March Madness....

Dear Countryside Members,

?I’m going to let you in on a little industry secret…Every year around the same time, Club employees across all of Southwest Florida start talking about what we lovingly refer to as “March Madness.” No, this has nothing to do with college basketball. March is the time of year in our business where activity peaks. Our team members begin to feel the pressure of many months of high activity levels, multiple events, long hours the overall feeling of not knowing what day it is – in general it’s the fatigue of season.

?What’s interesting is that we start to see some of the seasonal pressure wearing on our Members also. As fun and exciting as ‘season’ is in Southwest Florida, by the time we get to March, we’re all starting to feel a little exhausted and burned out – it’s almost as if there’s too much to do! Every day we have multiple events, traffic can be a nightmare inside and outside our gates, the golf course is busy and tee time availability can be slim and then there’s dining reservations – whether at the Club or out around town, this time of year reservations are a must! Needless to say it’s obvious why patience can be wearing thin this time of year among us all!

?So why do we talk about “March Madness?” Because typically when we get to this time of year, we have to pause ourselves and refocus on keeping our frontline team members engaged and having fun as well as our Members engaged and having fun. This is almost always the time of year where we have to stop and “sharpen the saw.” It’s the old adage, have you ever been too busy driving to stop and get gas? We remind ourselves why we’re here and what we’re here to do….”Provide memorable experiences for those we serve and those we serve with.” And most importantly have fun while we provide those experiences.

?I was speaking with some local General Managers recently about the “March Madness” phenomenon and asking for some best practices from other clubs and we realized something interesting. We haven’t had this conversation in two years! March of 2020, our world shut down – I suppose we were discussing “madness” but for very different reasons… Then in March of 2021, though we were operating, we were not doing all of the large events and activities that we normally offer and activity levels in general we’re much lower than in past years. Thinking back on those two years, we very quickly realized how thankful we were to be “back to normal” and providing the experiences our Members and Employees deserve. So as we talk about “March madness 2022,” I am thankful for the heightened activity, busy weeks and the problems we face today such as not being able to accommodate all those who want to dine on a particular night or all those who want to golf on a particular day – these are GOOD problems to have and they mean the club is being used and enjoyed. As club professionals, we’d much rather work on those challenges than trying to figure out how to operate through a pandemic or whether or not we qualify for government assistance to retain our most important asset – our Employees! These were the challenges in 2020 and 2021. When you really think about the club industry, especially in Naples (compared to what’s going on elsewhere in the world) …we’ve all got it pretty good!

?As we finish out the month of March and move into April, I’d like to express some gratitude on behalf of our team. We’re thankful for your continued?support and patience?as we’ve all worked so very hard to provide a valued and memorable experience this season in the midst of record activity levels, higher expectations and staffing challenges. Even though we all may be tired – there’s so much more?fun?and?enjoyment to be had at Countryside this season! At the end of the day, that’s our ultimate goal!

?At your continued service,

?Joe Smith

General Manager / Chief Operating Officer?

?And your amenities team..