Private Club Radio Show
Welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, the industry's weekly source for education, news, trends, and other current developments in the world of private clubs.
Hosted by the talented entertainer and industry expert, Denny Corby,
the podcast offers a unique perspective on the private club industry, featuring expert guests, product spotlights, predictions, and more.
Whether you're involved in a golf club management, yacht clubs, athletic clubs, or business clubs, the Private Club Radio Show is the essential podcast for
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Private Club Radio Show
387: Balancing Member Preferences & Club Needs w/ Matt Campagne - Tchefuncta Country Club
Our conversation with Matt Campagne, Director of Food and Beverage at Tchefuncta Country Club in Louisiana. Matt's journey starting as a busboy and climbing the ranks to become a key figure in the club industry.
You'll learn how Matt expertly balances member preferences with club needs, and why adaptability and solid communication are critical in hospitality.
In this episode, we dive into the complexities of transitioning through various management roles, distinguishing between titles like food and beverage manager and director. Matt recounts his rewarding experience of turning around member satisfaction at Tchefuncta Country Club and underscores the importance of building a cohesive team, including hiring an executive chef.
As we talk about elevating food quality and managing events, Matt offers practical tips on sourcing high-quality ingredients and the joy of organizing memorable private events. This episode is a treasure trove of knowledge for anyone keen on enhancing member experiences and making a mark in club management.
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Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show Podcast, the industry's choice for news, trends, updates and conversations all in the world of private golf and country clubs. Whether you are brand new to the industry or a consummate professional, welcome. We are glad you are here. I'm your host, denny Corby Welcome. This is the show where we go over any and all topics related to private golf and country clubs In this episode.
Speaker 1:I'm stoked, I'm excited to chat and bring on an actual friend of mine, a friend of the industry, matt Campaign, who is the director of food and beverage at Trafunka Country Club in Louisiana. Real quick spell it. I love the way things are spelled down in Louisiana, but I've known Matt for many, many years. I've seen him work his way through the club industry and it's been really cool to see. Over the past years we've known each other and in our episode that's what we talk about his career in the club industry and experience in managing clubs, the food and beverage, the hospitality aspects. And what's neat is his journey. Just like many others, it comes from starting off as a busboy working with feet, hands on the ground, pounding the pavement, so to speak, and then just working his way up through the club ranks, mostly in Louisiana, went out to Reno for a little bit, did some stuff out there, but came back where he's absolutely killing it.
Speaker 1:He's been at Beauchesne the club at Ranchera Country Club of Louisiana and right now Trafunka Country Club, but I'd say really the biggest takeaways and what we talk about is the importance of really listening to members and adapting to their preferences, while also standing true to what you, the club chef, and what the club needs to do. So it is balance. So it is listening and taking all in their preferences and balancing what they want and what they need, because that is also two completely different things. This is a really cool episode. Can't wait for you all to listen. Private Club Radio listeners. Let's welcome to the show the director of food and beverage at Trafunka Country Club, matt Campagne. And, as a total side note, I know he loves cookies and cream ice cream so right before we chatted I had a delivery sent to his office from Uber Eats of some ice cream. As a bus boy, right.
Speaker 2:Bus boy, cabana boy Yep.
Speaker 1:Cabana boy.
Speaker 2:Oh, poolside server if you want to call it that, but cabana boy sounds cooler, was that over? At that was at Beauchamp.
Speaker 1:Yep, okay. Oh, okay, so they had cabana boys before it was cool yeah, before it was in and then did you go to? Do you go to school for hospitality and food and beverage and all that?
Speaker 2:I went for. So I went for business with a concentration in hospitality, but it wasn't a hospitality degree per se, gotcha. It was basically like two classes of hospitality thrown in there. So they say concentration, yeah, but it was a general management degree.
Speaker 1:When did you know you were going to kind of stick to clubs?
Speaker 2:Really, it was probably end of college. So when I started at Bochent, I was at the tail end of my freshman year and then ended up graduating, didn't?
Speaker 1:know what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2:Really, I knew I loved where I was at. But also if there wasn't a management position open or anything like that or any kind of advancement opportunities, I didn't want to be a server banquet worker captain per se for the rest of my life. I didn't want to be a server banquet worker captain per se for the rest of my life. I have this brand-new degree. It's all cool. I want to do something with it.
Speaker 2:And then, three weeks after I graduated, my current manager, our assistant club manager over at Boshen, happened to put her notice in. She was leaving, she was going to start a family, getting married and all that good stuff. She was going to do the stay-at-home mom thing. They approached me and I was like, well, you know, I already know I love this place and I love what I do and I love the people. I was like maybe I can make a career out of this. I dove deeper into it and talked with our gm, then ken johnson, and uh, kind of just worked out from there. I was like, oh man, I'm gonna try it out, you know. Yeah, I think, set my claws in and see what I can do with this, you know um, you've mainly stayed in the new orleans area, except for your little stint out in uh my small tiny stint.
Speaker 2:Yeah right, I was. I was at boshan for 12 years total. Um five years was that span of college. I was on the five-year plan, five and a half year plan um right. But um, that was lucky five and a half. It should have been six. But I went to my guidance counselor I was like, hey, what's the fastest track out of here? You know, I'm like, I'm done with college. I'm at the end of my Pell grants. They're not giving me more loans.
Speaker 1:I got to get out of here.
Speaker 2:You know. She was like well, if you take 18 hours this semester and then nine hours in the summer and 18 hours in the fall, you graduate in December. I was like, deal, we're doing so, we're doing so during that time. That's when I was server, bus boy, cabana boy, to start kind of working my way through that. Then that was another seven years as assistant club manager at Bo Shen and really that was the longest tenure. Then I decided it was time to kind of with my career, it's time to build.
Speaker 2:That's when Don Beaver was at Beauchesne I knew he was going to be there for a while, the seasoned vet he is. I was like I've got to try and test the waters, maybe it's time for me to move somewhere and try it out. Got to see the great country. My sister moved to the Bay Area at the time so I was like, yeah, maybe I can get closer to some family, my closest sibling. And so I found that job in Reno at the Club at Ranchera and it was a great experience, great team there. That was just the 14 months I was there Kind of turned into a shorter sentence. I wanted to, but ended up back in Louisiana back at home.
Speaker 1:Family and things and other things take, take precedent sometimes.
Speaker 2:That's it, you know, I think I told you.
Speaker 1:No, I was going to say was there was there a big difference or culture difference in terms of people and employment between Louisiana and Reno Nevada?
Speaker 2:You know, people-wise, believe it or not, that little small pocket of the West Coast area they're fairly conservative, kind of like Louisiana is that little pocket. Once you cross the border from California over the mountain range, right there the people change. They're more similar values and thought process. Um, that's the nevada people. Now you got the folks that are from california and the bay area and yeah, they uh have the california thought a way of life, you know, and uh, it's, it's different. But you can, you can adapt, you know, you, you can read people and know your audience and know who you're talking with and who you're working with. And I'll say the biggest difference would be their core values of.
Speaker 2:For me, in food and beverage, they value over there more of ingredient-based farm to table. Where did this food come from? Where is it sourced from? Here it's just like is this food really good? No, what's, how is it? Or, and it's more of, what was your preparation method here other than where did the ingredients come from? It's so it's a similar but different thought process. You know, know, from a beverage perspective. Now, politics, you can get into that if you want to.
Speaker 1:And Ranchera. There was no golf either.
Speaker 2:Correct it was more of a city club, but it was a community amenity. Yeah, and it was a fairly new club. When I got there it was a year or two old. They had just converted it. It was actually the Harrah's Mansion, john and Bill Harrah's Casino. It was purchased and converted to a club and community. It was beautiful, great club, great staff, great members, growing membership.
Speaker 1:I'm going to be having Whitney Yates on soon, okay, cool, good, yeah, who's there? Because they're doing some cool stuff. She was telling me, just like some of the programming, and I totally forgot they didn't even have golf and they're just like a city club and they're killing it with like the most random events.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I keep following their Instagrams. Yeah, it looks like they've teamed up with the Pioneer Center in downtown Reno and they have all this entertainment lined up and it looks awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're doing a lot of cool stuff, which is great to hear, right? So what was it like coming back to Louisiana?
Speaker 2:I was back home, ended up taking a clubhouse manager role over at Country Club Louisiana in Baton Rouge. It was good liaison back home Hour away from home, but still home, closer to friends and family. I enjoyed my time there. It wasn't quite the best fit for me, I don't think, and I realized that about a year in I met Katie over here at Chifuncta, our GM, katie Santangelo, and things kind of worked out to literally get me home, get me back.
Speaker 1:Can you go into that a little bit more? What did you mean by it wasn't a good fit you?
Speaker 2:know every club's different um way it's built. There was in a management transition phase. It was more of I don't want to say it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was more of not the position I wanted to be in at the time um severely transition um board management, um financials, all the kind of top to bottom transition. It's not really the position I wanted to be in at the time. I was still growing my career and learning as I go, you know yeah.
Speaker 1:Is there? Is there? What's it like? I don't know what the wording I'm trying to use for it, but you've had different titles that seem like it goes up in I don't want to say up in value, but up the ladder or down. It looks like it back and forth.
Speaker 2:They're all basically the same with different names. How does that make you feel?
Speaker 1:Some people that's a huge deal, other people they don't care. So I always just like to ask, like you know, what was that like, cause sometimes it could be a ego hit to you know, go to a new place and all of a sudden it might just seem like a different title and stuff. So like, how did you?
Speaker 2:you know what, thank you. In the club business there really is a difference between a food and beverage manager and a food and beverage director, and there's a difference between a club manager and a general manager and there's a difference between club house manager and a club manager. It's such small nuances in title that could make a big difference for certain people. For me, for instance, I went from a consistent club manager at Bo Shen, which was basically a food and beverage director role, just with a different name, and Reno at the Club of Ranchero was food and beverage manager. So it was more of a dining room manager role and I knew that taking it when I went out there and I was happy with it. It gave me a chance to explore and see what I liked. It was a different setting of club. It was a different type of club. It wasn't a country club. So I tried it out and you know it worked. Then a clubhouse manager role at Country Club Louisiana. It was kind of split between clubhouse manager and assistant general manager. As far as food and beverage director, such a large volume club between banquet and member dining, it was over $4 million food and beverage just at the one club, so it was a pretty big operation, so we split duties. He took on more of maintenance and banquets. I focus more on member dining, um, so almost like having co food and beverage directors per se.
Speaker 2:Um, and now I am at Chafunk, the country club, I am the food and beverage director and, um, we've, we've turned things around here a lot. It was a lot, it was fun. I had a blank canvas coming here pretty much, and it's been a fun over a year. The chef had just left and he was chef slash food and beverage director. Oh boy, well, yeah, that's a whole other topic. However, you want to run it. But I came here and the member satisfaction was low for food and beverage and first line of duty. I didn't even start at the club yet. I was still in my moving phase and was tasked with hiring an executive chef, obviously, because no food and beverage director or a chef or a manager or any kind of food and beverage anything. Okay, and I lucked up. I would say I lucked up.
Speaker 1:Lucked up Was that. Lucked up.
Speaker 2:Lucked up with an executive chef application that came in. You know, it was actually an old buddy from high school. He was a chef locally here in town at a really well-regarded restaurant in town and his application came across and I was like I hadn't talked to him since high school, since we and I was like this is, but I knew all about him. I was like this is a no-brainer, I'm holding his resume, this is no-brainer, this is my guy, you know, um, and then brought him in and we both pretty much started just about the same time, within weeks of each other. Um, that's our executive chef k Kyle Benefiel, here at the club.
Speaker 1:And he's done fantastic.
Speaker 2:Members are thrilled they are. Yeah, I think we've done a. We're almost to the 180 phase. We're still building, we're both shortly over a year in, but we've already. We've grown our member dining. If you look at revenues, we've grown that way. If you look at satisfaction with surveys, we've grown that way. Now it's we're to the point of finally getting some complaints in. At first, when we first got here, it's like, oh, the members have given up. We gave up, you know. It's like there's nothing to complain about, because what's? There's nobody to complain to. Um, so now it's we hit a year and we're getting complaints and the and chef is, he's like man, they're complaining about these. I'm like that's good, that's a good thing, man, because we went forever without hearing anything. I was like we need some feedback. You know, now they're, they're, they're engaged now. Now there's if there's something to complain about, whereas we, we've caught their attention and they're coming, you know.
Speaker 1:So it's going to be a fun journey over the next, however long this goes. So, when you were coming into this blank slate, what was your first? Well, obviously you got like a chef. You know, but like you know besides, that, like what's your first order of business, Like you like, okay, so you're, you're, you're there, you have chef like like how do you build it? Where do you start from? Like, what do you? What do you do?
Speaker 2:Right, this one. Um, first thing I did was obviously evaluate the current staff. We had management aside because food and beverage didn't really have any leadership or direction. But I found out we actually have a had a fantastic staff, and 90% of the staff that was here when we both started are still currently here. Yeah, they're all fantastic people. They're hard workers. They just needed the guidance and the direction and management staff too. It's a whole thing. Our GM is fantastic. Our membership director is fantastic. Our office administrator is fantastic. Golf pro it's across the board.
Speaker 2:Just that food and beverage aspect was missing. I think Chef Kyle and myself coming in, we get really kind of keen in and build it how we wanted to and started with staff. Second was listening to members getting a little group together. We had a couple of meet and greets in the bar and little cocktail hours, come talk with Chef Kyle and Matt in the bar and we really just listened to what they wanted. It's uh, they had to say it's a simple game, but it's pretty, pretty simple and you break it down to us. What do they want? Let's give it to them. You know, if we can do it, they want it. Why can't we give it to them and if we possibly can. So a lot of listening.
Speaker 2:And the equipment, the kitchen was great. So we really we had all the tools we needed, just had to put it all in action throughout the plan New menus, new concepts, a lot of member events, more of throw on the dart at the dartboard, blindfolded. You know, if it hits the bullseye, you know that's great, if you miss, oh well, we won't throw it in that direction again. You know it's um trial by fire and let's see what works, let's see what sticks, get the feedback back and then go from there what's some of the feedback you're getting now with the, with like the food and stuff that you know is.
Speaker 1:Is it stuff that you're seeing like people like what, what? What's? What's been that feedback that you're finally getting now?
Speaker 2:Right. Um, now we're using. So we started with the food wise. We started with let's get, like I said earlier, let's get the food good. Let's just get good, great food tasting good. Um, let's get our the the preparation methods down. Let's get our um. Let's get our prep boards done and get those filled out. Let's execute.
Speaker 2:Now we're finally getting to the point. Now we're going to keen in on the quality of ingredients. We're getting the more prime beef in. We're getting the Berkshire porks in. We're getting your finer cuts of meat to elevate the already good food. Now we're going to make it over-the-top great food. Basically the same style. Just you can tell the difference in the cut of meat and the grade of protein, you know. And the ingredients in your salads and how fresh they are. Where are they coming from? Now we're talking more of food's good. Now we can internally talk where we're going to get these ingredients from and then we're going to get these ingredients from and then we're going to build on that.
Speaker 2:The feedback from the membership obviously it's been mostly really good. They give us good pointers because we just came out with a new menu and a lot of it. We went a little bit lighter for summertime. But I think we missed the mark maybe on a couple of the healthier side things Super, light, super, which is great feedback, good. So now we can incorporate our weekly specials, we can incorporate our lighter dishes. See which one of those are working. Maybe we can link up. We have a local hospital over here Ochsner does a Eat Fit North Shore. So you have to follow pretty strict guidelines. So if you link up with them, you submit your recipes to them. Once they approve them you can put their logo on your menu and then people can recognize that this is an extremely healthy menu item.
Speaker 1:Right, a way of working with the community, and just I don't know, that's a great yeah, that For sure. That's a great yeah, that's cool, that's a great idea.
Speaker 2:I first learned of that at Bo Shen from Chef Jose Bourgeois over there and he linked up with EatFit and it was a good partnership. Yeah, it's trying to get the recipes down because I think it's like a 600 calorie max for an entree and a certain amount of fat content. So in Louisiana 600 calorie max for an entree and certain amount of fat content. So it's a in louisiana, 600 calories for an entree is uh two bites.
Speaker 1:You know all your sauces, gravy right at two phases oh, yeah, um give me the chicken, that's it.
Speaker 2:Give me the um that's. That's the type of things we're exploring now from our member feedback.
Speaker 1:That's cool. Yeah, have some of your ice cream. It should be getting like a really nice scoop. You guys do a decent amount of weddings and outside events, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:Weddings not so much. We average about 12 a year, so one a month on average. Private events we aim to have at least one a week, so we're really not doing a crazy amount. It's about 33% compared to 66%. Remember 1966 and private events 33 over here. Remember 1966 and Private Events 33 over here. We hoped to get more. There wasn't much when I first got here, but brought in some events and some new people. We did have a fantastic banquet coordinator when I first started, but she had an opportunity to leave to really pursue her passion career, which was hair and makeup. Ever since then, I've pretty much taken over the role of banquet coordinator until we exceed that level of business that we need to bring somebody.
Speaker 1:It's going to be a lot of work handling a lot of moving parts in a short amount of time.
Speaker 2:Right, the banquets are time. Well, yeah, right, the banquets are fun. For me, to be honest, really it's fun. Yeah, they're fun. It's fun seeing the end product in the face that they make when they're happy Like a bride and groom. If you've met with them the first time they came, you talk to the bride on the phone, it's first contact and you're with them the first time they came, you talk to the bride on the phone, you know it's first contact and you, you've, you're with them the entire way through. And then you see them on their, on their uh departure out the front door. You know it's. It's cool seeing the full, full process work out. You know it's. Um, it makes me feel really good when, when I see the, the end, the end game there. You know and I well, we created this together I have a certain ownership it's a minority ownership of the whole wedding, but it's a small portion of it that I know. I helped out big time and helped make their day special and they're going to remember that for the rest of their lives. That's not just weddings, it's every event. We have a birthday brunch this weekend, it's the same thing.
Speaker 2:The planning start to finish and going through all the trials. Chef knows more than me that I say yes to everything and then I get to my office I'm like shoot, why did I say yes to that? How are we going to figure this out now? Let's rally the troops. How are we going to figure this out? Right, let's connect the dots. Later on We'll figure it out, but I don't know what I got ourselves into, but we're going to do it. But any outlandish requests, we can figure it out for sure and have a good time doing it.
Speaker 2:It's all a learning process. When you do those things, any things you wish you learned earlier in your career Learned, I wish I would have, kind of when I finally, after 12 years of ocean, then I decided to kind of, I want to make this, I want to move up and on and learn, and I kind of wish I would have done that a little bit earlier. And nothing against them. I loved ocean. The owners are great, still still great to me, um, over at ocean and. But I wish I would have started that process of gaining more knowledge from different experiences a little bit earlier and gaining more knowledge from different experiences a little bit earlier. And then I really didn't start. I joined CMAA 2013, 14, right when I started as an assistant club manager, right when I got promoted over at Beauchesne, but I really didn't get engaged with it until 2018, 19. So I really wish I would have started on the BMI track and then my track to my CCM a little bit sooner. It's never too late.
Speaker 2:I'm having a good time doing it now it's fun realizing when I first started going to those Pelican Chapter meetings when I was 23-24 years old and I was by far the youngest person in the room by leaps and bounds. It made me maybe a little uncomfortable back then. But seeing the transition of our chapter alone leave aside national, just our chapter alone is probably quadrupled in size. It seems like, at least when you go to the meetings, I don't know by numbers probably quadrupled in size. It seems like at least when we go to the meetings. I don't know by numbers, but in the past 10 years it seems like our average age is definitely getting younger and younger and we have we have peers in every age and kind of leadership role capacity. You know we have everything represented now in our chapter alone role capacity, we have everything represented now in our chapter alone.
Speaker 2:It's been fun seeing that just in the past five, six years that I've actually engaged myself a little bit more, Got myself entwined with the board of our chapter. Now finally, and kind of taking that next leap, Drinking the juice hard, yeah, Bought in hard. You got to start somewhere. I'm enjoying it. I'm almost ready to start doing my overview courses for CCM. Oh, snap, yeah right.
Speaker 2:Almost getting there. So I try to go to a BMI a year. That's good, in conference too. Yeah, I wish I would have started on a little bit earlier. You know I did have. Originally, when I first started I had goals of getting my CCM before I was 30 and that would be cool, you know. But it didn't happen. And then the more I've moved, moved on.
Speaker 1:I've gotten a lot more support in that too, which helps out a lot. Hey, I want to thank you so much for coming on the show, my man.
Speaker 2:Really appreciate you, man. Good seeing you again.
Speaker 1:Hope you all enjoy that episode. I know I did. If you're enjoying the content, like share, subscribe. That's this episode. Until next time, catch you on the flippity flip.
