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
anyone seeking valuable insights and information on the latest trends and developments in the private club industry.
Private Club Radio Show
420: Inside the CMAA World Conference: Community, Camaraderie, and Club Connections
What happens when 3,000 industry professionals gather to share laughs, knowledge, and a hearty meal? Experience the infectious energy and camaraderie of the CMAA World Conference in Tampa with me, Denny Corby. From an impromptu dinner with 19 club managers to insightful sessions packed with strategies for navigating identity and mental health, this episode offers a unique peek into the vibrant world of private clubs. The conference is not just about learning; it's about community and the powerful connections we forge with peers across the nation, all while addressing the evolving needs of the industry.
Feel the pulse of the private club community as I recount the highlights of the first day. This year, the conference places a significant focus on mental health and identity, equipping club professionals with the tools they need to thrive in challenging times. Whether you were unable to attend or are just curious about the trends shaping our industry, this recap offers a fresh perspective on the conversations and themes that are setting the pace for the future. Tune in to gain insights and be inspired by the remarkable people who make this industry so special.
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Hey everyone, welcome to the Private Club Radio Show podcast. I'm your host, Denny Corby. In this episode, these next couple of episodes, I'm going to be doing little recaps of the CMAA World Conference. I'm here down in Tampa with friends and colleagues and amazing people of the private club industry and going to just do quick little recaps of some of the days, some of the sessions that I attended, and kind of just give a little recaps of some of the day, some of the sessions that I attended and kind of just give a quick little view for some of you that may have not been able to make it, even if you did make it, just to get a little perspective, little change of pace. And now I do want to give a shout out to some show partners. Because of them, allow me to be able to do stuff like this. Come to things like this and big thanks to our friends and show partners.
Speaker 1:Kennis Member Vetting. If you have not thought about or are not doing some sort of detailed vetting for the people coming into your club, for your prospective members, you really need to be doing something. In that world, in that realm, especially nowadays, people are so much more transient and I think oftentimes when people refer people to a club, it's not always their friends. It might just be an acquaintance. They don't always know who those people are and at Kennis Member Vetting they peel back the layers and are able to find out people's true identities and making sure that they are saying who they say they are and what they're putting on. The application is real and the person that is applying and coming into the club is who they say they are. Check out Kenneth's member vetting.
Speaker 1:We have our friends, members, first, a phenomenal group of people, amazing, amazing human beings who are from the club space. They are from clubs, they've been in clubs, so when they say things, they're coming from a place of knowledge and a place of experience. And when it comes to your club's website, does your club's website match the member experience that you're selling? If it's clunky, if it's outdated or just kind of meh, guess what? It's time for an upgrade. Members First creates luxury custom websites. There's no templates, it's all done. You're not going to look like another club. They make truly phenomenal web presences for clubs and they make it feel as high end and as luxurious as your club itself. So if you want to see what's trending, head on over to membersfirstcom, slash trends and if you do want to reach out, tell them that you heard about them or are reaching out because of private club radio and with all of our show partners, because that means a lot. And we have our friends, club Capital, who are helping protect your bottom line from subpar margins. It's their mission to bring endless value to their clubs by focusing on strategic cost management and promoting best practices. There's no upfront fees, there's no membership cost, it's just straight bottom line savings. And if you would like to learn more and see how other clubs are saving 10 to 30% on their bottom line, head on over to clubcapitalgroupcom and mention Private Club Radio and they'll hook it up.
Speaker 1:So onto conference day one I mean anytime on day one and you have 3,000 professionals from your industry in the same area. There's an energy, there's happy faces, there's connections, a lot of handshakes, a lot of hugs, a lot of shaking hands and slapping asses. But it was just such a great energy in the morning. The night before last night I hosted a small dinner of just some club friends and GMs and it was supposed to just be a few of us and it turned into 19. And it was just really cool to sit there and just look at you know just me doing this silly little private club radio show and my magic mind reading and comedy show. I was able to bring together 20 club managers, 20 club professionals from all over the country. It was just a really cool, surreal moment. Conference day one has been great.
Speaker 1:I went to the first set. There were so many sessions and so little time. There were sessions on sessions. There were sessions on navigating identity and mental health, which is actually, I think, a common theme for this year's conference, or at least there's a lot of talk on it. You know. There's cybersecurity, talking about sales and membership, talking about H-2B visas, creating a MarCom department, an impactful MarCom department. There is demystifying the MCM, the master club manager process. So many, so to speak, so many things that you can learn and gain knowledge from. Most of them were about an hour. I think tomorrow they're a little bit longer, but I went to the first one, which was feeding off feedback, and it was with Nicole Bodshin and I apologize, nicole, if I butchered your last name, but she talked about her role, which is as quality control at Ocean Reef Club.
Speaker 1:Some of the speakers are industry people, other speakers are outside industry people. Nicole is in the industry and works at Ocean Reef and, if you know, the club massive, huge, big things going on there, and her session was how to get more info from surveys, from the feedback you get from your members. So, because the goal is to create and maintain a curated experience for your members, so it was how do you get that from surveys? How do you word the surveys, what do you say, what do you not say? I think some of the bigger takeaways was really getting leadership on board with the feedback and really taking time to really think about how you craft the feedback. How are you wording it? What are you asking for One of the questions, what are the words in the questions? And also not making it where you have to.
Speaker 1:I think probably the biggest takeaway was making sure on your feedback surveys, you don't make it so they have to answer every single question or put something into every single part, cause when you do that, your numbers drop, your, your drop-off rate just goes through the roof, because if they don't want to answer something and I have to go back and they're just going to cancel the whole thing or just not even you know. So that was just really cool and just to hear her talk about Ocean Reef and just some of the things that they did, like membership and then how you take that feedback and what you do with it. So one example she gave is they wanted Ocean Reef, the members said they wanted a Mexican restaurant. So they put in a Mexican restaurant and it turns out the members did not like it. Then when the feedback came back again the surveys they wanted Tex-Mex it. Then when the feedback came back, again, the surveys they wanted Tex-Mex. So that was just neat and just talking about surveys and what you do with the data, how you work with that data some really cool stuff.
Speaker 1:So another one was real impact. Real impact sales, how to stand out, sell big and succeed. And I would say in some of these I went to the whole sessions. Some I went to little bits of sessions just because I was trying to get as much info and just learn and see as many people and just consume as much as I can. And you know it's when we the biggest takeaway for this is it's not about fitting in, it's about standing out. It was so simple and so easy and I think sometimes as clubs, you know it's hard and it's hard to stand out, sometimes, to be that little bit vulnerable, but it's just be your true self, be your true club. You know, don't compare yourself to the other clubs. It's you know who are you, who are you as your club and own it and sell it and the members are going to come.
Speaker 1:One of my favorite sessions was creating an effective Marcom department, which I did the intro for, and it was done by Victoria Burns from our friends Members First, and Shanna Bright from Private Clubs Online, two people who are so well-versed and knowledgeable in the club space. And I just love how this topic Marcom, marketing and communications, how this is becoming a very important and popular thing. Clubs are taking it serious, they're talking about it more. It's becoming a position. It's not just somebody else's thing to do and just showing that it needs to be done and a good markup, good marketing and communications. It takes time, it takes a plan, it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be cheap, but it's crucial, especially as we're growing, we're adapting, we're evolving as clubs. This needs to be done. It's about experience-driven branding, community engagement and, with all of this, it's about removing silos to help the communications, about removing the silos from the different departments. It's about getting departments talking more, engaging more, and not just with each other but also with the members. Marcom marketing communications that was an awesome session, jam-packed too, which was even better to see.
Speaker 1:I did a quick little pop over to the pregnancy in the workplace and to me like that was just fat. I just loved that. That was a thing that was available and there was people there and they were engaged and there was men, women, everybody. There was people there just learning and listening and chatting and I think what was cool about that is it just shows that there's resources, that there's people there. If there's resources, that there's people there, there's resources there, there's things available, there's conversations to be had with what's going on and how, that shouldn't stop you from succeeding in the club space. It's just a part of the world, just a part of life, and such a small but important part.
Speaker 1:I got the opportunity to go see Greg Patterson about boosting your like factor. Man, he has some energy. What a cool human being, just so entertaining, so authentic. And you know the boosting your like factor. I mean the whole thing just kind of says what it is. But just hearing him talk about it and just the art of being likable and just what that means for you, your club, your career, where you're going, where you're headed. Yeah, it was. It was just um. One of my favorite line at the end was everyone should be someone's crazy aunt or uncle. Uh, and I thought that was awesome and that is now my goal in life, even though I pretty much think I already am just especially just from doing magic. You're just that weird person anyway.
Speaker 1:And then the last session was with a Hall of Fame former Eagle player, brian Dawkins, and great speaker, because sometimes I'm fortunate to get to go all over and work with a bunch of people and sometimes when you get athletes, they're not always the best speakers or best keynoters and he had a really great message. It was a powerful friend to friend, a little too religious for me, that's just me. He didn't push or anything, but whenever it gets in, that's just not my jam. But he had a great Q&A after, also with Joe Mendez, and it was that was powerful. That was pretty cool, yeah. So, and then his big thing. It was big on mental health, or I shouldn't say mental health. I liked his phrase. He said he didn't like mental health. I liked his phrase. He said he didn't like mental health, he liked cerebral wellness. I thought that was a cool phrase to call it instead of mental health.
Speaker 1:It was pretty much day one A lot of networking, a lot of seeing people, a lot of just trying to take it all in. So that was day one. Really great stuff, really good sessions. It's almost like there's so much to do in so little time, but no, it was just a fantastic day. So that was day one. Tomorrow is going to be even better. Tonight I am on my way going to go head it out to some chapter events. I'm going to go see the New England chapter gang for their social hour, then I'm going to go have dinner with the central PA chapter. But that was day one. It was fantastic. Really. Looking forward to day two, which it looks like there's a lot more longer sessions, so the sessions are a lot longer than it being an hour. They're about an hour and a half. So I'm probably going to definitely try to pop into a couple more, maybe try to hit 30 sessions, or 30, 30 minute sessions, 30 minutes in each session or some concurrent sessions, just to try to get as much as I can to talk about it here.
Speaker 1:Hopefully you enjoyed this episode. Big thanks once again to our some show partners who are, because of them, help us here. Private Club Radio get here Kennes, member Vetting Members First, and Club Capital. That's this episode, until next time. Well, tomorrow Catch you all on the flippity flip.
