Staying PowerThe Goal: Establish distinctive calendar events at The Fort Worth Club and continue to improve and sustain them while also continually striving to add new ideas to the mix. The Plan: Make sure the calendar represents a strong variety of events targeted to all demographic segments (young, male, female, grandparents) and emphasize exclusivity—i.e., how the club is the only place where events like these can be held, or found. The Payoff: Many unique signature events, such as the Silver Bells Holiday Boutique and Boxing Night, continue to grow in popularity well into their second decade. |
The music business is littered with “one-hit wonder” performers who came up with a good idea their first time around, but then couldn’t find ways to build on or sustain their success. And there are plenty of examples within club and resort management, too, of properties and staffs that got charged up to pull off a great event once, only to fall flat when it came time to try to do it again—and again.
A club that has demonstrated Rolling Stones-like staying power to make great ideas work, and keep working, is The Fort Worth (Tex.) Club, which now has several long-running and unique events on its annual calendar that still continue to grow each year.
For example, the club’s Silver Bells Holiday Boutique, now in its 12th year, has become established as one of the most exclusive shopping events in the Fort Worth area. The Boutique gives Fort Worth Club members the opportunity to dine and enjoy festive cocktails while perusing an entire floor of the club that has been filled with displays from a selection of specialty vendors chosen by a member-driven committee—and who pay for the privilege of participating.
The Holiday Boutique was originally designed as a retention tool, according to Club Manager Michael Thacker-son—specifically, to target spouses of members and encourage them to use the club. Additionally, the club wanted to create a signature event that would be established as a fixture on the Fort Worth social scene.
Vendors selected by the committee—through what Thackerson says has become an “extremely competitive” process—pay a booth fee for the right to showcase and sell their products during the event. Invitations are sent to all female members and spouses, and reservations are taken only by mail—and you can’t get in without a ticket, which only adds to the clamor for them.
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The Silver Bells Holiday Boutique, now in its 12th year, is just one of many regular events that The Fort Worth Club has built and sustained from a great idea; the Boutique now draws 1,000 attendees each year. |
endors set up their booths the day before the event. This year’s boutique had nearly 40 booths, displaying everything from pewter to pajamas.
Members and their guests have the opportunity to dine and shop two different times during the day of the Boutique, either for a brunch with reserved seating and specialty holiday cocktails ($40 per person) or for “Merry Martinis and decadent hors d’oeuvres” in the afternoon ($35 per person, open seating). All told, nearly nearly 1,000 ladies now attend the sellout event each year.
The Fort Worth Club also makes sure it offers plenty of unique events to the other demographic segments among its membership. For the men (primarily), there’s The Fort Worth Club Boxing Night, which annually transforms the club’s ballroom into an arena for several bouts of boxing by Golden Gloves fighters. Special equipment is used to remove the 82-yr-old crystal chandelier from the center of the ballroom, and a full boxing ring is moved in. A steak dinner and martinis “add to the lure of this elite event,” Thackerson says. Now in its 19th year, Boxing Night is supported by beer and liquor sponsors, and has become so popular, it annually sells out in a matter of 15 minutes or less.
Members of the Tahoe Mountain Club now have year-round opportunities to experience the surrounding beauty of the property, through an ongoing free Adventure Series led by staff members. |
For the younger crowd (and their parents), The Fort Worth Club hosts a Junior Mentor Dinner Series that gives students the opportunity to learn from area business leaders. Each dinner features a keynote speaker on a topic related to business and professional development—and each table has a mix of junior members and at least one high-profile business leader from among the club’s membership, who leads further discussion on the topic. The dinner series sells out each year.
The club has also been attracting close to 500 people each year to its annual Halloween Carnival, which “continues to be the club’s most popular family-friendly event,” according to Thackerson, and has specifically been designed as a venue that makes it easy for grandparents to introduce their grandchildren to the club. Again demonstrating how the club staff strives to continually improve its proven winners, this year’s carnival included a Fort Worth Zoo “Wild Wonders” Animal Show (see photo, pg. 18) and Orange Halloween margaritas—both of which proved to be popular new features.
The Fort Worth Club has also been innovative in creating “clubs within the club,” most notably “Club 102,” named for the last three digits of the downtown Fort Worth zip code. Club 102 seeks to create a special “neighborhood” for the (primarily single) residents of high-rise buildings in the city who have become members, to give them more exclusive socializing opportunities through events such as cocktail parties and cooking classes.
More Great Ideas :
Getting the Tigers by the Tail
Cooking Up Camaraderie
Saying Goodbye to "Auld Lang Sigh"
A Starring Role
Scaling New Heights
Star-Studded Event
Doing Away with Déjà Vu
Changing the Rules
Waste Not
Going Deep
Staying Power
Members in Wonderland
Totally Tubular
Smart Signs
One Giant Leap
Expert Advice
Out-of-the-Tee-Box Thinking
Tell Us What You Think!
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