Why The Standard Club Doesn’t Post Just to Post

Emory Patton, Director of Membership & Marketing, The Standard Club

Clubs have no shortage of things they could post. Events, menus, golf tournaments, fitness programs, membership news and everything else happening across the operation can quickly turn a social feed into another club bulletin board.

Emory Patton doesn’t want that.

As Director of Membership & Marketing at The Standard Club in Johns Creek, Ga., Patton takes a deliberately editorial approach to social media. She builds a 30-day calendar, but she isn’t beholden to it. She uses technology, but keeps her stack lean. She watches engagement, but doesn’t let performance data dictate what gets published. And while AI and automation have places in her workflow, she would rather keep much of the process manual.

Ahead of her workshop, “The Social Standard: A Social Media Workshop,” at the at the 2026 Engagement Summit, October 5-6, Patton explains how she decides what makes the feed, how social fits into the club’s larger communications strategy and why she would rather leave a spot on the calendar empty than create content simply to fill it.

Club + Resort Business (C+RB): Walk me through how a post actually gets made at The Standard Club. Where does the idea originate, who creates the copy and visuals, who approves it, and what gets scheduled versus posted in real time?

Emory Patton (EP): Ideas primarily come from our social calendar and what is happening around the Club. I create all of the copy and visuals. There is not a formal approval process, and most content is posted in real time.

C+RB: What does your tech stack look like for social media?

EP: My tech stack is pretty lean! I use a Canon camera and edit primarily in Lightroom, with some video editing in Adobe Rush. I don’t schedule a ton of content, but when I do, I use Meta Business Suite. If I need to size accordingly or add text to a Story, I use Canva.

C+RB: How do you approach the different social platforms? Are you creating specifically for Instagram and Facebook or adapting the same core content across them?

EP: We use Instagram and Facebook. I typically use the same core content on both platforms, but adjust the caption to fit the audience and platform.

Learn More: Patton will lead The Social Standard: A Social Media Workshop at the 2026 Engagement Summit, taking place October 5-6 at the University Club of Chicago. Attendees will work through the process of building a 30-day social media calendar, from deciding what deserves a post to choosing the right tools, platforms and metrics to support it. Register here.

C+RB: When you build a 30-day calendar, what information are you pulling in before you start?

EP: I primarily pull from our social calendar and what’s happening at the Club. I focus more on recaps than promotion, sharing the fun experiences happening at the Club and sprinkling in our heritage and history where it makes sense.

C+RB: How do you structure the calendar once you have that information? Do you work from content pillars, posting frequencies or another framework?

EP: I structure it around what is genuinely great and post-worthy. That looks different every month, so I don’t like to limit myself to a specific frequency or rigid framework. I would rather leave something off the calendar than create content just to fill a spot.

C+RB: How much does performance data influence what you post next?

EP: I don’t rely heavily on performance data to determine what we post. My approach is more editorial and brand-driven. I focus on whether the content feels authentic to the Club and gives our audience a sense of who we are.

C+RB: Can you connect social engagement to something that happens beyond the platform, such as an event registration or participation at the Club?

EP: When I use our private Instagram Stories to promote social events, I will look at registrations on the event page. I also use social engagement as an opportunity for personal outreach. If a Member likes an event Story, I may message them directly, or I may send the Story to Members who typically attend that event. It creates a personal touch beyond simply posting an announcement.

C+RB: What have you automated in your social workflow, and what have you deliberately kept manual?

EP: I prefer to keep social creation and posting manual because I think it feels more human and relatable. I will use scheduling when I’m out of town or have several posts that need to go out at specific times, but I keep automation to a minimum.

C+RB: Where is AI currently useful in your process? What won’t you hand over to it?

EP: AI is not a major part of my process because I like to keep the content human. I will occasionally use it to brainstorm caption ideas with very specific direction around our voice and what I do and don’t like, and I’ll typically edit the result to make it feel like me.

C+RB: How does social fit into The Standard Club’s broader communications strategy?

EP: We use email and app notifications primarily as an information-sharing tool, while social media is more focused on storytelling and recapping the Member experience. We don’t want our social media to feel like a bulletin board.

C+RB: How does content move from the operation into your social calendar? How do departments get information to you, and how do you decide what gets promoted?

EP: Because I oversee communications and events, I am involved in much of what happens across the Club and typically get the information and content directly. Departments don’t have a formal social media submission process. If they have something they would like promoted, they bring it to me and I determine whether, when and how it fits into our social strategy.