Tag: Business Partner

GGA Partners and Vivid Club partner to strengthen management excellence for private clubs

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New joint partnership helps supports the advancement of clubs around the world.

Toronto, ON, July 27, 2022 

As private clubs work to keep pace with rapidly changing business landscapes, shifts in member access and utilization, heightened workforce challenges, and the untapped potential of data, there is a need now more than ever to monitor and effectively implement strategies and streamlined processes. As part of their new international alliance, GGA Partners and the team at Vivid Club and Vivid Leaf have partnered to deliver advanced mindshare collaboration technologies designed to help clubs transform and lead.

Vivid Club provides clients with a fully integrated goals and objectives management system with pre-populated Balanced Scorecard templates and 360-degree feedback surveys and performance evaluation functionality. The platform also offers a file share system and a Club Social Responsibility section showing all initiatives clubs have in place for their employees, their community, the environment and their partners. The purpose is to optimize collaboration and ensure the alignment of all contributors towards the joint vision of the club.

Vivid Leaf is the real-time club sustainability platform, following the triple bottom line approach of sustainability: profit, people, planet. Vivid Leaf is helping clubs to advance on their journey to becoming fully sustainable and carbon neutral. All aspects of a club’s ability to have an effect on the three sustainability pillars are considered. The club’s carbon footprint is calculated as well as automated alerts are sent for unusual spikes in usage.

The Vivid platforms are also helping clubs to strengthen their operational and managerial processes for the future through artificial intelligence (AI), automation and monitoring tools that are built with private clubs in mind. With clubs from all over the world contributing in a mind-share fashion, the Vivid platforms improve on an ongoing basis, all available to every club on the platforms.

GGA will leverage the unique features of the Vivid platforms in the design of strategic actions plans, help clients use the platforms to monitor the implementation of strategy and continue to be the source of data-driven strategic solutions that consider the unique market, financial, operational and governance circumstances of each club.

“We are thrilled about our partnership with GGA Partners to better serve the club industry. Combining GGA’s experience and expertise in data and analytics, financial and operational analysis, surveying, governance, and strategic planning with state-of-the-art, easy-to-use, club mind-share and artificial intelligence driven technology, clubs have a framework at hand that supports their sustained success.”

Bettina von Ruexleben, Chief Executive Officer, Vivid Club and Vivid Leaf

“To adapt and respond to the ever-changing club industry, and the evolving expectations of members, it is imperative that clubs diligently plan, monitor, transform and evaluate their strategies, goals and objectives.  This is why GGA Partners is increasingly focused on helping clients to innovate and grow. Our new partnership with the Vivid Club and Vivid Leaf team is now more important than ever as we continue to help clients successfully implement important strategies for their long-term sustainability.”

Derek Johnston, Partner, GGA Partners

About Vivid Club and Vivid Leaf

The Vivid platforms are developed for the club industry in close cooperation with visionary club leaders. Supported by the team of the Brodtmann Consulting Group they focus on enabling clubs to easily share their thoughts, templates and initiatives with each other to learn and optimize collaboration as well as their sustainability progress. The Vivid team is located in Cologne, Germany as well as Denver, CO, Atlanta, GA and Naples, FL.

For more information, please visit www.vivid-club.com and www.vivid-leaf.com.

About GGA Partners

GGA Partners™ is an international consulting firm and trusted advisor to many of the world’s most successful golf courses, private clubs, resorts, and residential communities. The firm is dedicated to helping owners, asset managers, club and community leaders, investors and real estate developers tackle challenges, achieve objectives, and maximize asset performance.

Established in 1992 as the KPMG Golf Industry Practice, our global team of experienced professionals leverage in-depth business intelligence and proprietary global data to deliver impactful strategic solutions and lasting success. GGA Partners has offices in Toronto, Ontario; Phoenix, Arizona; Bluffton, South Carolina; and Dublin, Ireland. For more information, please contact derek.johnston@ggapartners.com

GGA Partners Renews Legacy Alliance Partnership with the National Club Association

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Top corporate partnership demonstrates GGA’s commitment to supporting the advancement of clubs nationwide.

(Washington, D.C., May 17, 2021) – The National Club Association (NCA) announced that GGA Partners Inc. (GGA) has renewed its corporate partnership with NCA at our top corporate partnership level, Legacy Alliance Partner, for three years. As a Legacy Alliance Partner, GGA will continue to provide industry-leading resources to NCA members in an effort to strengthen and advance clubs nationwide.

GGA is an international consulting firm and trusted advisor to many of the world’s most successful private clubs. Its global reach and wide-ranging experience allow its professionals to deliver proven best practices and innovative concepts to clubs of all types.

For NCA members, GGA will continue to be the source of data-driven strategic solutions that consider the unique market, financial, operational and governance circumstances of their clubs.

“We’re thrilled to continue to better serve the club community with industry leading education resources through this powerful partnership,” said NCA President & CEO Henry Wallmeyer. “GGA’s expertise in critical areas like market analysis, financial and operational analysis, governance, and strategic planning provides clubs of all kinds the framework they need for sustained success.”

“NCA serving as the foremost club authority on COVID-19 is emblematic of their visionary leadership throughout our partnership,” said GGA Partner Henry DeLozier. “We are pleased to continue our long-standing partnership and eager to provide more value for the club community.”

As a Legacy Alliance Partner and lead sponsor of the NCA Board Leadership Institute, GGA will benefit NCA club members through numerous sponsorships, research and educational initiatives, including:

 

  • Hosting the Club Governance Symposium during NCA’s annual National Club Conference.
  • Sponsorship of NCA’s Board Leadership Institute, a leading resource for club board members.
  • Co-publishing a new joint periodical, Club Governance, to provide club leaders with industry data, case studies and best practices to improve club leadership, strategy and governance.
  • Sponsorship of NCA’s Club Governance Standards, a collection of whitepapers designed to educate and guide club boards on specific issues.
  • Presenting the Club Leadership and Governance Webinar Series focusing on improving the function of club boards.

 

About the National Club Association

The National Club Association (NCA) has been the advocate for the private club industry in Washington, D.C. for 60 years. As the voice of private clubs on Capitol Hill, NCA ensures that club concerns are at the forefront when legislative and regulatory issues affecting the industry are being decided. In addition, NCA provides club leaders an outstanding array of resources on club industry trends, governance best practices, legal and operational matters, and ways to strengthen club leadership. For more information, please visit nationalclub.org.

 

About GGA Partners

GGA Partners™ is an international consulting firm and trusted advisor to many of the world’s most successful golf courses, private clubs, resorts, and residential communities. The firm is dedicated to helping owners, asset managers, club and community leaders, investors and real estate developers tackle challenges, achieve objectives, and maximize asset performance.

Established in 1992 as the KPMG Golf Industry Practice, our global team of experienced professionals leverage in-depth business intelligence and proprietary global data to deliver impactful strategic solutions and lasting success. GGA Partners has offices in Toronto, Ontario; Phoenix, Arizona; Bluffton, South Carolina; and Dublin, Ireland. For more information, please visit ggapartners.com.

Breaking Down Key Financial & Operating Data in Club Management

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Derek Johnston of GGA Partners serves as expert resource in new podcast series exploring the CMAA 2020 Finance & Operations Report

The Club Management Association of America (CMAA) is the leading professional association for managers of membership clubs. With nearly 6,800 members across all classifications, CMAA manager members run more than 2,500 country, golf, city, athletic, faculty, yacht, town and military clubs. The objectives of CMAA are to promote and advance friendly relations among persons connected with club management; to encourage the education and advancement of its members; and to assist club officers and members, through their managers, to secure the utmost in efficient and successful operations.

CMAA’s research efforts have grown exponentially over the past several years, increasing the depth and breadth of information available to CMAA members and the broader club industry. In the Summer of 2020, CMAA released its updated competencies for the club management profession which featured the addition of data analytics as a core competency. Today “the numbers” are more important than ever and understanding what they mean, identifying trends, and deploying them for informed management decision-making is no easy task.

As a long-time CMAA Business Partner, GGA Partners has been called upon to assist members of the Association in exploring the recently released 2020 Finance and Operations Report – a detailed report of key financial and operating data from the club management industry which is based upon confidential surveys completed by 357 clubs in 2020 and includes a compilation and analysis of club finance and operations data.

In January 2021, CMAA launched a new micro-podcast series to help to bring the numbers to life, make them understandable, and give them context. In each of installment of the five-part series, Derek Johnston, CIA (Partner, GGA Partners) and Phil Newman, CPA, CIA (Partner, RSM) feature as expert resources to elucidate the significance of the research findings, expound the implications on club management, and translate the best practice application of these insights to club operations.

Johnston and Newman sat down with CMAA’s Melissa Low, CAE (Senior Director, Communications and Government Relations) and Kyle Jennings (Manager, Communications) to conduct the first in the series, a full-length podcast to introduce the series and provide an overview of club finance and operations.

Listen to the first podcast, below, for an overview of the series and dive deeper into the research in future episodes which will become available here and on the CMAA Soundcloud page. Subsequent episodes feature shorter “micro-pods”, 15-minute episodes focused on one of four key areas highlighted by CMAA in their Executive Summary.

 

Part 1: Introduction & Overview

Full-length podcast, 45 minutes

Using a methodical approach, the series begins with a high-level discussion about the Executive Summary of the report, the value of the research findings, and possible ways managers can use the financial and operational data in their roles.

 

Part 2: Capital

Micro-podcast, 16 minutes

“Take a look at your audited financial statements. What’s the first page? It’s the balance sheet…This is the most important financial statement,” explained Phil Newman. Listen to the second episode in the series to find out why understanding capital is so important in club management.

 

Part 3: Operations

Micro-podcast, 11 minutes

It has been said that golf facilities have been one of the unintended and lucky beneficiaries of situational and environmental changes brought on the coronavirus pandemic. But what does it mean for club operations and what changes should be expected in the new normal? Tune into the third episode in the series to find out.

 

Part 4: Membership

Micro-podcast, 14 minutes

The fourth installment in the series hones in on that which all clubs have – members. That is, until they don’t. Hear from the experts on membership attrition and why membership numbers are such a key driver on financial outcomes for club businesses.

 

Part 5: Personnel

Micro-podcast, 26 minutes

The last installment in the series dives into the Personnel section, exploring how the interrelated components of dues, operations, and membership impact personnel considerations, staffing philosophy, and levels of service. “It’s really important to make sure you’re tracking all the different lenses through which you can look at your labor force,” said Derek Johnston. Listen in for more insights.

 

We want to hear from you, get in touch with us for additional information on how best to look at your club’s financial and operational performance data:

Connect with Derek Johnston (Partner, GGA Partners) on LinkedIn

Connect with Phil Newman (Partner, RSM) on LinkedIn

 

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