May 31, 2023

269: Insights from NCA National Club Conference 23'

Join us for an exciting episode as we dive into the
2023 NCA National Club Conference!
We recap the conference and chat with one of the speakers
David Walker from Day 1.

We couldn't attend the second day, so we brought on Victoria Burns from MembersFirst, our awesome new show partner and NCA Sponsor.
Victoria gives us an inside scoop on the highlights of Day 2,
sharing the best moments and valuable takeaways.

Not only that, but Victoria is a club world expert!
She shares her background and experience in the industry,
adding a layer of expertise to our discussion.

Tune in to our episode now and discover the fascinating world of clubs!

Plus, be sure to check out NCA for more incredible events and opportunities.

Click here to listen and join the adventure!

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NCA Nataional Conference

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WEBVTT

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This is a cool episode of Private Club Radio because we are here live at the Union League Club here in Chicago at National Conference NCAA's Conference.

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This is a lot of fun.

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Very fortunate to be here, happy to be here.

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And I have to thank two very special people for making this happen.

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Two special organizations.

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One is the National Club Association for allowing me to come here.

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They gave me a cool space, welcomed me, uh, with open arms.

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To come in and hang out, engage, and get the word out.

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So I'm very excited to be here.

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Um, had a great experience so far.

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And the other group, other organization is members first because working with them, they, wanted to be a part of this also.

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You are hearing this live and clear coming from.

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The conference because of members first, they hooked it up.

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Uh, the mobile studio, we have the members first mobile studio.

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Is what we're working with.

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So thank you so much to them.

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Uh, you know, hey, they're members first and we have our listeners first.

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So, uh, we're gonna hear a little bit more from them later on, but there are some really cool people.

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But, uh, this episode's fun coming live from the Union League.

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Uh, getting ready to go to the awards dinner soon.

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I'll be performing some closeup magic there as well, so it's gonna be a fun evening last night.

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We were at Medina for a special event.

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That was a beautiful club there.

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Absolutely a blast of food staff, uh, drink.

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Everything was so good there.

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Had such a great time.

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Uh, great group of people.

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Top, top notch.

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And of course, while I'm here, cross paths with.

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An old friend.

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She we're not that old, we're not that good a friend.

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But, uh, Mr.

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Jeffrey Morgan, great to see him from C M A A.

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I laughed.

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I was like, I'm surprised no one like Boujie outta here.

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Um, I don't know if you realized or not.

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I was, I was making it a joke.

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But anyway, uh, it's always fun to see, all of us industry people together, having a good time, laughing, sharing ideas, uh, networking, creating relationships, friendships.

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Um, truly is absolutely amazing and I'm very happy and fortunate to be here.

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And, uh, let's get to it.

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Now let's get this started with a little chat from the opening session speaker.

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America at risk.

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David M.

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Walker,

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On the wall

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here.

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Yeah.

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From a guy from Alabama.

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That's a little nervous.

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You're from, you're from Bama originally?

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Yeah.

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Nice.

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Where, where?

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Uh, whereabouts?

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Born in Birmingham.

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Lived in Birmingham twice.

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Tuscaloosa, Alamo Mobile, then moved to Miami, Florida.

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Oh, wow.

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Culture shock.

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Positive culture shock.

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Mr.

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Walker, just fresh off the stage here at NCA National Club Conference.

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How you feeling?

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I feel great.

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We had great attendance here.

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You know, we, uh, had a great event last night at one of the best country clubs in the, in the country, and we're here at the Union League Club in downtown Chicago, which is also a beautiful club.

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I'm hoping that we're gonna be able to get a breakthrough on the federal debt ceiling.

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Um, you know, there's an important meeting that's gonna take place tomorrow.

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And, uh, there is a way forward as to how to resolve the issue, uh, if we get some leadership.

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But unfortunately that's one of the biggest deficits we have in this country right now.

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Well, first let's talk about where we're at.

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Uh, you know, the house has passed a bill that includes an increase in the debt ceiling, but it also includes a number of other provisions designed to cut and control the growth of spending.

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The senate's passed nothing.

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And I don't believe they can pass anything unless there's an agreement between the house and the president.

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The president says he doesn't want to negotiate over the debt ceiling that, you know, he wants to talk about spending as part of the budget appropriations process.

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I think you gotta get real okay.

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I mean, our financial condition is much worse.

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Our physical outlook is much worse.

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There needs to be a condition for increasing the, the debt ceiling, uh, but we ought to separate spending.

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Proposals from the debt ceiling.

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And the way we do that is there's something called the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House.

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64 members equally divided between Democrat and Republican, supported by no labels, which I'm a national co-founder.

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They have a debt ceiling proposal, which is the only.

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Non, pardon me?

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It's the only bipartisan debt seeding proposal in Washington right now.

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Wow.

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It includes, among other things, agreement to create a statutory fiscal sustainability commission that would engage the American people for over a year on the facts, the truth of tough choices, solicit input, make a package of recommendations that would be guaranteed a vote in Congress where everything's on the table.

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Uh, that's the way forward.

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That's the way to get it done, and we need to supplement that with a, a constitutional amendment.

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That limits how much debt as a percentage of the economy this country can take on, because, uh, their future's not gonna be bright if we don't do that.

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Uh, well, my latest book, I've written four books, uh, and this one I self-published.

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So I, I didn't do it for the money, I did it to empower Polish knowledge and, and hopefully, uh, do three things.

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Give a wake up call, a call to action, and show a way forward as to how to.

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Make sure that our future is better than our past.

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The book is called American 2040.

00:05:09.261 --> 00:05:10.971
Still a superpower question mark.

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Um, I end up talking about where are the four elements to be a superpower.

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It's global economic power, global diplomatic influence, global military capability, and global cultural influence.

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I talk about where we've been, where we are, where we're headed, and the answer is, which is that putting the book is, you know, are we gonna be a superpower in 2040?

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Yes.

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If we do a lot of the things that are in the book, no.

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If we don't, We are a declining power right now.

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We're a great power, but we're declining power.

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China has a rising power.

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Power in the world is being realigned right now.

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There are alliances against us, interest in all four of those dimensions.

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Uh, and we need, we need our own alliances more than ever.

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But if we don't end up making some tough choices than our economic security, our national security and our domestic tranquility are gonna be at risk.

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And good news.

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There is a way forward.

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And there are plenty of solutions in the book and we just need to get on with it.

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What do you think is step one?

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Well, step one is to recognizing that you're on an imp, prudent, and unsustainable path, and that we need to make changes sooner rather than later in order to diffuse the, the ticking bomb and to allow people to be able to plan better for the future.

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You know, the American people get it.

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I mean, American people, I think it's about the highest it's ever been.

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Believe that the country's headed in the wrong direction, the highest in the history of the country.

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78% of Americans believe that the future for their kids and grandkids is not gonna be as good as for them.

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That's, that's just totally unacceptable.

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70% of people don't want Biden to run free elections.

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60% don't want Trump to run.

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You know, I mean, we've never had these kind of stats before, right?

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I mean, you're going, what the heck?

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What the heck is going on?

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And, and that's one of the reasons why No Labels, which is@nolabels.org, which I'm one of the national co-founders for that.

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If these conditions continue, we're gonna run a third option.

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We're gonna run a third Unity option for president and vice president that will be committed to a specific issue oriented solutions based campaign.

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Uh, and ideally would also.

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Uh, name their cabinet in advance.

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So it would be a, a team and partnership oriented approach to, to make these tough choices and make sure that our future's better than our past.

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I mean, my, I mean, where else are we gonna go

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anyway?

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Is, well, Deni, you are a young person.

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Okay.

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And you, you have a lot more of a vested interest in this thing getting solved than I do.

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I'm, I'm gonna be Okay.

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All right.

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Uh, my kids, uh, I think they're gonna be okay, but I'm really concerned about my grandkids, you know, cause.

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Their future is being mortgaged.

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Investment in their future is being reduced.

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They're gonna face a lot tougher competition, increasingly interconnected, independent world.

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That's irresponsible.

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It's unethical.

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It's immoral, and it stop.

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Talk a little bit more

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about no, uh, label, uh, dot, no, no.

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label.org,

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right?

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Yeah.

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Let's talk a little bit about that.

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Yeah.

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The organization is called No Labels.

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It was formed in December of 2010.

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It is, uh, to promote common Sense solutions.

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Um, some of the themes are not left, not right forward.

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Um, progress not partisanship, results not rhetoric.

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Uh, and and so what it started out doing is to promoting, uh, bipartisanship in Congress and it was the driving force behind the creation of the house.

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Problem solvers caucus.

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That that caucus is a very large bipartisan caucus.

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It was instrumental in gaining passage of the infrastructure bill, the chips bill, uh, some of the modifications with regard to gun laws, it wouldn't have happened without that caucus.

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All right.

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As I mentioned previously, they now have a proposal on the table, the only bipartisan proposal to try to solve the debt seating.

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There's nothing else out there.

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Uh, no Labels was also instrumental in helping to perform something called the Bicameral Group, which is bipartisan senators and members of the house to try to work across, uh, the Hill.

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Cause believe it or not, if you think relations are bad between the Democrats and Republicans, the Senate and the House don't get along very well either.

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Uh, and, and so we've tried to break that gridlock, but now when we saw, you know, what the state of the country is, what the mood of the public is, That's why we've said, well, we, we may have to step onto the presidential and vice presidential stage at least once if things don't change.

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But again, we're not here to be a spoiler there.

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There won't be a third option unless the conditions exist that say the people want a third option and there's a clear path to victory in the electoral college for a third option.

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Unbelievable.

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So good.

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No, it, it, it's, it's such, it's, it's a breath of air.

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It's, it's very nice to hear.

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And then also the fact that you wrote a book, not for the money, which is why people should write a book, is to put out good, good information.

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Like, this is like a double whammy here.

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This is great.

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Well, well, it's interesting.

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I've written four books, uh, and I, I haven't made money on them because the first two books, the proceeds went to Arthur Anderson.

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I was a partner with Arthur Anderson.

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Great.

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So I had to make a dime on it.

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The third book was Comeback Amer was Comeback America, which I was head of the Comeback America Initiative.

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That's a not-for-profit that existed for several years.

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Uh, and all the proceeds went to that not-for-profit.

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Uh, and, and this third book, I mean, you know, uh, as I said, I self-publish.

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You're never gonna make be a national bestseller if you self-publish.

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Combat America was a national bestseller.

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Um, so that's good.

00:10:30.640 --> 00:10:34.630
But, uh, you know, there are a lot of things that are a lot more important than money.

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To me, life is about.

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Making a difference.

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It's about maximizing your self worth, not maximizing your net worth.

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And, and once you have enough, and I'm not wealthy, but I'm, I'm fine and I'm set for, for retirement, um, you know, once you have enough, then you want to, you know, spend your time and, and put your efforts towards, uh, making a difference.

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And that's what I'm trying to do.

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And by the way, the second thing is, um, this fiscal responsibility constitutional amendment, you know, People can go to let us vote for f.org and learn more about it.

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But I'm involved in an effort.

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Again, all volunteer, don't make a dime on it.

00:11:12.145 --> 00:11:30.446
Um, to, uh, achieve a convention of states to propose a fiscal responsibility amendment, not to rewrite the constitution, just to propose one amendment that would limit how much debt as a percentage of the economy the federal government can take on that would end up providing constraints on the growth of the size of the federal government.

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Other countries have done this, you know, Switzerland being probably the primary example with tremendous positive impact.

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You know, statutory approaches have not stood the test of time.

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The debt ceilings a bad joke.

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It hasn't constrained spending, uh, at all.

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And, and, and so the only thing that can bind current and future congresses is a constitutional amendment.

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And so we found out that in 19 79, 39 states had filed applications.

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You only need 34.

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Congress never did anything.

00:12:00.071 --> 00:12:01.480
Well, we reached a peak of 40.

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In, in, in 1983.

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Congress never did anything, and so now we're bringing light to the action.

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HCR 24 House, concurrent resolution 24 is designed to do that.

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If Congress doesn't act, we're working with a number of attorney generals at the state level to get them to file suit against the Congress.

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That would ultimately be decided in the Supreme Court to force this to happen because we just cannot continue on our current path.

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Thank you so much, sir.

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I, I know you're super busy.

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You have some other stuff to do, but, uh, my pleasure.

00:12:28.429 --> 00:12:29.570
Thank you so much for being here.

00:12:29.570 --> 00:12:33.950
Thanks for spending some time with us here after the show, and, uh, look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

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All right, Danny,

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thank you so much.

00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:35.570
Thank you.

00:12:35.570 --> 00:12:36.049
Appreciate it.

00:12:36.565 --> 00:12:37.825
very interesting stuff.

00:12:37.855 --> 00:12:38.904
Very interesting stuff.

00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:49.260
So this part second day of N C A I was not able to make it because I was at a C M A a event I was performing at for a board in New Jersey at Behead Yacht Club.

00:12:49.421 --> 00:12:53.610
So our friends, Melissa and Dawn, were from members first.

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We're still there, so we're gonna bring her on.

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We're gonna bring on Vicky and get a quick little update of day two since I wasn't there.

00:13:01.140 --> 00:13:02.821
And, uh, it's gonna be good.

00:13:02.880 --> 00:13:04.500
We had some really great updates.

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She's fantastic to talk with.

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We had a good conversation.

00:13:07.020 --> 00:13:12.691
Please welcome for the second day of c a with members first Vicky Burns.

00:13:12.923 --> 00:13:16.567
To you all at Members first, we were able to come out with the members first mobile studio.

00:13:17.477 --> 00:13:22.038
to be able to record, hang out, and unfortunately I had to leave a little bit early.

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I had to go do a C M A a event in, uh, where was I?

00:13:25.937 --> 00:13:28.097
Jersey Behead Yacht Club was performing there.

00:13:28.307 --> 00:13:31.668
But you all got to hang out and stay and stick around.

00:13:33.207 --> 00:13:34.957
Can you help us out with the second day?

00:13:35.513 --> 00:13:37.572
The excellence in club Management awards.

00:13:37.942 --> 00:13:38.182
yep.

00:13:38.633 --> 00:13:44.832
I, I personally enjoy hearing from some of the women who are in the industry and what their experience has been.

00:13:45.248 --> 00:13:55.748
So that's my personal, like if I was candidly speaking with you, it'd be like seeing how they made it, how their mothers, how they're doing their career, how they're respected, how they put boundaries.

00:13:55.817 --> 00:13:57.707
It's encouraging to hear that.

00:13:58.008 --> 00:14:06.748
And also great to see them be able to be on stage to share that information.

00:14:07.977 --> 00:14:24.337
A highlight for me was the strategic collaboration session where NCA and CMA just came together to create a partnership showing that they're coming together and that they have some things in the wor in the works right now.

00:14:24.927 --> 00:14:25.217
They.

00:14:25.753 --> 00:14:33.552
Specifically spoke on a document that they'll have available to clubs to really seek best practices in club governance.

00:14:33.692 --> 00:14:42.072
And that doesn't mean that's a one size fits all for all clubs, but really something that's a working piece that would be updated every year.

00:14:42.332 --> 00:14:46.472
And it sounded like that may be out sometime this summer.

00:14:46.692 --> 00:14:48.072
So that was really great to hear.

00:14:49.442 --> 00:15:15.263
And one thing that I don't think they're ready for yet there was a little talk about potentially having some, um, certification between CMA and NCA in the future and just all great things for, uh, a club governance to, you know, really have a, a dial on, um, the success of their management and, um, running their clubs, you know, well.

00:15:15.773 --> 00:15:18.113
So that was, that was a great session.

00:15:18.732 --> 00:15:26.832
Um, and then I did love, um, they had, uh, ever restaurant, it's a Michelin star, I believe they have two Michelin stars.

00:15:27.508 --> 00:15:27.717
Oh,

00:15:28.052 --> 00:15:33.873
uh, that was, uh, Curtis Duffy and I think, um, Michael Muser

00:15:34.097 --> 00:15:34.518
Mm-hmm.

00:15:34.592 --> 00:15:35.312
you say his name.

00:15:35.572 --> 00:15:44.033
And, um, they just really talked about, um, you know, having like-minded people who are driven.

00:15:44.653 --> 00:16:00.023
Um, in their restaurant as a hospitality institution, you know, and, um, people really honing their craft, you know, if they have 50 people there on staff, you know, they're honing their craft of hospitality and taking ownership over their jobs.

00:16:00.682 --> 00:16:02.863
And that really creates that environment.

00:16:03.163 --> 00:16:17.682
And, um, that club's also, you know, desire to have, uh, to provide, you know, the hospitality level, um, and, uh, environment that members wanna be in.

00:16:17.903 --> 00:16:24.363
And that's because people who are, you know, in the private club space, that is their craft in hospitality.

00:16:24.503 --> 00:16:38.763
And, um, that to me, you know, is just fun to see it at a really high end restaurant like that and talk about something that I love because, you know, that's what really got me into the club business was my desire for.

00:16:39.572 --> 00:16:42.822
Serving others and the hospitality world overall.

00:16:43.993 --> 00:16:44.283
Yeah.

00:16:44.322 --> 00:16:54.883
I mean, I think, um, for myself personally, that's what got me into the club industry was, um, you know, from a kid I started.

00:16:55.192 --> 00:17:08.932
Making pizzas and washing dishes, you know, and it was so cool when I actually got to like, go out in this little hometown restaurant and then like be in the front of the house and be able to clean up the salad bar.

00:17:09.153 --> 00:17:18.653
You know, that was the beginning, and then learning how to carry a tray and um, just continuing to move on from there.

00:17:18.653 --> 00:17:37.067
Like when I was in college, I, um, I did some catering, worked for, you know, a restaurant group who had some fine dining restaurants, some bars in East Lansing at Michigan State, and then we did some catering and, um, I just really got the fine dining bug, like I absolutely loved.

00:17:37.067 --> 00:17:42.067
There's this place called Tropo and downtown Lansing and all the lobbyists go there for lunch every day.

00:17:42.127 --> 00:17:47.792
And, and, you know, every day is this experience that you're providing.

00:17:47.893 --> 00:17:50.353
You know, the mini glass Coke bottles?

00:17:50.423 --> 00:17:53.952
Have you ever been to a restaurant when they serve all the small things like that.

00:17:54.212 --> 00:17:59.992
And we worked as a team, like we were providing this experience, like you said, like they had the signals and everything.

00:18:00.292 --> 00:18:01.752
It was just like part of.

00:18:02.718 --> 00:18:08.298
The day of how we communicated with each other to be able to make sure that an order was taken.

00:18:08.327 --> 00:18:10.857
They never saw you write, write anything down.

00:18:11.198 --> 00:18:18.417
And you know, you knew every ingredient and you had tried everything and you knew how to explain it appropriately.

00:18:19.117 --> 00:18:22.657
And, um, I don't know, just all the.

00:18:24.633 --> 00:18:30.893
all the experience factors for them to have a seamless lunch, specifically like being lobbyists coming.

00:18:30.962 --> 00:18:32.012
They need it to be quick.

00:18:32.202 --> 00:18:34.053
They're doing business at the same time.

00:18:34.442 --> 00:18:40.093
They don't want you to be in the way, and they need that experience to just be really honed in.

00:18:40.093 --> 00:18:41.692
And I absolutely loved it, you know?

00:18:41.692 --> 00:18:47.853
And then as you go into dinner service, how the lights turn down, you know, the ambiance is set.

00:18:48.153 --> 00:18:50.373
The playlist is so, you know.

00:18:50.928 --> 00:18:51.587
Dialed in.

00:18:52.327 --> 00:18:55.508
Um, I loved all of that so much.

00:18:56.327 --> 00:19:02.948
And, you know, people make, that's their career is being a server at a fine dining restaurant.

00:19:03.208 --> 00:19:12.387
And, um, at the time, like I had met someone who was, um, a general manager of Detroit Athletic Club.

00:19:13.423 --> 00:19:16.883
and through a friend of mine and he was like, you need to start working at a club.

00:19:16.952 --> 00:19:19.282
Like you love this.

00:19:19.542 --> 00:19:22.282
You know, it's 2007, the market's terrible.

00:19:22.502 --> 00:19:25.323
I'm wondering what I'm gonna do with an urban planning degree.

00:19:26.063 --> 00:19:30.563
And so um, so I started working at the country club.

00:19:31.097 --> 00:19:31.917
of Lansing.

00:19:32.617 --> 00:19:50.637
And, um, that's where it kind of all started for me in, you know, bartending, serving, hosting, um, anything that I could do there to, um, work extra member parties to, you know, just when cigar rooms came out, you could smoke inside.

00:19:50.867 --> 00:19:52.357
Like that was a huge deal.

00:19:53.298 --> 00:19:55.958
And, uh, I don't know, just.

00:19:56.252 --> 00:19:59.883
Everything about the service experience at the club.

00:20:00.343 --> 00:20:02.123
Um, I loved, I loved all of it.

00:20:02.182 --> 00:20:05.163
And then from there I ended up becoming event planner.

00:20:06.157 --> 00:20:07.978
Had an opportunity to move up in a role.

00:20:08.157 --> 00:20:18.738
But you know, it's these stories of like how people got to where they're at in their careers in the hos, you know, club hospitality world that are so fun for me to hear.

00:20:18.778 --> 00:20:34.498
I think that was probably my favorite part of NCA was, you know, hearing all of the excellence in club, um, award people talk about their experience and, you know, specifically I love to hear what the women have to say, um, because.

00:20:35.762 --> 00:20:48.343
Um, I'm a mom and I've been in this industry and now I'm, I'm in the, you know, digital space of it in software and websites and marketing of private clubs.

00:20:48.442 --> 00:20:55.423
But I have been in that position of actually helping the club run as an operational standpoint.

00:20:55.762 --> 00:21:04.742
And I, I really think like being on the other side of it, You know, gives me the opportunity to say like, how can we help operations run more smoothly?

00:21:04.843 --> 00:21:13.143
So it's fun to hear their, um, walkthrough how they got to where they're at and, um, you know, that's part of the story.

00:21:13.323 --> 00:21:23.702
So it's hilarious how it all happens, you know, I actually cut my hand on Ari Glass cleaning it, and, um, had workman's comp and got put in the office.

00:21:24.597 --> 00:21:28.097
And I was like, they're like, you should help with events.

00:21:28.518 --> 00:21:33.298
So that's kind of how it began for me to become event planner for a club.

00:21:34.198 --> 00:21:48.337
And then it was going really well and I was selling a lot of events and, um, a lot of the connections I had from being at the private club became all my, my customers, my clients for events.

00:21:48.337 --> 00:21:49.897
And they were all the members at the club.

00:21:50.133 --> 00:21:50.482
right?

00:21:50.782 --> 00:21:54.843
So I was already real well connected, um, because of that experience.

00:21:55.103 --> 00:21:58.163
And then from there, you know, I.

00:21:58.617 --> 00:22:05.887
Ended up going to another private club that was for profit in the area that, um, a group of local owners had purchased.

00:22:06.147 --> 00:22:14.407
And, um, I got to learn so many cool, like, marketing aspects to, um, promoting a club per se.

00:22:15.028 --> 00:22:20.807
And then, um, from there, I, I moved over to Chicago and I work for two different private clubs.

00:22:21.107 --> 00:22:29.262
Um, one on the northwest suburbs that was super, you know, family oriented and there was a beach club.

00:22:29.482 --> 00:22:36.742
And I mean, I don't think I'll ever forget a membership tour where you end at the beach, at a beach club.

00:22:37.728 --> 00:22:46.708
and you're showing them where their kids can like, go to camp and you can have a cocktail and sit by the pool and then go out on a boat, paddle board, whatever you want to do.

00:22:46.778 --> 00:22:50.228
Like that is, I don't know how you can't close a sale like that.

00:22:50.288 --> 00:22:50.627
You know,

00:22:50.673 --> 00:22:50.962
Just

00:22:51.137 --> 00:22:59.867
they're already, they're already like so connected with the members and they wanna be there and they're so excited about the opportunity of joining and then you show them that.

00:23:00.048 --> 00:23:05.827
And, um, I loved all of those pieces of being a membership director.

00:23:06.448 --> 00:23:12.742
Um, And so I was a membership director for three different clubs, um, after I was the event planner at the first club.

00:23:13.603 --> 00:23:17.502
And then, um, I ended at Exmore on the north shore of Chicago.

00:23:18.202 --> 00:23:20.542
And it was just a historic club.

00:23:21.202 --> 00:23:52.633
And, um, just the experience to be able to bring my knowledge so far in the industry and from my fine dining experiences and then my membership understanding of, um, you know, really documenting like what their process was and making it, um, Clear for a prospect who is being referred to the club to really understand what they're, um, about to experience, because you're still providing an experience level through how you're communicating what they're about to experience at the club.

00:23:52.643 --> 00:23:52.992
Right.

00:23:53.573 --> 00:23:57.752
And um, so I have just really gravitated myself towards that.

00:23:58.373 --> 00:24:09.653
And it's, you know, Like I said, really enjoyable to see, um, those who are winning the awards, uh, on the stage, just talking about their experience of how they got there.

00:24:10.192 --> 00:24:13.613
And really I think like how did they get there?

00:24:13.682 --> 00:24:22.593
It's through great connections and um, they arm themselves around people who are trying to hone in their craft of hospitality.

00:24:23.373 --> 00:24:36.232
And those are their people who they're coming together with to seek, you know, the best success to drive, you know, that hospitality, you know, club hospitality experience for members.

00:24:36.732 --> 00:24:54.159
So, um, I love seeing that on stage another thing that I think, um, was really great to see about on the award winners was, um, Carol Bliss and Margo Buscher, it's just awesome to see other women up there sharing their stories.

00:24:54.618 --> 00:25:06.028
And, um, they have been in different roles, you know, from, uh, taking positions at times where they thought like, They needed to be more front and center at home.

00:25:06.528 --> 00:25:25.548
Um, and then the, the environment they've been in has been thriving because people have paid attention to, um, their desire for the hospitality world and for how driven they are that life still happens outside of the club and that they can.

00:25:25.999 --> 00:25:36.068
Bring it together by sharing where they're at in their season of life and also showing how hard they work in those areas to be able to be successful.

00:25:36.449 --> 00:25:42.108
So, um, it has not stopped them from being successful because they have a personal life too.

00:25:42.108 --> 00:25:43.828
And I think the balance is hard.

00:25:43.929 --> 00:25:54.308
You know, myself, I've experienced the balance of, you know, just wanting to always be on and, um, Always being at the club.

00:25:54.729 --> 00:26:10.469
Um, but I think that, you know, there is a fine line of, uh, boundaries that you have to set and, you know, um, they talked a little bit about that and that they are humans and they, uh, have personal lives too.

00:26:11.088 --> 00:26:13.108
Um, so I think that's encouraging.

00:26:13.209 --> 00:26:24.959
You know, no matter what, um, the club business is going to be demanding for you to be there in person and, um, And people who are in the club business are like-minded in that, right?

00:26:24.959 --> 00:26:30.199
Like they know that they're serving others and providing that value, but seeing other women.

00:26:31.249 --> 00:26:44.098
Come up in it and see success by putting boundaries, but also being super organized and, um, arming themselves with people who can do a great job as well, and putting that army around them.

00:26:44.278 --> 00:26:47.219
You know, Carol talked a lot about that, creating positions.

00:26:47.838 --> 00:26:50.209
Um, That weren't there before.

00:26:51.028 --> 00:26:56.929
Um, and splitting up positions instead of having one person take care of all of it.

00:26:57.469 --> 00:27:06.249
And those are forward thinking, inspiring things that, um, I think people in our industry need to hear for the next generation taking over clubs.

00:27:10.239 --> 00:27:15.723
You were saying, Michael talked about that a bit from, from Everett about being around like, like-minded people.

00:27:15.753 --> 00:27:24.243
It really is just, we were talking earlier about like the, just like the common quotes and sayings, but it's you know, you are the sum of the five people that you surround yourself with.

00:27:24.398 --> 00:27:25.308
Right, right.

00:27:25.413 --> 00:27:27.663
a bunch of losers, you're probably gonna be a loser.

00:27:27.903 --> 00:27:40.023
No, you, but, but like, if you're around, like good, like-minded people who are killing it in the hospitality industry or in your, your industry, in your, in your club, even if it's only two people, it's have to be five.

00:27:40.023 --> 00:27:41.943
But you just hang around with those people more often.

00:27:42.608 --> 00:27:43.259
Yeah, but why?

00:27:43.318 --> 00:27:44.378
Why do you go to nca?

00:27:44.479 --> 00:27:50.058
You could just stay within your walls at the club and say, I got a lot of work to get done.

00:27:50.239 --> 00:27:56.858
Or you could attend events like this that put you, um, around other people who are striving.

00:27:57.648 --> 00:27:59.588
you know, to see success in their club.

00:28:00.088 --> 00:28:07.108
And, um, they're looking to learn other, you know, ways that are out of the box.

00:28:07.128 --> 00:28:14.709
You know, there was a lot of out of the box talk about are you doing these things, um, such as, you know, security.

00:28:15.419 --> 00:28:18.788
It's interesting to see like who's paying attention to their.

00:28:20.398 --> 00:28:27.558
Security, um, online, uh, while the club is there and in person, they, they have a lot of things moving online for them.

00:28:27.939 --> 00:28:39.548
And, um, Trevor from Jonas led a panel discussion and, You know, everyone's looking like, who's raising their ha hand, who's, who's taking care of these things or not?

00:28:39.848 --> 00:28:42.588
And they have to, they have to happen, right?

00:28:43.088 --> 00:28:49.628
So it's a great environment that you're in and you can see everyone in collaborate in that room right then by raising their hands.

00:28:49.888 --> 00:28:59.509
If they're paying attention to these things yet, or if they've actually had some really hard, terrible things happen to them through attackers, you know?

00:29:00.584 --> 00:29:04.403
um, and partnering with people like they had, um, pauler up on the stage.

00:29:04.703 --> 00:29:15.923
Um, those are just some great companies to be in contact with, to, um, keep the daily operations moving and those are important things for clubs to be paying attention to.

00:29:16.023 --> 00:29:17.804
So, you know, from security to.

00:29:18.913 --> 00:29:27.574
Uh, you know, out of the box thinking of how to get things completed or, um, outreach, uh, in your community.

00:29:27.663 --> 00:29:29.973
Those were all things that were really great from the show.

00:29:30.074 --> 00:29:34.903
I liked how it was very smaller and intimate as, as well.

00:29:34.903 --> 00:29:39.044
And it's, I'd be interested to hear from your point of view as a vendor, how it was.

00:29:39.074 --> 00:29:44.894
So for those of you who weren't there, it was a fairly small, like what couple hundred people if that and

00:29:44.894 --> 00:29:45.183
Yeah.

00:29:45.634 --> 00:29:47.354
and everything was in the same room.

00:29:47.413 --> 00:29:51.163
All the vendors, the speakers, most like the sessions, everything was all in one room.

00:29:51.433 --> 00:29:51.913
And I.

00:29:52.469 --> 00:30:15.538
I've heard mixed reviews, but I, from my point of view, I sort of enjoyed it because from, you know, being a vendor at other things and also a a, a spectator or, you know, uh, being at different conferences and other capacities, it was kind of cool having everybody in one room because it gave you a way to connect the vendors and other people because they were also in there.

00:30:15.689 --> 00:30:18.628
And granted, you know, not every vendor, every, every, everybody's listening.

00:30:18.628 --> 00:30:19.138
Exactly.

00:30:19.138 --> 00:30:20.519
Sometimes they're doing other work as well.

00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:23.729
So you mentioned, you know, people who make excuses cuz they have work to do.

00:30:23.729 --> 00:30:25.828
It's like, no, you can still come to these things and still get work done.

00:30:25.828 --> 00:30:28.659
You don't have to be like a thousand percent engaged the entire time.

00:30:28.919 --> 00:30:36.179
But what I enjoyed was, to me it's a, having everybody in the same room was a, a, was a talking point.

00:30:36.598 --> 00:30:44.999
So, you know, when it's in separate rooms, you don't always hear what's going on, but as long as you're in that room and you're just listening a little bit, gives you something to talk to somebody about.

00:30:44.999 --> 00:30:46.378
Like, oh, did you hear that one speaker?

00:30:46.409 --> 00:30:47.069
Oh, did you hear that thing?

00:30:47.923 --> 00:30:51.943
It just opens up that door of communication that may have not been there.

00:30:52.153 --> 00:30:57.824
You know, someone who's just standing there and like, you know, you kind of want to talk or make like small talk, but it's like, oh, how about

00:30:58.054 --> 00:30:58.753