BoardRoom magazine March/April 2016

It’s Jill Philmon’s time

Jill Philmon stands out as one of the most recognizable personalities in the private club industry and we can expect it to be even more so during 2016, and her time as the Club Managers Association of America President.

And Jill, as Rick Coyne explains in our cover story this issue, is fulfilling a challenge issued to Philmon by “another iconoclastic woman” in the private club industry…Sally Burns Rambo.

“To this day, many years after Sally’s passing, Jill still carries Sally’s words in her heart. (She also keeps Sally’s profile information in her phone). Sally immediately recognized Jill’s leadership skills and urged Jill to be a part of a stronger presence of women in the industry. She asked Jill to make a promise, to run for the CMAA’s National Board and one day become president. Jill accepted Sally’s challenge and made her that promise, now becoming only the third women to be President of CMAA since 1927.”

Jill, who’s also general manager of Ballantyne Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, certainly appears up to the challenge. She has set hers (and CMAA’s) goals for the next 12 months.

As Rick Coyne relates, “she has described it as the Year of Creation, Energy and Strategy.” For Philmon this means “keeping technology in the forefront, advocacy for watchdogging governmental regulations and their impact on the industry, and promoting greater leadership roles for women in our industry.”

Clearly President Jill recognizes the need to be strategic while helping clubs and their leaders embrace change…that one constant in our lives. No question, it will be an interesting year for both Philmon, the CMAA and its many members throughout the country.

has certainly made her mark with her exceptional commitment to the industry…its growth, continuing education and certification programs for membership directors.

Today PCMA is widely recognized as the premier association for membership directors and other interested parties with over 800 members in 23 chapters throughout the country.

Kudos Donna!

Now we all know, likely from both professional and personal experiences, that cyber security has to be on the forefront of what we do with our ‘data’ today. Doesn’t seem that a day goes by that we hear of another security lapse or intrusion resulting in another cascade of information being stolen or compromised.

Bill Boothe and Jeff Hall, in their story “Cyber Security…the Real Story”, look at what’s happening in the private club industry and the “it can’t happen here” attitude that has prevailed for so long. Hopefully that’s changing…clubs are recognizing that cyber security threats are real, from both outside the club environment and “insiders.”

They offer commonsense recommendations that clubs would do well to take seriously, because the information clubs protect is not only the club’s but also that of its members, creating even more urgency to get things done right.

In another story this issue, another of the industry’s woman leaders, Donna Coyne is recognized with BoardRoom’s Lifetime Achievement Award. As one of the founders of the Professional Club Marketing Association, Donna

And we begin another look at BoardRoom’s Top Presidents…for 2015. This issue features stories about Gail Isaacson Bernstein, President, Greensboro Country Club, Greensboro, NC; Rusty Cagle, President, Thornblade Club, Greer, SC, and Paul Douglas, President, Corning Country Club, Corning NY. BR

Got a comment?

Drop us a note: dave@boardroommag.com

DAVE WHITE

Publisher/CEO

John G. Fornaro

Editor/Co-Publisher

Dave White

Assoc. Editor/VP Creative/Co-Publisher

Heather Arias de Cordoba

APCD Executive Director

Bill Thomas

Editorial & Marketing Director

Dee Kaplan

Account Manager

Dina Alleluia-Carr

Contact Information

www.BoardRoomMagazine.com www.apcd.com (949) 376-8889 or (949) 365-6966

Subscriptions and Website

Heather Arias de Cordoba

www.BoardRoomMagazine.com (949) 365-6966

Featured Columnists

John G. Fornaro

Bonnie J. Knutson

Nancy M. Levenburg

Contributing Writers

Bob Bodman

Chris Boettcher

Bill Boothe

Lisa Carroll

Ronald F. Cichy

Frank Cordeiro

Donna Coyne

Lynne LaFond DeLuca

John Embree

Dave Doherty

David Downing

Melissa Low Jerry McCoy Philip Newman

Jon Floody

Susan Greene

Jeff Hall

Jeffrey Hansen

Rob Harris

Co-Founder/CEO

John G. Fornaro

President Keith Jarrett

Chief Analyst Frank Gore

Chief Information Officer Jeff Briggs

Executive Director Bill Thomas

Contact Information

www.DistinguishedClubs.com (949) 376-8889

Whitney Reid Pennell

Jack Sullivan

Crystal Thomas Dave White

Macdonald Niven

Mike Phelps

Ted Robinson

Gary Sigel

Rosie Slocum

AngelaHartmann

Larry Hirsh

David Lacey

Rick Ladendorf

Timothy Liddy

Tom Neill

Michelle Tanzer

Harvey Weiner

Mark Weiner

Bruce R. Williams

Frank I. Wolfe

Endorsements, Strategic Partners and Allied Associations

BoardRoom magazine is published by APCD Inc. 1100 S. Coast Hwy. #309 Laguna Beach, California 92691

PUBLISHER’S PERSPECTIVE | 10

WHY ARE PRIVATE CLUBS LATE ADOPTERS?

BY JOHN G. FORNARO

The private club world is evolving…However, change – technological change and otherwise – in the private club industry often lags behind other industries. Certainly some clubs are at the forefront as early adopters, and even better, the industry does benefit from innovators, as change continues unabated.

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE|

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2016

BY MELISSA LOW

16

BOARDROOM BASICS & BEYOND| 12

STRATEGIC PLANNING A PLAN OR A PROCESS?

BY JACK SULLIVAN

Strategic planning is a best practice that has long been used in corporate and other businesses. It determines who you are, what you do and who you do it for. It is the road map for the club’s future, providing consistency in direction, particularly in an environment where those in leadership positions are continuously changing.

F&B COMMITTEE | 18

THE NEW MARKETING PLAN

BY WHITNEY REID PENNELL

It is a new year in Washington, DC. With a firm deadline for the end of the Obama Administration, the federal agencies are working at a fast and furious pace to finalize regulations that have been in the pipeline. There is also new leadership in the House of Representatives with Speaker Paul Ryan, following the departure of John Boehner.

WINNING STRATEGIES | 50

WHAT IS UNDER YOUR ROCK?

BY JERRY MCCOY

This story, about a pastor, may be one of the most important lessons that can be learned in the club industry, or any other industry for that matter. The pastor took on a new church, and on his first visit he entered the lobby and when looking around noticed a large rock in the corner. He asked one of the church leaders about ‘the purpose of the rock.’

F&B has a remarkable impact on the members’ experience – helping you to not lose members. F&B within a private club touches every aspect of a member’s service experience. Members eat more than they golf. Every club activity or event has an F&B component, yet F&B is probably the most complicated and layered department at a private club.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE | 60

PRINCIPLES CLUB GOVERNANCE SHOULD ALWAYS EXEMPLIFY

BY PHILIP NEWMAN

Out one night, I recently overheard some fellows diners talking (all members of a local country club) when one said, “You know, of all the country clubs where I’ve been a member over the years, the best run had a benevolent dictator rather than a board of directors and a bunch of committees who ran amok!”

PLIGHTS AND INSIGHTS | 14

IPA ANALYSIS OFFERS A USEFUL TOOL

BY NANCY M. LEVENBURG

To most people the letters IPA form the acronym for India Pale Ale, a hoppy style of beer. So when I mention IPA analysis in classes, visions of beer pong probably dance through students’ heads – especially so, given that Founder’s award-winning Centennial IPA is brewed only blocks away from our campus. But that’s not the kind of IPA I’m talking about.

MEMBERSHIP MUSINGS | 32

MEET HENRY

BONNIE J. KNUTSON

If you were sitting in a British music hall around 1910, you probably heard the original version of a song that was revived by Herman’s Hermits in 1965 – “I’m Henry VIII, I Am.” The revived rendition rapidly jumped to the top of Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Well, in a similar fashion, HENRY is skyrocketing to the top of the club industry’s go-to membership chart.

CRYSTAL CLEAR | 82

REMODEL FOR THE CLUBHOUSE REMODEL FOR THE TEAM

BY CRYSTAL THOMAS

Many clubs are currently in the midst of clubhouse remodels or renovations. Rightly so, an extreme amount of time and effort are invested into advance planning and preparation, workarounds during renovation, celebration of the finished product, and, of course, making sure everything meets budget and timeline expectations.

Leaders in F&B Innovation

Innovation is a key component of leadership.

These top executives have taken their clubs to a higher level by implementing a better approach for managing club food and beverage departments. Building on a foundation of best practices, checks and balances, and integrated business flows, they incorporated leading-edge food and beverage automation and reduced labor by tying all their systems together.

The controls, disciplines and reports produced by this approach make it possible to run food and beverage departments at peak efficiency, substantially reducing clerical labor and food costs. Innovation. A better way to do business

Just what you would expect from leaders at this level.

MICHAEL S. WHEELER, CCE, CCM COO and General Manager

Cherokee Town & Country Club - Atlanta, GA

MATT MCKINNEY, CCM COO and General Manager Capital City Club Atlanta, GA

JAY DIPIETRO, CCM President and General Manager

Boca West Country Club - Boca Raton, FL

ROBERT E. JONES, CCM, CCE COO and General Manager

Desert Mountain Club - Scottsdale, AZ

CRAIG

LOPES

Manager The Moorings Yacht & Country Club - Vero Beach, FL

PHIL KIESTER, CCM General Manager

The Country Club of Virginia - Richmond, VA

NICK SIDORAKIS, CCM COO and General Manager

Southern Hills Country Club - Tulsa, OK

ALAN K. DUTTON, CCM General Manager

The Yale Club of New York City - New York, NY

Jill Philmon By Rick Coyne

Golf Dispute Resolution By Rob Harris

No Small Peanuts! By Macdonald Niven

TECHNOLOGY PERSPECTIVES. .

Cyber Security - The Real Story By Bill Boothe & Jeff Hall

DISTINGUISHED IDEAS.

44

48

54 & 55

Here’s Another Way to Keep Kids Active! Rule 25 Makes a Difference at Quail Valley

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT.

Donna Coyne By Rick Coyne

CLUB SERVICE.

Your Club Is the WHY By

Chris Boettcher

CASE STUDIES

CORNILLEAU USA.

72

106

92 GROUPVALET.

93

LICHTEN CRAIG ARCHITECTURE + INTERIORS. . . 94 SLIMFOLD GRILLS. .

95 SIGNERA.

97

Tide Has Turned: Is Any Club Bulletproof?

Gary Sigel

Rosie Slocum

Dr. Ronald F. Cichy

Donna Coyne

Why Are Private Clubs Late Adopters?

The private club world is evolving…and with it so are the leaders of tomorrow’s industry.

However, change – technological change and otherwise – in the private club industry often lags behind other industries. Certainly some clubs are at the forefront as early adopters, and even better, the industry does benefit from innovators, as change continues unabated.

However, the same can’t be said for the majority of private clubs that most likely fall into the ‘late’ majority or ‘laggards’ categories of those adopting new ideas or innovations.

Our clubs must embrace technology to allow our clubs to operate more efficiently and effectively. We must use technology to better reach out to our members, and we must use technology to put the club culture on display and establish a club’s brand.

What we can’t do is push

technology

too fast to the members. To them, tradition is sacred, and

efficiencytakes

a back seat. And a tradition might trump change, at least until evolution brings about change, as surely it will.

It usually takes these clubs considerable time to trust any change. Boards, members and management are indeed skeptical about innovation and feel quite comfortable with the ‘status quo.’

So why is it change and acceptance sits on the backburner at many clubs. In this publisher’s perspective we’ll address change from several different viewpoints including new technologies, human resources, key perform-

ance areas and indicators, and dining and food trends at private clubs.

WHY LATE ADOPTERS?

Smart thinking general managers (and boards) know they must adjust in today’s world…so why are so many clubs in the private club industry are ‘late adopters, or laggards.’

An overview of the ‘adoption’ curve studies give us a clue. We may be familiar with the innovators in our society…those who are eager to try new ideas, are venturesome and have the money and a high risk tolerance. However, we don’t find many of these people in the private club industry.

Early adopters , usually younger people with a strong educational background and some cash in their pockets follow the innovators, because they realize it’ll help them maintain their central communication position…as opinion leaders.

Other categories are: the early majority –those who’ll accept an innovation after a period of time and then the late majority and laggards – key groupings for many private clubs.

People in the late majority generally approach innovation, such as advance technological products, with a high degree of skepticism, and the adoption usually occurs only after strong peer pressure, and often because of economic necessity.

Laggards are traditionalists; older folks who don’t want change. They’re suspicious not only of innovation but also how it happens and what it may do to their lives.

They focus on what has been their life…the past, although in today’s age, younger people, for example, grandchildren who are often early adopters, are bringing these laggards (the grandparents) out of the darkness by helping them become accustomed to products like SmartPhones, Smartphones etc.

So where do private clubs fit into this scenario?

JOHN G. FORNARO

Strategic Planning A PLAN OR A PROCESS?

Strategic planning in the private club industry is a best practice that has long been used in corporate and other businesses. It determines who you are, what you do and who you do it for.

It is the road map for the club’s future, providing consistency in direction, particularly in an environment where those in leadership positions are continuously changing.

While 25 years ago, very few private club took advantage of this common business tool, today the majority of successful clubs have some form of a strategic plan. However, this is where the process is as important as the document.

Most anyone involved in the strategic planning process will tell you that a strategic plan must be a “living document,” one that is constantly reviewed, evaluated and updated as necessary. When this is not done on a regular basis, it can often find a home on a dusty shelf or in a computer file, especially when there is a change in leadership.

I’ve actually had a few meetings with past presidents who presented a document to me and asked me if I had seen it before, to which I responded no. “Well, this is the strategic plan from the year I was president. I hope that you have more success than I did.”

So what is the true value of a strategic plan and how do we ensure that we have a process that will provide the board and management a tool that remains relevant, while guiding their fiduciary responsibilities?

First let’s address the value and importance. Today’s club environment, no different than the rest of the world we live in, is constantly changing and so is our club membership. The good news is that our senior members are living longer, yet they are often satisfied with the status quo.

The younger generation – the senior generation’s children and grandchildren – are looking for many different things from their club. A strategic plan will guide the club’s leadership in providing facilities, programs and services that will continue to meet the needs of multiple generations.

One club, a multi-cultural and international membership and in making it a living document and process, has established its guiding principles and overall action plan that reflects the needs and desires of a diverse populous, by obtaining the input and buy-in of their membership, board, management and staff.

Ed Ronan, general manager of Bretton Woods in Germantown, Maryland has framed copies of their core values, mission and vision displayed throughout the club. He also takes a copy to every board, committee and staff meeting to reinforce these values, ensuring that they play a vital role in all decisions that are made.

At the historic Atlanta Athletic Club, GM/ COO Kevin Carroll pushed the original draft of the club’s strategic plan down to all committees and management staff for their input and buyin. This has led to their being held accountable for all goals and objectives of their plan.

Club President Pat Ford has taken it a step further by establishing the process that requires the strategic action plan to be reviewed once a quarter at a board meeting. During that review, if a strategy or tactic being employed is not meeting a goal or objective, management and committees are required to bring a revised strategy back to the next board meeting for approval.

To ensure accountability, the annual goals and objectives for both management and committees are a direct by-product of the strategic plan.

So, the most successful clubs that we see blend the strategic plan and process by living their core values, mission and vision. They are constantly reviewing and updating their action plans, tying accountability to agreed upon metrics, ensuring that the plan and the process prevail, despite the normal changes in leadership. BR

John R. “Jack” Sullivan, CCM, a 40-year veteran of the club industry, is an associate with Kopplin & Kuebler, specializing in strategic planning and other private club issues with offices in Naples, FL and Grosse Pointe, MI. He can be reached at (239) 2295153 or at Jack@kopplinandkuebler.com.

JACK SULLIVAN

IPA Analysis Offers A Useful Tool

To most people – and I confess, even me! – the letters IPA form the acronym for India Pale Ale, a hoppy style of beer.

So when I mention IPA analysis in classes, visions of beer pong probably dance through students’ heads – especially so, given that Founder’s award-winning Centennial IPA is brewed only blocks away from our campus.

But that’s not the kind of IPA I’m talking about. What I’m talking about is importance-performance analysis, an easily applied technique developed by John Martilla and John James nearly 40 years ago.

It’s used for measuring attribute importance and performance. Originally published in 1977 as a three-page article in Journal of Marketing, Martilla and James’ IPA framework has been applied in scores of settings and a variety of industries.

As examples, IPA has been used to analyze hotel selection factors, the success of investments in information systems in the health club industry, and service quality perceptions of online library services. And it can be easily – and highly successfully – applied in private club settings.

In fact, by offering insight regarding resource allocation decisions, I might argue that IPA can be a useful tool for any organization struggling with questions of why and how it could be more successful.

The importance-performance analysis framework offers a tool for understanding customer satisfaction as a function of both expectations related to salient attributes (“importance”) and judgments about their performance (“performance”).

While each yields valuable information independently, the full potential and promise of this type of information is more likely to be realized when the two concepts are merged. In other words, the two concepts need to be measured –and evaluated – simultaneously… they go together like bacon and eggs, peanut butter and jelly, or (to continue with the beer theme) beer and peanuts.

This is one area, however, where private clubs’ boards of directors often go astray – or are led astray by well-meaning but not terribly wellinformed consultants that advise them.

Time and time again, they think that all they need to do to achieve that Big Hairy Audacious Goal of being the best country club in the region

is to pose some satisfaction-related (“performance”) questions on the annual member survey. For example, “… using a 1-5 scale where 1 = Very dissatisfied and 5 = Very satisfied, please indicate your SATISFACTION with the following SERVICE aspects of member dining… staff appearance, speed of drink service, speed of food service…”

While this question by itself isn’t horrible, it’s only getting at half of the issue! Obtaining information only about members’ satisfaction levels with performance only provides half of the information that’s needed to guide decision making.

The other half – which relates to the importance members attach to staff appearance, speed of drink service, speed of food service, and so on is missing. By failing to identify how important various attributes are (or which should be emphasized or de-emphasized), it can actually lead to decreased operational efficiencies because of unenlightened decision making that results in mismatches in resource allocations.

With free online survey and questionnaire software available at the click of a mouse, it’s very easy to be tempted to go the DIY (do it yourself) route and start collecting data online. After all, surveys seem so simple!

Unfortunately, as any good market researcher will tell you, surveys are rarely simple in real life! A slight variation in the type of questions or response options can seriously impact the quality and value of your survey’s results.

Bad results can lead to bad decisions – the very thing you set out to avoid by collecting data in the first place. For best results, ask the right questions, ask all of them, and ask them the right way! Then, use IPA. It’s a simple, low-cost technique that can yield important insights into optimal decision making. BR

Nancy Levenburg, Ph.D., is a professor in the Seidman College of Business at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She has assisted over 200 organizations with strategic planning, marketing strategy, and improving operations. She is the president of Edgewater Consulting, and is a member of Spring Lake Country Club in Spring Lake, Michigan. For more information, contact Nancy at: levenbun@gvsu.edu or (616) 331-7475.

NANCY M. LEVENBURG

What to Expect in 2016

It is a new year in Washington, DC.

With a firm deadline for the end of the Obama Administration, the federal agencies are working at a fast and furious pace to finalize regulations that have been in the pipeline. There is also new leadership in the House of Representatives with Speaker Paul Ryan, following the departure of John Boehner. Issues that are expected to be most significant began in 2015, and here are updates on these top issues:

Department of Labor overtime rules: Coming soon: In July 2015, the Department of Labor announced substantial proposed changes to the existing overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. These changes include new salary thresholds – which potentially could be annually indexed based on inflation – and the possibility of changes to the existing duties tests.

Last September, CMAA and its allies in the golf and club industry filed official comments on the impact of the proposed rules. Five significant points were addressed and industry specific information and considerations were shared including:

• The need for regional consideration for cost of living

• The impact of the proposed salary threshold on impact the employment status for workers

• The seasonality of the workforce in our industry

• The need to include bonuses and commissions in salary calculations

• Further consideration needed for any modifications to the duties test.

Now, the question remains as to when the DOL will publish the final rules and what they will hold. More than 300,000 comments were received during the public comment period. Initial reports seemed to indicate that the rules would not be published until late 2016, but recent reports have hinted that the rules could be published earlier in the year. While employers will still have 60 to 90 days to comply after publication, the impact will be substantial and have the possibility to affect budgets this year.

Clean Water Act, AKA Waters of the United States: On Hold: In March 2015, the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) published the final Clean Water Act rule, also known as the Waters of the US (WOTUS) rule.

Many water bodies on golf courses including rivers, streams, creeks, wetlands, ponds, ditches and ephemeral drainages may now be subject to federal jurisdiction. The final rule was slated to become effective in August 2015. One day before it was to become effective, Judge Ralph Erickson of the US District Court for North Dakota approved a motion preventing its implementation citing “irreparable harm” in 13 states. The 13 states were all plaintiffs in the case before Judge Erickson, and he declined to expand nationwide citing lack of jurisdiction.

WOTUS became effective on August 28 for the remaining 37 states. However, in early October, Judge David W. McKeague of the US Circuit of Appeals Sixth Circuit issued a stay for enforcement of the Clean Water Act for all 50 states.

The stay prevents the enforcement of the rule, and will remain in effect while the courts determine the issues of jurisdiction and the multiple legal challenges brought by the states and private parties.

Meanwhile, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has cited the EPA for improperly employing tactics to lobby the general public during the public comment period for WOTUS and while legislation was pending in Congress.

Current regulation prohibits government agencies from using their federal funds “for indirect or grassroots lobbying in support of or opposition to pending legislation.” The GAO specifically detailed how the EPA actively used multiple communication media to engage the general public on the issue including social media and the Internet.

Concerns about the EPA’s activities were raised in a letter to the GAO by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senator James Inhofe, dated June 16, 2015. BR

Melissa Low is the senior director, communications & advocacy for the Club Managers Association of America.For the latest information on these and other issues affecting the club industry, please visit CMAA’s Legislative Report blog at www.cmaa.org/legislative.aspx.

Food And Beverage: The New Marketing Plan

The best way to grow your business is to NOT LOSE members. So let’s take a look at the member engagement department - the social hub of the club – food and beverage (F&B).

F&B has a remarkable impact on the members’ experience – helping you tonot lose members.

F&B within a private club touches every aspect of a member’s service experience. Members eat more than they golf. Every club activity or event has an F&B component. F&B is probably the most complicated and layered department at a private club, not to mention the least understood and seemingly most difficult to manage. It is critical that the managers and employees know what they are doing in terms of membership service and financial management.

The delicate balance at a private club is delivering a quality membership service experience while managing financial results, which can be challenging. Private clubs have a small captive audience from which to draw business compared to local restaurants who can cater to tens of thousands of customers.

The members, their families and guests are the only people who can use the club. Add to this the sporadic business levels, lack of reservations, and seasonality and we have a less than ideal business model for making money.

It is true that most F&B operations lose money in a private club. However, there are bits and pieces, which will mitigate the losses and improve membership service. Below are the most common opportunities clubs have within their F&B operation:

• Brand confusion:The lighting, china/glass/silver, music, menus and uniforms do not match. Achieving a consistent service experience is difficult in this situation because everything sends conflicting messages. Look around at successful restaurants in your neighborhood –generally, everything matches the brand identity and creates an overall experience. Do what you can to keep your brand identity consistent.

• Lack of systems and procedures: F&B operations need constant processes to achieve a consistent sequence of service and to deliver the

ultimate member experience. Use table and position numbers, order taking procedures and back of house systems for ordering and preparation.

• Lack of training: Managers promoted from within should receive adequate training to be successful in their next role or they will fail. All employees should understand the correlation between the members’ ongoing investment and how it shapes their expectations. Orientation, departmental and ongoing training is critical along with role-playing for service recovery. The leadership team should place a strong emphasis on performance management to keep standards high.

• Poor menu management: Inefficient kitchen design with a large menu results in slow service times, poor quality food, low staff morale, and increased costs. Many club kitchens are not built to produce three to five different menus at once. Reducing the menu selections and ensuring cross utilization of ingredients while running weekly specials will improve consistency, timing and quality while minimizing waste. It will also promote menu item rotation, keeping the menu fresh.

• Ineffectively set up point of sale systems: (POS) Often, it is not the POS system itself that is at issue. Rather, it is the initial set up and lack of ongoing maintenance. This can slow down service, reduce revenue capture and is complicated to use because a systems person, not an end-user, has usually set it up.

By targeting these few items while using industry standard restaurant management practices, your F&B operation will be a significant element of your marketing plan by keeping service levels high while also being fiscally responsible. BR

Whitney Reid Pennell, president of Reid Consulting Services, Inc. (RCS) is a celebrated management consultant, executive recruiter, educator and speaker. RCS, the creators of Food and Beverage Service Boot CampTM, specialize in strategic planning, operations consulting, food and beverage management, and training programs. For more information, phone (623) 322-0773 or visit the RCS website at www.consultingrcs.com.

WHITNEY REID PENNELL

Jill Philmon A ‘One in a Million You’

At about the same time Jill started dating her unfiltered and hilariously fun husband Tony in 1981, the ballad “One in a Million You”, was hitting the top 10 charts. There’s little doubt, all these years later, that Tony knew immediately that Jill was his one in a million girl and that he was a lucky man.

COVER STORY / BY RICK COYNE

Since then, those that know her well have come to look at her in the same way. Hopefully, this story about Jill – the Club Managers Association of America President for 2016 – will do justice to a remarkable woman, her spirit and her positive influence over so many.

From the beginning of her club career, Jill was an achiever, a learner and willing to work hard in giving back all that she received from her association and peers. When she ran for the board in the Carolinas’ chapter, she caught the eye of another iconoclastic woman, Sally Burns Rambo.

To this day, many years after Sally’s passing, Jill still carries Sally’s words in her heart. (She also keeps Sally’s profile information in her phone). Sally immediately recognized Jill’s leadership skills and urged Jill to be a part of a stronger presence of women in the industry. She asked Jill to make a promise, to run for the CMAA’s National Board and one day become president. Jill accepted Sally’s challenge and made her that promise, now becoming only the third women to be President of CMAA since 1927.

SEE COVER STORY |22

Jill’s a fighter and always ready for a challenge (Remember, she married Tony, right?). From the beginning of her career, she knew she needed a personal strategic plan outlining what was important to her and setting the stage for finding a club fit where she could make a difference. After many years of perfecting her craft with several clubs, under great mentors, Jill found her home at Ballantyne Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

BCC is preeminent family-oriented, community-based country club, characterized by informed and cooperative leadership and happy members. Jill’s leadership mantra, “it’s all about change” has taken the best of what the club offered and made it better, simultaneously removing impediments to longterm sustainability.

Ballantyne stands today as a perfect case study in how to do it right.

Along her career path Jill has touched and been touched by many great people, mentors and friends.

So many wanted to participate in wishing her well this entire issue of BoardRoom could have been devoted to the accolades. Here are just some of the comments from friends and family about Jill, the person.

Ray Morrison, Jill’s first general manager at the Charlotte City Club, and now retired, raves about their first meeting, her dedication and her “aim to please” attitude.

Ray hired Jill from a party rental firm, where Jill worked with her one-day, soon-to-be-husband, Tony. Her helpfulness, friendly, can-do attitude, personality, insatiable interest in acquiring more knowledge of the club operation, dedication and her innate desire to make things better, “sealed the deal” to Jill’s first foray into the private club world. As

it has turned out, that was only the beginning.

Jack Quick, Jill’s general manager at Old Town Club, had watched Jill’s work at several clubs before he approached her to take on the role as assistant manager.

The Jack & Jill team, as they were affectionately dubbed, became a truly professional partnership.

Jack is quick to point out that all of the attributes that Ray talked about were simply augmented by Jill’s always smiling, always positive, funny and considerate way of treating everyone. Staff, members, board and committee members tended to listen and believe her. She got staff to buy into process.

As Jack concludes, “Education got her in, reputation got her to where she is today.”

Michael Ambrose, a long time friend, believes Jill has magical powers. He said, “I realized after meeting Tony that anyone that could actually exert control over one of the world’s most loveable curmudgeons ever is obviously a magician. He will undoubtedly become the grouchiest ‘first lady’ ever.”

On a more serious note, Jill and many other women in the industry have faced challenges in a traditionally male-dominated industry. “There are several other attributes that have allowed Jill to rise to the top of her class; a remarkable memory for names and faces, a strong desire to succeed, and an uncanny ability to resolve issues,” Michael added. “These attributes have opened the doors of opportunity and assure her long term leadership role in our industry.”

Ever the team player, Jill became a part of an interesting group of industry people, now known as the P-10. Originated to foster personal and industry growth, the group, over the past 12 years, has allowed disparate individuals to learn each others strengths, vulnerabilities, honesty and toughness.

Kevin MacDonald, one of CMAA’s life coaches and co-founder of the Extraordinary Leader program, explains what he has learned and observed in Jill Philmon.

“I have learned that it’s possible to be caring and expect a lot, compassionate and passionate, energized and quiet, persistent, loyal, fun, funny, strong, soft, Teflon and vulnerable, extraordinary and humble. She has taught me that it is possible to be the total package!”

Dick Kopplin, of Kopplin and Kuebler, another P-10 member and expert in governance and operations, offered this synopsis of the Jill, the leader.

"Jill may be the textbook example of a club manager who has focused on education and personal growth to propel her very successful club management career. Anyone who has come to know Jill has not only enjoyed her contagious enthusiasm and passion for club management but also her engaging and caring attitude toward everyone she meets. She continues to set a high standard in her professional and personal life for all of us to follow. I am so blessed to know her."

Skip Avery, a CMAA past president and member of the P-10 added, “Jill carries Sally’s torch forward, mentoring college students, young managers and promoting the industry to young stars, especially young women. She has mastered the creation of harmony between work and family. Her leadership will greatly benefit this association.”

As another P-10 member and close friend, I would add that having had the opportunity to know her over these many years, to know Tony, to have interviewed her mother Ruth, and to have shared tears and laughter, Jill Philmon is the real deal.

She has core values, has an abiding faith in God, is compassionate and strong, is honest, respectful, possesses great integrity, is loyal, is professional, is caring and most of all, Jill has one of the greatest senses of humor I have ever seen. She brings a smile to your face, even in an argument and her one-liners are legendary.

As a family person, while we all joke lovingly about Tony, Jill is a wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, peer and mentor.

Her proud mother Ruth spent time telling me about her devotion, as a daughter, to Ruth and to her Dad, Tommy, who passed 10 years ago. As Ruth proudly points out, if you gave her a word, she’d write a story. She was always a great listener, but always had her own mind.

Jill has set her goals high for the next 12 months. She has described it as the Year of Creation, Energy and Strategy , keeping technology in the forefront, advocacy for watchdogging governmental regulations and their impact on the industry, and promoting greater leadership roles for women in our industry.

As Jill sets her sights on these goals she clearly recognizes the need to be strategic while helping clubs and club leaders to embrace change.

For those of you that don’t yet know Jill Philmon, you will…and the experience will leave you with renewed spirit and faith in an ever-evolving industry. For those of you who may be somewhat new to the industry, go back and review everything in italics. It is a roadmap to your future leadership role in this great industry.

As the words to One in a Million You offer, “One day the sun came shining through, the rain had stopped and the skies were blue.”

Keep the skies blue Jill and know you have an industry that is behind you. BR

Jill may be the textbook example of a club manager who has focused on education and personal growth to propel her very successful club management career. " "

Striking the Perfect Balance

BETWEEN PRIVATE EVENTS AND MEMBER EVENTS

LYNNE LAFOND DELUCA

Creating a happy and balanced calendar of private and member events can sometimes be quite the juggling act!

According to the 2015 ACCP Private Club Catering Benchmarking Study, catering departments are the second and third largest contributor to overall club revenues and on top of that, the most profitable, with an average 23–30 percent gross profit margin.

This makes it sometimes very tempting to fill the club with private events in order to drive profitable revenues. Revenue allows us to grow the club and provide even more member benefits and experiences. The key is finding the balance.

Members like to feel that their club is providing a full and engaging social calendar, with exciting food and beverage, visual and interactive experiences. When this is not the case, it’s easy to point a finger and say that non-member events are taking up too much space.

When members are happy and beyond satisfied with the events that the club is creating for them, the ‘finger-pointing’ diminishes greatly or does not exist. The good news? This is not difficult to achieve!

Start with your member calendar. A full and diverse calendar should be created for the entire

year, with space blocked in the event calendar so there is not a chance of a ‘double booking.’Once you know the dates, times and rooms in which your member events are taking place, you can determine the remainder of the space that is available for private events. This also eliminates the monthly struggle over dates and rooms for member versus private events.

Once your calendar of dates is planned, set out to create the most dynamic experiences and events possible for your member events – new themes, exciting food and beverage offerings, and off-the-chart décor.

Transform your club with lighting, specialty linens and rentals and event activities. The way we think about designing a private event should be the same way we think about designing a member event. If all of your member events look the same with house linen, minimal decor and nothing different except a changing menu, you are missing a huge opportunity. The clubhouse should be buzzing with talk of the event the next day.

Because we know our own members, we also have the opportunity to create events around specific themes that we know are of great interest to them. It’s the recipe of a successful event! Designing an event with your industry vendors also provides you the opportunity to work with these creative partners and build that relationship. Do not underestimate how much influence you have with the vendors – if you are booking them for member events as well as referring them for private events, your value is double to them what a normal venue would be. BR

Lynne LaFond DeLuca is the executive director of the Association of Club Catering Professionals and a private club industry consultant. In 2014, Lynne was named “One of the Most Influential Women in the Private Club Industry” by Boardroom magazine. You can reach Lynne at Lynne@TheACCP.com, or visit the website www.TheACCP.com.

Chicken Manure Dump Earns Golf Course Owner $100,000 Fine

Sept. 9, 2015

The owner of California’s defunct Escondido Golf Course, an entity known as “Stuck in the Rough” has been battling city council, voters and litigation adversaries in an attempt to obtain approval to turn the property into a residential development.

One action – characterized as a malicious tactic by some homeowners – was last year’s dumping of five tons of chicken manure on the former fairways.

As recently reported:

“The manure prompted 63 complaints, including claims of watery eyes, nausea and headaches, from 41 households, according to the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.

“The stench lingered for 26 days in the spring of 2014. Inspectors talked to homeowners and smelled the golf course. One inspector labeled the smell as a “class five” — the level at which people start to gag.

“Stuck in the Rough paid to have the chicken manure scooped up and carted off. But some of the smell lingered and the pollution control district was already on the case.”

The local air pollution control board determined the action was “fine-worthy” and assessed the property owner and golf course manager with a $100,000 assessment.

Recently, the companies agreed to pay the fine but deny that the dumping was malicious. Instead, they call the payment a “donation.” Smells a little funky, perhaps. BR

Disabled Golfers File Suits Against Clubs

In Massachusetts and Illinois

November 12, 2015

Two interesting cases involving golf and disabilities are being talked about this week.

Well known Boston sportscaster Bob Lobel has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Woodland Golf Club, claiming that it  acted unlawfully in refusing to permit him to drive a special cart he uses onto its putting greens. Lobel suffers from spinal stenosis and argues that, without cart access, he is unable to fully participate in a round of golf, and that the club’s actions violate federal and state protections for the disabled. The club has expressed concerns that the cart will cause substantial damage to its greens, an argument that Lobel denies.

Meanwhile, disabled golfer Zaki Sheikh has filed suit against Illinois’ Sunset Hills Country Club, alleging unlawful conduct by the club when it changed its tournament handicap rules.

According to the lawsuit, prior to summer 2013 the club allowed full handicaps to be used in tournament play. At that point, the club changed its rules, allowing only partial handicaps to be used. Mr. Sheikh claims this was an unfair and impermissible change in that it precluded him from being able to play competitively in club tournaments.

The club has filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the court has no business intervening in the affairs of a private association and that, in any event, its handicap system conforms to USGA rules. BR

Rob Harris, an attorney and a mediator and arbitrator, currently serve on panels sponsored by the American Arbitration Association (including its National Golf Industry Panel), FINRA, American Dispute Resolution Center, Litigation Alternatives and ADR Select. He can be reached at (914) 482-2448, or via email: rharris@golfdisputeresolution.com

Directors and Officers Liability STRATEGIES TO PROTECT YOUR BOARD, CLUB AND EMPLOYEES

The non-profit directors and officers (D&O) liability market has been challenging for both insurance carriers and our clients over the past few years.

Frequencies of litigation and corresponding costs have risen across the country. As a result, the D&O market has hardened, with both carrier rates and retention limits increasing.

D&O liability can at times be overshadowed or overlooked in the renewal process by more routine and better understood considerations of property & casualty and/or workers’ compensation insurance. However, the D&O liability policy is one of the most important policies your club can have, protecting you against wrongful acts or allegations of wrongful acts of your board, committee members, employee, and even independent contractors. Failing to have proper coverage in the event of a claim can be devastating.

D&O liability has a number of important nuances compared to property and casualty insurance, therefore renewal strategies should focus carefully on coverage terms, the policy conditions, and your duties in the event of a claim. Here are some key considerations to help your club secure the proper protection.

COVERAGE

D&O liability policy coverage can vary by carrier, therefore a thorough side-by-side comparison of key coverage components is critical. Coverage questions based on your club’s makeup may include:

• Aggregate limit policy versus a separate limit policy for the various coverage parts included

• Is your policy a claims made or claims made and reported policy type?

• Are defense costs part of or in addition to the limits of liability?

• Who is defined as an “insured”?

• What is the definition of a claim?

• Is your club’s prior and pending date noted on your policy?

Exclusions also vary carrier by carrier, therefore a thorough review of the policy exclusions is a best practice that’s an important part of the renewal process. A few conditions worth noting or negotiating for coverage may include:

• Insured versus insured exclusions – are you limited on coverage from a wrongful act or alleged wrongful act made by a past board member against the board or club?

• Failure to maintain or effect insurance

• Wage and hour defense for employmentrelated claims

POLICY CONDITIONS

The D&O policy conditions can be overlooked or only reviewed after an allegation of a wrongful act has been received. Therefore, best practices include:

• Proactive review on your duties and obligations in the event of a “claim” or a fact or circumstance that could give rise to a claim

• Duty to defend clause or is a choice of counsel option provided?

• Options on extended reporting period (ERP) or tail coverage

• Check to confirm if your policy is a claims made or a claims made and reported policy.

• Hammer clause definition and percentage the carrier will cover if your club decides not to accept settlement.

KEY RENEWAL STRATEGIES

Here are a few proactive D&O Liability policy renewal strategies for your club:

• Analyze your club’s exposures and limits you feel are needed to best protect your club.

• Review club’s by-laws on indemnification language of board members

• Review duties of care, loyalty, and obedience with your new board members

• Determine your club’s key objectives and strategies for D&O Liability coverage

GARY SIGEL

Searching For An Executive Chef?

Here is what our clients and candidates are saying about our executive chef search process.

“Lisa is incredibly connected to the industry, the consummate professional and very easy to work with. She took the stress out of the process for the club and we were able to identify and secure a talented executive chef who will take our culinary operations to the next level and beyond!”

Eric J. Dietz, CCM/PGA, GM/COO

Interlachen Country Club, Edina, MN

“Working with Kopplin & Kuebler was a seamless process from start to finish. Lisa was personable and professional and found the right match for both parties. As a chef, I feel our mentality is to find that environment where we can thrive and succeed within the organization’s objectives and goals. I am confident that I have found that with Interlachen Country Club. After all, it's not a job if you love what you do!”

JohnMichael Lynch, Executive Chef

Interlachen

Country Club, Edina, MN

“We specialize in GM/COO, Executive Chef, Director of Golf, Golf Course Superintendent, Assistant General Manager, and Clubhouse Manager searches as well as strategic planning and consulting services.”

“ e Most Trusted Name in Executive Search and Consulting”

DICK KOPPLIN KURT KUEBLER LISA CARROLL JACK SULLIVAN

TOM WALLACE ARMEN SUNY

Meet HENRY

If you were sitting in a British music hall around 1910, you probably heard the original version of a song that was revived by Herman’s Hermits in 1965 – “I’m Henry VIII, I Am.” The revived rendition rapidly jumped to the top of Billboard Hot 100 Chart.

Well, in a similar fashion, HENRY is skyrocketing to the top of the club industry’s go-to membership chart. But just who is this HENRY? And why is should he be on the hit parade of clubs today?

HENRY is the acronym for High Earners, Not Rich Yet. It’s been around the marketing world since about 2003. Simply put, these are the folks that have substantial income, but aren’t quite in the private jet category. There are a lot of them and they are a big potential market for clubs. A few facts:

The takeaway for every club is this. HENRYs are important and have the potential to drive your revenues... The key to capturing and keeping this market is finding the sweet spot between class and mass...I’m a firm believer in look(ing) outside the industry for ideas that can be adapted and incorporated into your club’s story and experience.

• With a household income level of at least $100,000, there are about 25 million U.S. households defined as affluent. While they comprise only 20 percent of all households, they account for over 40 percent of consumer spending. They are considered to be the “heavy lifters” in virtually every spending category, including clubs.

• Within this segment lies a small two percent group who are ultra-affluent, sporting yearly incomes in excess of a quarter million.

Needless to say, they are the darlings of every business. Again, including clubs. But it is unrealistic to think they alone can keep the club industry afloat.

• That leaves a big chunk of the affluent market that have annual incomes between $100,000 and $250,000. These are the HENRYs – High Earners, Not Rich Yet – and they can be a missed opportunity for clubs. In fact, they are probably the Rodney Dangerfield of the whole consumer market – i.e. they “get no respect.”

Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, points out that while ultra-affluents may spend two to three times more than HENRYs on high end goods and services, HENRYs have an overall market potential three to four times greater than the ultras. Why? Simply because there are many more of them and their total spending power is a whole lot bigger.

So while your club may think it needs to capture the very top, in reality, the HENRYs are only one small rung down on the income ladder and offer you a much larger target market.

So how can your club take advantage of the HENRY opportunity? How can you attract and keep this burgeoning market with its great spending power? Simply put, you have to borrow strategies from high-end consumer brands and give them a more mass market twist. Specifically, you have to hit bullseyes in 4-Ss For fresh perspectives, then, let’s look outside the club industry.

Status: Like other traditional hallmarks, the notion of status takes on a new meaning for HENRYs. Instead of looking at buying the most expensive thing they can afford, they are looking for products, services and experiences that mirror who they are.

For example, rather than buying a larger diamond, they may opt to spend money training for and participate in a marathon. Rather than another high-end cashmere sweater, they may choose a unique regionally produced wine to enjoy with tapas. Think of all the possibilities this offers for your club, from activities to menu offerings.

BONNIE J. KNUTSON

Status is fast gaining other characteristics for this group too. Customization or personalization is significant one and relatively easy to incorporate. Take something as simple as using Waechtersbach’s bright red “You Are Special Today” plate to mark a member’s special occasion at dinner. Or serving the traditional birthday cupcake on white china that has a scripted Happy Birthday written in chocolate around the top of the plate with the member’s name ringing the bottom.

Service: Virtually every HENRY may periodically run into a dollar store or discount mall where good service isn’t necessarily at the top of the store’s list. Yet they have experienced and value high-levels of service, and therefore expect it, especially from their club.

They have bought things at legendary retailer Nordstrom and have stayed at the famous Ritz Carlton where “ladies and gentlemen serve ladies and gentlemen.” And it is possible to merge high service and still hold cost restraints too.

Look at Costco in the retail sector. Noted for a knowledgeable and cheerful service staff that makes customers feel welcome and valued, it can still provide very attractive price points on quality merchandise.

HENRYs can find great restaurants, top-notch golf courses, exquisite spas, and challenging fitness facilities almost everywhere. But what they can’t find everywhere is that special service where they feel warm and fuzzy. That is the irreplaceable advantage of your club – to position it as the HENRYs’ “third place.”

Story: Every brand, whether it is cars or cookies, has a story. What is your club’s? More importantly, does it resonate with the burgeoning HENRY market? The operative word here is resonate.

So while your club may think it needs to capture the very top, in reality, the HENRYs are only one small rung down on the income ladder and offer you a much larger target market. So how can your club take advantage of the HENRY opportunity? How can you attract and keep this burgeoning market with its great spending power?

In other words, you have to be able to message your club’s story in such a way that it hits their emotional sweet spot. Take Shinola, for example. If you aren’t familiar with this watch company, ask any HENRY. Founded in 2011, Shinola is housed within the College for Creative Studies in downtown Detroit. Its story isn’t about watches or the handbags, dog collars, bicycles, and other products they now make, it is about bringing “manufacturing jobs back to Detroit and back to this country.”

It’s about hiring local talent, many of whom came from the auto industry. It is about national pride. It is about the quality image of being made in the USA. It is about “Where American is Made.” And that story resonates.

What is your club’s story? It has to be about more than the facilities, activities, and services you provide. It has to hit an emotional hot button. And that is especially true for your HENRYs.

Smarts: Along with their highincome, HENRYs are set apart by their higher levels of education and experience. More than two-thirds have college or advanced degrees. They are experienced, having traveled extensively, eaten in a lot of exciting restaurants, and played some great golf courses. They are managers and executives responsible for their organization’s bottom lines. And they don’t leave their smarts at the office when they go home.

To borrow from the old mantra to don’t kid a kidder, don’t try to out-

smart this market. It doesn’t work. Conspicuous consumption is out; smart purchasing is in. They don’t brag about things; they brag about smart deals. Not too long ago, I saw a cartoon showing a group of HENRYs at what appeared to be a rather upscale cocktail party. The caption read something about a conversation touting the great travel deals they were finding. That said it all.

The takeaway for every club is this. HENRYs are important and have the potential to drive your revenues. Plus, while every HENRY will not become an ultra-affluent, most all ultra-affluents started out as HENRYs.

The key to capturing and keeping this market is finding the sweet spot between class and mass. And as you might tell, I’m a firm believer in clubs not looking to other clubs for ideas. Rather, look outside the industry for ideas that can be adapted and incorporated into your club’s story and experience. Start with Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and, of course, Detroit’s Shinola.

Your bottom line will thank you! BR

Bonnie J. Knutson Ph.D. is a people watcher. A professor in The School of Hospitality Business, Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, Dr. Knutson is a member of the Country Club of Lansing and the Michigan Athletic Club. She can be reached via e-mail: drbonnie@msu.edu

Focus on Family with “Rally the Family”

If you’ve been looking for new programming and fitness options for your club members, it’s time to “Rally the Family.”

Starting in March, the tennis industry will roll out its largest campaign to boost tennis activity and interest across the country.

“Rally the Family” is a collaborative effort from tennis organizations and manufacturers focusing on the family to increase participation by appealing to kids, parents, siblings and even grandparents, to get them on the court in a fun, social way.

The goal is to show tennis as an activity that families can do together to stay active and spend quality time with each other.

Programming is centered on the use of modified equipment and low compression balls on shorter courts to make the game easier to learn and more accessible across all age levels.

This initiative encourages tennis facilities to offer instructional programming and events to get started, which is where club managers come in.

By incorporating “Rally the Family” into your club’s tennis offerings, you have the ability to attract new business to your club. This program aims to develop and retain a new generation of

beginning players or returning players to the game, and providing an easy pathway to get started can only help bring new members to your club or facility.

More members playing tennis creates added demand for court time and pro shop sales increases. New players need racquets, shoes and additional instruction, which can only help increase your bottom line.

Consider using the success from “Rally the Family” as a launch pad for other new programs at your club, such as creating tennis leagues or fitness challenges. Don’t forget to incorporate social activities into your program. For example, host a “Rally the Family” clinic to introduce families to tennis and follow it up by inviting families to a mixer for food and drinks in your dining facility.

Social events are a great way for members to meet each other and foster a community at your club, and “Rally the Family” makes an excellent launch point for families to connect with each other.

A major nationwide campaign launches this spring. By leveraging the national campaign at your local level, your club or facility can benefit from those saved marketing and advertising dollars.

The “Rally the Family” website even has a guide for you to download that includes lesson plans, ideas for kick-off events and social activities, how to use the modified equipment, and marketing ideas to use at your club. BR

Visit www.rallythefamily.com to register your club, find more information or to download the guide to start working with your tennis-teaching professional to get this program started at your club.

John Embree is CEO at the United States Professional Tennis Association and can be reached via email: john.embree@uspta.org or (713) 978-7782, ext. 117.

JOHN EMBREE

Club Governance

HOW DO YOU MEASURE UP?

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.

– H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Club board service along with the governance nuances that go along with it are nothing short of courageous if you happen to be one of the small number of club members who choose to take on the role. It is often regarded as an unappreciated job.

From a practical point of view, the ideal board or committee member is one who chooses to serve for the good of the people and exercises that very notion with each decision they make, and yes, finding a middle ground is a big part of it.

“Everyone is accountable for harmonizing the same tune, however, not to the beat of their own drum.”

How does your club measure up? Do you have a board that is far-reaching in its influence with the membership at large? Clubs that have supportive, strong boards working with active committees will have far more success. This is not new news, but there is something to be said for being pro-active and devising a strategy rather than being reactive or disengaged going through the everyday motions. Committee service is as equally important. The membership/marketing committee is one of the club’s most important committees with a mission of vetting programs that will ultimately promote the club to bring in new members and control attrition.

How does a club go about forming a successful membership/marketing committee that will play an important role in the club’s mission to ensure sustainability? It begins by enlisting the assistance of the membership/marketing director who has a good handle on major influencers in the club that are not only good ambassadors but who have the types of backgrounds that will be useful in supporting and understanding membership programs and technology.

After all, the membership director is not only privy to the backgrounds of the members, but is the first person in the club to develop a relationship with every new member who joins. Having an ear to the ground and a pulse on the “who’s who” of members is critical in forming a group that can successfully work together as a productive team.

The committee’s chairperson should work with the membership/marketing director to create a list of viable candidates for committee service choosing the best members for the job and enlisting the board to support those choices. Once the right committee members are in place, work can begin to develop programs that will enhance the member experience and market the club to new prospects.

The board should filter down specific ideas based on the committee charter that will establish the ground work. From there, the chairperson and management need to take charge to keep everyone on track. It’s vitally important to understand prospective member needs and develop a strategy.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY

The Internet has changed us forever. Make no mistake, social networking is used by 65 percent of American adults. Statistics also show that over one-half of the world’s population – about 3.2 billion people– uses the Internet. So the Internet should be a part of it no matter what the age of the membership. Board and committee members must be open to the idea of using and supporting modern technology. “Old School” thinking is truly a thing of the past.

“Social media will help you build up loyalty of your current customers to the point that they will willingly, and for free, tell others about you” . . . Bonnie Sainsbury

The bottom line . . .Decide what’s important. Does your club have a substantial marketing budget that will cover internal and external programming? Do you have all the right people in place to manage the plan and process with a board and committees to support the effort? It’s a recipe that will certainly result in a palatable solution, because at the end of the day, it’s all about like-minded people sharing a passion for life in the pursuit of happiness. BR

Rosie Slocum is director of membership, BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She can be reached via email: rslocum@ballenisles.com

ROSIE SLOCUM

Member Misconduct

WHAT’S A BOARD TO DO?

A recent court case involved a golf club member who was suspended for “unacceptable behavior.”

The member sued the club seeking the return of the pro rata share of the annual dues and his six figure membership payment. The trial court entered judgment in favor of the member, deciding that the club had not effectively expelled the member and ordered the return of the membership payment. The club appealed the decision of the lower court arguing that it had, in fact, properly expelled the member.

Upon review of the lower court’s decision, the appeals court noted one of the well-established general principles of board action – that the directors of the club owe a fiduciary duty of good faith and fair dealing when pursuing disciplinary action against a member.

In other words, the board may not act on improper motives to discipline a member but may discipline a member when the circumstances reasonably justify the action for the discipline. Improper motives for disciplinary action could be evidenced by a variety of factors, but one of the most commonly alleged is selective enforcement of the club’s by-laws or rules and regulations.

For example, if multiple members engage in similar behavior contrary to a particular rule but only one member is disciplined for such behavior, then it is possible that selective enforcement could be argued as a basis for challenging the punishment. Thus, when considering a vote to pursue action against a particular member, it is important to determine whether the club has ignored similar behavior by other members.

It is critical that the board enforce its rules and regulations fairly and consistently among all of its members and not give certain members leeway that is not afforded to others.

In similar cases involving member discipline, courts have held that disciplinary action requires the club to act in accordance with its bylaws. Club’s bylaws generally require that no member may be suspended or expelled from membership without basic due process.

Basic due process would require notice of the charge or basis for discipline, or that such action was being contemplated; a chance for the member to mount a defense, and an impartial weighing of the evidence by the board or a hearing committee established for this purpose. In the event the club’s by-laws are silent on the issue, state statutes and case law will impose these basic due process requirements on a club seeking to punish a member. Therefore, if the board seeks to suspend or expel a member or otherwise penalize a member, it must do so fairly when compared to other members and in a manner that satisfies basic due process in accordance with the provisions of its by-laws or state statutory requirements.

At times, boards may fear that imposing punishment against a member will result in exposing the club to liability. However, failure of the board to take action under appropriate circumstances could result in more significant exposure if damages occur as a result of the failure act.

For example, if another member or club employee is harmed as a result of a member’s misconduct and the board has failed to take action, the club could be held liable for such harm. In contrast, if the board has met its fiduciary duties of fairness and due process, courts generally will not interfere with a board’s decision.

It is a long standing principle that courts generally will not substitute their judgment for that of the club’s board and will not interfere with their decisions unless the actions of the board constitute fraud, bad faith or are otherwise illegal. BR

Michelle Tanzer, Esq. serves on the National Club Association board of directors and is legal counsel to the Club Spa & FitnessAssociation. Michelle arbitrates club related disputes for the American Arbitration Association’s (AAA) National Golf Industry Panel and authored “The Club Litigation Book: Keeping Clubs out of Court.” Ms. Tanzer is chair of the residential, resort and club section at GrayRobinson, P.A. and can be reached at (561) 866-5700 or via email: Michelle.Tanzer@Gray-Robinson.com.

MICHELLE TANZER

BEL1EVE 1N!

BY DR. RONALD F. CICHY

The owner-member of a private club will BEL1EVE 1N! their club if the connection is in the present and future, intentional, a free choice, and a force in the owner-member’s heart.

BEL1EVE 1N! is all caps because of the immense effect beliefs have on who we are. The 1 in BEL1EVE appropriately is centered in the word with three letters on both sides. The centering indicates that the belief comes from within, right from the center, the core, the place within in which Know Self is practiced.

The BEL1EVE occurs and provides insights into what the passion is, what the personal motivator is, where the person comes from, and where the person is heading. 1N contains the second 1, again intentionally. The awareness and mindfulness of 1N leads the person to live in the present. The moment, now, here, be in the moment, 1 where the focus is self. BEL1EVE 1N!

future. The vision is what you see as the outcomes, the results in the future. SMARTER goals are used, in part, to describe the vision. Specific. Measurable. Attainable, Realistically High, Time Line, Evaluate, and Reevaluate. Distant or closer to now, it does not matter.

When you see and feel and become a vision, you display it to others in your actions and with your words. When people become the vision, other people understand, identify where their personal vision aligns with the vision of others and the organization, and see the vision as if it already exists.

A force in people’s hearts is evidence of the compelling nature of the vision. People simply cannot not do it. They are drawn closer to co-creating the vision with others (e.g., peers, members, guests, customers). They are engaged because they chose to be. The freedom of choice gives power to the vision in that with freedom comes responsibility.

After beliefs are clear, it is on to the mission and the vision. The mission is the purpose, purpose in the moment, now’s purpose. What is it that the person does for other people to give them what they want and need while exceeding expectations?

Not simply exceeding but doing so for the other without the other having to ask. Anticipatory mission. One that is other focused and creates a space where people can live into the possibilities. The possibilities may then be co-created into realities.

The vision is the beacon in the distance. It a fog horn on a foggy morning to guide and keep moving toward the

BEL1EVE 1N!

The values are the actions and behaviors practiced and encouraged by club members. One value typically high on the list is tradition, a legacy of managing and operating the club across decades, sometimes centuries, and often for generations of members from the same family. Another value is improvement, that is, ongoing refreshing and revitalizing of facilities, structures, and the grounds. A third value is connectivity through networks. The connectivity is enhanced when member-owners share time together in social activities and events. These shared experiences in person strengthen the ties that bind members together. Networks connectivity increasingly is supplemented through various forms of social media. Social media enhances connectivity, yet the foundation of the networks in the club is still faceto-face conversations.

Member-owners BEL1EVE 1N! common values, missions, and visions, as well as the differences in each other. They belong to a particular club because of what the club experiences provide, who else belongs to the club, and because the club is their kind of place. BR

Dr. Ronald F. Cichy, O.M., Professor, The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University

Unify Your Club Through History

Remember your school days and the groups that formed among the student body?

Whatever the label, these cliques encompassed separate, isolated groups that didn’t necessarily connect to each other on any level. Today, you may also notice that your club features similar internal groups: Bocce Ball Brigade, Golf Guys, Tennis Gals Who Wear Pink or Refined Gentlemen Who Sit at One Area of the Club.

Regardless of the group names, this divisiveness can be a challenge for clubs since a sense of community is a key component to member success and cohesiveness. But, how do you capture your club’s legacy and bring your members together under a common sense of community?

The good news is that these groups can be brought together despite their differences. One thing members can generally agree upon is the pride they have in their club and their membership. This pride directly relates to a club’s legacy and history, and a historical initiative can be one of the best ways to further unify your members.

Intricate details of your club may already be found onsite, within your members’ collections, and even within your local area and they can truly be astonishing. True, your club may already have items displayed for member benefit, however it’s the process in which the medium is displayed that makes an impact.

A historical initiative uncovers your club’s history and is represented with photographs, docu-

ments, artifacts, trophies and awards. Display media can consist of exhibits, video productions, photography, interactive displays and more.

Throughout history, communities have had gathering places and displays that represent them. For example, in Italy they used piazzas, or public squares, where a community would gather to share ideas. Regardless of grouping, community members enjoyed each other and the unity of the time and place.

Today, at your club, modern display areas can be created through a thoughtful, specific approach for your site and your members, and then showcased throughout the property, or in a single, impactful custom installation. Your members will be filled with pride when they are connected to the building, mission and club’s founders.

Larry Marx, while general manager of Diablo Country Club in Danville, California, believed the discovery and displaying of Diablo’s history brought a unity to the members.

“The result? Members now wanting to share the club’s heritage with friends and associates because they have pride of ownership in their club,” he said.

History isn’t necessarily divided by groups, but by events as a whole. Whether your club’s history goes back 100 years or 10 years, there are interrelated occasions relevant to establishing member pride. Once members see and understand how their club was founded and functioning up through the present, it can bring a basic appreciation spanning internal groups and connecting the entire community.

Would you like 500 tour guides at your club, recruiting new members and giving current ones reason to stay? A historical initiative brings together your members for the greatest benefit and overall pride of the club members. BR

Tom Neill is president of Private Club Historical (www.ClubHistorical.com). His company creates strategic historical plans, discovers club history, designs historical exhibits, displays, books, and historical videos. He may be reached at (949) 497-6543 or via email: tom@privateclubhistorical.com.

TOM NEILL

No Small Peanuts!

“Chris, two weeks ago my son suffered an anaphylactic shock from peanut dust on a cup at the pool. We were lucky that he made it home OK, but his symptoms forced us to use the epipen.”

It was clear to GM Chris that the member’s emotions were escalating with each piece of this story.

“He knows to avoid peanuts and is very careful, but it looks as if someone used a cup to get peanuts and then put it back on the stack. He got water with that cup and that’s what made the peanut dust run through his body so fast. Why can’t you just get rid of the peanuts?

“Just because a few old men eat them doesn’t mean we can’t get rid of them. None of the schools even have peanuts any more. I know that we’re not the only family with this allergy. Why not use almonds? They’re better for you anyway. What’s the board going to do about this? I want to be part of the conversation.”

Chris was in an interesting situation. The club offered free snacks at the pool: soft beverages, fruit, gold fish and peanuts. Chris knew that the club used about six and a half cases per week during the summer, so they were clearly enjoyed by many people, not just a few “old men.”

Peanuts did indeed pose a health risk for some individuals, but large number of members clearly enjoyed them. The concerned parent had referenced the board, and raised questions about the best way to ensure the safety of members.

Chris first thought was about the historical association between the club and peanuts. Sometimes, clubs have deep-seated attachments to things that would otherwise be inconse-

quential. The directors were polled to see if there was a peanut mandate – there was none.

Though the member with the peanut-allergic child had asked Chris what the board would do, an operational question such as what kind of snacks to have at the pool was not a matter for the board. The board, however, did want to make sure that Chris was not opening up the club to any potential liability.

Chris polled senior staff members, all of whom agreed that while a peanut allergy was a very important concern, peanuts were enjoyed by a wide variety of members and removing them would be a disservice. Therefore, there was 100 percent agreement that peanuts should stay.

To gather further opinions, Chris described the scenario to other managers via two professional blogs and a direct mail piece to the Club Managers Association of America’s Northern California local area network.

Chris asked managers in a simple survey: “Would you remove the peanuts?” The survey yielded 117 responses, 81.2 percent (95) of whom responded “No.” The other 18.8 percent (22) responded “Yes” to removing the peanuts.

David Cecil , GM/COO of Siwanoy Country Club, voiced the opinion of many

MACDONALD NIVEN

respondents. “Obviously a serious concern. But, to remove the peanuts for everyone based on the needs of one or two seems a bit out of balance to me. I would post a sign and rely on the parent to educate their child to stay away from the peanuts and peanut dust.”

Lee Stall, GM/COO at New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club suggested a stronger member orientation. “I say keep the peanuts. The new member or his sponsor should have known about the peanuts ahead of time.”

Judith Mann, GM at Roxiticus Golf Club suggests broadening the selection. “Keep the peanuts, offer alternatives for those allergic.” Chris Berlin, GM at Oakland Hills Country Club, took a slightly different tack on the issue, “This is a good opportunity to explore other snack options and snack delivery methods. If it needs defending, chalk it up to your quest for continuous improvement in member happiness.”

The survey revealed a clear consensus, and many excellent suggestions. The cost of alternative nuts, such as almonds, was nearly three times as much as peanuts, and individually wrapped peanuts cost nearly as much as almonds. Therefore, given the popularity of the peanuts and the expensiveness of the alternatives, it was determined that the peanuts would stay.

After further conversation with Beth, the concerned member, it appeared to Chris that Beth would only be satisfied with the complete removal of the peanuts and perhaps some apology from Chris.

He apologized to Beth because the peanut-contamination incident had occurred, and indicated that the peanuts would be separated from the other snacks and containers from now on. A partition would also be put in place to further limit the dust and potential contamination.

Though the issue itself was “peanuts,” it effectively demonstrates the potential ability of one member, by suggesting that they represent the concerns of

many, to influence the direction of the club to the detriment of others.

This phenomenon is known as the expansive representation of one, and it happens a great deal in a wide range of situations, particularly when members try to influence the board. Because Chris freely polled the board of direc-

John let it be known that Beth’s request was reasonable and that the directors were likely to agree with her and have the peanuts removed. Less than a month before, the board and Chris had agreed upon a distinct definition of roles and responsibilities – operational decisions were clearly the responsibility of the GM.

Though the member with the peanut-allergic child had asked Chris what the board would do, an operational question such as what kind of snacks to have at the pool was not a matter for the board. The board, however, did want to make sure that Chris was not opening up the club to any potential liability.

tors in a collaborative manner, relied on good thoughtful debate with the staff, and then turned to fellow club managers for opinions, the problem was thoroughly explored, and the solution Chris arrived at – while not what the member had wanted – addressed the safety issue in a manner that did not disadvantage other members.

Not getting the desired resolution, Beth requested that she and her husband be allowed to appear before board to plead their case. Chris and president John spoke about the appropriate time for Beth to speak. During that discussion

“Yes,“ John agreed, “that is true. But, since they are coming to the board, well, it makes a difference.” After a lengthy discussion between the two, it became clear to Chris that the decision would be to remove the peanuts. What became even clearer was that Chris had more work to do! Later, of course, it turns out that the member’s daughter is allergic to chlorine… BR

MacDonald Niven, CCM, CCE is the general manager at La Rinconada Country Club in California and can be reached at (510)439-8522 or via email: mac@niven.cc.

Five Questions and Answers WITH JASON KOENIGSFELD, PH.D.

THE CERTIFIED CLUB MANAGER (CCM) DESIGNATION IS THE GLOBAL STANDARD FOR PROFESSIONALISM IN CLUB MANAGEMENT. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS ITS FUTURE?

We now have global partners in Canada, Europe, South Africa, China, Southeast Asia, Colombia, New Zealand and Kenya. This will continue to expand as our curriculum adapts to the changing circumstances that impact clubs. CMAA’s certification program provides tangible takeaways to help club leaders improve their operations, strategies and governance structures. We use our members to adapt to trends and challenges that face the industry. The curriculum is grounded in competencies but is consistently evolving to stay relevant for today’s operations.

WHAT’S NEW WITH CMAA’S BUSINESS MANAGEMENT INSTITUTES?

BMIs have been around since 1988 and remain healthy with its registration numbers and satisfaction measures. We consistently evaluate the curriculum to ensure it remains relevant and current. We have conducted several audits (done by certified and non-certified managers at different stages of their career) and we take that feedback and compare it to the evaluation cards. This has resulted in many enhancements. Many of the BMIs have been completely revamped with new faculty, club tours and material. In the near future, we will update the competencies by conducting a competency survey. Feedback from the membership will continue to guide all of our curriculum offerings.

CMAA RECENTLY HIRED AN IN-HOUSE RESEARCHER. HOW WILL THIS RESEARCH BE USED?

It is critical to make data-driven decisions. With the addition of Amilcar Davy, we will better address industry trends, challenges, opportunities and an ever-changing society to ensure our education offerings are cutting edge and modern. Amilcar will assist in continuously monitoring and surveying members to gain new insights into different ways to do things or to better learn from their peers. Obtaining sound reliable data will better serve the entire membership and industry.

WHAT ELSE IS ON THE HORIZON?

CMAA is working hard to reach and educate club board leaders. This will help us continue to develop a more productive and accountable club governance model. We are looking to expand our executive education offerings to include club board members and executives to broker better governance policies and practices. CMAA continues to explore new academic-centric education offerings like an executive MBA in club management. We also plan to expand our virtual education offerings to address timely advocacy issues. We also plan to develop more mid-level education for department heads and assistant managers, including programs like the Mid-Management Conference, which CMAA will coordinate starting in September 2016.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF CLUBS?

I’m very bullish on the future of club industry. Club executives are developing innovative services, activities and events to reach all segments of their membership. They are shifting their offerings to provide non-replicated community-based experiences where members cannot gain access unless they belong to and actively participate in their club community. Clubs will continue to provide safe and enjoyable family focused activities. They will expand to offer more to non-traditional families, and design events and programs that fit their lifestyles, including leisure and adventure. Global outreach will be taking place where club executives are helping to plan members’ dream vacations in destinations where they have contacts to build unique, memorable and lasting experiences, expanding the club’s value and reach beyond the physical footprint. Lastly, healthy living is here to stay. Clubs will expand and offer even more activities (fitness-related), menus and services designed to help promote healthy living like onsite medical clinics and assisted living options. Clubs will continue to expound on the old adage of being the home away from home to members and in many more ways than in the past. BR

Jason Koenigsfeld, Ph.D. is CMAA’s senior vice president of professional development

JASON KOENIGSFELD

Cyber Security THE REAL STORY

There’s a lot of buzz in the club industry these days about cyber security. As a result, many clubs are buying cyber security services to shore up their “protected data.” Trouble is, much of the hype by the service providers is at best confusing if not a bit misleading. Here’s the real story.

Clubs are required by state laws to secure their “protected data.” That would be member and employee data stored on the club’s computer systems. Each state’s laws are different, but essentially they require companies to protect any data that could be used by an outside bad guy to steal the person’s money or identity.

So social security anddriver’s license numbers, credit card and bank account information, along with demographic information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, spouse names, children’s names, universities attended, professions, home states, and photos – essentially any data point that could connect a bad guy to the member – must be protected.

For many years private clubs took an “it can’t happen here” attitude toward serious cyber security. But of late the industry has

1. Network intrusion security review: This service generally begins by attaching a scanning device and/or scanning software to the club’s computer network to determine if there are intrusion risks to the systems. Initial scans focus on the ability of the network firewall(s) to repel external attacks. The scanning continues by evaluating the ability of the systems to thwart intruder activities if the hacker is able to get past the firewall and gain access to the network.

This internal risk evaluation focuses on missing security patches, password strength and password changing rules, the presence of discontinued or unsupported software such as Windows XP, the absence of web filtering (controlling what Internet sites employees are allowed to access), adequacy of anti-virus and anti-malware solutions, etc. The point of the review is to identify any weaknesses that may allow an outside intruder to gain access to the club’s network – or once inside, may allow that intruder easy access to protected data.

2. Social engineering testing: Because most businesses have very strong external protection with an effective firewall, bad guys have changed tactics. Why try to fight through a strong firewall when you can easily go around it?

Now that social engineering has become the favorite attack method of outside intruders, less than 20 percent of all small business intrusions are perpetrated without the “help” of an insider. The other 80 percent are the direct result of employees inadvertently “assisting” the bad guys by taking the social engineering bait. Unfortunately, this gaping hole in club security is essentially ignored by the vast majority of “cyber security” service offerings.

recognized that the threats are real, and the damage that can be done to members – and ultimately to the clubs themselves – is substantial. So clubs are beginning to embrace cyber security services. Typically, the services fall into one of two categories:

Social engineering does just that by using various ploys to trick the club’s employees into inadvertently allowing access to an outside intruder. The ploys include sophisticated phishing emails, telephone calls and in-person visits by impersonators and other actions

BILL BOOTHE

JEFF HALL

intended to dupe employees into providing network access information. Social engineering testing is designed to identify the likelihood that employees would inadvertently assist an outside intruder to gain access to the club’s network – and as a result, acquire protected data.

Thus far the club industry seems to be firmly focused on network intrusion security reviews. A litany of companies, some local, some national, are peppering clubs with promotional information about the dangers of not having their networks secure and intrusion-proof.

All well and good, but here’s the rub. Now that social engineering has become the favorite attack method of outside intruders, less than 20 percent of all small business intrusions are perpetrated without the “help” of an insider. The other 80 percent are the direct result of employees inadvertently “assisting” the bad guys by taking the social engineering bait.

Unfortunately, this gaping hole in club security is essentially ignored by the vast majority of “cyber security” service offerings. You’ll have to look a bit to find companies that go beyond physical security to focus on social engineering testing.

In addition, as a preventive measure, training is available from several national sources that will teach employees how to recognize and avoid social engineering

ploys. Completing that training can not only help secure the club’s protected data, but it can also reduce the club’s cyber security insurance premiums and help mitigate damages in the event the club experiences a breach of protected data.

To cover all the cyber security bases we recommend the following:

• Have a reputable company conduct a network intrusion security review.

• Have a different reputable company conduct the social engineering testing.

• Have a third reputable company provide training to your club’s employees on how to avoid taking the social engineering bait. BR

Bill Boothe is president of The Boothe Group, LLC, an independent consulting firm that helps clubs understand computer technology, make good decisions and receive the highest value from their technology investment. During his 25 years in the club industry Bill has assisted more than 350 private clubs. Bill can be reached at bboothe@boothegroup.com.

Jeff Hall is a principal security consultant with Optiv Security, Inc., a cyber security consulting firm. Since 2003, Jeff has been focused on securing sensitive authentication data related to card transactions following the Visa, MasterCard, and PCI Security Standards Council standards. Jeff can be reached at jeff.hall@optiv.com.

What is Under Your Rock?

Being Proactive rather than reactive

this story, about a pastor, may be one of the most important lessons that can be learned in the club industry, or any other industry for that matter.

The pastor took on a new church, and on his first visit he entered the lobby and when looking around noticed a large rock in the corner. He asked one of the church leaders about ‘the purpose of the rock.’

The leader responded that the flooring was weak in that area and so they put a rock there so no one would trip. The pastor asked, ‘don’t you want to tear up the flooring to see what the problem is?’ The leader said it was no big deal and didn’t want to go to the trouble or expense.

Later that month when the church was having a cleanup day, the pastor asked the volunteers to help him move the rock and figure out the problem with the floor. When the floor was uncovered they found a huge nest of termites had eaten the stabilizing beams under the church, almost causing the building to collapse.

During the past decade it’s amazing how many clubs we have worked with that finally have moved the rock and have needed help to fix a large problem when, if done on a regular basis, it would have been much easier and less expensive to resolve smaller

Here’s a case study that represents a combination of

from multiple clubs. The problems with this imaginary club are in four areas – governance, management, membership and finance.

how the nightmare Began

The Imaginary Country Club (ICC) has a long history of the board running the club, which made all the decisions and insured that likeminded people were continually nominated.

Decisions have been made based on the desires of the board members and their friends, with the golf course always the number one priority at the expense of the rest of the club.

Dues have been a hot button issue and it’s not uncommon for the club to go years without addressing dues increases. The GM, as the club’s caretaker, followed the board’s wishes without ‘stepping out of bounds’ so-to-speak. No one was allowed to move the rock!

the nightmare exPanded

Actually, there were several rocks in the way. 1) The club failed to address the needs of women and children by removing restrictive rules.

2) The club didn’t keep up with the fitness trends.

3) The club refused to fund needed capital at a level necessary to address some immediate needs.

4) The club did nothing when its biggest competitor built a new clubhouse and resort style pool. There were also several other rocks at the ICC, then someone moved one rock and then another!

Pro-active leaders

The ICC GM left for another position and a new GM came aboard. He convinced the board the club needed a strategic plan. One of the pro-progress board members (yes, there were a couple of them on the board) chaired the committee.

JeRRY MccoY

Being pro-active is actually quite easy. Make your strategic plan a ‘living document.’What does that mean? present your strategic plan to the membership at the beginning of the year. tell the membership that this is what they can expect from the club in the next year...Remember two things and you will be successful. never try to catch a falling knife and never put a rock over a problem.

They put together a diverse group of business people who understood the need to think strategically, hired some professional help and surveyed the membership. The results showed the members were not very happy about the way the club was being run and the ‘rocks’ they bumped into. Many initiatives undertaken and the club developed a plan. Then the group came to the biggest rock. How to underwrite a major capital program? They did all the right things and today the ICC is well placed for the future.

But the question remains: “Can the ICC position itself to avoid any new rocks that will hinder the club in the future?”

Being pro-active is actually quite easy. Make your strategic plan a ‘living document.’ What does that mean? Present your strategic plan to the membership at the beginning of the year. Tell the membership that this is what they can expect from the club in the next year. Communicate with members quarterly on how the plan is progressing. Update the plan at the end of the year. At the next annual meeting remind members of the plan and outline everything that has been accomplished during the past year. Then tell your members what they can expect next year from the updated plan. Never allow the plan to go dormant. Manage the plan to insure its success. Remember two things and you will be successful. Never try to catch a falling knife and never put a rock over a problem. Br

More information on these concepts can be found in The Boardroom article archives or at Clubwiseconsulting.com/publication/articles.

Jerry N. McCoy is the president of Clubwise, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, master planning, operational audits and governance issues. Clubwise was the 2013 Consulting Company of the Year by BoardRoom Magazine. He can be reached at www.clubwiseconsulting.com or CMAAMCM@msn.com

Unweaving the tangled Web of the Resignation list

although it’s fair to say that members have been leaving clubs for as long as they’ve been joining them, today’s economic and litigious climate is forcing a sharper focus on a byproduct of this activity – the resignation list.

While pre-recessionary conditions supported an aggressive spike in initiation fees, clubs created structures that would pay deposits back in a designated number of years or once the member resigned/died.

This format provided a tax benefit and fundraising vehicle in the case of for-profit clubs, while potential members were attracted to the prospect of getting their money back.

Everything started to change when resignation lists began to grow and members started complaining about waiting so long for their refunds. By 2007, market pricing for memberships began to plummet and club owners found themselves repaying deposits out of their own funds.

Be consistent in the treatment of all members on the resignation list and resist the urge to refund individuals in hardship cases or by playing favorites. Don’t risk setting a precedent that the club is not willing to duplicate...conducting a proactive assessment of what’s working (and not) will ensure that the club remains on a sustainable path into the future.

Over the last 10 years, some clubs resorted to bankruptcy or a transfer of ownership in order to survive.

Others have created multiple, low-priced membership categories in an effort to attract new members, which did nothing to reduce the

number of those on the resignation list. This slowed the refunding process even more.

Today, some unhappy members have sued their clubs to expedite the repayment of their deposit, alleging verbal misrepresentation –even when the club’s membership documents clearly expressed otherwise.

It’s a sticky situation and many clubs find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The solutions are as individual as each club and its particular structure, and nothing should be done without the appropriate research, legal counsel, and stakeholder consensus. But some options include:

1. Take action to deter members from resigning and being placed on the resignation list in the first place. Most effectively, keep members happy and satisfied with their experience so they don’t want to resign.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, policies could be put into place to discourage members from “squatting” on a resignation list, in anticipation of a long wait for a refund. Non-equity clubs could restrict access once a member resigns and is placed on the resignation list, and a club could block re-entry to the club unless a new joining fee is paid.

2. Hire specialized counsel to review the club’s rules and regulations, bylaws, and application to ensure that these membership documents are clear regarding resignation rules and procedures, especially on refunds and waiting lists. In addition, reinforce the applicable documents with language that clearly states that early refunds will not be given under any circumstances, and that the written guidelines take precedence over any verbal representations.

3. Amend the policy so that it is based on dollars received from new membership sales, rather than the number of memberships sold.

JeffReY hansen

4. Review the documents with the membership sales associates at the club to ensure that any verbal representation is consistent with the member documents.

5. Be consistent in the treatment of all members on the resignation list and resist the urge to refund individuals in hardship cases or by playing favorites. Don’t risk setting a precedent that the club is not willing to duplicate.

6. If your club currently offers a refundable membership deposit or bond that is not selling with the velocity the club needs, consider adding to a lower-cost, nonrefundable structure to eliminate member objections to resignation list wait time. This should then increase the rate of membership sales and corresponding refunds to those on the resignation list.

Although this change may mean a lower price point on the initiation fee and does not allow a club to circumvent the repayment obligations to the existing refundable memberships, the long-term benefit is that the club’s refund liability diminishes over time and the number of happy, active users elevates.

7. Explore creative ways to clean up the resignation list, without adversely affecting the current membership.

Market based pricing is a mechanism that allows for value fluidity, based on how urgently the club wants to reduce the resignation list, and/or how quickly resigned members would like to be free of their commitment.

One example of this is where a resigning member determines the refund they’re willing to receive – usually within a club’s established low/high range. Another option is for the club to buy members off the resignation list for a designated (usually discounted) cash amount. Finally, a bring-your-own-buyer program empowers members on the resignation list to bring their own replacement, receiving a refund in exchange for introducing someone new to the club.

Although refundable deposits may not be as popular today as when the structure was first created, it still makes sense for some clubs. Conducting a proactive assessment of what’s working (and not) will ensure that the club remains on a sustainable path into the future. Br

Jeffrey Hansen is senior vice president and associate general counsel with Troon. He can be reached at (480) 477-0439 and jhansen@troon.com.

here’s another Way to Keep Kids active!

special to BoaRDRooM Magazine

“our goal is simple. when a parent asks their children: “what do you want to do today? the answer is always, ‘i want to go to the ‘granite!!’”

“Any offerings that get children active and engaged, that leaves children smiling and laughing, and that is appreciated by their parents, is very rewarding,” explained Gary Caron, director of athletics at The Granite Club, a Boardroom Distinguished Emerald Club of the World in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

And it’s the reason why Caron has introduced different levels of teaching/coaching and programming for kids. “We use the long term athlete development (LTAD) model in each area of programming in our athletics sections,” Caron explained.

“It is a framework, which ensures optimal training and competition for stages of an individual’s physical development. We break down our programming into competitive and recreational streams and give the children a choice of which path they would like to follow. Regardless of which path they choose, children follow a progressive path so that they can continue to improve and feel like they are getting more proficient at a sport.

“We understand only a few will become exceptional at a sport so with the majority of children we want them to participate in as many activities as possible. This lays the foundation for a healthy, active life.

“Children love to try different sports before they think of specializing, and parents are really appreciative of the opportunities at the Granite Club because their children can try a variety of sports without having to make a commitment of time and resources.”

The key to the programming is to have a ‘progressive structure’ in place, so that parents know what program in which to register their children.

“For kids, the key is to make it fun, keep them engaged. They learn without realizing they are being taught,” explained Caron. “Guided learning incorporating movement skills such as running, jumping, twisting, throwing and catching at a young age transfer into all the sports we offer.”

Caron has also introduced a game called “Exergame” that’s drawing rave reviews.

“We researched interactive games for our ‘Youth Hub’ after parents in focus groups expressed a concern that their children were spending too much time in front of the television or on their smart phones, tablets, or game stations.

“With our Exergame offerings, youth can participate individually or in pairs or groups, and it incorporates technology into fitness. Whether it requires a cardio workout on a bike in order to play a computer game or challenging with cognitive activities, these games keep the children active and engaged.

“We’ve focused on the 10 - 16 age group but some parents like to participate because it also gives them the chance to be a kid again,” Caron related. Why is it so appealing?

“It gives everyone a good workout and can be competitive as well. Kids can measure their progress to see if they are improving and they also can compete against a friend. We have a variety of different offerings from Istep, which is a multi-child dance game to T-walls, which challenge agility and endurance.

“I’m aware that a few other clubs have incorporated a few pieces of the Exergame in their children’s play areas for the same reasons we have… to keep kids active and engaged with a program that’s appreciated by their parents,” Caron opined. Br

Rule 25 Makes a Difference at QuailValley

If you’re not quite sure what tees you should be playing at your favorite golf course, Don Meadows, director of golf at Quail Valley Golf and River Club, a BoardRoom Distinguished Emerald Club of the World, can offer some help.

Meadows coined the term “Rule 25”, and it’s based upon the average course length that a player should be playing based upon how far they hit their tee shot

So no matter where you play, you can easily figure out what tees you should be playing.

“Rule 25 is an extension of the Play it Forward program that the USGA/PGA support,” explained Meadows. The theory is this: if tour players hit their tee shots on average 290-300 yards, they would play courses that are approximately 7,250-7,500 yards.

“Using this thought, if a club level player hits their drive 250 yard s, they should be playing a course around 6,250 (250 x 25 – Rule 25). In theory this will allow golfers to play similar clubs into the greens as the tour professionals, allowing them toplay a game more similar to what a tour player plays, and hopefully score better.

“It is a good baseline and certainly something that can help a golfer decide which tee box to play from,” Meadows added.

And Meadows has incorporated Rule 25 into Quail Valley’s golf program, and the fact Quail Valley features six to seven tee boxes on each hole enhances the idea.

“We have embraced it from the beginning based on the thought that golf should be fun and enjoyable for

all skill levels. With the number of tee boxes we have, our course measures from as short as 5,100 yards to nearly 7,350 yards.

“We understand that each person may appreciate golf for different reasons (social, walk in nature, competition, the challenge of the game, scoring well, etc.), so we try to provide different opportunities for our members. This encourages them to play and enjoy their club membership more,” Meadows asserted.

The changes have required educating members. “We found that 1) players, men specifically, were reluctant to move up (a tee box) from their peer group, probably because pride held them from moving up.

“Secondly, when someone moved up, they didn’t always understand why we were taking ‘two shots’ away from them when they played from white tees.  So when we made switch to white tees, we gave them th option of moving back and ‘receiving two extra shots.’

“This changed the whole dynamic. Players decided that staying forward was worth the two shots and if everyone else was playing from the white tees, why shouldn’t I!”

if a club level player hits their drive 250 yards, they should be playing a course around 6,250 (250 x 25 – Rule 25). in theory this will allow golfers to play similar clubs into the greens as the tour professionals, allowing them toplay a game more similar to what a tour player plays, and hopefully score better.

For nearly all of our men’s events, the club uses the middle (white) tee boxes with a course yardage of 6,175.

“Coincidentally or not, since this change, we have seen our tournament and game participation increase dramatically,” Meadows enthused.

“For our ladies’ events, we offer two sets of tee yardages…one set at 5,145 with the other is at 5,745 yards,” Meadows explained. “For all of our events (with exception of club championship – championship flight) we play our tournaments from the most forward tee, and lady golfers seem to enjoy this distance.”

“We now even have nine-hole men’s games from a more forward tee (5,145-5,745) and this has grown immensely in popularity.

“For us, as a whole, this has been a homerun in many ways, specifically with our pace of play – average rounds take less than four hours; member enjoyment and repeat play, both in tournaments and on a daily basis,” offered Meadows. Br

BoardRoom magazine Recognizes 22 Private Club Presidents of the Year

By Dave White, Editor, BoardRoom magazine

BoardRoom magazine annually recognizes the world’s top private club presidents, captains and chairs as Private Club Presidents of the Year, for their outstanding work, their understanding of the industry, and role and responsibilities of the club’s board of directors. In this continuing series, BoardRoom introduces three of the top 22 presidents for 2015.

Private club board presidents play a huge role in professional operations of their clubs as a volunteer working diligently with their board of directors and general managers, striving for well informed, but not emotional decisions.

This recognition by BoardRoom magazine has attracted board president nominations from clubs and other nominators around the world.

These outstanding presidents exemplify the focus on the leadership responsibilities, the accountability and the management of the board providing a healthy respect for the club’s macro management. They are cognizant of the importance of working, effectively and efficiently, with their volunteer boards and the dedication required from everyone with whom they work.

Key elements of a “good” board include commitment, competence, diversity, collective decision making, openness, transparency, effective communication with the management and the membership, fiscal responsibility, development and establishment of the clubs’ mission, vision and policy direction, especially through establishment of a strategic plan.

A successful board president draws upon the expertise of other board members, the club’s institutional memory and stewardship of the club’s resources. As well the board president provides new board members and future board presidents with information they need to perform effectively as board members.

Congratulations to these outstanding private club board presidents.

Three club president profiles on page 58 and 59

Sponsored by

Top Private Club President

Who is your choice as the top private club board president?

Many people and companies associated with the private club industry are given due recognition for their accomplishments, and now BOARDROOM MAGAZINE is focusing on selection and recognition of the PRIVATE CLUB BOARD PRESIDENT OF THE YEAR.

BOARDROOM MAGAZINE, through a nomination and selection process, will honor 20 board president finalists worldwide and one prestigious DISTINGUISHED PRESIDENT OF THE YEAR AWARD.

TOP BOARD PRESIDENT SELECTION PROCESS

The top 20 private club board president finalists will be selected by a BOARDROOMcommittee comprised of industry experts and sponsors, who can make an expert judgment, who have an understanding of the industry, the structure of the board of directors, and the role and responsibilities of a club’s board of directors. A third party accounting firm will audit results.

SPECIAL SECTION ANNOUNCEMENT

A special section published in BOARDROOM MAGAZINEwill be devoted to the announcement of the TOP PRIVATE CLUB PRESIDENTSand the DISTINGUISHED PRESIDENT OF THE YEAR.

ENTRY AND DEADLINE

Visit www.boardroommagazine.com to download the criteria and application form. Entries must be submitted no later than Friday, November 17, 2016. For further information contact John Fornaro (949) 376-8889 ext. 2 or johnf@apcd.com

gailisaacson Bernstein, President

president gail Bernstein has the remarkable distinction of being only the second female president in the 106-year history of greensboro country club and has worked tirelessly to bring focus and insight tothe board’s governance while clearly defining and supporting the efforts of the operational team.

she has fearlessly and passionately executed her term as president of greensboro country club to an exceptional level, which will serve the club and its members for years to come.

as a result of her thoughtful and collaborative style, the board created an updated mission and vision statement for the club and outlined goals. as president, her inclusive nature has ensured the development of leaders on the board and improved membership trust.

Bernstein has kept the board focused on revising club policies and updating committee charters, including the master plan development, which she views as one of the largest and most important projects in steering the club toward a successful future. With her support, funds have been increased and directed toward employee education and development.

the club has opened an “employee Resource center” dedicated to training and defining the brand and culture of gcc to quickly integrate new staff. Bernstein has led the board in supporting greensboro’s employee wellness objective, and gcc was nominated as one of the “triad’s healthiest employers” in 2015.

greensboro country club has benefited from president Bernstein’s unselfish commitment of time, energy and passion for the club.

her sincere engagement with staff and members exemplifies what she does so graciously. president Bernstein is the epitome of a leader who shares the vision of a fun, active and welcoming club, and inspires those around her to new heights through her composed efforts and confident support. Under her leadership, gcc achieved Boardroom’s distinguished emerald club of the world award, which has impacted the way the membership and staff feel about this club: extremely proud and energized.

her parents joined in 1965, and she enjoyed the club environment so much that she obtained her own membership in 1985 and has been a member ever since - 50 years!

Bernstein has been employed as the board administrator and assistant to the head of greensboro Day school for over 16 years, and also balances a busy household, managing three children with her devoted husband, steve.

greensboro country club vibrates with positive energy and momentum, and Bernstein has been at the nucleus of this transformation. Br

paul douglas, president |corning country cluB |corning,ny

corning country club is a classic parkland payout which played host to the lpga corning classic from 1979-2009.   paul Douglas, one of BoardRoom’s top presidents for 2015, has shown vision, insight and leadership in tackling issues that undoubtedly will impact the club’s future. how does your governance works between the board and the general manager?

“the board sets the policies with open discussion with the general manager, and then the management team drives the priorities,” explained Jeff thomas, ccc’s general manager. “there is constant communication with the president regarding progress of the various activities. president Douglas is always available to offer support, suggestions and stand by our policies when decisions are difficult.”

Douglas added, “any recent success the corning country club has enjoyed has been the direct result of a collaborative effort by our very dedicated volunteer board with the input and support of our club’s membership.”

how has the member experience improved?

“Under president paul Douglas, we have improved our social calendar for the entire family and increased club usage through strong member communication,” said thomas.

“in 2015, we grew our membership from 258 to 400 members in less than six months by partnering with our membership and offering a referral promotion where both could benefit. ”

Paul douglas, President Jeff thomas, gm

Rusty cagle has been selected as one of BoardRoom’s top presidents for 2015 because of his vision and work on the club’s 10-year sustainability and strategic plan.

Under cagle’s direction, the club hired hectorBatista as the new general manager/coo. Within the year, the club has improved the food and beverage quality and the service standards, the margins for dining have increased, and the visual aesthetics of the clubhouse have been enhanced.

“in the midst of cagle’s presidency, thornblade began creating the vision of our club for the next 25 years,” Batista commented.

“our president had to make some difficult, tough decisions in order for our culture to progress to the standards that aligned with our path to excellence and accountability. our brand has a rich, national presence and we are excited to incorporate new ideas for the future, as well as keeping our traditions of the past,” Batista explained.

“the thornblade club continues to be one of the most desirable, premier clubs in the region, and we know that we

what do you anticipate for 2016?

“We are excited about the year ahead,” thomas enthused. “guests have commented on a ‘buzz’ among our members that they haven’t witnessed before. our new course superintendent, in the fall of 2015, had our greens in the best shape ever.

“over the winter, our golf course superintendent removed 70 trees to improve the turf and playing conditions for our membership,” thomas added.

“as a club manager, i could not ask for a more passionate and supportive president who truly loves the club, community and surroundings. he is fully committed to making the corning country club the premier private country club in the region,” thomas opined.

must be innovative, appeal to the entire family and exceed our member’s expectations in order to stay a premier club for our membership. this does not come from staying with the status quo!

“i define president cagle as a visionary,” Batista expressed. “he is an incredible listener, and he allows my team and me to strive towards perfection every single day in every capacity. he does not rush into judgment on the various issues that may arise, yet is proactive in his approach to lead our club forward. i’m thrilled to work with Rusty and the board and i look forward to continuing to provide the very best in customer service and experience for our members.

“Under Rusty’s presidency, in cooperation with the finance committee, a 10-year sustainability and strategic plan has been created and implemented. With this plan and with the hard work of our board of governors and staff members, i’m confident that it will position us for longterm success.”

the thornblade club, a private, family-oriented golf and country club in the foothills in south carolina, features an 18hole golf course designed by tom fazio.

“We already have a beautiful golf course, showcased annually with the BMW charity pro-am and south carolina’s biggest junior golf tournament, the Blade Junior golf classic,” explained Batista. “however, enhancements have been made to the grounds by adding state-of-the-art greens, laser-leveled tees, and stunning rock walls, just to name a few.”

cagle, a member of the thornblade club for almost 10 years and has served as board president for 18 months. he is married, has a 12-year-old son, and is involved in coaching youth sports, as well as many other community endeavors.  Br

“our general manager has raised the bar,” explained president Douglas, “and has ambitious goals to further increase club membership in 2016 with continued improvement of our members’ experience.”

“i am honored, on behalf of our board and our club’s members, to be selected as one of BoardRoom Magazine’s 2015 top club presidents.”

paul Douglas joined ccc in 2001. he is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts with a Ba in sociology and journalism. his wife, Katherine Douglas, is president of corning community college. the couple has one son. Br

rusty cagle, president

rusty cagle, President hector Batista, gm

the three principles club governance should always exemplify

i recently sat in what i had hoped would be a quiet corner of capital grille. the evening took an interesting turn when a party of four was seated within unavoidable earshot.

Given my livelihood for 25 years, it was very difficult not to eavesdrop when it became clear the diners were all members of a local country club. What really got me thinking was when one of the gentlemen said, “You know, of all the country clubs where I’ve been a member over the years, the best run had a benevolent dictator rather than a board of directors and a bunch of committees who ran amok!”

once the board has provided the strategic direction for the club, the coo should present an annual business plan that seeks to deliver on that strategic vision. if the plan is accepted by the board, then the coo should be left alone to execute the plan. periodic updates on achieving the business plan’s annual goals will allow the board to judge whether execution is working or if corrective action is required. if the coo fails to execute on the plan, then a businesslike approach can be applied to determine if a change in management is required.

While we don’t subscribe to this particular view of club governance, it does highlight some key issues that club boards and committees need to deal with in a proactive manner. Here are the three simple tenets of club governance that volunteer leaders should aspire to:

1) Identify and live the club’s core values: The benevolent dictator from our story would appear to have this advantage over a group of individuals collectively trying to provide direction to a significant business enterprise such as a club.

However, boards and committees can level the playing field by subscribing to a common set of core values that is the bedrock for the club’s strategic vision. Adherence to those core values can help keep a club on a steady strategic course despite the players changing when board and committee members rotate or even when management changes.

Identifying the club’s core values should be the cornerstone of any thoughtful, long term, strategic planning exercise.

2. Speak with a common voice: How many times do conflicting messages emanate from the club’s boardroom following a meeting? We often joke that no one has yet invented a device to move information faster than it moves from a club boardroom to the bar!

And sadly much of the messaging that makes it to the regulars at the bar is actually disinformation and not truly representative of the discussions and decisions the board has taken. Too often we hear of the rogue board member who, when not getting their way in the boardroom takes their agenda to the streets in an attempt to undermine the hard work that just took place in the boardroom.

Volunteer members need to be held to a code of conduct, which of course, is built upon, you guessed it, the club’s core values. One of the most effective methods we have heard of, to ensure collective adherence to board and committee conduct expectations, is to make sure everyone hears the same message at the same time. Prior to the start of any new board or committee term, all the volunteer members are called together and oriented by the club president and COO

philip neWMan

regarding governance expectations and standards of the club … and the disciplinary actions related to noncompliance.

3) Abide by the Geneva Convention: Board and committee members rightly have come to expect their club to be run like a business. To that end, they should hold management accountable for meeting plans, both operational and financial. Unfortunately, accountability and micromanagement are practices that in too many clubs have become blurred.

Once the board has provided the strategic direction for the club, the COO should present an annual business plan that seeks to deliver on that strategic vision. If the plan is accepted by the board, then the COO should be left alone to execute the plan. Periodic updates on achieving the business plan’s annual goals will allow the board to judge whether execution is working or if corrective action is required.

If the COO fails to execute on the plan, then a businesslike approach can be applied to determine if a change in management is required. Contrast this with the daily torturing that many managers complain of from board and committee members running amok with private agendas. We doubt there are many club members who would say the

best job experience they ever had was when they were micromanaged, so perhaps it is time to pay it forward in this respect.

Hopefully, the next time we eavesdrop on a group of club members, it will be to hear how effective, consistent and businesslike the decision-makers at their club are! Br

Philip G. Newman, CPA, CIA partner with RSM US LLP, a national professional services firm with a focused industry practice that provides accounting, tax and consulting services to hundreds of private clubs throughout the country. He can be reached (800) 966-0428 or via email:philip.newman@rsmus.com

the Membership committee what is its role? Part ii

clubs today face many challenges in their quest for relevance and sustainability.

In this series, the role of the membership committee is examined and best practices are outlined. In the first installment, (BoardRoom, January/February, 2016) market analysis/due diligence are stressed as a foundational element of setting up a successful membership process. In addition, setting goals and objectives and how to determine your specific target market were examined.

Here, process, team, and communication are developed for what hopefully evolves into a streamlined membership strategy and process, not only for the membership committee but for the club as a whole. The branding process follows in Part III in a subsequent issue.

Process: In recent years, the membership process has been relegated to “short term” fixes rather than sustainable strategies. It’s something like treating an ulcer with Maalox. It may take away the pain momentarily, but the ulcer remains firmly in place and will continue until the core issue is solved.

Sustainable strategies may employ short term tactics to relieve financial pressures, but unless the tactics also include a long term process of repositioning to broaden appeal and attractiveness, it will be nothing short of a revolving door and a potentially permanent devaluation of the club’s membership proposition.

Interdepartmentally, membership is the ‘steam’ that drives the engine and membership must become an integral part of the club’s overall strategic plan, holding each department accountable for their part in the membership process.

Tours, programming, events and every touch with a club’s members, their guests and prospective members needs to be systematic and even scripted. Personalization and relationship building with the prospective member creates trust and when each department is positioned to address gender, family, age and time constraint realities, they become more personally relevant to each new prospective member.

Everything a club does internally creates an external message. The same holds true for everything a club does not do that may be relevant to

that next generation of members. Remember, if what the club offers is not relevant to the lifestyle of the club’s member or potential member community, price will never be the obstacle.

Communications: As every marketing school has traditionally maintained, communication is the key. In the club there are two kinds of communication, essentially breaking down to what you say and what you do. Non-family centric clubs often think they are family centric because they host Santa on December 18 for two hours. What they say is not actually what they do. It’s obvious to everyone touring and to those that are already members. Its not what you say, its what you do. Remember, everything you do internally sends a message internally and externally, which is building your brand. Non-verbal communication starts with how the club positions itself in the market. If you have completed the due diligence you should, you already know what the club needs to become based upon market conditions. Nobody wants to talk about it but golf has declined. Is it permanent? Who knows. The point is that in the face of decline should we double down in assigning time, energy and capital into golf or should we be developing a more diverse brand and lifestyle orientation. Again, the membership committee cannot decide this solely, but it will have an effect on membership sales and retention and cannot be solved only within the membership committee itself.

Referrals are still the best way in which to gain new members but statistically less than eight percent of members are participating in the referral process. Give them reason to invite guests to family activities, adult activities and specific sporting events offering an insider view of what membership “looks like.”

Use every opportunity to provide events that promote guest participation. The more traffic that is generated, the broader your reach and the greater number that will be inclined to join.

Next time we’ll discuss the branding process, and the fact your entire club ‘is the brand.’ Br

Donna Coyne is with the Professional Club Marketing Association. She can be reached via email: donna@askpcma.org

Donna coYne

Why having a Board Just Makes “cents” to memBershiP and marketing

the options for club membership today have never been greater, so have the challenges of growing our dues income and retaining our membership.

Despite our best efforts, sometimes we end up making wrong decisions. In my opinion, not having a board of directors to help you navigate your membership and marketing decisions is one such mistake. According to Yazad Patel, CEO at Board Titans, some of the fears restricting the existence of a board are:

• Dilution of authority

• Interference

• Time consuming

Note that Mr. Patel used the term “fears”, as he believes with the right type of board and the ‘right’ professionals on the board, all of these profoundly overstated fears can be put to rest.

Why does the membership and marketing team need a board?

1. Skill and expertise: Board members who bring expertise from strategy, finance, legal and marketing will guide your membership and marketing director to focus strategically. Board members bring along business contacts and networks and from a branding perspective can better position your membership and marketing efforts when the board includes gender, demographic and cultural diversity.

New board members will have the expectation that membership by invitation is one of their greatest contributions to the growth of their club and will be asked to personally announce their appointment as board members, and invite their friends and associates to join them in membership thus assisting in your enrollment efforts.

2. Governance: Board members can be critical to the membership and marketing department as they guide the rules, principles and processes by which membership enrollment is accomplished. A true enrollment process is one of the measures of true not for profit status.

Governance provides a framework for balancing those who are in not-for-profit clubs with the interests of your members. The enrollment process defined by your board will add creditability, mystic and tradition to your membership recruitment.

Enrolling new members without a process has been proven to affect retention. In for-profit clubs, governance is a system of rules by which a club is directed. Governance allows for controlled balances of expectations of all of your stakeholders.

3. Clear Direction: Boards take a lead role in devising strategies to ensure members and all departments are aligned toward common goals and monitor implementation and execution of strategic plans. From a fiduciary standpoint a board is a sounding point when consider membership categories and pricing strategies. As important leaders in your community, the board can be your consultants when considering a marketing plan. A board will be your cheerleader when conflicts arise.

4. Credibility and Legitimacy: Your board represents the face of the club. When someone is considering joining your club, many times it’s an affiliation with the members of your board verses your competition that often times gives you the leg up in the buying decision.

Whether a board is advisory in nature or a fully mandated board with fiduciary responsibilities, using the resources in your community and tapping into the business and cultural leadership just makes “cents.” Br

Susan Greene is a 28-year veteran in the private club business. In 2012, Susan returned to her first love as director of membership and marketing for The Oaks Club in Osprey, FL. She serves as the national president of PCMA (Professional Club Marketing Association). She can be reached via email: sgreene@theoaksclub.com

sUsan gReene

ten things i learned from pete Dye

1. Donald Ross’s influence endures: One thing that has become obvious to me is the extent to which Pete Dye was influenced by ASGCAfounding member Donald Ross early in his career. He has incorporated a lot of his design concepts, and then taken them a step further. Great greens make a great golf course and like Ross, Dye starts at the green and works back from there. He also definitely took some of Ross’s concepts related to angles and strengthened them.

2. Create drama: One of Dye’s most significant contributions to golf architecture is that he creates drama for every shot on the golf course. He’ll hide a piece of the fairway or green, or emphasize the target with a contrasting element, like a steep slope, while everything else around it is soft. He’ll create long views through the green and eliminate the background in order to

challenge depth perception and make the green look smaller. Finally, whenever possible he’ll break up the straight-line view to the green, which inherently adds drama.

3. The golf course must be practical: I think Pete Dye has a better rapport with superintendents than any architect who has ever been in the business. He likes them, he listens to them, and his courses are easier to maintain than they might seem at first glance.

His bunkers are flat for more practical maintenance. With his slopes, the top edges are quite sharp, but the bottom 7/8 is fairly soft. And there are also subtle things that most golfers never notice. For example, there’s always room for a triplex mower to turn on tee boxes, around a bunker, or in bailout areas around greens.

4. The course must fit the client: Pete Dye is most famous for the difficulty of his courses, but I’ve worked with him on country clubs where they are very playable – not easy, but receptive to the average golfer. He has always stressed that to me. He doesn’t just do “hard” everywhere.

5. Balance the routing: A lot of work goes into providing balance in the routing stage, with holes that play uphill and downhill, as well as left-to-right and right-to-left. Another real contribution to modern design is that most of his courses don’t have many medium-length holes. They have lots of long and short par-fours, so they always play longer than the scorecard would indicate.

6. Help the average golfer while challenging the strong player: On approach shots to Pete Dye’s greens, if you bounce it on, the contouring will often feed the ball to the hole location. That’s because he knows that good players rarely use the approach – they fly it all the way to the target. The average player needs that support. Greens are almost always open in the front. More subtly, you’ll find the deepest bunkers back left –where good players miss – and the shallowest front right, for the opposite reason.

7. Client relationships are lifetime relationships: I saw how much Pete Dye helped his clients refine their mission. There’s a real sense of client and architect going into battle together, on many levels. When you get through it successfully, it’s a great feeling and there’s a real bond that forms.

In recent years, Pete has returned to projects that he finished 20, 30, even 40 years ago. Part of this is because a course’s infrastructure naturally ages, but it’s also because he doesn’t consider anyone a “former” client.

tiMothY liDDY

one of Dye’s most significant contributions to golf architecture is that he creates drama for every shot on the golf course. he’ll hide a piece of the fairway or green, or emphasize the target with a contrasting element, like a steep slope, while everything else around it is soft. he’ll create long views through the green and eliminate the background in order to challenge depth perception and make the green look smaller.

8. Put people in a position to succeed: I learned this more by working on projects for Pete Dye than directly from him. Some guys are better at building greens or bunkers, others at moving dirt, still others at finish work. I figure it out by sitting in a guy’s pickup truck.

If it’s really clean, he’s a great finish guy. If it’s really dirty and there’s stuff everywhere, he’ll be a good earth mover. Everyone’s personality comes out in the work, and everyone’s happier when they’re doing what they’re

best at. Managing all the personalities involved is an underrated part of the job.

9. “If you can get a pro thinking, you’ve won the game”: This is one of Pete Dye’s most famous quotes, and it applies just as much, if not more, to a shot or hole that will be played hours later as it does to the shot immediately at hand. Every course should have something that the golfer is already thinking about before they step on to the first tee.

10. Layered architectural “planes”: At TPC Sawgrass, he had a flat piece of ground and established layers of horizontal planes – water, waste bunker, fairway, green – set off by vertical edges, the railway ties. It provides a definition for the golf course that’s just pure genius.

At the Cape hole at the National Golf Links, all those elements are there, but they’re not stacked. Pete took a “layered” approach. I think it might have something to do with his eyesight – Pete’s eyes crave definition. He brought new vocabulary to golf architecture—and that’s something that doesn’t happen very often. Br

Architect Tim Liddy, ASGCA has worked alongside and collaborated with ASGCA Past President Pete Dye for 25 years. Liddy’s solo projects include the highly rated Trophy Club in Lebanon, Indiana and the Duke’s in St Andrews, Scotland. He resides in Indiana and Florida.

how to calculate Member lifetime Value

what is the value of a member to your club?

If you don’t know the answer to this question, you may be surprised to learn just how important each and every member is to your club’s overall financial health.

As an agency that works with private clubs to develop and implement membership marketing strategy, we use lifetime value of a member (LVM) to guide membership marketing return on investment.

You can get pretty scientific in how you calculate this metric, but for most, the key is to consider bottom line impact – not just the impact on revenue.

By knowing this critical metric, it can not only help guide membership recruitment and estimate marketing costs, but it can also guide retention. For any business, one of the most effective ways to boost lifetime value is to increase customer satisfaction.

Research has found that a five percent increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25 percent to 95 percent. The same study found that it costs six to seven times more to gain a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Here’s a basic formula that you can use to calculate LVM:

Step 1: Average Your Variables

A) Calculate the average membership tenure (in years): Take the number of members that have resigned in the past 12 months, divided by the number of members that you started with to determine the annual attrition rate. Then, take 1 divided by the annual attrition rate to arrive at the average membership tenure in years.

Average membership tenure (in years) = 1 ÷ (number of resignations last year ÷number of members at the start of last year) =

B) Calculate the average initiation fee revenue: This is simply the total initiation fees collected for the year divided by the number of new members added for the same period.

Average initiation fee = Annual initiation fees

÷Number of new members

C) Calculate the average annual dues revenue: Take the total annual dues revenue and divide by the average number of members for the year.

Average annual dues = Annual dues revenue ÷Average number of members

D) Calculate the average net member spending: Take the gross member-related food and

beverage revenues and divide by the average number of members to arrive at gross spending per member. Be sure to include any unspent minimum revenue if that is relevant for your club. Then, take that amount and multiply by your F&B profit margin to arrive at the net F&B per member. If applicable, repeat this formula for other member-related profit centers, including Pro Shop Merchandise, etc.

Average net member spending = (Annual member revenues ÷Average number of members) x profit margin

E) Calculate the average overhead cost: Add all direct operating expenses (including payroll) excluding any capital items or costs that are included in the profit margins in step four above. Typically included are expenses related to G&A, clubhouse, golf course, membership, etc. Be sure to exclude any direct costs for non-member related banquets. Then divide this amount by the average number of members.

Average overhead per member = Direct operating expenses ÷Average Number of members

Step 2: Calculate Lifetime Value of a Member

In this final step, you simply combine the results from the calculations above to arrive at the annual value of a member, and then multiply that amount by the average membership tenure to determine lifetime value.

LVM = (Average initiation fee revenue + Average annual dues + Average net member spending – Average overhead per member) x Average membership tenure

Calculating LVM can help you see how profitable members are – and how much should be spent on acquiring them (or keeping them). Knowing lifetime value also lets you see how, or if, you can discount pricing.

It can help you find innovative ways to build value upfront and create offers that drive enough volume to support and eventually increase your overall lifetime value. Br You can download a free Excel template that will calculate LVM here: www.ClubMarketer.com/LVM

Mike Phelps is CEO and co-founder of Pipeline Marketing, an award-winning digital, print and creative marketing agency that specializes in creating and implementing membership marketing campaigns for private clubs.

MiKe phelps

Your club’s Mission statement

is it current and relevant?

“when you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. it will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.”

- w. clement stone

To be continually successful in membership development through good times and bad, a club must know who it is, who its market is, where that market is going and how the club is going to continue to capture its target market.

In past we’ve have stressed the importance of having a vision statement (what the “end state” looks like); a brand position statement (where the club fits in the market place and who its target market is), and now a mission statement.

So how important is having a current – and relevant mission statement? First, let’s look at definitions.

A mission statement is:

• A formal summary of the aims and values of a company, organization, or individual

• The task, together with the purpose, that clearly indicates the action to be taken and the reason therefore. (military definition)

• A written declaration of an organization’s core purpose and focus

• A short sentence or paragraph used by a company to explain, in simple and concise terms, its purposes for being.

What, then, is the mission statement supposed to do? It serves a dual purpose by “helping employees to remain focused on the tasks at hand, as well as encouraging them to find innovative ways of moving towards an increasingly productive achievement of the club’s goals.” A mission statement answers the following questions:

• Why do we exist?

• What is our business?

• Who are our members?

• What do they value?

• What do we do to achieve the club’s vision?

The ability to articulate the mission indicates its focus and purposefulness

Do you recognize this mission statement? “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Unless you have been Rip Van Winkle, you know it’s Google’s mission – and we all know how extraordinarily successful Google has been at accomplishing its mission. (“Googled” and “Googling” are both nouns and verbs in the dictionary.)

There is a reason why the most successful companies spend abundant resources to create mission statements, and why those statements are revised when market conditions change. Here are some examples from great companies:

PepsiCo’s mission statement is “to provide consumers around the world with delicious, affordable, convenient and complementary foods and beverages from wholesome breakfasts to healthy and fun daytime snacks and beverages to evening treats.”

Starbucks Coffee’s mission statement is “To inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.”

The firm’s mission statement serves as an indicator of what the company wants to do at the core of its business.

Apple’s mission statement is “Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.”

Apple’s mission statement is very specific in indicating what the company does and will do.

The former Continental Airlines Mission Statement was Work Hard, Fly Right! – one of my favorites because it’s brief and to the point. Your club’s mission statement should identify actions to achieve the club’s vision – and the mission statement and vision statement must be aligned with the club’s current business condition.So when was the last time the board reviewed (and revised, if necessary) the club’s mission statement? Br

Ted Robinson is a partner with Private Club Associates and can be reached at (478) 741 7996 or via email: tcr@privateclubassociates.com

teD RoBinson

Millennial Members are Your club’s future

it has finally happened!

In 2015 Generation Y aka the Millennials (born 1981-2000) with 53.5 million, captured the largest share of Americans in the workforce. This compares with 52.7 million Generation Xers (born 1965-1980) and 44.6 million Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964).

Obviously this fact affects the private club industry in two major ways: 1) attracting and retaining Millennials as employees and 2) attracting and retaining them as members. So how do we attract and engage Millennial members: new members now and members of the future.

The Atlanta Athletic Club (AAC) has 171 Millennial members and the “under 40” membership group is its fastest growing segment.

According to Erica Smith, the AAC’s membership director, “Our club’s Associate Jones membership category (ages 22-39) is the fastest growing membership category and they are our best ambassadors for recruiting new members.”

AAC Banquet Director and Millennial Jon Floody, researched and wrote about Gen Yers and their impact on private clubs for a graduate class at Auburn University about attracting and engaging Millennial employees and members. Some of his research is included here.

Millennials are often witnessed to possess a “need to live” versus “need to work” mentality, and expectations have changed regarding worklife balance. Therefore clubs should position themselves as the premier destination for “achieving life balance.”

Club leaders need to identify and track the trends and expectations of Millennial members and adopt policies that are aimed at communicating with and engaging them if they want to attract and engage the best ambassadors for their club.

Communications at clubs need to evolve. Generation Y expects information, and a lot of it, in quick and easy-to-decipher formats.

Millennials have grown up in front of electronic screens. They are comfortable and driven by technology, they have been exposed to this way

of life since birth and they are not intimidated by it or using it.

Millenials not only prefer to make reservations and tee times via mobile devices, they expect it. It is much more convenient for them rather than making a phone call or even accessing the information via computer.

Gen Yers are constantly connected, providing more access to information at a remarkable rate. Clear marketing programs need to be developed by club leaders to ensure that targeted information is reaching the intended recipients and that club members are receiving just the information they are looking for.

Clubs should reach out to Millennials through the social media that they use. However, overexposure to marketing emails can have a disastrous effect – including Yers unsubscribing.

Tradition and precedent have held acceptance of technology within private clubs back. Thus club leaders and members should be open to discussing changes to antiquated policies that ban electronics use (such as Smart Phones and tablets) within the clubhouse.

Club should gear programs towards their younger members. Clubs within a Club such as Beer Clubs and Millennial or junior membercentric clubs engage younger members. The AAC has the “Carnegie Group” for members aged 45 and younger.

Millennial members, who eat out more often, are deciding between a meal at the club or the local restaurant down the street. Consumers are inundated with options, yet clubs often struggle with positioning themselves as the best dining option.

Clubs that add creative and innovative menu options that “compete with the street” are more successful in capturing Millennial dining dollars. Progressive dinners, pop up dinners (a planned ‘last minute’ dinner in a different room with a special theme that notifies members only by social media), and food truck concepts attract and engage younger members.

Policies that deter Millennials from using the club should be reviewed. Private clubs that take

lisa caRRoll

Jon flooDY

an interest in generational differences see the return of an active membership. Long standing policies like dress codes are being relaxed as clubs realize that an engaged membership is more important than an underutilized, overdressed clubhouse.

Clubs that strategically plan to be “family-focused” instead of just “family-friendly” appeal to younger member demographics. Millennials seek an environment that fosters activities for all ages.

Sport camps and active youth programs that engage children are just as important as programs centered on dining, golf and other recreational activities. Children’s activities often dictate the family’s buying decisions and weekend itinerary. A properly managed youth program that compliments events catered toward Millennial activities increases the use of club amenities.

Millennial attraction and engagement must be an active part of your club’s strategic plan. The club’s future depends on Millennial club members. The future is now.

Lisa Carroll is a search executive and consultant with Kopplin & Kuebler, LLC, a consulting firm providing executive search, strategic planning and data analysis services to the private club industry. She specializes in executive chef searches. The company has offices in Scottsdale, Jupiter, Atlanta, Denver, Cleveland, and Naples. Lisa can be contacted at (561) 596-1123 and at lisa@kopplinandkuebler.com.

“Millennial” Jon Floody is the banquet director at the Atlanta Athletic Club located in Johns Creek, GA. He wrote the white paper “Millennials: The Impact of a Generation on Private Clubs” for a graduate class at Auburn University. Jon can be contacted at (770) 368-7789 and at jvf@aac1.org.

BoardRoom magazine Excellence in Achievement Awards

HERE'S A TIP OF THE HAT TO THE BOARDROOM MAGAZINE'S 2015 “EXCELLENCE IN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD” RECIPIENTS.

As we know, supplier and consultants are the backbone of the private clubs industry, because without their products and services, private clubs would find it extremely difficult to meet the needs and wants of their club members…in fact, everything would likely come to a standstill.

So there's no better way to recognize the suppliers, consultants and educators for their accomplishments and fine contributions to the private club industry than the peer-recognized BoardRoom Awards

The BoardRoom magazine “Excellence in Achievement” Awards is the only private club industry award that recognizes the clubs’ business partners. BoardRoom magazine’s industry peers review and select these outstanding suppliers and consultants, which represent various aspects of course and club operations. Winners, each year, are selected for overall excellence in their respective fields, achievements, innovation, vision for future growth and continued impact on private club operations.

"Each of the recipients of the BoardRoom magazine “Excellence in Achievement” Awards are clearly leaders in their respective industries," said John Fornaro, publisher of the BoardRoom magazine.

BoardRoom magazine

Lifetime Achievement Awards Awards of Dedication

BoardRoom Magazine’s Award of Dedication go to recipients who have had a special impact on the lives of private club members to the betterment of the private club industry. Past recipients include Jay DiPietro and Paul Levy.

John Fornaro, chief executive officer, the Association of Private Club Directors (APCD) and publisher, The BoardRoom magazine, chooses both the Lifetime Achievement Award and Award of Dedication recipients each year.

Criteria for Lifetime Achievement Award candidates include: how each candidate has helped the private club industry; how they have impacted the industry and how they should be remembered for their contributions to the industry.

The two recipients for 2015– Donna Coyne and Linda Blair – received their Lifetime Achievement Awards at a presentation recently during the CMAA World Conference in San Diego. The achievements of Donna Coyne are outlined in a story by Rick Coyne, appearing in this issue. A feature story about Linda Blair will be published in a later issue.

There are also three recipients for the 2015 Award of Dedication. Gregg Patterson, recently retired general manager of the Beach Club of Santa Monica after more than 30 years at the helm, was featured in a story, written by colleague Andrea Curthoys, in our January/February issue. Stories featuring about Jeff McFadden, general manager of the Union League of Philadelphia, one of the country’s most outstanding private clubs, and Dan Denehy of Denehy – Club Thinking Partners – a company, which has had a strong influence on the member experience of private clubs, are planned for later this year.

BY RICK COYNE

DONNA COYNE

Excellence in Work – Life Balance

It was 1989, at Lakeview Golf Club, in Foley, Alabama that I first interviewed this beautiful 23-year-old woman for the position of membership director.

Full of smiles and self confidence, I knew that very moment she was a perfect fit, and I was right. From the start her personality won over the hearts of the members and property owners. She directed hundreds of guests to the property and membership sales soared. A star was born.

Since 1989, the private club world been her world. From managing multiple clubs, to developing marketing plans, to writing strategic plans, Donna has been an eager learner and a quick study. Recognizing that there had been no tangible educational offering for either general managers or membership professionals in the art of membership, her vision was to create and offer a comprehensive training regimen, which stands today as the foundation for new hires in the industry.

As the number of membership professionals has grown within the industry, Donna Coyne pioneered the earliest national membership conference which took place in Orange Beach, Alabama in 1992. That first conference had over 125 attendees.

Extending the vision, Donna in concert with Keith Jarrett, John Fornaro, and me, in 1995, the Professional Club Marketing Association was born. Today the association boasts over 800 members and 23 national chapters. As the chief operating officer, Donna has taken responsibility for developing continuing education, certification programming and overseeing the day-to-day operations of this highly organized and award-winning association.

Lured by the chance to get back into the “club” environment with members, Donna joined The Vintage Club of Indian Wells, CA in 2009, but realized quickly that her opportunities to mentor and grow the membership side of the industry is in the placement and education of membership directors, the place she has always loved. The good news – the family relocated to a little slice of heaven called Palm Springs.

To know Donna is to know her siblings and her family. Her heart and caring smile came from her mother and her courage to always do the right thing came from Dad. A cancer survivor, Donna’s Mom taught the family to treat everyday as the blessing it is. Her twin sister, Dianne, the membership director at Ballantyne Country Club in Charlotte, NC, as well as her older sister Jeannie, round out what is sure to become the next chapter of the The Golden Girls.

Along life’s journey came two lovely daughters, Jourdyn and Shannon, who have created so many fantastic memories. Energetic and athletic like their mother, when there weren’t enough YMCA coaches to field all of the girls on a team, Donna became the coach to make sure her girls could play every sport they wanted to play.

Then she’d force the YMCA to hold clinics so she could learn about the sport. There was basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, YMCA teams, travelling teams, select teams and all the ensuing time, travel and, most of all, fun she

orchestrated for the whole family. All of this, in addition to managing a professional career.

For anyone who knows her, college football day is not always pretty in the Coyne household. It’s in her genes. Her dad is an LSU fan, older sister Jeannie is an Auburn alumnus, Mom is an Alabama fan and twin sister Dianne went to Alabama (a brother in law went to Old Miss), and Donna went to Auburn.

On game day I’ve always found it most prudent to either sit still and shut up or leave all together, which during Auburn’s last season I felt compelled to do often. Her fervent desire in life is to be the head of officiating for the SEC.

Pre-children, Donna was a frequent passenger on weekend Harley rides, trips to exotic areas of the world and seasonal hunting trips. As speakers, we traveled the world including Spain, Prague and South Africa where we took three weeks on safari and visiting the beautiful South African wine country.

Interestingly, until Africa Donna had never taken an active stance of taking trophy animals and mounting them on the walls, but after bagging five enormous animals, I found her on the phone to our architect asking how the ceiling height could be raised in the living room to accommodate her “heads.”

But that’s what its like in Donna’s world…always reacting to whatever comes her way. One thing is for certain. Anywhere she has gone and with whomever she has met, she has left her mark.

Donna has been an ambassador for private clubs throughout her career and imparted a great wealth of knowledge, particularly in the area of membership and the training of membership professionals. Her countless articles have been inspirational to new and veteran membership professionals and general managers.

Her engaging speaking style has formed the educational foundation for literally hundreds of new membership directors and professionals and opened new opportunities for sustainable membership practices.

With daughter Jourdyn now a sophomore at University of Alabama and Shannon a junior at Palm Desert High School, the next chapter is yet to be written. For certain, Donna’s impact will continue to be felt in her passion for perfection and her willingness to share all that she knows. Whatever the next chapter, she has made a believer out of me. Congratulations for this very well deserved BoardRoom Lifetime Achievement Award! Roll Tide! BR

BoardRoom magazine Excellence in Achievement Awards

Decisions Grow on Trees - Part I

The ability to make responsible decisions isn’t something we’re born with. It’s an acquired skill.

If your customary environment is a law office, retail store, medical facility, engineering firm, a real estate office, or restaurant, the club’s board will be overwhelmed with a variety of styles, perspectives and preconceptions. Even when familiar decision making models don’t fit the culture the club’s board may resist considering proven alternatives.

Yet, members of the board of directors, successful in their chosen professions, admittedly unfamiliar with private clubs, are expected to define issues, confront challenges, responsibly evaluate proposals brought before them for consideration and prescribe the right course of action. Our recommended decision tree enables directors to methodically identify the issue and move toward the best solution.

When a team of lay and professional club leaders gather to group-think complex issues they may quickly become mired in multiple options and opinions, unless they agree, at the outset, to set aside personal agendas, take a long-range view, expect the unexpected, prepare to deal with numerous members’ opinions and egos, then visualize and drive toward a successful outcome.

Every club’s got influence silos; some so airtight reason can’t penetrate, causing the club’s elected directors to defer difficult decisions when it’s so appealing to simply do nothing on their watch. We’ve lost count years ago of how many intelligent, otherwise successful private club directors, have told us that they just want to get through their term without disturbing the status quo or losing any friends.

That approach has recently led hundreds of private clubs to the edge of the cliff, some beyond salvation. Rather than face controversy some directors actually will abdicate their responsibility.

Classic private club governance has the board of directors determining the right thing to do, with management determining the right way to do it. But, unless a financially or politically

charged issue requires immediate attention, the typical private club board waits for the solution to drop from the sky.

Imagining they’re circling the wagons , their club may be circling the drain in a downward spiral characterized by slashed initiation fees and dues, insufficient capital reserves, deferred maintenance, and lower perceived member value.

Effective boards actually resolutely lead with a rational approach to their fiduciary responsibility and problem solving. Passing decisions to their successors, however appealing, is pure negligence.

Actual examples of irresponsible thinking:

a) The club’s board, unwilling to properly address minor termite damage, overwhelmed their successors with unbudgeted treatment expenses for massive infestation.

b) A private club board initiated a clubhouse renovation with 51 percent member support, then discovered asbestos mitigation issues.

c) The president, a retired restaurateur, fired the club’s manager to save wages, then took over running the club personally as both president and GM. Couldn’t happen without board support? The subsequent board oversaw the club’s transformation to semi-private with an effort underway to sell-off of the back nine for housing.

Decision-making in a private club is not easy. Change can be painful and frightening, generating discontent among directors, members and staff. Striving to reach positive outcomes that outweigh potential criticism the board must appreciate the value of a disciplined procedure such as The decision tree. Board orientations should seek the directors’ pledge to adhere to the process.

Look for Part II in the next issue of BoardRoom magazine. BR

Harvey and Mark Weiner, two generations of thought leadership in private club management search & consulting, are principals in Search America®, Trusted Advisors Turning Around Underperforming Private Clubs Since 1974. 972.233.3302. www.SearchAmericaNow.com info@searchamericanow.com

HARVEY WEINER

MARK WEINER

Significant Federal Wage Law Changes Are Coming

Changes are coming!

Effective July 1, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) will change the overtime pay rules defined in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and define precisely specific classes of “white collar” employees considered to be exempt from minimum wage and overtime rules.

The rule changes will apply to the calendar year 2016 retroactively to January 1. USDOL is, in effect, defining the salary and compensation levels required for white collar workers at a club to be classified as Exempt. These changes have zero effect on a club’s hourly workers, for example, servers in food and beverage, facility maintenance and greenkeepers etc.

Here we are addressing three questions for “white collar” or salaried employees at a country club: What are the new rule changes under FLSA? What is the potential impact of these changes on a country club as an employer, and what’s the club’s strategy for addressing these changes for white collar or salaried employees?

Therefore, to be ready, it’s best for your country club to begin preparing now and get a head start.

What are the New Rule Changes? First, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) is increasing the current salary threshold for Exempt status from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $970 per week ($50,440 annually). According to USDOL, this change is intended to simplify the salary standard for identifying non-exempt employees who may qualify for overtime.

Secondly, for highly compensated employees (or HCEs) to be classified as Exempt, they must be earning a minimum of $122,148 annually, an increase from $100,000.

Third, for salaried employees earning between $23,660 (the current threshold) and $50,440 (the new threshold) you may be required to pay them overtime for hours worked beyond 40 hours per week.

Fourth, country club employees who are classified as exempt from receiving overtime pay are typically performing: 1) professional 2) administrative, or 3) executive responsibilities. These three areas are known as the “duties” test, as defined be FLSA.

These rule changes apply to “white collar” (salaried) employees at a country club who may work in banquets and catering, finance, human resources and IT.

What is the potential impact on a Country Club as an employer? Impact can be determined by implementing four management actions, which are:

Classify your employees properly as Exempt and Non-Exempt under current FLSA rules. During this classifying process, identify salaried employees who become eligible for overtime under the new rules; that is, salaried employees earning between $23,660 and $50,440 who are classified as exempt.

Start tracking time for these employees. An automated time and attendance system (available through payroll providers such as ADP, PayChex or Infinisource) will help you capture this information. Technology is a key asset for you to do this work accurately and completely.

Identify those salaried employees working more than 40 hours per week and calculate the financial value of their overtime. Then talk with their direct managers about the reasons for overtime. You are seeking answers to this question: What factors are driving the overtime? Can overtime be eliminated?

What is the club’s strategy for addressing these new wage law changes for white collar or salaried workers? Your effective strategy begins with the operating premise of limiting overtime expense for “white collar” workers, while simultaneously not incurring lower productivity or reducing service quality for all members. This is a balancing actthat requires care, attention and thought.

This strategy is best supported at your club by these actions for “white collar” workers:

1. Pinpointing the “white collar” workers who earn between $23,660 and$50,440.

2. Tracking overtime (beyond 40 hours weekly) for these employees and use technology-based payroll systems readily available today.

3. Defining the adjustment expense of moving salaried (white collar) workers above the threshold of $50,440 to classify them as Exempt and avoid any overtime payments.

4. Assessing the operating needs for overtime (salaried employees only).

5. Remember that your hourly employees who now qualify for overtime are NOT affected by these changes.

All five actions will ensure that your club is prepared for the Wage Law Changes, effective July 1, 2016. BR

David W. Lacey is managing director, HR Services, The Hirshorn Company. He recently completed his second board term at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. He can be reached via email: dlacey@hirshorn.com

DAVID LACEY

Bi Yeager | Photographer

The Tide Has Turned IS ANY CLUB BULLETPROOF?

After a period of deferred capital expenditures club leaders are focused on upgrading the member experience, and the club’s competitive position. Thoughtful leaders undertake this effort with one eye on today’s members and another on tomorrow’s.

Clubhouse and course renovations can enhance the member experience now and also help grow and stabilize sagging membership.

If long-term membership stability is a goal (and should be), all clubs should continually evaluate their culture and atmosphere in the same way they look at the physical assets. This long-term planning should strive to streamline and modernize rules to ensure that younger members, future members, will feel comfortable at and be attracted to the club.

Operationally, this review should also seek to ease potentially awkward situations for club staff, who are often responsible for enforcing club rules.

Sometimes, it isn’t the board itself but selfappointed “member police” who take rule enforcement into their own hands. Rule review and enforcement should be the exclusive province of the board and staff, who always need to be sensitive to the club culture and atmosphere.

Three prominent areas of rules focus are:

• Cell phones

• Dress codes

• Pace of play

To some, strict enforcement of rules in these areas is a must. To others it’s a pain.

SmartPhone technology unchains a lot of these clubbable-but-very-busy people from their desks. It gives them time to use that club and ultimately contribute to its success. Overzealous restriction of smart phone use will ultimately limit a club’s ability to attract younger members and preclude active use of the club by some.

A successful club must continually balance its traditions with its evolution as a modern, fiscally stable, functional, welcoming club. Evaluating and re-evaluating rules is part of this process.

Finding this balance is paramount for clubs that have, after the downturn, finally reinvested (via course, clubhouse or other facilities renovation) and today find themselves with bigger debt burdens.

Have dues increases or assessments (combined with what some consider oppressive rules) become burdensome – to the point where marginal (financially or frequency of use) members are exiting the club? The short answer is yes. I have seen this across the country. No club is bulletproof.

Once the club defines itself – identifies its core culture, establishes its mission and objectively establishes an agenda – then leadership can tailor policies, procedures and rules to that mission.

In these cases, the board need not consider only its own preferences but also that of the larger membership, and the future membership. Does your club have “member police?” You know, that guy who always seems to be involved when it comes to rules violations and, most importantly, reporting an alleged culprit.

No club should ignore its own well-conceived and fair-minded rules. However, the animosity created in the general club population when there becomes more emphasis on rules violations than on enjoyable recreational activity becomes counter-productive to the purpose of the club. Is the club welcoming and enjoyable?

And so it’s equally vital that club leaders get the balance right (yesterday versus tomorrow) when it comes to rules and other aspects of club life. How rules are enforced becomes critical.

Often, there’s no reason for formal intervention if someone simply (and politely) advises the offender of any indiscretion. In many cases, there isn’t even a rule broken, but rather an unwritten rule that conflicts with club customs or simply impedes others enjoyment of the club.

Rules are like food. We need food to survive, but if we eat too much we get fat. Too many rules and overzealous enforcement can make a club overbearing. Members join a club to have fun and expect a welcome respite from everyday life. Make your club a “kinder and gentler” place. It’ll make your club more successful. BR

Larry Hirsh, CRE, MAI, SGA, FRICS is the president of Golf Property Analysts (www.golfprop.com), a leading golf and club property consulting, appraisal and brokerage firm based in Philadelphia. He blogs on variety of club and appraisal issues at http://blog.golfprop.com

LARRY HIRSH

Remodel for the Clubhouse REMODEL FOR THE TEAM

CRYSTAL THOMAS

Many clubs are currently in the midst of clubhouse remodels or renovations.

Rightly so, an extreme amount of time and effort are invested into advance planning and preparation, workarounds during renovation, celebration of the finished product, and, of course, making sure everything meets budget and timeline expectations.

Many years, many meetings, and many tweaks take place before and sometimes during renovation. Ideally, though, the clubhouse premieres the renovations on time and on budget and, most importantly, the members LOVE it.

A few proactive clubs think about “renovating” their team as well! Depending on the type and length of renovations, some clubs have to let some of their best team members go during the renovations and do not have the luxury of rehiring them. Most end up working with the team they have in place with a few satisfactory additions, and perhaps a new uniform.

When I lived in Calgary, Alberta, Canada some years ago, we had a chain of stores called Woolco. I disliked shopping at Woolco because whenever I asked for help finding something, the team member’s response would be, “if we have it, it will be on the shelf.”

As Walmart expanded into Canada, the company took over the Woolco store. The store closed one day and opened a handful of days later with different signage on the building.

Having visited other Walmarts, I appreciated the takeover knowing that the team members would be more helpful – the “let me show you where it is” variety.

Guess what! I was wrong.

When the store reopened, there roamed the former Woolco team members, wearing Walmart uniforms but still saying, “if we have it, it will be on the shelf.” It was an oversight on the part of the corporate giant. A new uniform does not change the thinking or service of a team member.

The world is always changing quickly, but in the midst of necessarily keeping up with change and reinventing our clubs, we must not neglect the basic tenant of making our member service paramount, the driving force behind all of the club’s actions.

Responding to member needs and expectations must determine how we continue to integrate club traditions

It must determine how we serve and how we treat each member on an individual basis.

It must dictate every aspect of how we run the club. We must seek their feedback regularly, treating their presence as a treasured relationship, and respond accordingly or they will have their needs met outside of the club or at another club altogether.

Ask yourself if the same level of detail has been given to the design, budget and timeline of the training of your team as it has to the redesign of the club. Most times, the answer is “no!

Issuing a new uniform and retraining the existing service manual does not work, especially if you had issues before renovation. Even implementing a renovated manual will not work, unless it includes ongoing support, training, and accountability mechanisms.

My experience running and providing consulting for clubs shows me that making a difference in the overall service of the club depends less on the sequence of service than on the mindset being employed.

Sequence of service is not particularly difficult in itself but practicing flexibility in its implementation takes intention so as to exceed member expectations.

My consulting team and I often encounter established teams that resist change. These teams choose the convenient path of habit rather than the path of excellence.

HOA Management AND THE RESPONSIBILITIES THAT COME WITH THAT ROLE

FRANK I. WOLFE

Ho me owners’ associations are plentiful and some private club communities might have more than one.

Some have great difficulty in finding volunteers and homeowners are often put into a position of saying ‘yes’ just to fill a vacancy for a friend.

Other times, highly successful individuals in the corporate world put themselves at risk because of their failure to understand requirements of non-profit HOA management.

Because of my background at Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), I’m often asked questions about the topic. People are often surprised at what they learn or thought they knew. So, here are some of highlights that might be beneficial to those who already serve or, are considering serving on the HOA board of directors. (Note: Most of these principals also apply to other nonprofit service such as a club’s board of directors but this article specifically addresses HOA service.)

Fiduciary means “involving trust, especially with regard to the relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary.”

If you accept the responsibility of serving on an HOA board of directors you become “trusted” by homeowners, i.e., “benefactors” and have to act as their representative regardless of your personal beliefs. As a representative you have to put the interests of the association’s homeowners collectively first. HOA directors should exercise sound business judgement and while you don’t have to always make the right decision, you should use common sense.

This is what I call the “logical person” theory. Are you doing what a logical person would do in similar circumstances?

Another part of this trust is being able to “keep a secret” until the appropriate time comes along. Conflicts of interest also can breach the trust of a fiduciary.

For example, if you are a board member and you or someone in your family has an interest in

an issue that the HOA is deliberating, you should recuse yourself from all current and future discussions on the debate.

Otherwise, it could hit the front page of the club community news and give an appearance of improper action, even if it’s not your intention to do so.

Overseeing activities that are mandated in bylaws and rules is another responsibility for an HOA board member. Boards that don’t hold regular meetings, don’t treat members equally, don’t pass budgets properly or engage in activities that are not proper may also breach fiduciary responsibility.

For example, if an HOA board is sending out notices and fining members for violations, the board has a duty to police themselves and other members the sameway.

Imagine a recent HOA board’s embarrassment when a homeowner received a violation and protested it by providing the entire audience with pictures of the directors’ homes with violations highlighted. Clearly, not equal treatment of all members.

Serving on a nonprofit association board is always challenging and time consuming. Serving on an HOA board is multiplied by several factors.

In the USA, HOA’s are very powerful in that they can file liens for fines against a homeowner that in some cases delay a home sale and in other cases, actually cause a homeowner to lose their property.

If you are going to agree to serve on an HOA board, you should be able to act fairly, logically and understand that HOAs do not solve neighbor disputes.

One final bit of advice: Regardless of what your HOA bylaws say, make 100 percent certain that your association has officers and directors liability insurance that covers your actions.

Some of these insurance policies do have exclusions for acts considered illegal and it’s a good idea to understand what those definitions are before accepting a position on the board of directors. BR

Frank I. Wolfe, CAE, is CEO for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP). He

can be reached via email: Frank.Wolfe@hftp.org

from Crystal Clear |82

While these teams check all the boxes and are “Of Service” to the club’s members, they are not “In Service,” enthusiastically manifesting a drive to ‘wow’ members. In these unfortunate scenarios it is like head without heart.

Successful clubs incorporate their values and ways of being – right mindset concretely articulated – into hiring, training and all daily tasks. Their teams enjoy carrying out the sequence of service in a meaningful way.

Everyone agrees that we must regularly physically enhance the club to stay current with member desires and stay ahead of competitive forces. We also must prioritize

having a well-tuned team that functions and provides service in a superior manner.

Our club restoration plan must ensure that the part of the organization that provides first-class service passionately runs at maximum efficiency. To truly renovate your club, you must also renovate your team. BR

Crystal M. Thomas, MCM, CHE is the principal of Crystal Clear Concepts, Inc. Crystal is an in-demand club solutions expert, specializing in team training and operating efficiency. Her company, Crystal Clear Concepts, Inc., has developed a wide range of exceptional tools and services for private clubs to thrive. For more information, please call (818) 237-5398.

from Insurance Committee |30

• Start the renewal process early. This will give you proper time to review coverage, limits, definitions, and conditions of your policy

• Are there options for umbrella coverage over your D&O Liability policy?

• Accurately complete your D&O renewal application, as this becomes part of the policy.

Taking the time proactively to review your club’s D&O policy position, coverage, conditions, and duties in the event of the claim will help you avoid costly surprises when you need it the most. BR

Gary Sigel is program leader, golf insurance services from Epic. He can be reached at (915) 576-1553 or via email: gary.sigel@epicbrokers.com

Look Outside the Green to Solve Problems

There’s always a reason and always an answer why golf course greens suffer from lack of oxygen.

While working recently at one club (Boardroom magazine, Jan/Feb 2016, “Yes, There’s Always a Reason) I referred to the fact the drain tiles were mainly under the greens themselves and were improperly installed so water couldn’t leave the greens properly.

In fact, one of the greens actually had a rise of eight inches in the main drain tile near the center, where lateral connecting drain tiles from the greens edges were connected, resulting in a water buildup of stagnate water, causing the greens to suffer from lack of oxygen. While being built, the construction company, for whatever reason, chose to install the drainage system in a manner that guaranteed the drains would not function properly. As a result of

the drainage system being improperly installed there was always water collecting and standing in these drain tiles.

The standing water became anaerobic because of a lack of oxygen and produced sewer gases, consisting of hydrogen sulfide, methane and CO2. These deadly sewer gases filled and occupied the pore space in our green’s mix, which supplies the grass plant with the oxygen it needs to breathe and survive. And as I’ve mentioned many times in the past, lack of oxygen in the root zone is the major cause of a green’s failure.

ISTRC’s field research/trouble shooting teams are equipped with the latest in below-surface camera equipment – camera snakes – which allows malfunctioning green drainage tiles to be located and, in most cases, repaired without totally rebuilding the green.

Very, very, very few struggling USGA greens need to be rebuilt. For many years, people in the industry not understanding physical properties and the drainage issues that were causing greens to fail, came up with the ridiculous idea/solution that greens needed to be rebuilt every seven to 10 years because of their age. What hogwash.

During a recent field trip investigating the drain tiles issues, we discovered that the compromised drain tile was not under the green but about 150 feet off the front of the green and eight feet below the surface.

This is not as uncommon as one would believe.

When the greens were being built, the construction company trenched down to a depth of eight feet and laid the drain tile into this trench. However, the drain tile was not cushioned with gravel. Two inches of gravel should have been placed below the drain tile, as well as two inches on each side and two inches on top covering the tile.

DAVE DOHERTY

The contractor elected to lay the drain tile and cover it with the same rocky soil that had had just been excavated. One of the larger rocks crushed the drain tile causing the drain failure.

Before making the decision to rebuild a green because of weak or failed turf, do your homework. Have the greens mix checked for a balance in physical properties and have your drain tiles checked. BR

Doherty is CEO and founder of the International Sports Turf Research Center, Inc. (ISTRC) and holds three patents regarding the testing of sand and soil-based greens. He can be reached at (913) 706-6635 or via email: daveistrc@hotmail.com www.davedohertyistrc.com

Dave

Mark Condos Earns Environmental Leader in Golf Award

BY ANGELA HARTMANN

Mark Condos, 57, has always had a soft spot for animals. As a child in Deerfield Beach, Fla., he raised mice, hamsters, chickens, ducks, rabbits, parakeets and more. His mother Arlene loved to inform friends and family that their house doubled as her young son’s menagerie.

“Mom would say to people ‘Come look at the zoo.’It was a good life for me,” Condos says, “and I treated every creature that I had well.”

His care of creatures continues in his role as golf course superintendent at Las Positas Golf Course in Livermore, Calif., and for his efforts, Condos has been chosen as the Overall and National Public recipient of the 2015 Environmental Leaders in Golf Awards (ELGA), which are presented annually by Golf Course Superintendents Association of America and Golf Digest in partnership with Syngenta and Rain Bird’s Golf Division.

The awards recognize golf course superintendents and their courses for overall course management excellence and best management practices in the areas of water conservation, water quality management, energy conservation, pollution prevention, waste management, wildlife and habitat conservation, communication and outreach, and leadership.

Condos, a 22-year member of GCSAA, is joined by fellow GCSAA members Dave Davies and Jay Honeyball as national ELGA honorees. Davies, 60, is the certified golf course superintendent at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward, Calif., and the national private winner.

Honeyball, 44, is the superintendent at OslerBrook Golf and Country Club in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, and winner of the international division. They were recognized at the 2016 Golf Industry Show in San Diego. Winners were

also featured in Golf Digest and GCSAA’s official monthly publication, Golf Course Management magazine.

“I’m grateful to everybody that supplies me opportunity to do what I do,” Condos says.

Although he has only been on the scene for five years of Las Positas GC’s existence (it is celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2016), Condos has made quite an impact in his time there at the 27-hole facility.

One year after Condos arrived, Las Positas GC embarked on new construction and renovations, which encompassed 12 holes, a grow-in, and bunker renovations throughout the property. It also launched the process of Audubon certification and in April 2014, Las Positas GC attained Cooperative Sanctuary status. No doubt that especially pleased Condos.

“We created an environmentally sensitive buffer between us and the airport,” Condos says. “We have a wide variety of wildlife – ducks, geese, hawks, golden eagles, owls, deer, raccoons, and even some less welcomed skunks and gophers. They all are part of Las Positas – and of me.”

Condos quickly spreads credit to his staff (18, including himself), the City of Livermore, and CourseCo, the golf management company that oversees Las Positas, for supporting his initiatives.

“The impetus to take environmental stewardship more seriously comes from working with CourseCo. They bring us together, really embrace what we do, celebrate guys making strides in environmental leadership,” Condos says. “Their core values, community outreach, and environmental stewardship all are fundamental to their mission.”

It sounds as if Condos fits in perfectly.

“He is unflappable, completely reliable, and highly skilled,” says CourseCo president/CEO Tom Isaak.

An independent panel of judges representing national environmental groups, turfgrass experts, university researchers and valued members of the golf industry conducted the award selection.

“The ELGA winners are not only stewards for the environment, but excellent examples of the focus our industry keeps on sustainable efforts,” said Rhett Evans, GCSAA CEO. “They are on the frontline of how superintendents are making great playing conditions and environmental management practices work in tandem.” BR

In addition to the national winners, 14 chapter winners and one merit winner were chosen from GCSAA’s 98 affiliated chapters.

Just as the members of CMAA are returning from their annual conference, so are the golf course superintendents returning from The Golf Industry Show…also thought of as The Greatest Show on Turf.

For those clubs that send their golf course superintendent to the GIS I commend you. There is so much to learn and see and do with a plethora of education ranging from agronomic topics to management and interpersonal skills.

EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT

For those golf facilities that do not send their golf course superintendent I must remind you that the success of the facility is dependent upon the knowledge of each of your department heads. All too often I hear some superintendents saying that “my club won’t send me to the Golf Industry Show because it is too expensive.” I prefer to think of education, meetings, networking and viewing every manufacturer’s products and equipment as imperative. Think of it as an educational investment rather than an educational expense.

Return on investment: One of the best ways to ensure that the facilities’ money is being spent properly is to discuss a plan with the golf course superintendent. Divide it up into several sections including:

• Education

• Networking

• Viewing new technology

Ultimately there should be written summary of information gleaned and a conversation about how those items will advance the organization.

Knowledge is power: Golf course management is ever changing. In order to best understand change, to protect your employer, and to provide a golf course operations department that is superb the GIS should be considered as required attendance.

• Governmental regulations are increasing. To avoid potential issues a superintendent has to be cognizant of what federal and state laws require

• New technology in terms of products that keep plants healthy. A variety of fertilizers, plant protectants, colorants, wetting agents, weed control products, etc. are on display. More impor-

The Value of Conferences AN EDUCATIONAL INVESTMENT

tantly there are many experts that can answer a variety of questions and explain modes of action, which will result in best use of a club’s money

• There are over a hundred universities offering turfgrass science and golf course management programs. During the GIS those schools are represented with multiple professors that share their knowledge.

• With over 16,000 golf courses in the USA it is not easy for every golf course superintendent to arrange for on-site demonstrations of every piece of equipment. However, at GIS there is always a full line of equipment, from each major manufacturer, on display. Visiting each booth allows a superintendent to narrow down their options and later set up a demonstration at their own golf course.

Networking: Educational conferences offer a variety of networking opportunities. Some are formal while others are just sharing a cup of coffee on the trade show floor. Major manufacturers during the conference provide several formal functions open to all superintendents.

While networking is all about meeting and greeting people it is also about developing longer lasting relationships. Be sure that superintendents reach out to their peers, exchange business cards and follow up with new business acquaintances. Also fellow superintendents tend to share their ideas for success.

For most of the USA spring marks the start of a new season of golf. No better time to sit down with the superintendent and discuss what they may have learned at the GIS in February and ask a few questions. And a novel idea might be to assemble all the department heads and have a joint sharing of information that was gathered at The PGA Show, The Golf Industry Show and The CMAA World Conference. Collective sharing will surely benefit all parties involved. BR

Bruce R. Williams, CGCS is the principal of Bruce Williams Golf Consulting as well as Executive Golf Search, which specializes in headhunting for golf course superintendents and industry positions (www.EGSinc.net). Bruce may be contacted at Bruce@WilliamsGolfConsulting.com or (310) 991-9176.

BRUCE R. WILLIAMS

Wants or Needs? HOW THE BUSINESS OF GOLF NEEDS TO DO BETTER

WANT: having a desire to possess or do (something); wish for NEED: requiring (something) because it is essential or very important.

Golf was growing and with a need for more courses, a building frenzy began. However, two recessions – 1998 and 2007 – as well as the attack of 9/11, caused savings accounts and retirement plans to be altered.

Asa result golf courses were being built more on the basis of wants rather than needs. Best new rankings, club, owners, developers’ egos all drove architects to build bigger and stronger courses.

Courses over 7,000 yards were being built, even though less than one percent of golfers has the ability to play a course of that length. This demand for longer courses combined with the desire to be wall to wall green, drove the cost of course construction and ultimately maintenance higher, also leading to higher debt service.

A lot of the financial struggles have happened to clubs and owners attempting to service the debt of the facility. High construction costs were primarily caused because of the wants of the developer and not really the needs of a successful golf business.

Golf courses like any asset need to be maintained, just like a car needs maintenance to keep if functioning properly. If we are not doing the proper maintenance to each area of the course, then the area deteriorates and ultimately begins to fail.

Bunkers, equipment, irrigation systems, greens, drainage systems etc. all need to have routine maintenance to make them work efficiently and to allow them to continue beyond what might be perceived as its useful life.

And clubs that have survived but are still struggling need to begin making decisions based on needs and not wants.

A strategic plan to determine what the needs are versus the wants has to occur. This plan has to be focused on what is best for the facility and the whole membership not just the wants of a few. The plan has to be focused on the needs and the cost to take care of the needs.

Setting priorities, looking into all of the options, and then charting a path to success are all part of good business planning. Part of this planning is setting the standards for the conditions of the golf course.

What conditions are needed to keep the majority of the membership happy? Do you really need greens at 11 feet on the Stimpmeter? Do you really need to walk mow the greens? Do you really need to walk mow the tees? Do you really need to hand rake the bunkers every day, because all of these add to the course’s labor cost?

Could some changes in the standards allow for labor savings but still have a course that can be enjoyed by all. Do you need lush green grass everywhere? Lush generally equals more fertiliz-

DAVID DOWNING

It is easy to try and throw money at issues and shrug it off as the cost of survival. Not focusing on the needs as courses are being built or remodeled is part of what has caused our issues and why many clubs are teetering on the edge. Make better choices than in the past. Look for ways to get a return on the investment of dollars you will be spending to make the repairs instead of going into survival mode.

er, more water, more mowing, more fuel, more hours on equipment, thus more costs

Have you done an analysis of your equipment fleet to determine the condition of each piece, what the cost of repairs is to make each piece viable and for what length of time? Does the equipment you have match your standards of maintenance? Have you created a plan to replace the equipment? Does it all have to be new? What pieces do you need?

Are there any capital projects that could reduce your need for equipment? Do you have the right pieces of equipment so that the staff can operate at maximum productivity? Are you allowing the work that needs to be done like aerifications, topdressing, vertical mowings that make the plants healthier and requiring fewer inputs? Are there projects that could be done on the course to reduce the cost of maintenance and provide a product more golfers of all levels will enjoy?

If these conditions exist, they are an investment because they have a true return. If you are looking at adding a practice facility, do you have the equipment and man power to properly maintain it?

Irrigation system replacements are very costly, $1-2 million depending on the acres to be irrigated, soils controls

etc. Do you really need all new mainlines? Do you need to irrigate every square inch of the golf course?

If the turf is established and you live where rainfall totals are over 30 inches per year and you have a real winter, maybe you only need to irrigate the primary playing surfaces, because irrigating more acres means a bigger

pump station, bigger mainline piping, more wires, and more costs. It means more heads to replace as they wear out, more controllers to maintain, more maintenance…more costs.

It is easy to try and throw money at issues and shrug it off as the cost of survival. Not focusing on the needs as courses are being built or remodeled is part of what has caused our issues and why many clubs are teetering on the edge.

Make better choices than in the past. Look for ways to get a return on the investment of dollars you will be spending to make the repairs instead of going into survival mode. BR

David S. Downing II, CGCS is a past president of GCSAA and is currently a vice president and southeast agronomist for Golf Maintenance Solutions – The team at GMS stands ready to help you determine your wants. David can be reached at (843) 241 7250 or via email: dave.d@golfmsolutions.com

Table Tennis, The Perfect Club Activity

Table Tennis, or Ping Pong, has been a fun activity since the 1880s and became a popular sport in the early 1900s.

It is now the second most popular sport in the world while still maintaining its position as a fun, social activity played by people of all ages.

In recent years, medical studies haven proven that table tennis has many health benefits. It is excellent for improving coordination, increasing cardiovascular conditioning, and increasing brain activity in a fun, easy-to-play lowimpact way. Therefore, it is popular for athletic conditioning, physical therapy rehabilitation, and treating Alzheimer and dementia patients.

People gather wherever there is a ping pong table to watch or join in a game. Always popular as a home recreational activity, ping pong has been gaining in popularity as a social activity in bars and clubs around the world. Resorts, parks, cruise ships, schools, and clubs have learned that by purchasing the right equipment, table tennis is an inexpensive activity to offer guests.

Cornilleau is recognized as the world leader in providing safe, sturdy, table tennis equipment for all uses. Whether it is a light-duty home model or a super heavy-duty table for parks and other outdoor spaces, Cornilleau has the right product. Their famous outdoor models are completely weatherproof and shockproof and have a 10-year warranty.

Cornilleau has designed and produced high-quality table tennis tables and accessories at their plant in France for more than 45 years. State-of-the-art production methods, high quality materials, and a thorough quality control process result in the best tables on the market.

Cornilleau USA is proud to be the exclusive US distributor for Cornilleau table tennis equipment. With three warehouses and a full stock of tables, accessories and replacement parts, Cornilleau USA can meet all of your needs. BR

Visit www.cornilleauusa.com today and give us a call at (888) 647-2778 to find out about special discounts for clubs.

Increase Member Awareness and Engagement

GroupValet is a member-centric system that provides benefits to both the club and the members.

Through its unique approach to group and activity management, GroupValet increases member awareness and engagement. This leads to new and unique marketing opportunities that exist in no other software products.

Here’s how a few of GroupValet’s most prestigious clients are utilizing their solution:

The Philadelphia Cricket Club (Philadelphia, PA) uses GroupValet to manage their affinity groups and committee meetings. In addition to these groups that the club created, members created their own groups and broadened overall engagement.

Frenchman’s Creek Beach & Country Club and The Country Club at Mirasol (both in Palm Beach Gardens, FL) use GroupValet to allow members to manage their own groups for activities such as golf, tennis and cards. The automated management features have freed group captains to expand the size of their groups, which increases the overall usage of the club’s amenities.

Along with member-run groups, Addison Reserve Country Club (Delray Beach, FL) uses GroupValet to manage tournament signups and staff-run groups. In addition, they send marketing notices and general announcements to their members via GroupValet, which include GroupValet’s one-click signup links.

The team at GroupValet learned early on that, because of the time involved in managing a group, the captains would limit how many members they allowed in. GroupValet provides a simple, automated process to help the members sign up for activities and better communicate with each other. When clubs started using GroupValet, they found that 90 percent of groups expanded their membership within the first 30 days. This directly correlated to an increase in members participating in activities at the club. BR

Contact GroupValet today to see how they can help your club increase overall engagement and to learn about their unique product offering: info@groupvalet.com or (407) 777-8651.

Adding a Casual Dining Space to a Formal Historic Downtown Club

Casual dining is a confirmed new direction in the club world. Members want the choice between the white tablecloth table in the paneled room with chandeliers and portraits and the freedom of a relaxed atmosphere or an outdoor experience under a broad umbrella.

As big a cultural shift as this is, it is infinitely easier for a country club to adapt where an outdoor terrace or a former men’s grille might make it easy to offer a casual dining venue.

How does a downtown club carve out space, though, from a very limited volume made up of landmark quality rooms that are sacrosanct to many generations of members?

Our firm recently tackled this very issue in a downtown women’s club occupying a landmark building. Virtually every interior space was grand and beloved by members exactly as they had always been. Yet, a formal sit-down

multi-course dinner no longer fit most members’ lifestyle; and a two-hour lunch was out of the question.

After studying every public room in the clubhouse, we concentrated on the formal library that no longer saw members sitting for hours with a book in their laps.

By proposing small dining tables and more informal chairs, adding a bar, lightening the fabrics and window treatments, boosting light levels, installing an iconic mural and dispensing with table clothes and finger bowls, the room immediately took on a more casual and younger vibe. Proximity to the service bar and short order kitchen made the library choice a perfect fit, and this new found use carried the memory of the landmark room into the future. BR

Lichten Craig has offices in New York and Chicago. Please visit www.lichtencraig.com, email info@lichtencraig.com or give us a call at (212) 229-0200 or (312) 321-7400 for more information.

When You’re Ready to Move The Feast Outdoors -

IT’S ALMOST SPRING AND TIME TO BE PREPARED FOR THOSE SPECIAL EVENTS THAT REQUIRE COOKING AND DINING IN THE GREAT OUT-DOORS.

With a gentle breeze blowing and the aroma from the grill attracting a hungry crowd, any type of food - beef, chicken, fish or vegetables – seems to taste better when prepared and eaten outdoors. Enjoyed with a carefully selected wine or an ice cold drinkwhat could be better?

Outdoor cooking has never been easier, or smarter, than with the Slimfold Grill. When the assignment is dining alfresco, the elegant Slimfold Grill provides a great presentation for any out-door event. Twin independent grills on The Slimfold 6 offer a combined 1,134 square inches of cooking area. A one-piece design, with no extra parts to wear out or leave behind, and a quality construction gives the grill the enhanced durability demanded by chefs and club managers alike.

Do it in Style!

Folding down to seven and a half inches and weighing less than 100 lbs they are easy to transport, a snap to set up and have a quick, no-hassle clean-up. The re-circulating heat design of the Slimfold Grill’s firebox makes this grill unlike any you’ve ever used.

First, the heat is kept inside the grill, cooking evenly and efficiently with-out throwing heat and flames back toward the chef. Another benefit is increased fuel efficiency. You’ll get over 12 hours of high temperature cooking from twin 20 lbs propane tanks, so you save on gas and it’s kinder to the environment too! BR

Cinders have been manufacturing foodservice equipment since 1984 serving professionals throughout the UK and northern Europe. In fact, wherever you have a mass of people out-doors you’ll probably find the Slimfold Grills. For more information visit www.foldinggrills.com

A New Model of Club Leadership Is Needed

How does a new COO/GM take on an exciting new position, take a great club and make a quantum leap in vision and leadership, marshaling all of the potential resources available?

That’s a key question for the private club industry today. Why?

For many years now, the club industry has witnessed a new and disturbing trend in the private club business. Simply put, clubs have not been keeping pace with the “new age of business.” As a result, club boards are now considering new options and models for how their clubs are managed.

And we have been collaborating on a mission to create a new model to change not just how clubs are managed, but more importantly, how they are led.

WHAT IS THE CONCERN?

Club managers generally are managing their clubs pretty well. However, how many are truly leading, and, in particular, how many are truly leading in the boardroom? After all, the historical general manager concept carved out leadership as the sole responsibility of the board. Indeed, most governance models agree that the general manager’s position provides an executive/operational function. It would be great if this worked as simply as intended, however, a problem has emerged with this original and fundamental model.

The manager’s role has evolved from the earlyadopted general manager concept, through the most recent GM/COO concept, to what is now emerging to be a GM/COO/leader concept in the making.

Boards are becoming increasingly dependent upon and expecting an elevated leadership role from the GM/COO. This is where the concern arises, because this has not been the typical role of the GM/COO.

Although there are many managers who are naturally gifted and/or trained leaders, unfortunately many are not. The skill sets are different. Notwithstanding the reality that clubs still need to be constantly managed, many managers are either under-equipped or under-resourced to keep up with these increasing expectations.

WHY?

The fast pace and complex demands within for-profit and non-profit business models in the

modern era have outdated the traditional governance models. Board members have become more focused on data and generally more informed, whereas, they have not kept pace in the area of governance best practices or thinking and acting strategically.

They are now demanding that the GM take on an increased leadership role and expecting even greater results. Boards want managers to do more than merely implement board policy!

For example, the GM is not only expected to play an integral role in the development of the vision, they are expected to be the keeper and steward of the vision. Having the GM safeguard the vision in an environment of changing boards provides continuity and consistency otherwise absent.

Managers who excel in this competency are better prepared to succeed in this emerging environment. We can debate whether this new standard should be an expectation, but that would be denying the reality of it.

The modern board seeks excellence, consistency and efficiency in all areas of the organization, beyond the operations. Operationally, they still look to the manager to deliver high standards of operation, specialized oversight, efficient service models, best price purchasing, membership growth and all of the standard industry administrative functions.

As a result of the increased expectations, boards are looking for leadership as well. So, in additionto the traditional skill set, GMs must also provide expertise in governance, policy and strategic planning. Leadership traits, such as the ability to articulate mission and to drive consensus at all levels of the organization, are now important considerations as well.

This begs some interesting questions: Are managers truly leading the board or are they merely following? What if they don’t? If a perceived gap in leadership exists, the board will move to fill that void, looking either internally or externally.

As we know, boards typically spend hours and hours each month deliberating over recurring problems and rarely finding solutions that satisfy the majority. Out of frustration and fatigue, more and more boards are throwing in the towel, giving up on their managers and even their own governance. Boards now have a plethora of third

BOB BODMAN

FRANK CORDEIRO

party resources that are aggressively promoting solutions.

This is an unnecessary tragedy! This would not be happening if only managers were willing, trained and prepared to lead the board and the club. In order to bring relevance to their role within their club, managers must be perceived as indispensable leaders — with visioning skills, universal perspective, charisma, and the tenacity and resolve to lead the organization through uncertain, demanding and challenging times.

A NEW MODEL…

A new model is needed, one that develops and facilitates leadership through the GM/COO – as a complement and not in spite of the GM/COO, or the old, outdated governance model. Here are some of the major components involved:

• Integration of all the components of visioning and strategic planning into measurable goals

• Involvement by club leaders, members and staff

• A simplified, dynamic and intelligent system to gain club-wide adoption (GM/COO must lead the whole process, not just parts)

• Use of technology without losing club culture or personality

• A data-driven leadership-management model with measurable and relevant metrics, published at every board meeting and in every newsletter, etc.

• Elevated quality levels and value to the members with accountability

• GM/COO as keeper of the vision. Plans, measures and acts consistently and continually to achieve the club’s vision goals.

Subsequent articles will dig deeper into these critical leadership components. In the meanwhile, feedback and dialogue is encouraged. Feel free to contact us and stay tuned in! BR

To learn more about how to develop and manage your club’s standards of operation, contact Bob Bodman, president of Club Resources at (800) 267-6758 or via email: Bob@ClubResources.com or Frank Cordeiro, COO/GM of Diablo Country Club (925) 837-4266 or via email: Frankc@Diablocc.org

“Clubs are often late adopters because their membership isn’t demanding change,” suggests Jim Fedigan, president of Jonas Club Software. “Many clubs are more than willing to adopt new technologies, but why would they if their members aren’t crying out for these

changes. This is likely a result of the membership demographics we see today, which in most cases is 55 plus. While some in this age range are heavy technology users, the vast majority of Baby Boomers and older simply aren’t.”

Bill Boothe, president and owner of The Boothe Group, an independent consulting firm, says, “it shouldn’t be

“Technology is ever-changing, so it naturally bumps up against the traditions that clubs hold dearly. In addition, nine out of 10 clubs don’t employ an IT professional. Instead they depend on an outsourced provider to maintain their systems. By definition that puts technology in a reactive position.”

~ Bill Boothe

a surprise that clubs are slow to embrace technology. The private club environment has always been a balance of tradition and innovation.

“Technology is ever-changing, so it naturally bumps up against the traditions that clubs hold dearly. In addition, nine out of 10 clubs don’t employ an IT professional. Instead they depend on an outsourced provider to maintain their systems. By definition that puts technology in a reactive position. The outsourced provider reacts to issues and problems, but rarely is able to proactively encourage technology advancements at the club,” Boothe added.

There’s consensus on some points.

“It’s a combination of cost, fear of change and a threat to traditions,” explained Michael McCarthy, CEO and general manager of Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach, FL.

“Many private clubs have been around for a few decades and are stuck on keeping a tradition going or keeping a look they feel is the club’s brand. Many private clubs have also not updated their facilities to having some very basic technology needs such as Wi-Fi or hardwire access to the Internet or the more intuitive software for their internal operations that are commonplace in the non-private sector, and the cost involved to do so can be very expensive.

“Honestly,” McCarthy emphasized, “tech scares the non-tech savvy. Many of the owners or members of the governing boards lack the understanding of what is needed to accommodate the latest in technology.”

Knowledge, in Ron Banaszak’s opinion, is precisely one of the factors.

“Clubs traditionally have lagged behind the rest of the business world in the technology world for two main reasons, cost and knowledge,”

Banaszak, CEO of Operating Partners, LLC, expressed. “However, costs of technology are really not a barrier anymore. Clubs are trending up their

technology spending (although less than the for-profit business world).

Technology is becoming more affordable and boards and finance committees are receiving a great deal of information (data) from their professional lives and they are expecting the same from their club.”

These factors, Banaszak feels, will drive the next generation of tech savvy chief operating officers and chief financial officers.

Tarun Kapoor of Kapoor and Kapoor Consultants, brings another equation into this discussion – club governance.

“They (private clubs) are late adopters because of the broken decision making tradition unique to clubs where mangers have to get almost every purchase that isn’t ongoing to be approved by the board or some committee.

“What makes this approval process painful is that the board or committee then needs to get consensus or better yet unanimity. Unless the need is critical managers are reluctant to take on this uphill battle with the board.

“To avoid this brutally frustrating decision making process, managers should institutionalize a technology reserve as a line item in the budget. Then they can continue to update their technology without board approval,” Kapoor opined.

Club politics also have an influence says David Lacey, managing director of HR services with The Hirshorn Company, and a former board member of the Philadelphia Cricket Club.

“Quite often political motivation overrides the content or necessity for change, and by political I mean that it is more important to the club president and the GM to be reelected and continue employment, the without risk of members resisting change,” Lacey offered.

“The content or the reasons for the change are not well enough thought out and communicated to members. Also, it takes courage to

be an early adopter – the first to launch an initiative. In short, club presidents and their GMs need more guts,” he stated bluntly.

Crystal Thomas of Clearly Concepts, club solutions company, specializing in team training and operating efficiency, says, “clubs often use the excuse that they are too busy to make changes, even if they see the benefit.

“Club culture can be very traditional and change does not come easy. When making a change requires input from the board of directors and committees, the process can take a long time and is often put off until the management has time to address the changes and the processes that go with them,” she explained.

“Perhaps, it is the status quo for some clubs, but with everything available to everyone all of the time, it’s essential that clubs embrace change in order to stay relevant to their membership.

“I don’t think that cost is always the main reason that clubs are late adopters. Clubs have strong traditions and often long-time members who have invested so much into their clubs, are reluctant to support change. Management is sensitive to adopting new practices that may not be accepted easily,” Thomas emphasized.

TECHNOLOGY CHANGES

Where are clubs with technology today?

“I believe there are cycles that the club industry churns through,” opined Prasad Suryadevara, CEO of Northstar Club Management Software. “While the private club industry has lagged in adopting new technologies, clubs are always look at new technologies to enhance their operations and members experience.

“For many years clubs didn’t use electronic POS systems, but then

there was a real rush to place them into every club. The same held true with club websites. Once the value was established then every club moved quickly to get a website.

“As the websites have become a commodity, many clubs are recognizing that they are vastly over-paying

for their current website. The clubs are also recognizing the ways mobile apps will take the member experience to a much higher level through the use of location-based services, GPS, camera, push notifications, etc.,” Suryadevara expressed.

“As for enterprise software, things really do not change too much in this area of the club industry,” says Don

“as the websites have become a commodity, many clubs are recognizing that they are vastly over-paying for their current website. The clubs are also recognizing the ways mobile apps will take the member experience to a much higher level through the use of location-based services, GpS, camera, push notifications, etc.”

~ prasad Suryadevara

Williams, CEO of ClubTec. But clubs do need to remain current.

“Accounting is accounting. POS systems all do what they are supposed to do – get the food or beverage order to where they need to go, or in case of retail pro shop transactions, process the sale and post it to the desired payment method (member account, credit card, credit book or cash) and then provide reliable reports,” Williams added.

“And, as technology vendors, we constantly are looking for ways to help clubs utilize technology to better serve their members, even though clubs also have been very lax in budgeting for new hardware and software solutions, as well as keeping staff trained.

“Clubs need to budget more funds to this and develop plans for spending these funds to remain current. The best place to start on this with their current technology vendors and the staff members who use these solutions. This includes their enterprise software providers, IT staff or contractors and website vendor.

“It takes a lot of money to run a software company and the clubs need to better understand that in order to get the latest and greatest, the vendors need to see a path of profit,” Williams stressed.

Bill Boothe, in explaining that clubs are reactive rather than proactive, feels clubs can benefit from in-house IT professionals.

“These professionals do both – put out the fires and present ways to use technology to increase staff efficiencies and enhance a club’s member experience.

“There are several alternatives that work well at much less cost. A parttime person or a shared person (with another nearby club) are great alternatives to the sticker shock of adding a full-time IT professional.

“I know that general managers don’t want to hear this, but they more than anyone are responsible for technology

taking a back seat in the club industry,” Boothe exclaimed.

“Most general managers know very little about technology. But also in their defense, there’s very little education available to them in this arena. Every other aspect of club operations enjoys broad and deep education opportunities. Technology - not so much. Until club industry leaders embrace the need for serious technology education for club managers, this knowledge gap will only widen,” Boothe opined.

Jim Fedigan of Jonas suggests clubs have far more technology available to them then they even realize. As well, he points out, in 10 years’ time Millennials will be a large part of a club’s target market.

“There will always be a place for traditional clubs, but the vast majority of clubs will need to adapt to this new generation. Now is the time to start laying that foundation, after all, the oldest Millennials are already in their 30s.

“Clubs need to look to their technology providers for training and support. Moreover, clubs need to articulate the vision of the experience they wish to provide, and let their technology partners show how technology can be leveraged to deliver that desired service and experience.

“Technology adoption is increasing in every aspect of our lives, and clubs are no exception. It’s not about convincing anyone, it’s more about recognizing when the time is right for them,” Fedigan offered.

“However, some clubs would still rather stick with what they know than adopt a new process. Simply put, if the willingness is there, most likely there is a technology solution available.”

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

Key performance areas and key result indicators are valid indicators of what’s happening in a business. Ron Banaszak suggests that because technology is becoming more affordable and the fact board members and club

executives are receiving more and more data in their own lives, they want the same information from their clubs.

As expected clubs are slow to change in using key performance areas and key performance indicators to tell them what’s happening at their clubs?

“The industry as an industry has yet to adopt them,” offers Tarun Kapoor. “Managers who consistently showcase their outcomes – key performance indicators – to their boards and committees (in each key result areas) will eventually get them to focus on the result and stop micromanaging.”

Greater adoption of these indicators “will drive all sorts of improvements to the member experience and most importantly the creation of two or three KPIs for the board and management to pay attention too,” Banaszak said.

“This data will come from multiple databases, including accounting software, labor management software, data mapping software, membership

survey data, and other proprietary software.  Specialized knowledge and tools are required to extract this information. The good news is that these services are available today, at reasonable costs to the club.

“This information would be combined to track the club’s major KPIs, preferably one of each based on revenue, expenses and the always-paramount member service levels. This is what allows management and the board to make decisions in the best fiscally prudent manner to give the members the best service possible,” Banaszak explained.

HUMAN RESOURCES

Challenges in the private club human resource field often relate both to technological innovation as well as changing best practices?

“Many clubs barely have a human resources department and often the club’s controller wears both hats.

PERSPECTIVE |104

Technology can offer support in making the job of human resources easier and more beneficial to the club as it often offers solutions for streamlining and implementing HR practices,” injected Crystal Thomas.

“There’s improved technology, especially the enhanced HR platforms

from payroll providers, which can handle electronic time and attendance, performance review protocols and tracking salary actions,” explained David Lacey. “Technology is far more efficient than Excel spreadsheets or other paper-based applications.

“All too often a club’s human resources are defined by the CFO as recruiting, benefit and salary adminis-

“We know we have to evolve constantly to keep our members interested in dining at the club. If we remain stagnant, revenue will hold the line but growth becomes negligible. So feed the entrepreneurial spirit of your chef and F&B director by challenging them to implement new and creative menu ideas.”

~ Michael Mccarthy

tration. This definition is far too narrow and pays insufficient attention to strategies for attraction and retention of key people, professional development and management education. These areas require professional expertise.

“With expanded use of technology by human resources, more retention and development work can be done. It is work central to being a premier club.

We can be doing both: more technology and evidence of best practices. Both lead to more and higher levels of effectiveness,” he offered.

There’s also the influence of the United State department of labor when dealing with legal requirements.

“Conducting an HR audit to pin down compliance with at least 15 different state and federal statutes is rarely done because the prevailing logic is: the club will never be audited,” explained Lacey.

“The USDOL hired 2,000 field auditors two years ago and targeted hospitality as one of three businesses to be audited. At a minimum HR should do an audit as part of the club’s risk management strategy,” Lacey opined.

DINING TRENDS

Change has also hit dining trends with movement toward more casual dining, healthier options and smaller portions served as a faster pace, says Addison Reserve’s Michael McCarthy.

“This trend started about six years ago in the private sector, about four years ago at clubs and today continues to drive the F&B revenue within clubs.

“To find success you need to fulfill the demand for a high quality food product – and serve mostly healthy food selections. More organic and locally sourced food is important to consumers and it’s inspiring chefs to become creative and resourceful,” McCarthy outlined.

“Clubs that are progressive and have several dining outlets are definitely following dining trends. The southeast

Florida country club market is the pioneer within the club industry for cutting edge food and beverage programs.

“We see top level chefs producing food that is as good as it gets anywhere. The greatest challenge … for many clubs is change, particularly with menu development. Many club members that don’t consider themselves foodies are still seeking simple food and resist trends that are out of their comfort zone,” the Addison Reserve CEO added.

“Listen to what your members want and implement the changes to reflect their desires,” McCarthy cautioned. “Initially, any change seems large but gradually they are accepted and eventually become the norm. Remain open to feedback and you will get it right.

“We know we have to evolve constantly to keep our members interested in dining at the club. If we remain stagnant, revenue will hold the line but growth becomes negligible. So feed the entrepreneurial spirit of your chef and F&B director by challenging them to implement new and creative menu ideas.

“Keep the ideas fun and simple. Then add them into the menu programming but you MUST market them as they happen so the members understand the change and embrace it. By taking a proactive approach you will get them excited about the food as opposed to being hypercritical,” McCarthy intoned.

“With the addition these more casual, healthy options we find our members coming to the club for that ‘other casual meal’ they used to eat elsewhere at a local restaurant. And yes, it is driving revenue higher.”

All good signs for a private club.

PUBLISHER’S FINAL THOUGHTS

Change is difficult for many clubs, and while we may need change it needs to be by evolution not a revolution.

Yes, many clubs are evolving – some perhaps a little too slowly for members and staff, while others are moving too fast for members and staff. It’s a matter of finding the right pace.

I read an interesting comment a while ago, suggesting, “younger people embrace technology to seek new skills because they might become relevant later, whereas older folks are most interested in what seems to matter now.” So they focus more on emotional goals and being with people that matter most in their lives. That’s why Facebook is technology embraced by many older people.

It’s important to remember not all computer users are created equal. As we age, changes in perception and motor skills can make it more challenging using computers, SmartPhones, and iPads etc.

However, I believe older staff and members will adapt to new technology if given the right incentive. They want an opportunity to experience a meaningful reward.

Our clubs must embrace technology to allow our clubs to operate more efficiently and effectively. We must use tech-

nology to better reach out to our members, and we must use technology to put the club culture on display and establish a club’s brand.

What we can’t do, I believe, is push technology too fast to the members. To them, tradition is sacred, and efficiency takes a back seat. And a tradition might trump change, at least until evolution brings about change, as surely it will.

Michael McCarthy of Addison Reserve has also reminded of food and beverage changes that are making inroads in the private club industry. During the past year, representatives of our company visited more than 150 clubs, and we’ve seen it all.

My biggest takeaway from this: Some clubs are very progressive with their food menus and dining trends. While some are featuring unique Nuevo dishes, many of these clubs have gone back to many traditional club foods. One particular club features meatloaf and a Monte Cristo sandwich – they’re the two of the top items on the menu. That’s what this club’s members want…and by the way, they had a younger club membership.

Think evolution not revolution...

At least that’s the way I see it! BR

John G. Fornaro, publisher

If you have comments on this article or suggestions for other topics, please contact John Fornaro at (949) 376-8889 or via email: johnf@apcd.com

Your club Is the WhY

chrIS BoeTTcher

Envision this: A serene setting of the rolling golf course. The sun’s shining, there’s a cool breeze and you are off early Friday, driving up to your club through the wooded lane in between the first and 18th holes.

WHY is this place so special? There’s a guttural feeling you can’t quite express. You tell your friends and acquaintances it’s the history, traditions or “it’s just a special place.” But it’s really the why that makes it so special. Think of it as the core or heart of the club’s mission. The reason the club was created.

You glance at some of your friends already playing a round. You remember the dinner with them last week and the exceptional food and service. The gardener smiles and waves as you climb the final slope and go around the bend to the clubhouse.

Little do you know that as you approached the club that the IT/controller identifies your entrance with a tag reader and sends the club’s work stations a message: “Mr. Ford arriving.”

Each main department work area has access to the security camera system (only outside cameras) and assumptions are made about where you are headed.

Driving to the parking area and you see a housekeeper, a smiling Billy, who is always so nice, by the rear entrance. He waves…you wave

back. By the time you park, and start pulling your clubs out of the car, the bag drop team is already there welcoming you. The tennis pro happens to be close by, says hello as you walk in and mentions the tennis/golf mixer that you’re signed up for.

Entering the locker room, you notice your shoes are out and the attendant has your favorite lunchtime beverage ready by your locker. He asks if he can place a lunch order and you thank him but let him know that you’ll be sitting at the members-only table because you’re off the rest of the weekend! He laughs and smiles with you.

I could go on, and on and on… but this scenario is happening all over our country. The feeling of WHY permeates these bastions of tradition with deep-culture just dripping off the walls. It’s these “leader clubs” that really get the WHY. Oh sure, there’s a lot of run-ofthe-mill clubs in the industry. But I’m talking about the good ones…the ones where leaders of industry, finance and retirees spend their private time with the expectation of tenured, private service.

There’s a few in every city of size. They thrive on being the one or two – the pinnacle clubs in the area. Yes, member service is getting wired with technology and that helps, but what I see more and more are these leader clubs really understanding the WHY of club-dom.

Have you ever noticed that the leader clubs, the old line, top clubs, have staff of very lengthy tenure? Most of these treasured staff members are really top-notch at what they do. They understand the WHY. The WHY is the reason they get up every day.

It is the feeling these tenured employees get when they approach their job of making members happy. Oh sure, we all look for a paycheck. Otherwise I’d be in Costa Rica surfing!

But there is that servant’s heart in those long time private club staffers that will always be there to please you. They embody your club’s mission. They are passing it on to the newer staff too. There are fewer of them that stick around

leadership is having great vision and being able to communicate it. having the right people on the bus is crucial too. From the club’s nominating committee to the vetting process of the membership committee to the hiring of key executives, top clubs get the WhY and thrive from stem to stern because of it.

for long these days, but the top clubs still have an attraction, a haven, for the servants-heart mentality.

As Simon Senek mentions in his book “Start with Why”, “great organizations don’t hire skilled people and motivate them. Rather, they hire already motivated people and inspire them.” And when people in the club know WHY they have come to work, people outside the club - members, vendor/partners and guests - are more likely to understand WHY the club is so special.

Clarity of purpose and standards of the club are the way to make the WHY clear to all your staff. Amplified enough, the WHY makes a useful day-to-day filter of what is a correct and right decision. I hear clubs say, “let’s do it right” and I know they are thinking about their reason for existence, their WHY to help decide, whatever the issue.

What is YOUR club’s WHY? How do you make sure new members understand the WHY of your club?

How do you get your members and staff to show up every day with WHY in mind, not as a competitor club, but just as a way to get a little better as a club every year?

Leadership is having great vision and being able to communicate it. Having the right people on the bus is crucial too. From the club’s nominating committee to the vetting process of the membership committee to the hiring of key executives, top clubs get the WHY and thrive from stem to stern because of it. Enjoy the vision, and lead ON!

Christopher Boettcher, proudly a CCM and CCE, is the GM/COO at Burlingame Country Club near San Francisco, CA and a regular contributor to BoardRoom magazine. He can be reached at chris@boettcher.com

When Does Your club Invest In a Fitness or Wellness center?

Is your board contemplating a new fitness center or an expansion of the existing amenity? Do you have enough member support to move forward with the project? How much should the club invest and how will it affect dues, recruitment efforts and most of all retention?

All questions you need to address when considering a fitness center, and in my opinion, the best time to address a long-term fitness/wellness strategy is when the club is in a position of strength, and the board should be proactive not reactive. The board has an opportunity to set the standard for quality and the best way to predict the future is to create it!

Knowing when to pull the trigger is more of an art than a science as all clubs are unique. Pay attention to the warning signs, as they can be helpful when the board meets to discuss the financial investment.

Warning signs and trends to consider:

• When new fitness centers are opening up in your marketing area

• When new homes are being built within 20 miles of your location

• When golf rounds begin to decline or stagnate (See NGF estimates below)

• When attrition is on the rise

• When member feedback and demand increases

• When surrounding golf clubs are closing or are being acquired by management companies

The National Golf Foundation estimates that nearly 2.1 million golfing members support the 4,415 private clubs in the United States.

Considering that golfers over the age of 50 experience a 65 percent injury rate, private clubs can expect to have nearly 1.4 million members who have experienced an injury caused by or exacerbated by their participation in the sport.

In my opinion, “this decrease in rounds because of injuries may be all the justification you will need for a capital investment in a fitness center.

It’s interesting to note that 100 percent of clubs that have been designated as a BoardRoom Distinguished Club or one of America’s Healthiest

Clubs have a manned fitness or wellness center, some of which are cash flow positive.

According to the 2012 Club Spa & Fitness Association trend report, 57 percent of private clubs surveyed plan on making a capital investment in fitness. Of clubs planning an expansion 20 percent were currently renovating, 37 percent planned to in 1-2 years, 30 percent in 3 - 4 years, and 13 percent in five plus years.

According to the IHRSA 2014 health club consumer report, there are approximately 32,500 health/fitness clubs in the U.S. and 52.9 million members (includes private clubs). More importantly, 70 percent of members that resigned a health/fitness club in 2014 left because of a lack of “social” interaction. This data seems to indicate there is a large population of new members seeking a club-like environment.

In a recent article, Rick Farrant, CEO of Great Life Golf said, “We have a proven formula combining golf and fitness along with other club amenities that provides a strong model for club growth.”

Great Life Golf, with a mission of “enriching the lives of families and individuals through golf, fitness and healthy lifestyles”, has acquired nearly 40 golf clubs in small markets and immediately upgrades facilities, lowers dues and increases usage and member spend.

Board should consider three points when evaluating expansion or building of a fitness/wellness center.

1.Evaluate member usage and spend data to spot trends and compare member engagement to previous years, month over month and season to season.

2. Conduct a health and wellness readiness survey to determine interests and current fitness engagement inside and outside the gates, and

3. Consider adding a sports or fitness membership category to help pay for the capital improvement, increase initiation fees and monthly dues. BR

Rick Ladendorf is the president of Prevo Health Solutions, a wellness solutions provider and Executive Producer of the AMERICA’S HEALTHIEST CLUB© wellness rating program. Contact Rick Ladendorf at (949) 933-5470 or rladendorf@prevohealth.com

rIck laDenDorF

Maxine DuVal, President/CEO

APCD ASSOCIATE MEMBERS & SPONSORS

Attorneys

Addison Law Firm

14901 Quorum Drive, Ste. 650 Dallas, TX 75254

Tel: (972) 960-8677 Fax: (972) 960-7719

Website: www.addisonlaw.com

Email: clublaw@addisonlaw.com

Contact: Randolph Addison, president

Club Advisory Services

Club Consultants LLC

5121 Castello Drive, Suite 1

Naples, FL 34103

Tel: (239) 643-7800 Fax: (239) 643-7803

Website: www.clubconsultants.com

Contact: Bill Wernersback, sr. mng. dir.

Club Neckties, Scarves, Emblems

Stratton-Crooke Enterprises Inc.

P. O. Box 215-H

Scarsdale, NY 10583

Tel: (800) 732-9719 Fax: (914) 725-5196

Website: www.strattoncrooke.com

Email: StrattonCrooke@aol.com

Contact: Nancy & Jim Crooke

Club Services

HFTP

11709 Boulder Lane, STE 110

Austin, TX 78726-1832

Tel: (512) 249-5333 Fax: (512) 249-1533

Website: www.hftp.org

Email: Laura.Huffman@hftp.org

Contact: Laura Huffman

Clubhouse Design Chambers

1800 Washington Blvd., Suite 111 Baltimore, MD 21230

Tel: (410) 727-4535 Fax: (410) 727-6982

Website: www.chambersusa.com

Email: jsnellinger@chambersusa.com

Contact: John R. Snellinger

Peacock + Lewis Architects

1295 US Highway One North Palm Beach, FL 33408

Tel: (561) 626-9704 Fax: (561) 626-9719

Website: www.peacocklewis.com

Email: Brian@peacocklewis.com

Contact: Brian Idle

Clubhouse Architect

Judd Brown Designs

700 School Street

Pawtucket, RI (401) 721-0977

Contact: Peter Cafaro

H. Anne Blakely Sciarrone Architecture

P.O. Box 357

Decatur, GA 30031 (678) 632-2663

Contact: Anne Sciarrone

Clubhouse Furniture

Eustis Chair

P.O. Box 842

Ashburnham, MA 01430

Tel: (978) 827-3103 Fax: (978) 827-3040

Web site: www.eustischair.com

E-Mail: fred@eustischair.com

Contact: Fred Eustis

Gasser Chairs

4136 Logan Way

Youngstown, OH 44505

Tel: (330) 759-2234 Fax: (330) 759-9844

Web site: www.gasserchair.com

Email: ksmith@gasserchair.com

Contact: Kevin Smith

Consulting

Clubwise Consulting

3507 Dunlin Shore Court Norcross, GA 30092 (770) 248-1047

Contact: Jerry McCoy

Email: Cmaamcm@msn.com

Denehy Club Thinking Partners

501 Kings Highway East 06825 (203) 319 8228

Website: www.denehyctp.com

Contact: Dan Denehy

McMahon Group

670 Mason Ridge Center Drive , Suite 220

St. Louis, MO 63141

Tel: (800) 365-2498

Website: www.mcmahongroup.com

E-Mail: info@mcmahongroup.com

Course Maintenance

International Golf Maintenance, Inc. (IGM) 8390 Champions Gate Blvd #200 Champions Gate, FL 33896

Tel: (800) 413-5500 FAX: (407)589-7223

Website: www.igminc.net

Email: gregp@igminc.net

Contact: Greg A. Plotner CGCS, EVP

Executive Search Firm

Kopplin & Kuebler

Southwest Office

7349 Via Paseo Del Sur, Ste. 202

Scottsdale, AZ 85258

Tel: (480) 443-9102 Fax: (480) 443-9642

Website: www.kopplinandkuebler.com

Email: dick@kopplinandkuebler.com

Contact: Dick Kopplin, partner

Kopplin & Kuebler

East Coast Office

132 Tulip Tree Jupiter, FL 33458

Tel/Fax: (561) 747-5213

Cell: (407) 864-6798

Website: www.kopplinandkuebler.com

Email: kurt@kopplinandkuebler.com

Contact: Kurt Kubler, CCM, partner

Food & Beverage Software

Culinary Software Services

1900 Folsom Street #210 Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 447-3334

FOOD-TRAK®/System Concepts, Inc.

15900 N. 78th Street

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Tel: (480) 951-8011 x 8026

Fax: 480-951-2807

Email: nancys@foodtrak.com

Website: www.foodtrak.com

Contact: Nancy Shina, director of marketing

Interior/Architectural Design

C2 Limited Design Associates

95 Reef Road

Fairfield, Connecticut 06824

Tel: (203) 259-2555 Fax: (203) 259-2565

Website: www.c2limited.com

Email: studio@c2limited.com

Contact: Craig J. Smith

Ferry, Hayes & Allen Designers, Inc.

1100 Spring Street, Suite 600

Atlanta, GA 30309

Tel: (404) 874-4411 Fax: (404) 874-1099

Website: www.fhadesigners.com

Email: jbarret@fhadesigners.com

Contact: Jeff Barrett, executive vice president

HINT |Harris Interiors

49B Lenox Pointe

Atlanta, GA 30324

Tel: (404) 403-2931

Website: www.hintatlanta.com

Email: kelley@hintatlanta.com

Image Design, Inc.

3330 Cumberland Blvd.

Atlanta, GA 30339

Tel: (770) 952-7171 Fax: (770) 933-9093

Website: www.imagedesign.com

Email: mfleming@imagedesign.com

History

Private Club Historical

1100 South Coast Highway, Suite 309 Laguna Beach, CA 92651

Tel: (949) 497-6543

Website: www.privateclubhistorical.com

E-Mail: Tom@privateclubhistorical.com

Contact: Tom Neill

Kitchen & Banquet

Spring USA

127 Ambassador Drive #147 Naperville, IL 60540 (630) 527-8600

Website: www.springusa.com

Locker Room Suppliers

Sports Solutions, Inc. 2536 Manana Drive Dallas, TX 75220

Tel: (800) 969-8008 Fax: (214) 351-2609

Website: www.sportssolutionsinc.com

Email: sales@sportssolutionsinc.com

Contact: Laurie Schmidt

Lockers

Salsbury Industries - Lockers.com 1010 East 62nd Street

Los Angeles, CA 90001

Tel: (800) LOCKERS Fax: (800) 562-5399

Website: www.Lockers.com

Email: Salsbury@Lockers.com

Outdoor Furniture

Bambrella

6464 East Rogers Circle

Boca Raton, FL 33487

Tel: (561) 288-8655

Website: www.Bambrella.com

E-Mail: info@Bambrella.com

Xhibtz Contract Furnishing

11071 Indian Lake Circle

Boynton Beach, FL 33437

Tel: (954) 614-1505

Fax: (888) 880-9124

Website: www.xhibtz.com

Email: xhibtz1@bellsouth.net

Purchasing Group

Essensa

555 West 57th St., 12th Floor

New York, NY 10019

Tel: (866) 430-5330

Website: www.Essensa.org

E-Mail: essensainfo@essensa.org

Research & Data

Club Benchmarking PO Box 2082

New Castle, NH 03854 (603) 553-8958

Technology

Culinary Software Services

2930 Center Green Court Boulder, CO 80301 (303) 447-3334

FOOD-TRAK®/System Concepts, Inc.

15900 N. 78th Street

Scottsdale, AZ 85260

Tel: (480) 951-8011 x 8026

Fax: 480-951-2807

Email: nancys@foodtrak.com

Website: www.foodtrak.com

Contact: Nancy Shina, director of marketing

Northstar

161 Kimball Bridge Road #200 Alpharetta, GA 30009

Website: www.globalnorthstar.com

Tableware/Menus

Polar 2046 Castor Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19134

Tel: (800) 831-7823 Fax: (215) 535-6971

Website: www.the-polar.com

Email: bradk@the-polar.com

Contact: Brad Karasik

Walco Stainless/Utica Cutlery

820 Noyes St. Utica, NY 13503

Tel: (800) 879-2526 Fax: (315) 798-3757

Email: susan@uticacutlery.com

Website: www.uticacutlery.com

Contact: Susan Martin

Uniforms

High End Uniforms

5442 Gateway Plaza Drive Benicia, CA 94510 (707) 746-7011

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BOARDROOM MAGAZINE ADVERTISING INDEX

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107

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Denehy club Thinking partners.

Distinguished clubs.

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98-99

53

83

hInT harris Interiors.

51 IBS.

Image Design.

JGr architects.

Judd Brown Designs.

105

71

49

61 chambers.

clubessential.

clubtec.

clubwise.

chefTec.

concert Golf partners.

cornilleau uSa.

creative Golf Marketing.

79

2

24-25

81

91

39

92

FooD-Trak.

Fortessa hosting.

Gasser chairs.

GcSaa. .

Golf Insurance Services by epic.

Golf Maintenance Solutions.

8

35

29

115

100

103 kemperSports.

87 kopplin & kuebler.

31 lichten craig architecture + Interiors94 Marsh & associates (MaI).

3

65 McMahon.

MembersFirst.

13

6 Daniel paul chairs.

107 Graybar.

Groupvalet.

high end uniforms.

hilda allen real estate.

BOARDROOM MAGAZINE COUNTRY CLUB

INDEX

chris Boettcher, GM/coo, Burlingame country club near San Francisco, ca.

kevin carroll,GM/ coo, atlanta athletic club, atlanta, Ga

David cecil, GM/coo of Siwanoy country club, Bronxville, nY

Mark condos, golf course superintendent, las positas Golfcourse, livermore, ca

Frank cordeiro, coo/GM of Diablo country club, Danville, ca

Dave Davies, certified golf course superintendent, Tpc Stonebrae, hayward, ca

Jon Floody, atlanta athletic clubbanquet director, atlanta, Ga

15

93

69

104

17 northstar.

116 pcMa.

41 peacock + lewis.

Susan Greene, director of membership and marketing, The oaks club in osprey, Fl

Jay honeyball, superintendent, oslerBrook G&cc, collingwood, on canada

nancy levenberg, member, Spring lake country club, Spring lake, MI

Judith Mann, GM, roxiticus Golf club, Mendham, nJ

larry Marx, GM, Bellerive country club, St. louis, Mo

MacDonald niven, general manager, la rinconada country club, los Gatos, ca

MichaelMccarthy, ceo /GM, addison reserve country club, Delray Beach, Fl

81 pGa.

37

Dr. Bonnie knutson, country club of lansing and the Michigan athletic club

Jill philmon, GM, Ballantyne country club, charlotte, nc and president, cMaa 2016

ed ronan, GM, Bretton Woods, Germantown, MD

rosie Slocum, director of membership, BallenIsles cc palm Beach Gardens, Fl

lee Stall, GM/coo at new orleans lawn Tennis club

erica Smith, membership director, atlanta athletic club, atlanta, Ga

GailIsaacson Bernstein, president, Greensboro country club, Greensboro,nc

rusty cagle, president, Thornblade club, Greer, Sc

hector Batista, GM, Thornblade club, Greer, Sc

paul Douglas, president, corning country club, corning,nY

Jeff Thomas, GM, corning country club, corning,nY

The philadelphia cricket club, philadelphia, pa

Frenchman’s creek Beach & country club, palm Beach Gardens, Fl

The country club at Mirasol, palm Beach Gardens, Fl