MIKE’S SPACE: Gregg Patterson: 2024 Tour of Duty!
Well, I’m still feeling the “buzz” after my third national tour with the one and only, Gregg Patterson!
This is my third “tour of duty” with Gregg after successful tours in 2016 (7 days) and again 2018 (10 days). Those tours were joint presentations with Norm Spitzig, but this time around for 2024 it was only Gregg (over 2 weeks).
It’s always an honour to spend some up close and personal time with Gregg out of his normal habitat.
Gregg overview:
“Mike Orloff—the founder, COO and ENERGIZER of Golf Industry Central—organized a speaking tour for the ages in New Zealand and Australia that allowed me to deliver The Message to board members, general managers, supervisors and staff in two different countries and at SEVEN different clubs.” says Gregg.
At Tara Iti in New Zealand, I talked about “The Leadership Template”. At the GMANZ conference in Auckland at the Remuera Golf Club he addressed “Developing and Motivating the Team”, “Primed for Politics” and “When Love Ain’t Enough.”
Mike had me fly to Australia to deliver the hospitality message to employee teams in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide —“From Service to Experience”, “Building the Service Team” and “Creating Long Time Staff Happy”.
And while in Melbourne and Sydney, I was able to speak to Club Directors at the Club Industry Governance and Leadership Forums—organized by GBAS—at The Yarra Yarra Golf Club in Melbourne and The Lakes Golf Club in Sydney about the “Five Principles of Good Governance.”
At each of the stops and during each of the presentations, the attendees were energized by The Message and BUZZED by the way The Message was delivered!!
It was fantastic to see so many delegates who had not experienced Gregg’s messages and enthusiasm for the club world previously. City after city, faces in the crowd started with a “WTF”, to finishing with a bellowing “Ha Ha Ha” and “potato and French Fries” to finish things off. The crowd became part of the Gregg Patterson tribe!
Internally we coined the tour “The Death March”, as we were moving from venue to venue and city to city and were on planes most nights. We sighed a sense of relief when parting ways at Brisbane Airport for a much-needed break. The GMA National Conference was now ahead of us both over the next week.
In reflection after a few weeks of “recovery” I’ve come back refreshed personally and professionally, and I am even more enthusiastic in spreading my passion of golf and club management to Australia and New Zealand.
We have such an amazing industry and are fortunate to meet some great people along our journeys. In Jakarta 2014, Norm, Gregg, Michael Leemhuis (and yours truly) were on the speaker list. It was a highlight for me to speak on a stage with those three in the front row- “wow” talk about nervous. And now to be Gregg’s “handler” for all the logistics of this tour, I appreciate his trust in me.
The highlight of the year!
Mike did an OUTSTANDING job securing the speaking engagements, coordinating the programs, organizing the details, supplying the “moral support” and guiding me through the journey. In every way, wonderfully done!!!
Gregg Patterson – Founder Tribal Magic.
A big thank you to Gregg and all the venues that reached out and made this tour happen!
