Blogs

November 2022: What Makes a Great Volunteer?

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 18 days ago
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Hello CMAA! One thing we all have in common is volunteers who shape our clubs and our Association. We all have volunteer committee members, and/or board members. A legal definition would share that a volunteer “is an individual who performs hours of service for a public agency for civic, charitable, or humanitarian reasons, without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation for services rendered.” Many state statutes indicate “any volunteer shall be immune from civil liability in any action on the basis of any act or omission of a volunteer resulting in damage or injury if: 1) The volunteer was acting in good faith and within the scope of such volunteer's ...
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October 2022: Club Employee Demographic Assessment

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 10-18-2022
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Hello CMAA! I grew up in a small town of a few thousand people in northeastern Pennsylvania (the Poconos). While I wouldn’t change the experience where I lived, my upbringing gave me so many biases. Let me explain; it was never said, but we believed those from rural areas like my town, were not quite as bright as those from the city. We weren’t quite as sophisticated either. We thought we had hit the big time when our first fast food restaurant, McDonald’s, came to town. Ok, I was a child and that was exciting! Maybe that example is cute, but there were many more learned biases too. It wasn’t that local townsfolk purposely wanted to skew our thinking growing ...
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September 2022: Effecting Change

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 09-19-2022
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Hello CMAA! A few weeks ago, I went to the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)’s annual conference. I have belonged to ASAE for more than 30 years and rarely miss attending, except for other obligations--or more recently, COVID. It was the first time we have gathered in three years and a couple of things surprised me. First, there was a vaccine mandate for the event in addition to a requirement of a negative COVID test. As you know CMAA dropped policies like this in early spring, but it made me realize how some throughout America and beyond are still focused on this as a key measure for safety. I was also reminded once I saw the reduced attendance ...
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August 2022: Exploring the Dues Increase

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 08-16-2022
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CMAA National Headquarters Alexandria, VA Hello CMAA Members! I want to share my thoughts on member dues, specifically CMAA National dues. I know your clubs have seen costs rise with the dramatic jump in inflation. I suspect the vast majority of you have already implemented or are contemplating member dues increases. Last month the CMAA Board of Directors met, and one important area of focus was the FY2023 budget, which begins November 1, 2022. CMAA 2023 membership renewals were mailed earlier this month and, as you likely noted, Professional membership dues increased by $25 or about 3 percent. There was a great deal of thought put into that decision ...
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July 2022: Expanding Your Network with Peer Groups

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 07-19-2022
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Hello CMAA! How many of you belong to a peer/mastermind/support group – or more than one? I counted mine and I have four that are really core to my interests and principles. They range from a kitchen cabinet within CMAA that I look to for insight and feedback, to a couple of industry peer groups, and a core group within my own professional association. I would be lost without them and leverage them often. These groups have helped as I have managed through business situations. They have helped as my career has evolved. They have helped me get through some personal challenges as well. While I have also had one-to-one mentor relationships, these groups have ...
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June 2022: Fishing

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 06-13-2022
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Hello CMAA! Throughout my career in association management, each organization I have been with has always had an advocacy-related role at the federal or state level. We would regularly conduct member fly-ins to DC; had a team of association staff working in a federal and a state legislative affairs department; and, for one organization, were responsible for educating new members of Congress on the intricacies of the financial markets via our foundation. At one point, I had the honor to testify in front of a Congressional Committee about equity ownership in the stock market. The Q & A portion was very nerve racking, but what a great experience representing ...
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May 2022: Embodying Meaningful Success

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 05-17-2022
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I recently saw a CMAA member’s post on LinkedIn that shared a concept called “meaningful success.” Meaningful success marks the points in time when: 1) we are doing things we love, 2) we are doing it well, and 3) we are serving others. These times can occur in our career, at home, or any place in life. At times when we are doing things where all three concepts intersect, we are in that space of “meaningful success.” Our life in this space is likely the most meaningful, most purposeful, most fulfilling and we are probably the happiest. I love this and strive to live my own life in this space as much as possible. Life is not just about success. It is really ...
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April 2022: Managing Stress

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 04-19-2022
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Hello CMAA Members! In some respects, the last two years of life in a pandemic have been a blur. I can hardly remember the early days of worries about restriction of nonessential travel between states; the closing of non-essential businesses for a time; or not having toilet paper! But like you, I have certainly felt pandemic-induced stress over the last couple of years with concerns for home, family, work, staff, and friends during this period. To better understand the impact of the past two years, the American Psychological Association conducted a study on current stress in America . According to the study, despite the pandemic being a stress-inducing ...
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March 2022: Trust

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 03-14-2022
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Hello CMAA! My sincere thanks to all who attended the World Conference and Club Business Expo in San Diego, CA. It was exactly the break we needed to recharge and spend time with each other. Thank you for making this Conference a special one. 2022 Executive Committee February 2022 San Diego, CA This month I want to ask about trust: Does your club team trust you? How about your members? I am sure your answer to these is an affirmative one. Our ability to give and receive trust is paramount to healthy clubs, a healthy environment, and a healthy relationship with our boards and members. Now let’s switch and put you in the driver’s seat! ...
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February 2022: Looking Back by the Numbers

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 02-14-2022
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Numbers are an arithmetical value, expressed by a word, symbol, or figure, representing a particular quantity and used in counting and making calculations and for showing order in a series or for identification. February is when CMAA releases its annual report, audit, and I share an update in my State of the Association address at World Conference. So let me use numbers to share our journey over the past year. Check out CMAA’s Annual Report for even more details on 2021. 924 – The number of new professional members who joined CMAA in 2021 . Kudos to all involved, especially recruiting efforts within CMAA Chapters! We also went live with an easy ...
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January 2022: Embracing New Leadership Goals

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 01-17-2022
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Happy New Year CMAA! It was President Harry S. Truman who said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” I know many of you subscribe to this quote and I do too. As we kick off the new year, I want to share some leadership messages I have read over the past few months that resonated with me, some of which may do the same for you, as our leadership abilities continue to evolve in 2022: Visiting with CMAA Past President Tony D'Errico, CCM, CCE January 2022 Leadership by Experimentation: The pandemic forced us to change in so many ways – casting aside tradition. We had to experiment to find success. As we enter 2022 and beyond, ...
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December 2021: Our 2022 Organizational Goals

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 12-13-2021
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Hello CMAA Members and Happy Holidays from all of us on the CMAA team! We hope you, your family, and your club have a joyous holiday season. While we still have a few weeks before we officially welcome the new year, CMAA began its 2022 fiscal year on November 1. We will be sharing a review of this past year in our Annual Report and via my “State of the Association” address at the World Conference and Club Business Expo in February. Today, I want to share some of our organizational goals for the upcoming year: Continue to work on various student-focused initiatives including creating a standardized club internship model, better educating university ...
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November 2021: The World Conference Health & Safety Policy Details

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 11-16-2021
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February 19-23, 2022 San Diego, CA Hello, CMAA! Registration for the 2022 World Conference and Club Business Expo opened in late October and sign ups to date are impressive! Like you, I am really looking forward to being back live and in person in San Diego, CA, February 19-23. As a community, we have all missed being together. Personally, it has been special to be part of several local and national events during the last six months where members and Chapters are seeing each other for the first time. The positive vibes are just awesome as we all crave that social interaction. For many of these meetings, safety protocols were in place – from limiting attendance ...
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October 2021: Be Like Betty White

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 10-12-2021
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Hello CMAA members! I am in an ‘80s mood as I write this. I hope I can get you there too. I have the voice of Chris Clews bouncing around in my head from his talk at CMAA’s Leadership/Legislative Conference where he used ‘80s movies that were imbedded with leadership lessons. Like Ferris Bueller, from the 1986 hit movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , showing us how to have work-life balance. I am not suggesting you skip work and pretend to be sick, but you must admit that Ferris knew how to kick back, have a great time, and recharge. We all need an escape like Ferris right now as we continue to be challenged with labor shortages and the pandemic. Another example ...
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September 2021: Forecasting the Year's End

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 09-09-2021
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Hello CMAA members! For those of you who attended CMAA’s Leadership/Legislative Conference (LLC) it was great to see you. At the start of LLC, one of our traditions is for the National Board of Directors to share some of the Board and Committee related activities from the past year. I also have the opportunity to share a fourth quarter update on CMAA as we approach our year-end on October 31 st . I want to share those highlights with you now too. I also look forward to a more robust year-end report at World Conference and in the CMAA Annual Report in February. Like you, our year has not been normal and the COVID adjustments continue. Just when we thought COVID ...
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August 2021: Unveiling Educational Opportunities for Club Chefs

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 08-17-2021
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Hello CMAA! Where has the summer gone?! It was a very different summer for everyone compared to last year based on where we were within the pandemic. When the world seemed to come to screeching halt in early 2020, the CMAA staff and leadership had just approved a new Strategic Plan . The pandemic did not stop our work to move CMAA forward according to the plan. One of the initiatives in that plan is to continue to serve a broader set of club professionals, including club chefs. In September of last year, CMAA announced a new organization joining the ranks of our Partner Network – ClubProcure. ClubProcure is partnering with CMAA to bring quality education ...
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July 2021: Supporting Your Member’s Wellness and Fitness Journeys

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 07-15-2021
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Hello CMAA! A few weeks ago, I audited BMI Sports & Recreation Management in Scottsdale, AZ. I went a few days early to visit a couple of National Park sites I had yet to see. Over the weekend, before the program began, the GM/COO of Arizona Country Club, Desi Speh, invited me to do an early morning hike up Camelback Mountain. After a quick review online, I agreed, as I read folks were running up the 1.23-mile trail in less than 20 minutes. How hard could it be, right? We arrived at about 5:30 a.m., just after the sun rose, and the parking lot was full of hikers already out on the trail. I have to say I was surprised, but it was also going to be 105 degrees ...
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June 2021: Live and In-Person Events Return

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 06-11-2021
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This too shall pass. This saying implies nothing is permanent and regardless of what we are going through in life, it is ultimately temporary and will change. The concept of impermanence has certainly been something we have held on to tightly during the pandemic, waiting for brighter days. Just like the saying, change has arrived with vaccinations, reduced safety protocols, and more normalcy. So, what does the new normal look like for CMAA? First, our Business Management Institutes (BMI) are back as in-person programs with our elective series restarting last month and a full line-up of our programs for the fall. The one exception will be the BMI Joe Perdue ...
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May 2021: Advice for New Graduates and Reminders for the Rest of Us

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 06-11-2021
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Hello CMAA! This month, I want to focus on our student members since May is graduation month for some. While this message is aimed toward CMAA students, I really think it applies to everyone. You be the judge. Throughout my life I have always been interested in investing. My undergraduate degree was in finance and I always thought I would end up taking a job in the financial markets. The closest I got to a career on Wall Street came through my positions with a financial market association. One of the highlights of that work was having lunch with Warren Buffett, investor extraordinaire, and someone I have always seen as a good role model. Mr. Buffett is very ...
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April 2021: The Impact of COVID-19 on Club Governance

By Jeffrey Morgan posted 06-11-2021
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Hello CMAA! In a past life, I was involved in corporate governance of NYSE and NASDAQ listed companies. I still get a steady stream of corporate governance focused emails and articles in my inbox regularly. One that recently stood out was the Director Institutes 2020-2021 survey . As we continue to exit the pandemic, governance is key for our clubs and I think the findings of this corporate governance report may help you reflect on your own club governance. Here are the key findings: More than 72 percent of public companies believe Boards and operations teams managed effectively through the pandemic and their organizations adapted to whatever was thrown ...
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