Attendees get exclusive inside look at $20.7 million renovation of Charlotte Country Club’s historic clubhouse, and insights into emerging club design trends.
General managers and Board members from over a dozen leading clubs in North and South Carolina gathered at Charlotte Country Club on April 18 for the inaugural Club & Resort Business Design & Renovation Insights workshop. As the first in a seminar series designed to offer exclusive access for an in-depth look at a specific club renovation project, while also providing insights into emerging trends, the initial one-day workshop was sponsored by Chambers, the Baltimore, Md.-based firm that specializes in private club planning and design projects. Attendees of the workshop were eligible to earn CMI education credits from the Club Managers Assocation of America.
The workshop began with a keynote address by Rick Snellinger, President & CEO of Chambers, on Trends in Club Design & Renovation. Snellinger’s presentation provided an overview of the cultural shifts that are now affecting efforts to retain existing members in the private club industry and at the same time recruit new ones. These shifts include new focuses on value over luxury; spontaneous activities over programmed ones; diversity over exclusivity; “on the go” experiences over traditional leisure pursuits; and family-centric club settings over those that revolve primarily around golf.
All of these trends, Snellinger said, are having a direct effect on how clubs’ facilities, operations, programs and continuing efforts to improve service must be shaped for future success, if desired member experiences are to be delivered, and if the members of the future are to draw the proper perceptions of value from their club-related expenditures.
Snellinger then related these shifts to specific design and renovation trends, including maximizing the efficient use of space (“bigger is not always better”); repurposing space to focus on casual dining and other “social hub” activities; green initiatives; “bringing the outside in” to enhance the full benefit of properties’ natural views and landscapes; creating value-added amenities such as fitness facilities and golf learning centers; and providing “wow factor” facility improvements such as wine rooms, historical archives or multimedia conference rooms or theaters.
Snellinger concluded his keynote address by reviewing the key steps of any design or renovation process, stressing that the emphasis should never be solely on a “project,” but rather on retaining a long-range perspective to do everything with an eye towards how it can enhance and improve the member experience. An outstanding member experience, Snellinger concluded, will always equal increased member value and unsurpassed member satisfaction.
The workshop then shifted its focus to the particulars of Charlotte Country Club’s $20.7 million restoration of its historic, 70-year-old clubhouse (“Remaking History,” C&RB, February 2011). Charlotte CC’s Chief Executive Officer, Damon DiOrio, and Carl Showalter, a Board member who served as co-chairman of the club’s Restoration Committee, took attendees through a candid and detailed accounting of how the six-year project was planned and executed.
After lunch and a complete clubhouse tour, the workshop concluded with afternoon panels on project financing, project management, and how member communication techniques can be used to maximize project payoffs. Jonathan Weathers, Vice President and Certified Business Services Officer of BB&T Bank, provided an overview of what financial institutions look for when considering loans for club renovation projects. Larry Lindsay of Project Services Group outlined the services that project management specialists can provide to help improve cost and time efficiencies and assure quality, such as working with contractors and vendors, securing required permits and approvals, and overseeing day-to-day project details.
For the final session, Trish Shand, Communications Director of Charlotte Country Club, explained the many techniques—including town hall meetings, member surveys, brochures, e-mail updates, videos, and manager-led tours—that were used throughout the Charlotte project to keep the club’s members fully apprised of all details and developments, and to keep two-way lines of communication fully open and functioning. John Snellinger, Chambers’ Director of Planning & Corporate Administration, and Cathy Austin of Loop9 Marketing, a Falls Church, Va.-based branding and marketing specialist, then outlined other ways that clubs can use emerging social media techniques to further enhance critical member communications during major capital design and renovation projects.
Club & Resort Business plans to host Design & Renovation Insights workshops at other club locations around the country in coming months, to highlight other recent successful club projects and case-history examples.
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