March 20-22, 2023

Communications Summit

We hope you enjoyed the 2023 Communications Summit!

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Save the date for 2024!

The Communications Summit is heading to Boston, MA, April 8-10!

Join the Community

But don’t wait until 2024 for more networking and professional development opportunities, join the Communications Community.

Join the Community

The 2023 Communications Summit will be hosted at impressive clubs in Houston, TX, from March 20-22. The Summit is designed for club communications and marketing professionals, or any professional looking to learn more about this vital and constantly changing aspect of club operations.

Learn more effective strategies and tactics to communicate with your members and the greater club community, while visiting iconic Houston-area clubs. Sessions will feature hands-on opportunities to share and learn from fellow communications practitioners and industry experts.

Register

CMAA Member/Communications Community Subscriber* Registration: $925
New Subscriber/Summit Bundle: $1,100
Non-Member/Non-Subscriber Registration: $1000

*The Communications Community is an exclusive CMAA hub for communications professionals to connect, share, and engage with one another.

Attendance at all sessions qualifies for 11 CMI credits.

Registration is full. To be added to the waitlist, please contact Alanna Eckard.

Schedule

Programming begins on Monday, March 20 at 5:00 p.m. and ends at 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22.

Attendees will visit the Houston Racquet Club and Houston Country Club and will also have time to explore and enjoy the Houston area with a free evening.

Monday, March 20

Hotel

Time	Event
5:00-6:30 p.m.	Registration and Welcome Reception – La Vista Room, 21st Floor, Westin Galleria

Tuesday, March 21

Houston Racquet Club

Time	Event
8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.	Breakfast, Education, Lunch, and a Club Tour
9:00-10:30 a.m.	Your Impact on Employer Brand Jodie Cunningham, Optimus Talent Partners It’s no secret—the labor market is tight right now. The war for talent is strong and the best message and branding gains the attention of the best candidates. That’s where you come in! As club communications professionals, you likely focus most of your efforts on member-facing communication. Now, more than ever, Clubs need your knowledge and wisdom for branding and messaging to land top talent. In this session, we’ll talk about “how”!
10:45-11:45 a.m.	Data-Driven Website Strategy with Google Analytics 4 Sean Bleyl, MembersFirst Your club website is where people interact with your brand and make decisions, from joining the club to attending the next event or booking a tee time. Understanding how it works is crucial in creating a compelling user experience (UX) as it acts as an ambassador between your club and its members. This session will help you identify ways to use data to collect valuable information about your website traffic. Discover how to align your goals and create an incredible introduction and engagement experience.
1:30-3:00 p.m.	Leadership, Efficiency, and Tech Tools… Oh My! Dan Irvin Do you enjoy leadership training with a splash of practical tools and success hacks? This workshop provides the learner with a fun overview of what it means to be an intentional leader in life while sharing real technology hacks and exciting tools that help make life easier and challenge the traditionalism in all of us so that we take control faster. Dan reviews the exact process he uses each day to be an intentional leader and a differentiator in a one-size-fits-all world.
3:15-4:15 p.m.	DIY: Podcasting and Storytelling Houston Racquet Club Team Houston Racquet Club Team Members will join attendees to discuss the development of their club podcast – the why, the how, and the who. Featured as an entry in the CMAA Idea Fair, the podcast has seen success with club membership and attendees will learn how to make this idea their own.
4:30-5:30 p.m.	Targeted Roundtable Discussion Metrics and data can either be incredibly helpful or incredibly overwhelming. Successful communicators can leverage these numbers to improve the performance of their emails, newsletters, website, and more. Get real about what numbers you should be focusing on.

Free Evening – Enjoy the Space City, Houston!

Wednesday, March 22

Houston Country Club

Time	Event
8:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m.	Breakfast, Education, Lunch, and a Club Tour Closing Dinner at Houston Country Club
9:00-10:00 a.m.	ABC’s: Advocating. Building. Communicating. David Chag, Club Council; Alexis Horne, Country Club of Birmingham; Rachel Upton, Baltimore Country CLub Advocating for yourself and for the resources you need can be challenging—especially when you have to create buy-in from your General Manager, and other Department Heads, in order to get the budget or content you need for what members want and expect. Have you thought about expanding your department from 1 to 2 professionals, but struggled with creating job descriptions or support for this? Are you thought of as the person who “just makes things look pretty”? Join these professionals who have navigated these same situations and have created well-respected departments.
10:15-11:15 a.m.	Sharing the “Bad News”: An Informed Member is the Best Member Aaron Dawson, General Manager/COO & Brittany West, Director of Communications, Carmel Country Club Changes in your club can be difficult to communicate—especially when it is not the good stuff. We bet that sharing a major dues increase is probably up there on the list of things you just don’t want to talk about. Hear both sides of the story from the Communications perspective and the General Manager perspective as you learn about some unique ways to get the message out.
1:00-2:00 pm.	Communicating about Club Renovations Panel Club renovations can be challenging for many reasons – and communicating the process to your membership is vital to ensuring the process has support from start to finish. Attendees will hear from communications professionals who have recently gone through renovations and learn what tools and strategies were employed throughout the process, what was successful and what wasn’t, and what was learned by the end.
2:15-3:45 p.m.	Targeted Roundtable Discussion
4:00-5:00 p.m.	Communications Community Town Hall Kyle Jennings and Melissa Low, CAE, CMAA Join CMAA Staff for a Town Hall discussion about CMAA’s newest offering: Communities. The Communications Community will provide club professionals with opportunities to connect, learn, and engage with other individuals who are involved and interested in various segments of club management—and this is your time to ask questions and learn more about this unique subscription option.

Important Information

The 2023 Communications Summit host hotel will be The Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria. CMAA has arranged for a special rate of $195 plus applicable taxes. Check-in time is after 3:00 p.m. and check-out time is 12:00 noon.

Location: The Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria, 5011 Westheimer At, Post Oak Blvd, Houston, TX 77056

Rate: CMAA has arranged for a special rate of $195 plus applicable taxes. Check-in time is after 3:00 p.m. and check-out time is 12:00 noon.

Reservations: Call: 713-960-8100 or book online The last day to book within the group block is Monday, February 27.

CMAA makes every effort to keep attendee expenses at the Communications Summit including registration fees and accommodation rates for the event as economical as possible. We work diligently to negotiate the best hotel rates and to make the best use of your registration dollars to keep the Conference affordable and accessible.

CMAA encourages all participants to reserve a room at The Westin Oaks Houston at the Galleria; this supports not only the Conference, but also future meetings. While in some instances, less expensive accommodations may be available from third party online consolidators, booking within CMAA’s established block helps to underwrite the cost of meeting space and other hotel concessions. When commitments to our host property are not met, CMAA must pay penalties which will ultimately increase the cost of events.

Make a reservation

All registration cancellations and refund requests must be made in writing by the individual whose name appears on the registration. To be valid, submit all requests to CMAA Registration. No refunds will be made after Thursday, March 2. CMAA regrets that refunds will not be given for no-shows. Substitutions are gladly accepted; substitutions of registrations are permitted prior to the event. Only one substitution is permitted per original registrant. The individual submitting the substitution request is responsible for all financial obligations (any balance due) associated with the substitution. Badge sharing, splitting, and reprints are strictly prohibited.

CMAA is dedicated to providing a safe, hospitable, inclusive, and productive environment for all participants at CMAA Events. CMAA has established minimum expectations of behavior for participants at all CMAA events. Please review the policy. It is intended to supplement any other applicable CMAA policies, including the CMAA Code of Conduct and Ethics.