Peter Davies visits former Chapter

The Ohio Valley Chapter is where CMAA involvement started for me. My first club jobs were in Cincinnati and my first association position was as Cincinnati District Chair. It was great to drop in on the OVC’s Annual Meeting and be there for my good friend Kevin O’Laughlin’s installation as Chapter President. Additionally, old friends Dave Brown and Marcus Blum were completing their board service and friends who were just getting involved with the Chapter just before I left for New England were moving on to the board as our new leaders.

CMAA is so much about relationships and there’s no better way to remember that than paying a visit to one’s previous Chapter.

CMAA CEO James B. Singerling opened the Chapter’s three day mini-conference with a State of the Industry address. He emphasized that challenging times make education essential and encouraged us to educate our Boards on the huge role CMAA plays in this regard. The tremendous education and networking opportunities provided by the CMAA World Conference are now properly described and promoted as CMAA University 2010.

Recognizing the demanding nature of the club management profession, Mr. Singerling encouraged us not only to arrive at our clubs with a great attitude but to tune out the difficulties of the day and arrive home with a great attitude as well; ready to share all the good things that happened. Mr. Singerling’s remarks reminded me that life balance remains a huge challenge for most of us and needs to be consciously addressed – it’s not something that will ever fix itself. We help create strategic plans for our clubs – perhaps it’s time to create strategic plans for ourselves.

For the remainder of the day we enjoyed a Vendor Show and Chef’s Competition followed by a round table discussion with chefs and managers. Participants reported that volume has stayed the same but check averages have dropped resulting from an increased demand for lower priced items. Many clubs have offered some amazingly low priced features to keep their members coming to the Club. Examples included a small filet with homemade French fries and a glass of wine for $10, $3 burger madness with a toppings bar and comfort foods such as lamb shank or Osso Bucco for $12-$15 including a dessert! The general consensus: we need to find creative ways to keep our members coming to the club, especially in the current challenging times.