Saying Goodbye to "Auld Lang Sigh"

Reverse the dramatic decline in attendance at annual New Year’s Eve events at Carmel Country Club (Charlotte, N.C.).

by C&RB Staff (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
April 2008
 

Saying Goodbye to “Auld Lang Sigh” The Goal: Reverse the dramatic decline in attendance at annual New Year’s Eve events at Carmel Country Club (Charlotte, N.C.). The Plan: Make the traditional black-tie New Year’s dinner dance more “family inclusive” by moving up the timetable to provide an early evening of fun and food built around a series of themed events, followed by a fireworks show that’s still over in time to get kids back home and to bed by 9:30 PM. The Payoff: The attendance numbers don’t lie: from 55 in 2005 to 550 in 2006 and over 700 in 2007.

As the ball dropped on the television in the grand ballroom of Carmel Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. to ring in 2006, a mere 55 members in black tie raised their glasses to toast the coming year.

As he looked on and tried to force a smile, Keith Van Yahres, Carmel CC’s Clubhouse Manager, didn’t feel much to be “happy” about as the new year began. Something was very wrong—the total in the house represented the latest drop in an alarming slide in attendance for the club’s annual New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance, from 110 in 2003 and 75 in 2004. And if the trend wasn’t reversed, Van Yahres had good reason to wonder if anyone at all would be in the clubhouse when 2007 rolled around.

“It was clearly time to say goodbye to the old and hello to the new,” he says now, recalling the bleak scene.
So as soon as the 2006 party was over, Van Yahres wasted little time getting his team together to start the planning for what would fast become a popular new tradition at the club—its new “New Year’s Eve Extravaganza.”

Catering to the whole family was an key part of Carmel CC’s “New’s Year’s Extravaganza” event, which celebrated 2008 with a recordsetting 700-plus members in attendance.

In planning a new approach for how to encourage members to use the club as their place to ring in the new year, Van Yahres and his team pulled out all the stops. Carmel’s membership, like many clubs, is made up primarily of families, and the club’s strategic vision and mission call for it to be “family inclusive.” So the concept for the new approach was patterned after the “First Night” events now celebrated in many U.S. cities on New Year’s Eve.

First, the staff set a fixed price of $35 for adults and $20 for children ages 5 to 11, with kids 4 and under being able to attend for free. Then it decided to change the dress code to “appropriate country club casual attire.” With those parameters, the Carmel staff then outlined a new plan for a revamped New Year’s Event built around a diverse and fast-paced timetable:
6:30 PM – Magic Show (Presidents Room/20 minutes)
7:00 PM – Dance Contest (in Ballroom with DJ)
7:30 PM – Magic Show (Presidents Room/20 minutes)
7:30 PM – Jugglers Perform in the Ballroom
8:30 PM – Fireworks Show (visible from the Terrace, West Patio, Honors Terrace & Putting Green)

In addition, a new menu for a “kid and adult-friendly buffet” was created, with a wide range of tempting offerings:
- pizza station
- sliders, mini-corndogs, chicken fingers, sweet potato and regular fries
- pasta station (baby shells with tomato sauce, basil, and parmesan)
- carved tenderloin with vegetables and mini-loaded baked potatoes
- caesar salad station with grilled chicken, blackened salmon and baby shrimp
- seafood station with shrimp cocktail, shucked oysters, crab cakes and sushi
- ice cream parlor

And, to make it clear that this wouldn’t only be a “G-rated” affair, the club included this in the promotion for its new-look New Year’s event:

“Moms and Dads, don’t worry—we will also have a ‘holiday haven’ set aside just for you, with wine tasting, casino games, a pianist and much more. Don’t miss the fun!” (The adults-only room also featured special menu items, including a cheese display, baked brie, lamb chops, and bacon-wrapped scallops.)

As word spread rapidly about the new-look New Year’s at Carmel CC, reservations began to pour in. When the night of December 31, 2006 came around, attendance from the previous year was up by a full factor of 10, from 55 to 550.
After hitting this mammoth home run, Van Yahres and his staff had a much better time toasting the new year themselves. But as soon as the 2007 event was over, they started planning for how to make it even bigger and better the next time around.

For the New Year’s Extravaganza that brought in 2008 a few months ago, additional touches such as face painters, stilt walkers, a caricature artist, arcade room, an 18-foot inflatable slide, a Moon Bounce, carnival games, and a putting green were added to the plan. And promotion was expanded: plans for the New Year’s event were highlighted earlier and more often on the club’s lunch and dinner menus and its website; reminder postcards were sent out; flyers and posters were placed throughout the clubhouse, and for several weeks prior to the end of the year, the New Year’s Extravaganza was featured in weekly e-mail blasts as the event that all club members should make sure to attend.

As a result, this past year attendance swelled to over 700—for an event that has the added benefit of getting everyone (including staff) off the property before midnight, so they can still attend more “traditional” celebrations if they so desire. But judging from the overwhelming response to Carmel CC’s new approach to New Year’s at the club, it appears that “tradition” is quickly being redefined.

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