A meeting of minds- The 2011 Golf Management Australia (GMA) national conference

The 2011 Golf Management Australia (GMA) national conference brought excitement and a clear message, writes DAVID NEWBERY “Inspirational, “magical, “sensational, “phenomenal, “outstanding, “brilliant, “fantastic, “excellent, “first-class, “world-class, “energising. These were just some of the superlatives delegates used to describe Golf Management Australia’s national conference. And while on the subject of words, the conference certainly lived up to its theme: Learn Lead Inspire. By the time the four-day national conference wrapped up at Melbourne’s Crown Promenade Conference Centre, the three key words had taken on new meanings for the assembled delegates and the GMA. While previous national conferences had been described as good, this year’s gabfest was considered outstanding by the 200 delegates. The quality of guest speakers, from Australia and abroad, provided the delegates with a great mix of professional and personal material. Overseas keynote speakers included Michael Leemhuis, general manager of Congressional Country Club (host of the 2011 US Open Championship), loyalty expert James Kane and the irreverent general manager of The Beach Club in Santa Monica, Gregg Patterson. Other speakers included the founder of Boost Juice, Janine Allis, former Australian test cricket captain, Kim Hughes, Lisa McInnes-Smith, social researcher, Mark McCrindle, ‘superlite’ motor bike champion Brad Smith, social media presenter Phil Laurie, hospitality professional Ken Burgin and health expert Allan Bolton. There was something for everyone and the managers and invited guests left the conference upbeat and with plenty of fresh ideas. While education was uppermost in the GMA’s planning, the conference was “bookended by two optional golf sessions at Kingston Heath and Commonwealth golf courses. One of the highlights of the week included back-of-house tours at Yarra Yarra and Royal Melbourne where club CEO Paul Rak gave delegates an insight into the planning for the Presidents Cup. GMA president and New South Wales Golf Club general manager David Burton said he had received plenty of positive feedback from delegates. “We had a very strong program and some of the best Australian and international speakers. The speakers from the USA (Leemhuis, Kane and Patterson) added significant content and insight to the conference. Speaker Gregg Patterson’s verve certainly kept the delegates informed and entertained. “Gregg’s enthusiasm and prolific excitement was quite inspiring and also a little bit exhausting, Burton said. “We had a compressed program which made it slightly more intense with basically three-and-a-half days of speakers over various themes including leadership, golf operations and health. “We crossed industry forums and quite a diverse range of people’s perspectives on what makes their businesses and their clubs’ effective. “To me the barometer was when I had to give an address to the group, which I did on a number of times. I would be standing on stage and looking out and even at the end of the day the room was always full, Burton said. “Nobody said ‘I think I’ll take off the last two sessions and go golfing’. “I am not saying that was ever the habit, but usually by the end of a conference you always leaked a little oil, but right to the bitter end the room was full and with the day delegates we had over 200, which was also unprecedented. Burton said those club managers who could not attend the conference missed a great opportunity. “One of the unwritten rules of these conferences is the actual networking and every day there were networking opportunities, he said of the all inclusive conference. “It’s not a big club conference. It’s an all golf clubs’ conference and we try to incorporate that into the program. It’s not about just dealing with issues that Royal Sydney, The Australian and NSW Golf Club have. “It was never that at all it was about the issues out there. We had Mark McCrindle telling us about what’s happening with the population trends and generation trends and all that impacts golf clubs at all levels. “A lot of issues the smaller clubs have are the same issues the bigger clubs have just at a different scale. “The club that turns over $500,000 has the same issues as the club that turns over $9m they are just different scales. Burton said he was hoping managers who were unable to attend would hear through the grapevine that it was well worth the money. “I think people have to see the proof and if the proof is that it is a conference that can’t be missed then I think through time even the smaller clubs will get enough explanation and enthusiasm through their boards to ensure they don’t miss out. But they will have to wait two years. The 2013 GMA national conference will be held in Sydney. Meanwhile here are a few examples of what some of the delegates said after the conference: Royal Melbourne CEO Paul Rak said it was the best conference he had been to. “The quality of the speakers was fantastic. You could see that by the number of people still in the room towards the end of the week. Every session was packed out, Rak said. John Stamp, general manager of Woodlands Golf Club and former president of Golf Management Victoria and Australia said: “Having attended 11 CMAA world conferences, I feel qualified to argue that the standard of speakers were, as a group, the equal to any of the US conferences I have attended and certainly vastly superior to the standard of most speakers at any of the many conferences of our association that I have attended in my 38 years in the industry. Concord GC general manager Tim Gahan, who was attending his fifth conference, said the speakers were inspirational. “It has helped re-invigorate my passion for the job, he said. “This was the eighth conference I’ve attended and it was unquestionably the best, said Mt Lawley GC general manager Lindsay Stade. “The quality of the speakers was first rate with topics that were relevant and absorbing. Personally, I was able to take something from each of the speakers, particularly those who had achieved major success in their fields. It was reassuring to hear that passion and enjoyment remain key elements of success. The Eastern Golf Club GM, Ben Tilley, described the conference as “sensational. “What I took away from was the simple practical tools that can be applied in our day-to-day lives and in our workplace. The sessions weren’t about overwhelming delegates but instead giving them something practical that they can apply. But I was moved by many of the presenters and valued the opportunity to listen to some of the speakers from the US. There were strong themes on leadership and health because the way we feel personally contributes to our workplaces. I think the flow of the speakers all tied in and it was really special. There was a lot to take in and I have already been back to review my own notes. Making use of resources was a fantastic outcome as well encouraging delegates to read and never stop reading. Royal Canberra’s general manager Rick Coate was also impressed with the line-up of speakers. “It was much more condensed much more focused on training and gave the managers something tangible to take away. The conference was well attended all the sessions were full and nobody skipped “school. We took the opportunity of taking my assistant manager, the club president and the head chef. They all were impressed with the range of speakers. It covered a lot of the psychology behind customer service and membership loyalty, which has always been a fascination of mine. It’s something I think committees particularly struggle with. With some of the concepts there’s a lot of guess work sometimes as to what the members expect and want in clubs. It really nailed those. But the real benefit is the networking with your colleagues. It gives us the opportunity to talk about problems and maybe strengthen some reciprocal arrangements. If we do have an issue, a problem or a challenge we simply want to get some information on how people do things and everyone is quite happy to share the knowledge. I have come away with six pages of ideas and a lot of what was said is what we are doing already. But it was always good to formalise things and come up with some genuine ideas. Phil Laurie spoke to us about social media, which I think is something that a lot of golf clubs will have to be dragged kicking a screaming into the future. Redland Bay Golf Club general manager Aaron Muirhead was glad he attended the conference. “Being my first GMA conference and being unsure what to expect, I must admit that my expectations were high, however, this conference certainly exceeded these expectations.The bar was set very high after witnessing the CMAA conference this year in Orlando with the massive amount of ideas I bought home to implement at my club. However, speaking from my own experience, I am heading home from the GMA conference with the same amount of ideas if not more ideas. This was achieved not only from the conference material, but also the excellent networking opportunities made available from attending this event. Bribie Island’s Lisa Shaw also was making her first appearance at the national conference and came away inspired. “I thought it was fantastic. I found it to be extremely worthwhile and motivational. I thought the organisation of it and the speakers were fantastic. Shaw said she was impressed with the session on loyalty. “There are a lot of day-to-day things that we lose sight of. And it’s members’ loyalty that we have to always strive to keep. It’s not something you get and forget about it. You have to keep working on it and that was driven home. You have to pay attention to your members, your customers. Sometimes we think we have got our membership and that’s fine and great, but it’s not. You have to ensure those members are happy and you retain them and you have to look at attracting new members at the same time. Days after the conference, Shaw was still upbeat and couldn’t wait to pass on her knowledge to the club’s staff. “I don’t want the inspiration to go away before I get back into my routine, she said. “I don’t want to lose that momentum. I want to convey the thoughts and ideas that were given to us because they are extremely valuable. I hope it encourages other golf club managers because I thought the conference was invaluable. Scott Wagstaff, the GM at Carbrook Golf Club where three-metre sharks lurk in the dam, described the week “phenomenal. “Personally, I got a lot of personal development out of it, said Wagstaff, who won the GMA golf event at Commonwealth. “There were so many little ideas. You learn to understand people and members, their mindset and what makes good golf clubs tick. Why are clubs good, why are clubs successful? There were some inspiring presenters that you walk out and said “wow. For me it’s about making the members feel special and a sense of community at the club. That was a couple of the good things I got out of it. There are so many different ways to do things so I will be focussing on the ideas I came away with to make the members feel more special and more included. One of the speakers called it Tribal Magic creating this tribal feeling in your club where everyone belongs. I have been working away at that since I have been here so it’s given me a whole lot of new ideas to make it better. For me they had a great mix of professional and personal development. It wasn’t just about people telling you how to do your job for four days. You learnt some good ideas and tasks and how to lead people, but you also learn about how to be a better person yourself. They got that mix just perfect. You felt good as well as learning. One of the things I enjoyed most was a tour of Royal Melbourne. That was special. You can feel the history and tradition when you walk in. One of the conference’s sponsors, Andrew Davies from Golf Nut, said the conference was a good networking opportunity. “It was good for us to make some connections as a sponsor and we had a lot of good conversations about trying to get the new business, Golf Nut, up-and-running. We got some very positive feedback. I thought it (conference) was good with a full agenda and some very interesting speakers. He said the forum on the future of golf was interesting. “There’s a strong level of concern about future of the industry, player numbers and membership numbers. I think the clear message was that there is no silver bullet being proffered. There are a lot of small things that need to be done well for the industry to succeed rather than any one great thing that can be fixed and we are all going to be swimming in golfers. But I think it was a very positive week. There are quite a few things that need to be improved or go right for the industry to start seeing some success but, in fairness, I only sat in on that session and a couple of others. • Golf SA communications and golf development manager Phil Laurie said conference stood out as the best week of the presentations and events the GMA had hosted. “That was certainly the consensus among the dozens of delegates I spoke to, said Laurie, who did a presentation on social media. “The educational program was exceptional with world-class international speakers such as James Kane, Michael Leimhuis and the crazed ‘physical’ performance of Gregg Patterson being among the many highlights. Laurie said he would have like to see more state association and club boards at the conference. “The state associations and club boards appeared conspicuous by their absence which was a pity as I think both would have received considerable benefit from attending not only for the networking opportunities but also from the high standard of presentations, he said. “Sadly the session that fell flat for me was the industry panel. It lacked focus and enthusiasm and, as one of the NSW delegates rightly pointed out, simply regurgitated many of the tired and trusted themes that have been trotted out in previous years.