Club Management - January/February 2008 - (Page 57) Global Outreach, Canadian Style By Elizabeth Di Chiara, CAE Executive Director Canadian Society of Club Managers T he Canadian Society of Club Managers (CSCM) celebrated 50 years of promoting excellence in professional club management in 2007. CSCM has come a long way from the early days as the Canadian Society of Club Managers and Secretaries. We’re proud of our achievements during the fi rst half century and excited about what lies ahead. 2010 Winter Olympics Canada is proud to have been selected as the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia. One of the most exciting things to occur at the Calgary conference was a special invitation from John Furlong, a former club manager and member of CSCM, for CSCM members to become active participants by providing their food and beverage staff to assist with providing food services in the Olympic villages. This means CSCM could contribute staff from across the country to support “Canada’s games.” This very exciting opportunity is in the preliminary stages. Governance Striving for excellence is also reflected in changes we made to CSCM governance in the past year. In 2006, CSCM officially adopted a “modified policy governance” model that focuses the board on strategic/policy leadership rather than administrative detail, supports knowledge-based decision making, provides a clear distinction of board and executive director roles, encourages diversity of viewpoints, is based on the fundamental principle that the board makes decisions as “the body of the whole” and facilitates a proactive rather than reactive approach to leadership. With the implementation of this model, CSCM established the executive director as a full-time position. Further, CSCM had been managed by an association management company since 1998, and in August 2007, prompted by other events, took the next step of mutually agreeing to end that relationship and establish its own national office with a full-time executive director and member services coordinator. CMAA Secretary-Treasurer Michael Leemhuis, CCM, and CSCM 2006-2007 President, Denis Matte, CCM National Conference The main celebration took place at our recent annual national conference, GiddyUp!, in Calgary. The theme was not just a cowboy term used to make a horse go faster – it reflected a conference program that was intended to inspire, to challenge traditional thinking about clubs, club culture and the manager’s role, and encourage managers to consider how they could become extraordinary leaders of extraordinary clubs. The program did just that, from the opening session that included 2010 Olympic CEO John Furlong, Starbucks representative Jamie Peters and WestJet representative Richard Bartrem to the unique “Black and White” closing gala with much more in between. The conference has been rated as one of the best yet by delegates, companions and sponsors. Also at the conference, CSCM introduced Jim Hope, CCM, as our new president for the 2007-2008 term. Jim is general manager at the Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary. As the next step, in consultation with our branches and members, we reviewed our governance structure in an effort to ensure we had a structure in place that supported the new governance model and assist us in achieving excellence in governance. Our current structure includes a representative board with a director from each of 11 branches across the country and three officers. The proposed new structure, which has now been approved by our members in principle at the recent annual meeting in Calgary, consists of a smaller, nationally elected board with a process in place to ensure that the various regions in Canada are reflected in the members on the board. The process was a great exercise in communication and consultation with very positive results. Certification Professional development and the club management certification program are fundamental to creating excellence in professional club management. CSCM adopted the CMAA certification program, adapted for our members in Canada, in 2002, and we are extremely pleased that 17 of our members have achieved CCM JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2008 • 57
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