Summer Intern Virtual Club Tour Series

Entry Details

Each year the National Capital Chapter’s Student Development Committee puts on a series of five or six events to engage our summer interns, Mangers In Training (MITs) and their managers. When COVID hit, and most clubs had to downsize their staff and cancel their internship programs, we pivoted and developed a virtual club tour series using the Zoom meeting platform. Making the club tours virtual allowed for students and their professors from around the nation to attend the events enabling us to reach more students than just our local interns. It also allowed us to increase the number of clubs we were able to showcase. Invites went out to all National Capital Chapter members as well as to faculty and students from Florida State, James Madison University, Johnson and Wales University, Kansas State University, Michigan State University, Niagara University, University of Delaware, University of Massachusetts, University of South Carolina and Virginia Tech. The invitation was also shared via the Faculty Advisor Community on CMAA Connect. At the request of CMAA’s Student Development Manager, we shared the recordings with CMAA so they could be added to CMAA University and accessed by all CMAA members, faculty and student members. It was great for newer managers in the area to join and learn about other clubs in our chapter as well.

Implementation

The Student Development Committee and Managing Director reached out to active members of NCCMA who enjoy presenting and would be eager to share information about their careers and their clubs. We grouped the tours based on location and type of club. Our Managing Director set-up the virtual meetings via Zoom and sent the marketing emails. The Student Development Committee sent personal invites to University faculty who then shared the event with the Faculty Advisor Community on CMAA Connect. Each Virtual Tour was moderated by our Student Development Committee Chair. Participating club managers presented for 15-20 minutes showing photos and videos of their club, taking us on a virtual tour. In addition, they shared a brief overview of their background, club history, membership, club culture, why members join the club, what amenities the club offers and what makes the club special and different from other clubs.

The summer programming began on Monday, June 1 with a warm welcome from the Student Development Committee and a Washington, DC virtual city club tour of Cosmos Club, Metropolitan Club of the City of Washington and Sulgrave Club; we had more than 40 attendees on this tour. Then, on Monday, July 20, we headed into Maryland where we virtually toured Chevy Chase Club, Columbia Country Club and Congressional Country Club on the “Three C’s” Tour. It was great to hear how clubs so close to one another can thrive, lean on one another and yet differentiate themselves; we had 50 attendees on this tour. We finished our summer series with our Northern Virginia Virtual Country Club Tour. This tour was unique because attendees got to learn more about a club with two properties in Arlington and Fairfax, Army Navy Country Club and all about a recently completed, full golf course renovation at Washington Golf & Country Club. This was certainly an entertaining discussion as the three seasoned managers have been friends and colleagues for many years. They shared many stories and jokes along the way. This event had 23 attendees.

We chose to make these tours up as meetings (versus webinars) so that managers were able to interact with students on the call. Attendees were able to ask questions during and after the meeting, either by turning on their video and speaking to panelists or by using the chat/Q&A feature if preferred. Managers gave advice and shared stories with the students and got to know them better through the discussion. Managers and the students stayed on Zoom for more than an hour after the presentation, learning and growing together. The feedback was positive from both sides. In a time when we are all seeking human interaction, as a chapter, we were proud to provide these experiences.