A painless IT upgrade at your property? It can be accomplished through a steady mix of pre-planning and wise choices.
Gaining a Technical Edge
With proper training and implementation, technology can free management and staff from desks and offices to do what they do best: Spend more time with members.
Powering Up the “Electronic Club”
They cyber-sky is the limit when it comes to what members and guests can now do online- from checking statements and paying bills to tapping into online directories and databases, and even participating in club-specific social networks.
Having a Blast?
Whether it’s weekly, monthly or on an as-needed basis, more clubs and resorts are looking for ways to successfully use e-mail marketing to their members (and potential members), vs. being dismissed as junk. Here are some ways to not only make it safely into an inbox, but actually get read once you do: 1. Adhere…
Web Budget Essentials
Here are a few content necessities for the proper website…
Web Savvy
Is your online content provider enhancing your marketing approach, or holding you back?
IT Now a Big Key to Hospitality Satisfaction, New Study Shows
The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) recently released a new study, 2008 Current and Future Technology Use in the Hospitality Industry. Funded by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (the not-for-profit affiliate of AH&LA), the research analyzes top areas of information technology (IT) most frequently being implemented, and quantifies increased customer demands that…
Not Just for Paper Anymore
You don’t need to look very hard to see the considerable influence that technology has had on the golf industry of late. It’s been fifteen years since professionals hit wooden drivers, and the ball just keeps going farther and farther—well, for some people, anyway. But it’s not just on the course that state-of-the-art equipment is…
The Whys and Wherefores of Wireless
SUMMING IT UP •The growing ease of, and reliance on, wireless connections is making it harder to try to strictly separate work and social environments. • Cell phone use in clubs is being reassessed because of its potential benefits for safety and family-based communications. It wasn’t too long ago that cell phones, BlackBerries and wireless…
X Marks the Spot
SUMMING IT UP • GPS can improve pace of play and minimize labor costs. • Marrying new technology to solid customer service can create new business opportunities. • GPS can help improve golf course maintenance programs through more accurate mapping. See a complete photo gallery of the course here Remember treasure maps? Those enchanting childhood…
Smart Signs
Smart Signs The Goal: Deliver onproperty messages and announcements about events and activities at The Cosmos Club with more immediacy, customization, and an increased “wow”factor. The Plan: Develop LCD notice board that can be programmed to display PowerPoint slide shows and interface with Catering database. The Payoff: Updates now can be completed in two-thirds less…
Totally Tubular
Totally Tubular The Goal: Follow the lead of “YouTube’s” popularity and devise ways to communicate with members of the Capital City Club that are more in step with today’s interactive, online environment. The Plan: Produce “VueTube” videos featuring the Club Manager and Executive Chef that promote upcoming club events, dining room specials, and other activities,…
Bonus Features
A key feature of catering software is the automated reminders a system can provide to let a club know when a customer’s payment is due, according to Mark Del Priore, General Manager of Pine Hollow Country Club in East Norwich, N.Y. Pine Hollow recently changed its payment schedule so that 50% of the balance is…
Making Catering “Automatic”
Summing It Up • New software products can give catering directors more time, through tools such as automated task lists, financial management grids and built-in calendars, to help them manage the myriad of activities they must juggle at one time. • Many programs are equipped with “life cycle” technology, designed to guide a club through…
Tipping Point Technology
High-tech tools are successfully making their way into the club and resort world, as a growing number of properties believe the way to improve enjoyment and increase revenues is to embrace technology, not resist it. “Ask for a strip steak sandwich on the 2nd tee, and we’ll have it to you by the time you…