New Offerings at MCC

In a matter of days, MCC will be getting some new offerings in the form of coffee and sweet tea. I am very excited about this because I believe having a quality coffee is paramount to our success. There are a lot of options when it comes to getting coffee these days and with more and more people drinking coffee, we need to provide a product that satisfies a variety of pallets. We will have several options available to our members including a high quality house blend as well as gourmet offerings available for just a few dollars more.

Also in the mix will be sweet tea. Tea is a favorite beverage for many and often preferred to coffee. As spring grows near, people are typically looking for something refreshing. Having worked in Texas, I know how addicting sweet tea can be and I think it will be a nice addition to our offerings for the membership.

Once we are up and running with these new beverages, our service staff will be sure to let you know. Complimentary tastings will also be offered from time to time so make sure you are at the club often. Please let me know your thoughts and feedback as we transition into these new products. I am optimistic and anxious to see how they are received. As always, let me know if you have any questions or ideas.

The Manhattan Room

How would you describe the Manhattan Room? My first thought is "Wow, what a great view and space to have a meal." I would imagine that is many of your first impressions as well. The only problem is that there is nobody in it....ever. How can this be?

At first I couldn't understand why the room wasn't being utilized. Is it too cramped? Does no one enjoy the dining experience anymore? Surely there has to be a rhyme or reason why our membership isn't taking advantage of the best view in Manhattan each weekend. After reading a few surveys, it became apparent that our membership feels the room has lacked "atmosphere" since the renovation in 2006 which removed the signature fireplace.

I don't know about you, but it takes a lot more than a fireplace to bring me back for a nice meal. Hundreds of the finest clubs and steakhouses around the country lack a fireplace, yet they are successful. Obviously, I was not around in the Manhattan Rooms hay day when the staple fireplace was in operation, so I cannot speak to the difference between now and then.

My guess is that atmosphere has something to do with it, but certainly is not the key contributor to the decline of the Manhattan Room. Was there poor service? Perhaps. Was the food too expensive? I don't know. My solution: Let's have the Manhattan Room ready for service at all times. If you haven't had a chance to swing by lately, I encourage you to peek into the Manhattan Room and see for yourselves the kind of atmosphere we have created simply by setting and rearranging tables.

If you like what you see, give us a chance to make your dinner an experience. Invite a few friends and peers up to join you at the table. Who knows, you might actually enjoy yourself to spread the word about your evening. I'm excited about the opportunity the Manhattan Room presents for us as a Food and Beverage Department. Our staff is eager to get up and running this Spring.

As always, if you have comments or suggestions, my door is always open.

Banquet Business

One of the unsung heroes in clubs and hospitality, banquet business often goes unnoticed as a key player in our success. Utilizing our banquet space day in and day out works just like an unused room at a hotel. Each night the room isn't filled, we are losing out on potential revenue that improves our bottom line. That being said, as a private club, our banquet business rely's heavily on our membership to host and sponsor events throughout the year.

Sponsoring events, in my opinion, is one of our greatest opportunities club wide for 2011 and together, I would like to set the bar incredibly high moving forward in this respect

So far in 2011, we have a good head start with events on the calendar, but we are nowhere near being filled to our potential. This is where sponsorship will become a big player for both membership and food and beverage. My challenge will be to deliver an exceptional product with outstanding service every time. This will be an expectation I hold myself and my staff to each day. Your challenge as members will be to find ways to bring new and existing groups to the club for banquets.

First, I would encourage you to give us a chance to host your next event. If and when we succeed, encourage others to host their event(s) with us. This can be in the form of other members or outside parties. Believe it or not, by offering to sponsor an outside group, you are helping the club significantly. MCC is a unique venue and atmosphere that few in the Manhattan community get to experience. As a student, I know I felt privileged to come up to the club for an event without a membership.

As the year continues and we have time to develop our product, you will find how easy our staff is to work with from beginning to end. In my opinion, we already provide a superior product to other area facilities. There are no hidden costs or fees associated with our events and we can accommodate groups of over 200 on a given night. It may also surprise you to know that we are more affordable than most banquet facilities. Just another reason I encourage you to give back to your club.

In conclusion, as you prepare for the upcoming year keep MCC in mind for your next event. Big or small, they will all make a difference in our ability to improve upon our current services to our membership. Also, please keep an eye out for groups who may be looking at putting on a banquet. You could be their next sponsor.

If you have any questions or would like more information about booking/sponsoring events, please send me a note or stop by my office. I would love to speak with you about our plans for the future. It's an exciting time to be a member at MCC and an honor to work with such a great team and membership. Until next time...

Technology and MCC

Manhattan Country Club has a lot going on on a regular basis. Too bad many of our members don't know it or how to get involved. It is obvious to me that we have a long way to go to engage our membership and communicate to them what is going on at the club.

So how do we go about solving this problem and bridging the gap between what actually goes on and what is perceived to go on at MCC? One of the many solutions is the use of technology and social media. As a young manager who has grown up in the digital age, I know how effective social media can be at advertising various promotions, specials, events and information in general to a large population.

Obviously, the creation of this blog is something new to Manhattan Country Club. I will utilize this blog as a more informative way to engage our membership about different initiatives and projects going on in my department specifically. Other outlets such as Facebook will be used to post photo albums from various food and beverage events. Twitter is another great tool that is growing in popularity throughout the Midwest. It can be used to distribute information about various events, specials, promotions or updates. Twitter has been a favorite of mine over the past year or two.

Many people are under the impression that Twitter is used to update people about what you are doing every moment of the day when in fact it is very much the opposite. Most of the information coming across Twitter is an update about the world around us whether it be an interesting news article or traffic update. For instance, if you were to find a great article about combining golf and fitness like this one http://www.golffitness-magazine.com/public/articles/features/2010/03/natalie-gulbis.html you can share it with followers and let them read too.

Basically, Twitter brings information to us rather than us needing to search for it. I plan to utilize it for specials as well as updates concerning the activities of the club. Another cool feature will be incorporating pictures into tweets. Also called twitpics, a simple photo of the Soup of the Day or Themed Drink can be posted for MCC followers to view.

The best part of all of this is privacy. Social media outlets can be protected from outside viewers by allowing or refusing others to follow us. While I understand that not everyone will sign up for or use these forms of communication, there are more and more members who will connect now and into the future with each other in this manner, especially parents with children. For those of you currently utilizing Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc. I applaud you and look forward to keeping you posted on our progress with these initiatives. Again, please let me know if I can be of any assistance. I love my job.

First things first

As I transition into the role of Food and Beverage Manager, my first task is to gather information about the club and where we are currently. Over the past several weeks, I have been observing our operation in its entirety. I have come into the club with an open mind and a lot of curiosity. Our membership completed a lengthy survey in 2010 that has also provided me with a great deal of feedback which I greatly appreciate. The comments were well though out and forthright.

The next step in the process is deciding where we want to go as a club. It is important that we come together as a whole and choose a direction that will benefit everyone involved now and into the future. I believe there is a huge opportunity in food and beverage at MCC going forward. Collectively, we can identify different ways to meet the needs of our membership. It will take time and hard work, but I have no doubt in our abilities to succeed. The folks at Landscapes Golf Group and I will be working closely with the members to come up with creative ways at utilizing our talents and current facilities to increase member usage. It is very exciting to see such enthusiasm from everyone involved thus far.

The final steps are implementation and evaluation. As we implement new ideas and practices, it is important to remember that these are risks. A lot of thought and research will go into each decision we make, but there is no guarantee it will work. Every new practice will be evaluated regularly to track the progress and response from membership. Many of the ideas come from other clubs around the region and country that we have seen succeed, however, a lot of our best ideas will come from you, the member.

If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to send them my way. I look forward to working with all of you and thank you for allowing me to serve as Food and Beverage Manager.

A little bit about me...

Over the past few weeks, I have been hard at work learning about the incredible history of Manhattan Country Club and the people that make it function. During that time, I have had the pleasure of meeting many new faces and have nothing but good things to say about them. Now is a perfect opportunity for me to share a little bit about myself and my background for those of you I haven't met.

I am originally from Liberal, Kansas, a small town in the Southwest corner of the state. There, I began playing golf at the age of 6 and have been attracted to the business ever since. The Golf Course Management program brought me to Kansas State in 2006 where I began my Undergraduate studies. During the Spring of 2007, I added a second major in Hotel & Restaurant Management and found my true passion in this industry.

My interest in clubs and club operations only grew as I started interning around the country in various clubs with different management styles and budgets. My internships have taken me to Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, IN where I was a turf intern, Dallas Country Club in Dallas, TX where I served as a Hospitality Intern, Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, CA where I served as Tournament Food and Beverage Coordinator and Member Relations Intern, and finally Aurora, IL where I worked with the United States Golf Association as Greens Section Intern.

Each of these stops have provided me with a great look at the industry as a whole and will compliment my current role as Food and Beverage Manager. I am excited about the opportunity to share with you some of the things I have seen as well as learn about where you would like to go. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance. I look forward to working with you and serving as your Food and Beverage Manager.