Club Management - January/February 2008 - (Page 22) sitting for two-and-a-half to three hours is much too long! We will see in Orlando if I have accomplished this. CM: What are your top three challenges as a club manager? LC: One of the biggest challenges all clubs face is the challenge of time. Club members are busy! Eighty percent of families have both spouses working. Combine that with increased organized activities for children, and leisure time is a precious commodity. We are seeing more 9-hole golf events at White Bear due to the fact that 18-hole events take too much time. This also has made it increasingly more difficult to find good members who are willing to sit on boards and committees. Another challenge is membership. We have seen increased competition not only with other clubs, but also high-end daily fee courses. I think a successful club now has to offer facilities for the whole family, not just golf. You need a successful children’s program, a great dining facility offering increased menu variety, and we are seeing more clubs move toward fitness and spa facilities. Either that, or the club has to be a strictly golf facility, with limited food and beverage and a top-notch golf course. The third biggest challenge I see is the increased expense of operating a club. Food prices are increasing at a dramatic rate along with the increased price of property taxes, labor, and employee benefits. As a result, we are seeing a huge increase in the cost of operating a facility with a limited membership. Because of these costs, we find ourselves more and more in the ‘dues business’ with escalating dues increases and heavier losses in the food and beverage operation. CM: You’re only the second female CMAA president. What club management insight do you have from a woman’s perspective? LC: This is a difficult question. I have sat through a number of ‘women in club management’ forums. I think the club industry is a great opportunity for women. I can honestly say that I have never felt discriminated in this business because I am a woman, with the exception sometimes of vendors. Some vendors in this industry have difficulty accepting a woman as a general manager, and as a result, it is difficult having them take you seriously. It is a time-consuming industry, and that may be the reason we saw fewer women make club management their profession. But I am happy to say that is changing. The number of female club managers is growing steadily and will continue to increase. We are not only good at what we do, but I think we are changing the industry. Women offer some important qualities to managing a club. We are very detail oriented and are extremely good at multi-tasking. CM: Where do you see the club manager profession in 10 years? LC: I see clubs going toward the CEO or COO concept. A club is big business, and I think the days of boards micromanaging clubs is quickly disappearing. They can’t afford it anymore. Combine that with the challenge of finding members willing to donate their time to attend multiple board and committee meetings, and I see clubs operating much more like a business. I also see more women managers in the near future. We are seeing the quality of young people coming into this industry with business and financial degrees. I see the days when the manager was expected to be at the club day and night rapidly changing. Family time is becoming more of a personal priority with employees of Visit us at the Golf Industry Show, Booth #917 22 • CLUB 360824_MTS.indd 1 MANAGEMENT 12/5/07 7:47:01 PM http://www.mtsseating.com
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