I agree with the Engagement Summit panel - now let's take it to the next level

The Club + Resort Business Engagement Summit at St. Andrews Country Club in Boca Raton was a fantastic event. It brought together a diverse group of club leaders, vendors, and membership professionals, all focused on one shared goal: building stronger, more engaged communities within their clubs. The conversations were genuine, the ideas practical, and the energy unmistakably positive.

One of the discussions that really stood out came from a panel featuring Laura McGibney, Customer Success Manager at Clubessential; Gloria Hosh, Membership Director at St. Andrews Country Club; and Rachel Leatherwood, Member Services Director at River Crest Country Club - moderated by Melissa Hansen, Director of Membership & Marketing at The Club at Olde Cypress and Summit leader.

They were talking about cross-marketing - specifically, the idea of promoting other club events within the confirmation emails members receive. It's a smart, member-friendly way to raise awareness without flooding inboxes.

I couldn't agree more with their approach. But as I listened, I couldn't help thinking: why stop there? At GroupValet, we didn't.

How GroupValet Builds On This Idea

In our system, that kind of cross-promotion happens automatically. Not just in confirmation emails, but in every email members receive about their member-run group activities. That means every time a member signs up for bridge, confirms for pickleball, or gets a reminder for their golf group, the club can showcase upcoming events - without sending a single additional email.

How Big Is The Opportunity - Really

The impact can be enormous. Take Mirasol, for example. They have more than 200 active member-run groups in GroupValet - everything from golf and tennis to bridge, canasta, mah jongg, Bible study, theatre, and even classic rock.

If each group averages 20 members, and those groups each generate about two automated activity-related emails per week, that's roughly 8,000 emails every week - each one an opportunity to promote club events to members already deeply engaged in club life. And many groups number in the hundreds of members, so the opportunity is actually significantly larger.

Don't Members Get Annoyed By All This?

Members welcome these messages because they're directly tied to things they care about. They signed up for these groups, they want to participate in these activities, and they are eager to get the emails and sign up.

This Seems Like a Lot To Manage

Even better, these aren't static banner images manually inserted into templates. They're part of structured marketing campaigns managed directly in GroupValet - where staff decide when the messages run, who should see them, and in what types of emails they should appear. It's all automated. Clubs can even track impressions and clicks to see exactly what's getting attention, down to the specific member interaction.

We call this Engagement Marketing - because the more activity and engagement that happens within GroupValet, the more powerful this built-in marketing opportunity becomes.

So yes, I completely agree with the panel: promoting events in existing member communications is a great idea.
But clubs don't have to stop there. With the right tools, they can turn every member interaction into a marketing opportunity - without adding one more item to anyone's to-do list. GroupValet seamlessly integrates with all major club software systems, including MembersFirst, Clubessential, Northstar and Pacesetter. So why not contact me to learn more?

- Jeff