CLUB ROAD: Spring 2013

Dear Friends:

Time waits for no man (or woman). While our beloved club world celebrates its traditions and its classic aesthetics, the world around us is offering up a host of products, building approaches, business disciplines and sources of information that enable us to maintain those traditions but with much greater efficiency — and with far greater sources of inspiration.

In this issue of CLUB ROAD, we’ve amassed a collection of some of the best of what the modern world can offer the club world as it embraces both tradition and modernity. Communications tools for reaching members, opportunities for “building green” within budget and the positive impact of thinking of our clubs as “brands." And on page 7, we've shared our time-tested insights on successfully gaining member consensus for all of the above.

We always welcome your comments or requests/ suggestions for future topics.

Get in touch! We look forward to hearing from you.

Listen Up!

Private clubs aren’t likely to be accused of being early adopters of communications technology. But with the over-50 crowd the fastest growing segment of Facebook users and mobile and online apps the rule more than the exception in everything from booking reservations to checking weather forecasts, digital tools are making it easier and more efficient to stay in touch with members.

Many tools and channels also integrate easily into CRM, or Custom Relationship Management platforms, lightening the load and heightening impact.

Facebook

Lunch specials, tournament highlights, social event invitations — it’s a great way to reach out and a fun way to let members engage back. And help promote the club to their networks in the process.

Rick Snellinger President & CEO

BRONZE

ALLIANCE PARTNER

Bob Hickman Chairman of the Board

Twitter

Up-to-the-minute updates and last minute promotions. In 140 characters or fewer.

YouTube

chambers is proud to be a cmaa cap sponsor .

Instructional videos, updates on the latest capital improvements, even town hall meeting recordings can be added to your own private YouTube channel.

Websites Aren’t

Just for Desktops Anymore

Is your club maximizing its website? Mobile-enabled sites can easily integrate point-of-sale tools, open and private social networking, and digital reservation systems.

Club Essential specializes in interactive and mobileenabled websites for private clubs.

Total eGolf combines a CRM tool with online and mobile tee time booking, Facebook and other apps, and rolls in dynamic marketing and sales tools to maximize club usage and member satisfaction.

Just for You

Among the biggest evolutions in technologically enhanced communications is the ability to personally target messaging, providing users only with information they’re interested in.

VCT is among consultants who work with clubs to create targeted communications programs.

In Chambers’ club industry survey, Club ’22 — Club of the Future, we asked a series of questions about interest in and the importance of sustainability for private clubs. Responses ranged from those who felt clubs have a unique responsibility for environmental stewardship — as pillars of their communities and major land users — to a small percentage who felt sustainability just wouldn’t be a club industry priority (4.4%). Most fell in the “We’re doing our part but could do more” camp (65%).

4.4% 65% felt "We’re doing our part but could do more."

felt sustainability just wouldn’t be a club industry priority.

When it comes to building and capital improvements, however, there seemed to be a resounding chorus of “Unfortunately, it’s just not financially feasible” for the industry. With so much interest and sweeping skepticism, we set out to determine if that really were the case and to find out what the experts in the design and building industry might offer as options for being — and building — green.

continued on page 5

BUILDER

RJ Donnelly LEED AP, Vice President

Donnelly Energy Solutions

RJ Donnelly, vice president of Donnelly Energy Solutions — the green building arm of Donnelly Construction — doesn’t yet see a tremendous emphasis on green building in the private club space. He expects a sea change when club leadership begins to transition to younger generations in the coming years who are “more aware of both the long and

read the full story

ENVIRONMENTALIST

Jennie Nolan

Attorney, Land Use Law Center, Adjunct Professor of Law

Pace Law School, White Plains, NY

Attorney, Professor and Environmentalist Jennie Nolan

helped write the book on sustainable building — literally; she partnered with the USGBC in the development of a manual for building sustainable neighborhoods. Her advice to clubs trying to balance the desire for better environmental practices and cost

read the full story

INTERIOR DESIGNER

LEED Green Associate, Interior Designer Chambers

Chambers Interior Designer MaryLynn Mellinger admits, “Everyone has good intentions, but in the end, costs speak volumes.” She expects that it may take legislative pressures for private clubs to significantly change their building practices, but suggests that in the interim clubs can look to lessen their

read the full story

CLUB MANAGER

Jim Goodman General Manager

The Glacier Club, Durango, CO

“I’m not an economist,” says Jim Goodman, general manager of The Glacier Club in Colorado. Still, Goodman reasons that “some initiatives will make sense and provide ROI (return on investment) and some may never generate the return we want.” So he looks at environmental responsibility as a zero sum game. “As a whole, the pursuit of

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BUILDERS

Greg Carlson Executive Vice President

Michael Thomas Senior Project Manager The Weitz

Company

The Weitz Company focuses on environmental responsibility in every one of its building projects, says Executive Vice President Greg Carlson. While Carlson acknowledges that the process to achieve LEED certification (the U.S. Green Building Council’s green building verification

read the full story

What’s BRAND Got to Do with It?

Oh, the confusion over the word “brand.” Say it, and some conjure logos or packaging or even merely the ubiquity of a particular company, its product or service. Dispensing with the business school diatribe (or of pointing out that the Disney brand experience is about more than getting to meet Snow White), author and “marketing guru” Seth Godin defines brand as

“The set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.”

“If the consumer doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer,” says Go “Our brand is our reputation and our credibility,” says Al Antonez, CCM, general manager/chief operating officer of the Country Club of Rochester, NY, who is an enthusiastic advocate of clubs as brands. Long focused on an extremely high level of service and the notion of creating a “community” within and between club staff and members, Antonez is confident in the strength of the Rochester brand. “We’re going to outwork and outconnect those other clubs by a wide margin,” he says.

For long established clubs like Charlotte Country Club in North Carolina or Mountain Brook Club in Birmingham, says Chambers President & CEO Rick Snellinger, “The brands are already well established, focused on tradition, legacy and high levels of service.” Rochester’s brand was a

“little dormant” when Antonez arrived 13 years ago — “it was there,” he acknowledges, “we just had to fan the flames.”

But what of the club in transition, the club facing greater competition or one that has or is considering change that has the potential to positively affect its member experience — if only they can redefine the brand in the minds of its “consumers?”

“Brand begins by defining, knowing and understanding who you are as a club,” says Snellinger. “From establishing an honest mission statement for your club, to every programming, building, food service and staff decision you make, everything you do should support who you are as a club…a brand,” he says. In fact, Antonez focuses his branding efforts largely on ensuring he has the right staff, rightly trained.

The steps to creating a distinctive and resonant brand are, by definition, relatively simple. The path to getting there requires leadership, persistence and insistence — top down, inside out. The steps:

read the full story

Building Consensus

AN ONGOING PROCESS OF ENGAGEMENT

ASK & LISTEN

Master Planning is first and foremost about learning what members need and want. And understanding that “improve this” isn’t sufficient direction. Surveys, focus groups, interviews, conversations — learn everything you can about expectations and desires.

ENGAGE

Engage leadership with the members and members with each other. Through focus groups and town halls, let members hear the perspectives of other members, as well. A major success factor in successful planning outcomes is ensuring members gain understanding of the needs of other members that may not be like their own.

EDUCATE

About the process, opportunities and options, the solutions being developed and selections made. And why. Knowledge is power. The lack of it has the power to derail your efforts.

COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE COMMUNICATE

Newsletter updates, dedicated web content, Facebook updates, video presentations, live and online presentations…you really can’t overshare when it comes to keeping membership informed of planning status and outcomes.

ASK & LISTEN

Over the years, Chambers has worked with a number of clubs that have begun and ended the master planning process more than once.

For all the countless hours and careful considerations of boards, managers, committees and consultants, when it came time to put proposed plans to the membership, they simply couldn’t muster enough votes to make all that blood, sweat and tears pay off on what they were sure was the right thing to do for the club.

What did they miss? The importance of consensus building.

Solicit feedback, share the questions and the answers, retool as necessary — and share that you did that, too.

Chambers first-time acceptance rate of its Master Plans is over 98%.

“Half the effort in club planning is design. The other — equal — half is consensus-building.”

Rick Snellinger, Chambers President & CEO, Master Planning Specialist

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WHERE THE MUSES ARE

The Chambers team finds endless sources of inspiration — from literal (say, when considering architectural approaches) to the more intellectually or emotionally stimulating (see TED, below). See where these have taken us. Then send us your favorite sources of inspiration to share.

So many blogs, so little time. And on every conceivable topic — hospitality/club/hotel/restaurant design, interiors of every shape and form, green products, more. Take a peak at some of our favorites! >

Google Images has become a staple. From general — "classic club design" — to searches on specific fabrics, outdoor fireplace trends or the latest in lighting for the hospitality industry, Google Images can be a first source for visual inspiration & sourcing.

Make the trade publications come to you — follow Architectural Digest, Interior Design Magazine, Hospitality Design Magazine, Club & Resort Business Magazine and more on Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. Their best stories show up in your feeds — it just takes a click to see more. >

Ideas Worth Spreading. That's the mantra of the TED events — "Riveting talks by remarkable people…" On a myriad of topics, there's enough TED to inspire just about any sensibility.

Consult the Masters

Great news — the masters are all so much more accessible in the online world. Google, Pinterest, Wikipedia, the trades.…See some of our staff picks, from Billy Baldwin (the famous interior designer worked at Chambers many years ago!) >

Yep, folks, those old fashioned print tomes still exist. And in the world of architecture and design, tangible can be best! Check out some of our staff's most inspiring works from the masters in planning, architecture and design. >

You don't have to tweet to benefit from the experts who gather and disseminate information on every conceivable subject. Follow the trades, google "best golf courses on Twitter" or just see who your colleagues are following.

Let others do the searching for you on Pinterest — search a topic and see what's been vetted, gathered and pinned! We searched "restaurant design" and found these gems. >

Ask our planners, architects & designers and they'll tell you: nothing beats face-to-face interaction with spaces, places and people. Hotels, clubs, restaurants, fitness centers, spas, golf resorts and more — stepping foot on or inside real spaces are typically the best source of inspiration.

Have questions for Chambers or just want to get in touch? Email us at clubroad@chambersusa.com.