Page 12 - english winter 2017

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Golf Business Canada
The Eastern Ontario/ Outaouais chapter launches the first Golfer’s Red Book in 1992.
FAST FORWARD
After the heavy lifting in those first few years, the NGCOA Canada really took off. If we fast forward through some of the highlights, it’s a bit of a blur of rapid successes:
The membership steadily grew to reach over 1300 from coast to coast. All 8 chapters developed strong chapter advisory boards andregionalbenefits.OurNGCOA Canada staff team expanded grad- ually to 21 to meet the service delivery we needed.
The operating budget, which had been $27,000 in 1992, grew to approximately $4 million. The NGCOA Canada brand became well established as the voice lead- ing the business side of the golf industry. The member benefits have continuously expanded to become known as the strongest value proposition in the golf association industry.
Golfmax, the fledgling buying group in ’92, now generates $80 million of transactions per year to the membership, saving thousands of dollars for each participating golf operation and contributing significant financial support for other NGCOA Canada member benefits.
The growth in membership has driven volumes that now allow us to leverage tremendous value in
NGCOA Canada launches the first Golf Business Canada Conference & Trade Show in 2001 to a sold out trade show and audience.
For the record, I came up with the name Golf Business in ’93 when we launched the original newsletter, and today that brand name has been adopted by dozens of golf industry magazines, conferences, and consulting agencies in virtually every country that has a developed golf industry.
GOLF BUSINESS CANADA CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW
In 2001 we launched our first conference, in Toronto, another defining moment. It sold out and got rave reviews, and we have been meeting or exceeding those high standards with every annual conference since.
From Gary Player to Tom Cochrane,fromHalifaxtoVictoria, our conference is probably the best success story in NGCOA Canada’s history. This year, returning finally to Ottawa for our 25th and Canada’s 150th , should be no exception.
It should be noted that Nathalie Lavallée joined our staff team in 2000, coinciding with our plans to launch a Canadian conference. Her experience with conference man- agement, among her other business skills, has been absolutely critical to our success. In 2010, Nathalie was promoted to COO and her leader- ship has continued to ensure that the NGCOA Canada serves our membership effectively.
NGCOA Canada buys the Ottawa Golf & Travel Show from Gib Patterson in 1997.
Jeff and Clint share a laugh on stage during Canada Night at the 1999 NGCOA USA Conference.
partnership with key suppliers. Every participating NGCOA Canada member now saves much more from Golfmax than their member- ship dues amount, effectively making the rest of the NGCOA Canada offerings free.
Beyond Golfmax, we gradually expanded the member benefits to include numerous marketing services to drive business to the golf course, research to provide fact-based management tools, educational sessions to present the latest golf operations expertise, advocacy to defend the interest of golf against unfair legislation, and networking events to facilitate peer-to-peer exchanges of best practices. With that improved valueproposition,memberretention rates increased to a high of 97%, far exceeding industry standards for a trade association.
GOLF BUSINESS CANADA
One of the key moments was when we launched this magazine in 1997. Prior to that, we had been publish- ing a two-colour, 8 page newsletter. Ramping that up to a 68 page full- colour glossy publication really put the NGCOA Canada on the map.
I have always been big on branding and I think the launch of Golf Business Canada was a defining moment in establishing our professional business image.