ON THE FRONTLINES

Rules, Enforcement and Club Culture

I have worked in nine clubs in my club management career, five as a general manager/chief operating officer.

During that time, I have found that every club, no matter in what part of the world or at what level of prestige, possesses a certain number of incongruent members or rule-breakers.

Without question, rule-breakers exist at every club.

For some clubs, allowing even a few is entirely unacceptable, and they are managed or dealt with immediately and firmly. Other clubs allow the number of rule-breakers to reach a critical point before acting.

You may be part of a casual club community that is without a rigid culture, not uptight or stuffy.

Clubs with a strict culture can have fewer behavioral issues but perhaps less fun.

Formal clubs have black and white behavioral rules, with zero tolerance for gray areas – the line between right and wrong is firmly drawn. In such an environment, destructive and ill-mannered behavior stands out.

Generally, rule-breakers receive corrective intervention from their peers, the membership at large, rather than their board of directors. On the other hand, if your club is more relaxed than most, your environment lends itself to a proliferation of rule-breakers, bringing to mind a phrase that parents often tell their children: “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”

With that, the essential questions are: What is the population of your rule-breakers? Are they playing an active role in your current club culture?

WHY SHOULD YOU PAY ATTENTION?

It is likely your members are expecting that you are paying attention. The pure definition of a club is a group of likeminded individuals coming together to form a community and experience pride in belonging. Member behavior and club rule enforcement strongly contribute to establishing club pride.

Club culture is the collective behavior of a club community. Culture is contingent upon established and consistently enforced rules. Just as America is a nation of laws, your club is a community of rules. But, for various reasons, some members do not always play by the rules.

Rule-breakers can erode trust with their unrelenting opposition to rules and policies set by your board of governors and management. Constantly challenging and questioning regulations and decisions with which individuals disagree, and encouraging others to join them, forces the hand of your governing bodies.

Because of their discontent and disenchantment with rules or decisions, rule-breakers will regularly behave conversely to those rules. To perpetuate their agenda, they will put their defiance on display, modeling this behavior to others. It is particularly troubling for new members, as the behavior of the rule-breakers may become the behavior model which new members adopt.

New members look at established members with reverence; thus, rule-breakers modeling bad behavior is akin to permitting newcomers to misbehave. Leaving this paradigm unchecked may cause a club community to reach its tipping point, causing devastating, if not irreparable, effects.

Many of us are chameleons, quickly adapting to our surroundings. As the saying goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” By effectively addressing the behaviors, removing the platforms for rule-breakers, and relegating rule-breaking behavior into the minority, you will reap the rewards, resulting in a positive, more compliant club culture.

Notably, at The Ritz Carlton Hotels, the management employs the admirable slogan “We are ladies and gentlemen, serving ladies and gentlemen.” However, if your service team regularly waits on rule-breakers, it won’t take long for your team to adopt similar behaviors.

WHY DON’T MEMBERS COMPLAIN?

Few members will complain about the level of your culture, which is unsurprising to most club managers, who understand that in private clubs the actual level of cultural discontent is typically higher than what is verbalized. Rule-breakers have a way of fostering discontent and squelching those who disagree. They understand that silence can be viewed as tacit approval, and some may do their best to make sure that those who disagree with their opinions or models of behavior are silenced.

Also, a level of misbehavior may become so commonplace that it becomes the new cultural norm. Once you are accustomed to bad behavior, it becomes normalized and is no longer obvious; however, new members will immediately

recognize the ill culture, which presents them with a decision to make.

Will they leave, will they try to affect change, or will they take the path of least resistance and conform? We all have different non-negotiables and standards of decorum. The question is, what level of decorum should the club maintain?

WHO SHOULD ENFORCE THE RULES?

Before you begin a conversation on enforcement, you first need to make sure that you are happy with the rules you have. The chances are that some of the rules in place, dress codes or cellphone policies, for example, may be inappropriate for your current times.

Creating rules is relatively easy compared with the efforts and risks in enforcing them. But first, you must decide who is responsible for enforcing the rules. So, what are your options? 1. Staff – Staff are rules enforcers in many clubs. Once rules are established, staff and management are authorized to enforce rules throughout the club. Management creates incident reports and shares them with the president, board, or grievance committee. 2. Members – Some clubs believe that rule enforcement is the responsibility of the members rather than the staff. The logic is that members are club owners and should hold one another responsible and accountable. 3. Both – Many clubs prefer a combination of the two. The primary responsibility for enforcement lies with the membership; however, members can also empower the staff to speak up when they witness an infraction.

Disciplinary committees typically hand out harsh or unreasonable consequences. If club boards repeatedly choose not to bring violators to the disciplinary committee, when, inevitably, someone does appear, the committee is likely to overreact with consequences disproportionate to the violation.

It is not uncommon for two different members with identical violations to receive different outcomes. Usually, it depends on who chairs the committee, the personality makeup of the committee members, and who is in trouble.

In private clubs, who committed the offense is usually taken more into consideration, rather than what was the offense. Creating a consequence matrix for committee utilization ensures that consequences are consistent and fair to all parties.

WHAT SHOULD YOUR BOARD DO?

There is no easy answer. Much depends on your club community and the prevailing cultural norms and if the president and the board are willing to address the issue. I am not suggesting that you drastically change your culture, because your environment makes you special and unique.

I am saying that, as a group, you need to decide on the tolerable and absolute boundaries. It is an essential exercise. Before I leave this topic, I want to reiterate that I respect every club’s right to structure its own rules and culture, and I never endorse fixing something that isn’t broken.

Having said this, you should realize that for improvement to take place with some of your critical issues, it will be necessary to firm up the structure of your rules, as well as your enforcement and disciplinary processes.

ADMINISTERING CONSEQUENCES

Like everything else at the club, emotions tend to be front and center when dealing with club issues. Nowhere is this more apparent than when dealing with “problem members.”

Depending on the personality and temperament of the chairman, consequences can be either too harsh or too lax. Depending on the reputation of the errant member, committee members might have a biased view or sentiment that impacts their ability to render an appropriate correction.

For example, suppose the committee hears no cases for a long time. In that case, the very next issue is likely to receive a disproportionate amount of attention and consequence, presenting an opportunity for the chair and committee to flex their muscles and show the membership who is in control. The problem with this approach is that the president stops forwarding incidents to the disciplinary committee out of fear that the committee may act irrationally.

But the bigger issue with what I’ve described is that it is inequitable. Every member deserves the same due process and consistent consequences. Developing a matrix attempts to remove the emotions from the committee’s response and provide objective guidance to ensure equitable and consistent corrective action. The matrix advances to future chairs and committees on an ongoing basis. The board will approve the matrix before implementation.

START SLOWLY

I cannot emphasize this point enough. While it may be tempting to come out with guns blazing, I urge you to take a deep breath and start slowly. Your goal is to curb member behavior in the long term.

Depending on your culture, a quick start could yield negative results, especially if your membership is grappling with other significant issues. Remember, humans have a finite capacity to deal with change. Slow change makes for permanent and purposeful change. BR

Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk

Being environmentally friendly is more than just words. Sustainability is a catchphrase that many people talk about but really do not follow.

If a company is truly environmentally conscious and if a company truly embraces the concept of sustainability, what does that actually mean?

At United States Professional Tennis Association world headquarters in Lake Nona, FL, we live in a community that prides itself on personal health and wellness, technical innovation, and sustainable initiatives. When designing our office building, which we took occupancy in the summer of 2017, we focused on being technically savvy while also being true to our core value of being environmentally sustainable.

It is a given that we recycle paper products, plastic, and glass. We also encourage our employees to recycle their gently used tennis shoes through Sneakers4Funds, a program that keeps shoes out of landfills by sending them to developing nations where entrepreneurs refurbish the shoes and sell them to make a living. Being the tennis company that we are, one should not be surprised that we recycle tennis balls as well.

In the bigger picture, we decided to reduce the amount of drywall in our building during construction. As you all probably know, drywall is toxic to the environment when it is in a landfill and gets wet. Plus, drywall is totally inflexible so if any remodeling is required down the road, it would create a horrific mess when demolition takes place. Anyone who has remodeled a club or home knows exactly what I am talking about.

Thus, we determined it would be in our best interest to install movable or modular walls throughout our complex. Not only are they incredibly attractive but the flexibility that is inherent in the design makes them ideal for changes to our office complex should that be needed. We can modify the layout of our private offices, revise the spacing of our boardroom, or flex the size of our training room through a redesign with alternative wall products.

Other features in our building include a “living wall” with plants that contribute oxygen to the office environment for our employees and low-voltage lighting throughout that only requires the power of a phone line. Therefore, our energy costs are lower than what would normally be required for traditional office lighting.

But if we really want to “walk the walk and talk the talk,” solar installation is a must, especially since we are in the Sunshine State. Even though the payback period on the investment is longer than what I had desired (18.5 years), it is the right thing to do for the long-term health of the global environment.

I applaud the USPTA board of directors for deciding to invest in this technology. Installation will be completed by the end of Q3 when we start saving $10,000 per year on our energy costs beginning in 2023.

Our total office space is only 10,000 square feet and houses 21 employees. Even though we are not a large operation, we have made sustainability a core value. We have an expectation to do our part, as small as it may be, to contribute to the overall health of our surroundings.

Our staff understands the responsibility of supporting initiatives that will positively impact the long-term health of our world. The USPTA wants to be the shining example in the tennis industry of environmental and sustainable actions. BR

RACQUET COMMITTEE

How I Started Clay Court Pickleball

I’VE ALWAYS BELIEVED IN PROGRESS. THE IDEA IS THAT SOMETHING DONE WELL TODAY SHOULD BE EVEN BETTER TOMORROW.

It only makes sense that great coaches, players, and sports in general should continue to improve over time. The same can be said for pickleball.

Consider how pickleball has grown from 250,000 to more than six million players in just over five years. That’s an astonishing number. Consider where pickleball is today. I predict pickleball will be the most played racquet sport in the country in the next five years, and legendary golf coach Hank Haney shares the same opinion. Taking into consideration those numbers, and that most clubs in the US and around the world have clay courts, I can tell you that clay court pickleball is a key to the growth of the sport.

I started clay court pickleball at Green Valley Country Club almost a decade ago. Our indoor hard courts hosted pickleball seven days a week, and we saw on average 750-1,000 players every week. That is an insane number. I knew two things: First, we were exploding, and second, we needed to figure out what was next.

So, I did what every young director would do: I sold my general manager on the idea of clay court pickleball and invested in an untested idea that was based on a hunch. I had no idea if the lines would work or where to get them. I had no idea if any of the balls would bounce. Yet I was convinced we could make it work.

We had tennis lines cut in half and holes put in to be basically the same as clay court tennis lines, but only an inch wide where the tennis lines are two. We laid them on top of our tennis court and spray painted them dark red. Essentially this looked like blended lines but with pickleball specifications. Then I did what I usually do; I marketed it as if it were already huge. The next month was interesting, to say the least, but I didn’t panic.

It took that long before I could get anyone to even try it. People argued how pickleball is a hard-court sport and wouldn’t work on clay. Finally, I got a group of five players on the court. The next day I had 10, and the day after that, I had 30. I went from zero to sold out in a week, and it was all from word of mouth. Pickleball on clay was finally gaining traction.

The weeks that followed led to an amazing balance at my club. We had indoor hard court and outdoor clay pickleball. People loved the clay because it was easier on their body for those who needed a lower impact sport, and it made pickleball even more athletic for those looking for a challenge.

I tested many balls and found a ball that bounced perfectly. So, I decided to take another chance and host a national clay court pickleball tournament. We had 180 players. They had a great time, and clay court pickleball was off and running.

Today, I am the director of racquets at Royal Oaks Country Club, where we have one of the most successful racquets programs in the country. We have dedicated pickleball

courts and programming that have fueled tennis and participation across the board.

However, I took the model of clay court pickleball and shared it with directors around the country. I can proudly say I have helped almost 100 clubs start clay court pickleball and grow their racquets programs, including the Mexican and European tennis federations.

You can see clay court pickleball growing nationwide, and soon you will see it grow all over the world. Pickleball is not only going to be the most played racquet sport in the world one day, but it will also be played on different surfaces and at the highest levels, just like tennis. So, think outside the box and give clay court pickleball a try. Your members will love you for it. BR

You can see clay court pickleball growing nationwide, and soon you will see it grow all over the world. Pickleball is not only going to be the most played racquet sport in the world one day, but it will also be played on different surfaces and at the highest levels, just like tennis. So, think outside the box and give clay court pickleball a try. Your members will love you for it.

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

Jason H. Becker, PGA, is chief executive officer, Golf Life Navigators, LLC, Naples, Florida He can be reached at (800) 447-8707 or via email: Jason@GolfLifeNavigators.com www.GolfLifeNavigators.com

Private Golf Memberships

Demand for Private Golf and Real Estate Remains at All-Time Highs

“Golf, even at its peak levels of popularity, still comes with challenges.” – Joe Steranka, former CEO of the PGA of America

Joe’s words likely echo many current boardroom discussions across the country as clubs enter into an era that might not have been foreseen a few years back – waitlists.

What do waitlist prospects expect? How much would they be willing to invest into an initiation to hold their position? Can we get waitlist members on the golf course with a tee sheet that is already stressed?

Over the past several months, we have been approached by industry colleagues in search of “a bit of clarity” on what waitlist members would deem acceptable. Below, you will find data and insight on that very topic — the first of its kind within the private club space.

A survey was sent to prospective private club members who are searching for a private club and golf home. The objective was to gain their thoughts on waitlists and their overall expectations of an ideal waitlist scenario.

After completion of the study, Golf Life Navigators’ position is that clubs with a waitlist should be cautious with their assumptions about their waitlist numbers. On average, 70 percent of prospects (across all initiation ranges) do not intend to join a club that has a 12-month or longer waitlist.

In addition, an average of 50 percent of prospects said they would change directions completely and look at alternative clubs to avoid a waitlist. In short, closing the gates completely on new member applications could lead to a costly mistake as we predict waitlist dilution.

For those clubs who are not yet in a waitlist era, we implore you to broadcast the fact that you have membership availability and an open tee sheet. Issues of capacity at clubs during season months are a hot topic, not just from your members but prospects as well.

Golf Life Navigators’ partner real estate agents say their active golf clients are pivoting from an intended club to alternative clubs that have membership availability and tee time availability. Even if that means buying into another market across the state.

Here are a few more highlights from the survey, which had 550 respondents spanning five tiers of initiation ranges based on their budget for a full golf membership:

If there was a non-refundable down payment required to join a waitlist, to what percent of the initiation fee would you be comfortable committing?

$0-$10,000 initiation budget • $0, I would not put money down to join a waitlist – 52 percent • I would be willing to put down 5-10 percent of initiation – 28 percent $10,000-$25,000 initiation budget • $0, I would not put money down to join a waitlist – 40 percent • I would be willing to put down 5-10 percent of initiation – 25 percent $25,000-$50,000 initiation budget • $0, I would not put money down to join a waitlist – 22 percent • I would be willing to put down 5-10 percent of initiation – 38 percent $50,000-$75,000 initiation budget • $0, I would not put money down to join a waitlist – 34 percent • I would be willing to put down 5-10 percent of initiation – 31 percent $75,000-plus initiation budget • $0, I would not put money down to join a waitlist – 26 percent • I would be willing to put down 5-10 percent of initiation – 22 percent • I would be willing to put down 10-20 percent of initiation – 22 percent

How likely are you to purchase a home that has a full golf membership attached – or a transferable membership from the seller – to avoid a waitlist?

$0-$10,000 initiation budget • 62 percent say “somewhat likely” to “very likely” $10,000-$25,000 initiation budget • 74 percent say “somewhat likely” to “very likely” $25,000-$50,000 initiation budget • 60 percent say “somewhat likely” to “very likely” $50,000-$75,000 initiation budget • 82 percent say “somewhat likely” to “very likely” $75,000-plus initiation budget • 88 percent say “somewhat likely” to “very likely”

The biggest takeaway from this report is that we have good problems on our hands. The demand for private golf and real estate remains at all-time highs, with no signs of slowing down. The goal for management is to think through the solutions and lead their members in the right direction with data, best practices and good ole’ gut feeling.

KRIS BUTTERFIELD Kris Butterfield is director of membership, communications and public relations at Bethesda Country Club and president of PCMA. She can be reached at (301) 767-8252 or kris.butterfield@bethesdacountryclub.org MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

The Membership Professional

The Focus Remains the Three Rs

If membership is the lifeline of a club, then what is the value of the membership professional?

A recent surge in membership demand has several clubs with waitlists, driving membership professionals to reevaluate their focus.

The private club industry tends to be cyclical and as the market continues to change so must the performance of the membership professional. Luckily this position was established on resistance.

The path of the membership professional is ever-evolving. What began as a “membership secretary” naturally matured into a “membership director.” Membership professionals processed correspondence and maintained records before they became the keepers of the culture, the faces of their clubs, and the primary long-term revenue producers.

Their responsibilities are infinite and vary from club to club. Accomplished membership professionals have the institutional knowledge to provide clubs with real-time insight into buyers’ demographics. They drive data, assist with strategic planning, are the front line for inquiries, and maintain the culture of the club through prospective screening and onboarding.

In the world of immediate gratification and constant communication, membership professionals pride themselves on responsiveness, a characteristic that is often overlooked. They rapidly become the “face” of the club, taking pleasure in creating an “instant community” for new members.

The membership professional sets the standards for club continuity by constructing a strong foundation for new members and allowing the staff to build upon it.

Recently, many clubs found themselves satisfying their frustration with poor marketing and communications by hiring someone that could promote events and simultaneously embody membership. Most of these hires “checked the box” and were recent marketing or communication graduates that were also new to the private club industry.

When did we decide that the ability to create flyers would translate into being able to retain and sell memberships? As clubs combined the membership and marketing positions, relying more heavily on marketing experience, the significance of the membership position began to deteriorate.

Membership has always focused on the three Rs: recruitment, retention, and relationships. The relationship between the overall club membership and membership professional has become more prominent as private clubs reach membership capacity. The volume of strategy, focus and fortitude involved in every task that crosses their desk is a direct correlation to the club’s bottom line.

Now is not the time to sit back and relax as there is still a lot of work to be done. While clubs build waitlists and reinvest in infrastructure, the membership professional must demonstrate the flexibility to ebb and flow. Managing a waitlist can be even more challenging for the membership professional.

Clubs will begin to feel the consequences of combining their membership with marketing and communications positions. This is the time for strategy and structure to shine.

Many membership professionals (and clubs) will be navigating uncharted territory with a waitlist for the first time in club history. They will develop a comprehensive waitlist plan around the club’s competitive advantage.

Membership professionals with industry knowledge, market awareness, and interpersonal skills will be pursued at the most sophisticated clubs: the clubs with a separate marketing and communications position. And when the pandemic effect fades, your talented and respected membership professional will be ready to pick up where they left off, at the front door welcoming your next new member. BR

Membership has always focused on the three Rs: recruitment, retention, and relationships. The relationship between the overall club membership and membership professional has become more prominent as private clubs reach membership capacity. The volume of strategy, focus and fortitude involved in every task that crosses their desk is a direct correlation to the club’s bottom line.

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

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

Getting Your Money’s Worth From Your Annual Survey

A man with deep far-sightedness will survey both the beginning and the end of a situation and continually consider its every facet as important.

– Takeda Shingen

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Too many times we keep thinking and talking through our goals. Instead we need to learn to start taking action.

– Walt Disney

Every great company knows to be successful it must understand what its customers want and how they value the services and products they purchased. The annual membership survey can serve as the primary source of that information for a private club.

Learning what your members (customers) want and how they value your service, products, facilities and programs (measuring the member experience) is the first reason to survey your membership annually. Using the survey as a management tool that provides a quantitative measure of progress toward achieving the annual goals of your department heads and club staff is the second driving factor.

This article provides and amplifies on the following key steps that when successfully accomplished will assure your club receives the maximum benefit from the annual survey: • Survey design • Pre-survey communication plan • Survey launch communication plan • Survey analysis report • Immediate follow-up • Action plan design • Action plan execution.

Survey design: The design of the survey includes abundant pre-survey research. Brainstorming with the board, committees, management, staff and subpopulations of the memberships (younger members, older members, new members, high spenders, low spenders – even 7- to 12-year-olds) is an effective way to determine what your club would like to learn from your members.

Carefully craft the questions so as not to “lead the witness” and to build confidence in your club’s intelligence-gathering process. The survey should send a message to your members about the club’s commitment to inclusion and to soliciting ideas, opinions and suggestions from all members. Avoid tilting questions toward individual agendas.

Pre-survey communication plan: Tell your members what you are going to do, why you are doing it, what to expect and when and how they will receive the survey. Ask for their participation – and commit to using what they tell you.

Survey launch communication plan: Email is the most effective means to let your members know they can access the survey. Remind them every three to four days to complete the survey and to encourage other members to respond as well. Posters, message boards, reminders from staff, table tents and golf cart messaging are also important reminders.

A well-designed launch communication plan will drive the survey response rate thereby increasing confidence that the opinions expressed by the responding members accurately reflect those of the entire membership.

Survey analysis report: As soon as the response period ends, complete the report of survey findings. Include an analysis by tolerance values and isolate issues that are either rated too low or not high enough. Where are the opportunities to improve the products, services, facilities and programs?

Timely follow-up: As soon as the report is completed and digested by the board and management, share all the results, both quantified and qualified (written comments), with the membership and staff. Leave nothing out so you are not criticized for censorship.

Create and execute action plans: Prioritize the “below acceptable” ratings and design an action plan for each. Define the issue, assign ownership, determine the cost, set dates for completion, and explain how success will be measured.

Progress on these action plans must be frequently communicated to the membership (1) as soon as they are approved; (2) when progress has been made; and (3) when success has been achieved. This can be as soon as today (“There wasn’t any Gatorade at the swimming pool, but it is there now”) or over years (“We are going to construct a new fitness facility; planning will begin next Tuesday and completion is expected in 27 months”).

It may be that the club cannot do what many members want, either now – or in the future – or ever, and the members should be told what cannot be done. Continue the communication process every time something is accomplished and take your well-earned “victory lap.”

The second major benefit to the annual membership survey is its use as an HR management tool. Survey results can be effective for goal setting (improvement in a department’s performance that can be measured in next year’s survey) and performance reviews/compensation/bonus distributions. Were the action plan steps accomplished? On time? On budget?

The survey and effective pre- and post-survey communication with both members and staff can and should enhance the goals of inclusion, transparency and communication. It can and should also provide staff performance measurements, thereby magnifying the return on investment in your annual membership survey. BR

DUNCAN RENO Duncan Reno, CCM, CCE is chief operating officer/general manager of Del Rio Country Club in Modesto, CA. He can be reached at (209) 341-2401 or via email: dreno@delriocountryclub.com ON THE FRONTLINES

Defining the Premier Country Club

Take any major city or region in the United States and you can clearly recognize which private club rises above the rest in that area.

These clubs are considered the “premier” clubs of their areas. What makes them premier clubs?

We can identify five major elements: 1. Financial structure. These clubs have funding plans and reserves that address the three major “uses” of money: operations, asset replacement and debt reduction/planning. When you analyze their financials, you can clearly see specific allocations of dues directed toward each area. In doing so they keep their club financially sustainable. 2. Commitment asset replacement management. These clubs are committed to the upkeep of their facilities and equipment maintenance by not only funding the replacement of their assets but by providing the needed resources to keep them in top working condition. They employ quality staff to maintain the facilities daily and provide the money needed to keep things fresh and updated more frequently, such as fitness equipment, mowers, furniture, etc. It’s costly but has a high impact. 3. Leadership. Each club holds in regard the club corporate structure, from management to board leadership to committee involvement. These areas work toward a common goal to enhance the club’s value by respecting and appreciating the role each plays and never losing sight of who they benefit – the members.

4. Commitment to excellent member service and expe-

rience. At these clubs, the answer is always “yes.” This attitude or culture is evident in the staff the clubs employ. They consider their employees their number one asset. They provide the resources to develop and maintain a highly trained professional service staff where garnering positive member experiences is their top priority. 5. Member praise. Their best marketing and promotional tool is their membership’s “word-of-mouth.” Members are the best advocates for member dining, participation in member events, new memberships, and equity building. Members recognize that their role in making the club even better is to be active and to maintain a positive attitude to truly enhance membership value. It is so evident you literally feel the shift when something is unsettling.

How does your club stack up? Are you the premier club in your area? Do you define what it is to be a member of a premier club in the region? Do you define the level of quality service and products offered? Do you define the culture that is needed to benefit your members? Do you define what it takes to fund this type of club? Do other clubs look to you as the example? If not, now is the perfect time to “gain” a stronger position. The private club member is constantly being redefined, and the industry is looking to premier clubs to show how to respond effectively. BR

Frank Vain Lifetime Achievement Award 2021 A Distinguished Career With the Best Yet to Come!

By William P. McMahon, Sr.

“Frank has contributed to our industry through his leadership, research, education and organizational skills and achievements. He stands out from others for his kindness, generosity, keen intelligence and valuable contributions to those he serves.” —John Fornaro, CEO and Publisher, BoardRoom

That, in a nutshell, describes Frank Vain, recipient of BoardRoom magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021.

Frank Vain has had a distinguished career in the hospitality and club industry for almost 40 years and has been President of McMahon Group since 1988. In that role, he’s led our company as we’ve worked with many of the leading private clubs in North America and Asia, to help them develop strategies and plans for addressing both their immediate management challenges as well as the long-term lifestyle trends affecting the industry.

In his position at McMahon Group, Frank has served over a thousand top clubs of all types and sizes throughout the world. His dedication to the industry has also included being a past president of the National Club Association and president of the Country Club of St. Albans (Mo.). He’s been a frequent speaker at the Club Management Association of America World Conferences over the years, as well as at CMAA chapters throughout the country.

He’s also an integral part of the Club Leadership Alliance, composed of McMahon Group, Kopplin Kuebler & Wallace and Club Benchmarking. The CLA is dedicated to enhancing the club industry, and the clubs within it, by promoting best practices for club success.

Personally, after working closely with Frank at McMahon Group for 34 years now, I can attest that he is not only a born leader, but also a great family man – he has been married for 40-plus years to his wonderful wife Mary, and they have raised three wonderful daughters and have seen their family grow to now include three sons-in-law and two grandchildren.

It has been great fun during that time working with Frank, and all of our manager friends, as we have always strived to make each club as good as it can be. And now, after I had the honor of receiving BoardRoom’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, we are especially proud that Frank has been named its recipient for 2021, making McMahon Group the only company to ever have two of its people selected for the honor.

Not surprisingly, many within the club industry also were quick to congratulate and praise Frank after the news that he was receiving the 2021 Award was announced. Here are just some of the accolades that we heard:

“I’ve had the honor of experiencing Frank’s dedication and vision firsthand and learning from his industry knowledge through his nine years on the National Club Association Board of Directors, including his term as chair. I’ve also been lucky to work with him on Club Trends magazine and the Excellence in Club Management Awards—two industry hallmarks. This Lifetime Achievement Award is well-deserved to say the least and is a testament to Frank’s strong leadership and invaluable contributions to the private club industry and its professionals.”

—Henry Wallmeyer, President and CEO, National Club Association

“Frank Vain is truly an icon in our industry. He is a thought leader in club management, integrous, a true giver and cutting-edge with his visionary guidance. The BoardRoom Lifetime Achievement Award is

such a great honor, and it is very fitting that this award is being presented to Frank Vain, a partner, colleague and friend!”

—Crystal Thomas, MCM, CHE, CAE, Managing Director, Golden State Chapter of CMAA and CEO, Management Connection

“Frank being named the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient by BoardRoom magazine is truly well-deserved. Throughout my career Frank has been my person to go to when I needed assistance regarding private club management and governance. Not only that, for over 20 years he has been a close friend and confidant. I cherish his professionalism and friendship. Well done, Frank—I look forward to many more years of your relationship with McMahon Group, your consultation, education and most of all your friendship.”

— Bill Johnson, CCM, CCE

After I heard that Frank would be receiving the award, I told him to remember that the best part of life really begins after a Lifetime Award. But knowing Frank as I do, I never had any notion that he would now think about resting on his laurels, even after such a distinguished career.

All of us at McMahon Group are especially excited about what lies ahead for the club industry, and in a recent video interview that we included in our McMahon Report, Frank once again showed his knack for providing special insights and identifying key trends around which clubs can build successful strategies.

“I think there is a bit of a ‘Golden Age’ opportunity right now for clubs,” Frank said in the interview. “A combination of factors has come together that should play out very well for private clubs in the next five to 10 years.

“COVID has enhanced and reinforced the notion of how clubs can provide safety, security and privacy as a ‘home away from home,’” Frank added. “Demographics are favorable, with the Millennial generation of roughly 80 million now reaching the prime age when people join clubs.

“And there is plenty of capital available, both from lenders and clubs’ own reserves that have been built up by the gains they’ve made in the past two years, to freshen, modernize and reinvent facilities in ways that can make and keep clubs even more relevant.”

Clubs can take full advantage of this “Golden Age” opportunity, by “following what members want and making changes to meet their needs and desires,” Frank concluded.

So, while we congratulate Frank Vain on his well-deserved Lifetime Achievement recognition, all of us at McMahon Group are excited to join him in helping everyone in the club industry now go on to achieve much more! BR

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INNOVATIVE IDEAS

Spin at the Sandbar Creates Exciting Member Engagement Opportunity at Champions Run

Like many clubs during COVID, Champions Run in Omaha, Nebraska, needed to create alternative member engagement opportunities.

“And since our pool deck is so popular, we thought we’d offer a fun and unique fitness program that was outdoors by bringing our spin bikes to the Sand Bar (the bar by the pool),” explained Ben Lorenzen, the club’s creative director and director of aquatics and fitness.

Offered every Thursday night throughout the summer, the Spin at the Sandbar is easily one of the club’s most popular fitness classes. “It continually sells out!” Lorenzen remarked. “Demand for the class was so high we had to find a way to bring more spin bikes to the bar.”

Spin at the Sandbar is a unique 30-minute “reggae ride” that involves socializing, biking and tropical cocktails. “Spin at the Sandbar provides a unique setting where your fitness level doesn’t matter; as long as you like to have fun, you’ll enjoy the class. And halfway through the workout, the bartender serves tropical drinks for the cooldown ride,” Lorenzen continued.

Spin at the Sandbar has brought in many people who have never taken a group fitness class at the club, and the class continues to create excitement among happy members. If you’re looking to implement something similar at your club, Lorenzen suggests “Taking your members to a unique place at your club and work out there. It’s super easy to do, whether it’s at the pool, on the course or somewhere else at your club, members are always looking for unique fitness engagement.” BR

HEATHER ARIAS DE CORDOBA Heather Arias de Cordoba is the Innovative Ideas editor, associate editor and creative director for BoardRoom magazine. She is an award-winning and highly versatile marketing leader, writer and designer with a 25-year career in the private club industry. To submit an idea or story for this section, please email heather@studiodelmar.net

Connecting Members During COVID Solidified the Culture at Farmington Country Club

“To help members escape the malaise created by COVID lockdown and the ever-changing activity restrictions, the Farmington Country Club fitness team invited everyone to keep moving,” explained Brandon Johnson, the club manager.

“And it’s safe to say that our annual Walk/Run Program is a staple event moving forward.”

The club, located in Charlottesville, Virginia, shut its doors in March 2020, “That’s when our team hit the ground running, creating a sense of community even if we weren’t physically present at the club,” continued Johnson.

“Regardless of how fit you are, movement can bring a community together,” stated Kasey Patterson, director of fitness and aquatics. “We asked ourselves, ‘What is something everyone can do?’ We decided on walking or running and thought together each person’s movement could work toward a common goal.”

The goal? To collectively walk or run a combined total of 2,020 miles. The program allowed members to participate from anywhere, whether at the club, in their homes, at the park on a hiking trail or other places where they needed to maintain social distancing – members were walking or running towards a common goal.

“We had members compete from all over the U.S. and share photos of their walking adventures along the way,” said Patterson. “We shared the photos among the staff and members, and it truly inspired us and kept us grounded during the emotional rollercoaster of the pandemic.”

In August 2020, 120 members and staff participated together, tripling their mileage goal. In 2021 the club revamped the program, made it a competition between members and staff, and easily exceeded the 2021mile goal. The unexpected result of the program was more employees became involved in the UMotion program through United Health, where they earn money toward their HSA for more movement.

“At Farmington, we have always said, ‘take fitness outside the fitness walls,’ so this program embodies our mission, and the success of the program solidified the unity our Farmington community shares. The amount of participation from both staff and membership was just what our FCC family needed. Something constant to work towards together – it gave us all hope.” concluded Patterson.

Johnson shared, “Looking to start a similar program at your club? Keep it simple. Think of things that everyone could do and look for individuals who can be champions of your program to encourage others to participate. Promoting wellness comes from the top, so your club leaders should also be part of the program.” BR

INNOVATIVE IDEAS

Streamlining Employee Communications is Key at Houston Racquet Club

With the successful launch of the Member App in early 2020, the team at Houston Racquet Club in Houston, Texas, implemented the HRC Insider App (employee app) to streamline employee communications during COVID.

“This idea has been on our wish list for a long time and COVID made us consider the idea as a top priority when the club shut down,” explained Lindsey O. Tafolla, the club’s director of communications and marketing. “Employees can retrieve valuable information such as schedules, paychecks, performance reviews, employee handbook and much more!”

With a short runway of three months from starting the process to implementation, management worked closely with developers to troubleshoot any issues before going live. “The HRC Insider App has been a powerful tool that gives our management team the ability to communicate digitally and provide resources to our staff,” continued Tafolla. “The convenience this tool offers is an additional amenity that has strengthened our employee benefits package and helped us stand out as a top employer in our area.”

“With multiple internal communication channels throughout the organization, the app has simplified the chain of communications by providing a central platform for staff to receive accurate and timely information. In addition, we empower the staff to use the app to stay current on club activities, utilize self-service HR resources and offer feedback to management.”

This unique tool has been instrumental and successful for communication between supervisors and departments with just the touch of a button—especially during a pandemic!

When asked about advice to pass along to other clubs looking to implement something similar, Tafolla shared, “Treat the employee app as you would your member app. Keep information and communications consistent and current and ask your staff for feedback and input on current features and future developments.” BR

HEATHER ARIAS DE CORDOBA Heather Arias de Cordoba is the Innovative Ideas editor, associate editor and creative director for BoardRoom magazine. She is an award-winning and highly versatile marketing leader, writer and designer with a 25-year career in the private club industry. To submit an idea or story for this section, please email heather@studiodelmar.net

Random Acts of Kindness at The Country Club at Mirasol

How can you keep smiles on the faces of members and staff alike during a pandemic? The Country Club at Mirasol, a BoardRoom magazine Distinguished Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, found a “random” but effective way.

“And how better to put a smile on someone’s face than by offering food and drink giveaways,” explained Amanda Sprenger, the club’s director of food and beverage. Inspired to engage members and staff in a positive and uplifting way during COVID, Sprenger and her team developed the Random Acts of Kindness days to delight and surprise members in all areas of the club.

“Whether we surprised members with hot cookies and milk after lunch in the clubhouse, served spiked lemonade on the tennis center patio, offered beer and pretzels and ice cream bars after the 18th hole or offered snow cones at our family-friendly sports complex on a warm weekend day, members of all ages enjoy following us around to see where we’ll be next,” Sprenger noted. “And we’ve found a way to encourage smiles all around and pass kindness and joy onto the next person our members encounter.”

A #MirasolKindness card is included with each treat outlining simple ways to share kindness and make others smile.

Since starting the RAOK program in August 2020, management at The Country Club at Mirasol has now implemented random days of giving in the breakroom for employees. “Themed giveaways for the team show our appreciation for them,” said Sprenger, “which has also helped inspire more employee-driven engagement.”

If you are looking to implement something similar at your club, Sprenger added, “Be sure to keep the time and location of the RAOK a secret until the very last minute. Our members loved being surprised in different areas around the club!”

After all, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,” Aesop. BR