spring and next summer. One is with AC Entertainment, the folks that do Bonnaroo and a couple other really largescale festivals around the Southeast. We are working with them to do a weekend long festival in May 2021 at Blackwood Farm. Also, the Arts Commission is planning a countywide public art festival for next summer. It will take place in the downtown communities of Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Hillsborough. We have fourteen different community partners onboard. The Eno Mill Project is moving along. We put things on hold as a result of COVID but we are starting to gear back up. The not so great news is, just like the tourism industry, the arts are in a world of hurt. We have created a support fund for county artists and organizations. We have raised almost $60,000.00. We have distributed almost $42,000.00 in grants so far. You can learn more about that on our website artsorange.org. Dixon Pitt – Southern Village update Southern Village Green is quite spacious and they are trying to take advantage of that as much as possible with the outdoor movies and concerts. The outdoor concerts, so far, have started virtually which is going pretty well. It is just a good way to try and remain engaged. The restaurants are open, likewise with downtown, but really focusing more on the takeout features but encouraging folks to stay around and eat on the stage and sidewalks and things like that. Patty Griffin, Communications Manager, Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau shared the VisitNC Count on Me training and marketing plan. She encouraged everyone to register for the free, detailed DocuSign Envelope ID: 8AD3FF29-5083-4B94-98F6-B99CC7D47930