Occasionally we hear from someone who wants to squabble with why we always call these special issues a collection of “new ideas,” because in that person’s view they’re really not. To which our reply is always, you’re right—and you’re wrong.
Our June 2018 issue was the 12th time around for our annual collection of some of the best ideas we’ve come across through another year of covering the club industry. And it’s the 12th time it will rank as one of the most fun and enjoyable issues of the year for us to put together—and, I may immodestly suggest, for you to read.
I’m confident that will be the case because each year we get responses to our Ideas Issue from managers who thank us for providing them with a helpful template for planning ways to take their own clubs’ operations and event schedules to new levels of efficiency and creativity.
Occasionally, though, we also hear from someone who wants to squabble with why we always call these a collection of “new ideas” (as we did again on the cover this year), because in that person’s view they’re really not. To which my reply is always, you’re right—and you’re wrong.
Looking back at some of the stories that we featured in our first few Ideas Issues, it’s true that it’s not hard to find concepts that are similar to some of what we’re highlighting here in #12. In 2008, for example, our Ideas Issue told of videos made by Atlanta’s Capital City Club to help members develop a better understanding of, and appreciation for, its culinary operation. But does that mean we’re wrong to trumpet John’s Island Club’s “Sourced” videos (“Source of Pride,” pg. 28), as something “new” this year?
Certainly not—and not just because a closer comparison of how the two clubs adapted the concept quickly reveals significant differences in their planning and execution, as well as their strategic intent and payoffs. But even if anything we’re including in this issue could be shown to be pretty much a carbon copy (if those still exist) of something that was first written about 10 years ago, there could still be good reason to hang a “new” label on it and showcase it again.
In fact, I found something in our 2007 Ideas Issue that’s worth repeating, for anyone who might not fully see what’s “new” about the content of this issue in June 2018. It was written by our President Dan Ramella in his “Off the Cuff” column: “Some may argue there are few truly new ideas. Who cares? Taking someone else’s great idea and tailoring it to your specific needs is simply smart business.” And I don’t think anyone can dispute that in this, our latest collection of ideas, there’s plenty of evidence of very smart business. And that’s always welcome news for our industry, even if it really might not be anything all that “new.”
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