485: Why Staff Energy Shapes Member Energy

In this episode of Private Club Radio, Denny Corby breaks down why anticipation, excitement, and staff energy play such a huge role in the private club member experience.

After performing back to back shows at clubs across the country, Denny shares what he sees again and again, the clubs with the best events do not just put something on the calendar. They create emotional momentum around it. From the front desk to the bar staff to department heads and club leadership, when the team is genuinely excited, members feel it.

This episode explores how great club managers and club professionals build buzz before an event, why personal invites and internal promotion matter, how staff buy in impacts turnout and engagement, and why fun is not fluff, it is a strategic part of club culture. Denny also shares practical ways private clubs can improve event promotion, member engagement, club energy, and overall experience without needing a massive budget.

If you want better events, stronger club culture, and members who feel more connected to your club, this episode is for you.

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Transcript

Welcome And Focus On Excitement

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Private Club Radio Show, the show where you get the scoop on life inside private golf and country clubs. I'm your host, Danny Corby, and each episode is a real conversation with club leaders, the pros, the people, and partners who help clubs thrive. We talk leadership, culture, food and beverage, member experiences, member engagement, marketing, governance, and so much more. If you want practical ideas, better teams, and a club experience members actually feel and talk about, you're in the right place. Now, welcome to the show. In this episode, we are talking about anticipation, excitement, and fun. I've been doing more back-to-back and back-to-back to back-to-back shows in a lot of clubs, in a lot of rooms with a lot of members, with a lot of staff interactions, and a lot of, hey, Denny, it is great to have you here. And after doing that many shows in a row, so many shows in a row, one thing kind of keeps smacking me right in the face. And that is the best clubs don't just host events, they create excitement and momentum and joy around them. And that matters so much more than people think. Because excitement is contagious. Because excitement is contagious. Anticipation is part of the experience, and the best clubs create emotional momentum on purpose. That's the phrase right there. Emotional momentum. Because the experience does not start when the doors open. It starts earlier. It starts when the event gets talked about. It starts when the team buys in. It starts when the front desk knows what's happening. It starts when the bartender says, Hey, I think you would love this one. And it starts when the manager tells a member, hey, you should absolutely come to this. And it starts when the club makes the event feel like something worth looking forward to. That is not fluff. That is not extra. That is just part of the member experience. And honestly, it's a huge part of the member experience. And I can feel it, and a lot of people can feel it almost immediately when you walk into a club. You can just tell. The club shows where it just crushes. The energy is there before you even step on stage. Reception knows who I am. Staff knows there's a show. Members have heard about it. Sometimes they may not know my name, but they're like, hey, you're the guy doing the show tonight. And that tells me something. And that tells me the club did not just put on an put on the event and just put it on the calendar and hope for the best. They talked about it, they owned it, they built anticipation, they made it feel real. And when that happens, members show up differently. The room feels different, the vibe feels different, the atmosphere is different. People are more open, more curious, more ready, more engaged, and that energy changes everything. And I'm not talking just about my show. Which, speaking of my show, if you are looking for one of the most fun member event nights, you can have guaranteed, have done well over has to be 500 clubs at this point. With the Denny Corby experience, there's excitement, there's mystery, also, there's magic, mind reading, and comedy, a ton of laughs, gasps, and holy craps. If you want to learn more or book some dates or have a conversation, head on over to dennycorby.com, fill out the form, and I'll be in touch. Now, on the flip side to having that great, amazing energy, you can feel the opposite also. You walk into a club and someone says, Wait, there's a show tonight, or someone walks in and be like, Do you belong here? That's a problem. Um, or if staff is unclear on what's happening, or members did not really even hear much, or someone says, We forgot to promote it. Can we reschedule? That right there is a party foul of all party fouls. Because now the event has to work 10 times harder just to get back to neutral. And this is the part I think more clubs need to hear is great events are not just about what happens in the room. They are about what happens before the room and after the room. That's where so much of the wind lives. The best managers understand this, the best club pros understand this, the best teams understand this, they know that the anticipation is part of the experience. They know communication has personality, they know people need a reason to care, and they know that members want something to look forward to. And they know that when staff is excited, when staff is excited, members pick up on that immediately. Because staff energy is not neutral, it transfers. If the GM is excited, department heads get excited. If department heads get excited, the team gets excited. If the team gets excited, excited, members feel it. That's how it works. The vibe starts up upstairs, then it moves. And when it moves well, it creates momentum. And that's why the best clubs create emotional momentum on purpose, not by accident. On purpose. They don't just say, hey, here's the event. They say, hey, here's why this is going to be great. They don't just send one email and pray to the gods of open rates. They talk about it. They mention it, they talk about it in person, they have the front desk mention it, they have key staff mention it to key people, to key members who they think will have a really great time. They know which members would love which experiences. They connect the dots. That is such a big one. Great members know their people. They know Mr. and Mrs. Smith would love comedy night. They know a certain couple would absolutely come to the wine dinner, and they know which couples want to sit together, and they know how to set up the room, and they know how to make the room feel the best way possible. They know which members love live music, they know which families never miss the holiday events. All that stuff mattered. And all that stuff matters when they tell the right staff to tell the right members, and it just gets everybody excited. A bartender telling Mr. and Mrs. Jones you should really come to this goes a long way. Way longer than people think. Because when you start doing that, it starts feeling more personable or per personal. It starts feeling a ton more personal. It feels curated. Now it feels like, oh, the club knows me. And that's the whole game. Because we all know the best clubs are not just offering events and amenities, they are creating relevance, they're creating connection, and they're creating the feeling that this place gets me. And that's one of the biggest parts of retention. It's a huge part of engagement, it's a huge part of culture, and it's a huge part of the reason why people stay where they feel something. They stay for the feelings. And the excitement is part of that feeling. Anticipation is part of that feeling, fun is part of that feeling. And yes, let's talk about that for a second because the best managers and the best club pros and the best performers and the best staff people and the best everybody they come to have fun. Not sloppy fun, not chaos for chaos' sake, not fake jazz jazz hands and glitter cannons. Real fun, real enjoyment, real pride in creating a great experience. They care deeply, they work hard, they deal with all the nonsense because there is always nonsense. And and they always still know how to have fun. They still know how to create energy, they still know how to make things feel special. The members can feel it, staff can feel that too. I was just with Desi Spey in Arizona, and the when he was walking me around, the him with the tour had energy itself. It wasn't robotic. It was, oh, you know, look at this thing. It was, oh my gosh, you got to come see this. Yo, did I show you this yet? Yo, come follow me here. Look at that. He didn't say yo as much. That was all me. But you're picking up what I'm putting down. There was excitement and there was energy. And even just seeing him deal with employees and staff and members was there was a vibe. And that's the kind of energy that changes an entire experience. That's a type of thing that changes an entire club, an entire culture. Same place, same tour, same people, same members, totally different feeling. That's what clubs should be thinking about. Not just what are we offering. How are we making our members feel it before they even get here? And I do want to say this because it does matter. There is a difference between forced hype and real excitement. Members can fell, can feel and smell fake from a mile away. Staff can too. So this is not about pretending. This is not about putting on a show because you have to. It's about wanting it. It's about believing in the experience, knowing it's going to be good, caring enough to talk about it with conviction. That is different. That is real. And that is why some clubs have such an incredible energy around what they do and who they are, because they're not just checking a box, they're creating momentum. So, what does this all look like in practice? It looks like talking about the event as soon as the deal is signed in ink, or sometimes even before a deal is signed in ink. It's giving the staff language to use, telling them about it, showing them videos, and helping them help the members. It looks like not assuming one email is enough. It looks like personal invites and in-person conversations and connections and getting people to come. It looks like seating people intentionally in the room. It looks like helping create the right mix of energy in the audience. It looks like managers saying, Hey, this is going to be great, and I can't wait for you to come experience it. And it looks like making the event feel alive before it even happens. That is practical, that is doable, and honestly, that is where so many clubs can get better fast because you don't need a million-dollar renovation to create anticipation. You just need alignment, you need communication, you need ownership, and you need people who care. And maybe sometimes it's just a little bit of permission to have some more fun. Because the clubs that do this well are usually the clubs where the team is allowed to enjoy creating the experience. The joy spreads, the joy is not silly. This joy is strategic and it makes members more excited. It makes them, it makes them feel better, it makes the events better. It makes the club feel more alive. And just from my side of it, a guy who is walking into club after club after club, I can promise you, it shows. It absolutely shows. I can tell when a club has done the work before the door doors open. I can tell when the team is into it. I can tell when the members have been warmed up before they even hit the room. And here's the takeaway: be more excited. Don't treat anticipation like a bonus. Treat it like it's part of the experience because it is. And if your team is not excited, your members probably will not be either. But when your team has bought in, your staff is energized, when your managers are intentional, when your club creates emotional momentum on purpose, everything gets better. Turnout gets better, energy gets better, engagement gets better, the member experience gets better, and that is what great clubs do. They create something people cannot wait to be a part of. Hope you all enjoyed that episode. Just a quick little another one as I'm out here on the road doing club events in it and being a part of it. If you would like to learn more about the Denny Corby experience, excitement, there's mystery, also there's magic, mind reading, and comedy, a ton of laughs, gasps, and holy craps, head on over to dennycorby.com. But that's this episode. Until next time, I'm your host, Denny Corby. Catch y'all on the flippity flip.