306: NCA December 2023 Update w/ Joe Trauger

Hey everyone, welcome back to Private Club Radio where we go over anything and everything Private Club related Country Club, city Club, golf Club, yacht Club, all of the clubs. I'm your host, denny Corby. In this episode we are talking with Joe Trager, ceo of the NCAA National Club Association. I like to do a monthly update with him just see what's going on with the legislative side, the governance side, congress side, governmental side of all things and how it relates to us here in the Private Club world and community. So this episode we wrap up what's been going on in the government for this year, what to look out for next year and as well as what the NCAA has cooking. So welcome our friend Joe Trager. So, joe, what's going on with the government relations side?

Well, on the government relations side, you know Congress has kind of punted the, you know, government funding issues. So at least we won't be running up against a midnight deadline of Christmas for government shutdown this year, which is, you know, new and very appreciated by most people in Washington, perhaps most of all congressional staff who have to, you know, manage their way through those issues. But yeah, I mean, I think, based on where we're at right now, the government is going to be funded through January for part of it and February for the other part, and you know some negotiations are ongoing and we'll see how things play out. But you know, as we've talked about in the past, there's a few things that we're keeping an eye on. But by and large, you know, the appropriations stuff is not really anything we follow all that closely. However, there are some issues related to H2B visas, which are very important to clubs, where we've had some language included in previous iterations of appropriations bills and we want to see how that plays out going forward. But there, you know, the key thing we were focused on there was the House version had a provision in it that would exempt returning workers from the overall visa cap. So that was very beneficial and something we wanted to see. With the way that the government has been funded and the you know continuing resolutions, that kind of thing, that provision was taken out. So you know it's still in the mix in terms of potentially in the mix for permanent funding for fiscal year 24, but again, it's all subject to big negotiations and you know one of the things that they talk about, you know having been involved in those negotiations on the Hill, and one of the old sayings is that nothing's agreed to until everything's agreed to, and so we'll see how it all plays out. Most of the activities we've talked about in the past really is focused on the regulatory side, the regulatory agencies, chiefly Department of Labor, you know, is really where we're seeing a lot of the activity. We have a couple of rules that we're waiting to see finalized, one of which is the independent contractor rule from the Department of Labor, and that is still at the White House under review. It's the latest I heard late last week, so we'll see how that plays out. You know the National Labor Relations Board has already done their independent contractor rule and it wasn't necessarily what we would like to see in terms of how they define what an independent contractor is. So you know it's, if the Department of Labor follows that track, it's going to be something that we're not really going to be supportive of and it's likely, very likely, to be litigated. So you know it sort of throws everything up into question there as well. So the other thing that we're keeping an eye on is the overtime regulation. From, again from the Department of Labor, the wage and hour division, we submitted comments earlier this year on that issue and I think we talked about it last time. We really haven't had much in the way of developments, new or otherwise, with respect to the overtime regulation. It is still what it is. What it is. The proposal is to increase it up to 55,000 minimum, potentially up to 60, 61,000, you know, for exam status, that is in the review process in terms of just the comments, that the agency needs to look through all the comments and respond to those and at that point they'll send it to the White House for review and the White House will send it back and they'll finalize it. So you know we're really probably a month or two away from that process being concluded. But yeah, that's kind of where we're at. It's not too dissimilar to what we spoke about in the past or our last interview. But yeah, things will start moving here, probably in January, a little bit more earnestly.

Yeah, I was going to say probably January, february, march it's going to be some fun stuff, and that's leading right up to conference in April. Correct, and speaking of very happy, I was able to be at the championship club conference. What were your thoughts on it?

I thought it was great, it was a good start. So this is a new conference that the National Club Association has done and it's really focused on those clubs that are that do host PGA or corn fairy, lpga, epsom tour events, usga events, you know, state golf association championships, those types of things, and it's really geared towards, you know, having general managers and board members go into it with their eyes wide open in terms of what to expect and how to improve the experience for, you know, everyone from players to staff, to club members, to, you know, to patrons. So it was a. It's really. I think it was the first time that there was a dedicated meeting or conference for that purpose and you know we had, I think, 33 folks in attendance. We had Colin Burns, who's associated a couple of US opens at Wing Foot, former general manager there. We had Kevin Bozada from Augusta National Golf Club Obviously they host the Masters every year Jeffrey Creeful with Congressional you know they have a number of USGA championships that are coming up. And we had Robbie Zalsnick, who's the former senior player services person for the USGA. Talk about, you know, how to enhance the experience for players. So it was a, it was a great. Like I said, I think it was a great start and it, I think, pointed some directions that we need to go and things that we're going to look at for next year and how to make that an even better, even better conference. Yeah, I'm excited about it. I'm curious what your, your impressions were. You know we had presentations throughout the day and From all four of the gentlemen that I mentioned, but what were your thoughts?

Yeah, I had a. I had a great time. I actually did a episode on it. I'll put a link in the show notes, whatever episode number it was. I think was 290 some, but I really enjoyed it. You know, from my point of view, mm-hmm. Excuse me, you know, I know I'm never going to run a championship club conference or championship club style event, but For me, with, like, the entertainment background, I love the behind the scenes and I love the stories behind it. So I loved just learning about these little details and how people you know innovate in times of you know, like, like Colin talked about how they planned, had everything ready and then pandemic came in, both, oh, like everything changed. So that was just neat and understanding where he came from. And then you know learning about the player experience. It's like, oh, like, just those little details and how the little details matter and you know what really goes into some of these events, because I think you know every all think like, oh, there is a lot of work but there really is such a finite detail amount. And then you know talking about I talked about Augusta, what was his name? Again, mm-hmm. To.

Kevin was out of?

yeah, that was. I could have listened to him talk for hours about that. That was just neat and just learning how you know keeping Consistency, and how, no matter if it's the top chef in the world coming in there to cook, to help them cook, it's still just the same consistent recipe, because if they get the chowder from here, it has to taste the same as the chowder from over there. And just how right. What do they have like? How many thousands of employees for just a short amount of time.

Yeah, 6,000, 6,000 employees, yeah that is yeah. Yeah, and that's I mean obviously the, the masters and and Augusta National is a, you know they're in a unique position because they, they hold their major every year and but I, I have I Always believe there's things that you can learn, you know, from people's experience and and they obviously they have an infrastructure that is is unique and but I think there's lessons that everybody can draw from their experiences and and how they manage things. So, yeah, I mean I thought it was great. You, like I said, I thought it was a great event, it was a good start and I'm excited for what that event is going to become in the years ahead, because I think there's a lot of different directions we can go and, at the end of the day, it's really building awareness among club members, club board members, club presidents, about what it takes to do these things and when these different organizations come and ask their clubs to host these events, it's always a very good thing to have a clear understanding of exactly what that means and what it entails, because I can tell you, as a former board member now and former club president, we would get these requests from in our case it was the our state golf association to do qualifying events or championship events for various golf constituencies but you don't really get you understand what it means for the game and it's an honor to host and you want to further the game and grow the game but you often don't really think about what it means for the club itself. The staff you know certainly have to think about it from a member's perspective and what sort of impact it has on your club for the members. But there's so much more that goes into it and I find it fascinating as well and I think most board members would share that view.

Yeah, and even the gentleman talked about the community aspect getting all the police and fire and all of those people involved and making sure there's that open communication and talks with all of them because of the extra traffic and everything coming in. And getting the community involved because obviously there's going to be some, you know revenue coming in from them as well for them. So right and really I think everybody had a minimum walked away with one solid nugget and I think the knee part was also is so intimate and the conversations that were had and the intimacy made it fun, and also the people there. It was all different walks, so there was people looking for places to have championship style events. There was, you know, the clubs looking to put them on. There was so many different people who had little parts of it and I just thought it was so neat just to watch the speakers and those questions. But then, like during the breaks, listening to those little conversations that people talk is going. Oh, you're interesting. Hey, I had a quick question, or you know. So I always think those are the cool moments too is in the little breakouts, watching those people connected, engaged and almost like you can see who wants to talk to who. So it's almost like you see somebody like, oh, look at them going over there, get to cookie because that person's there. No, but it's just neat seeing in the people interacting and having a good time and then how you know everyone really enjoyed themselves there. And then at the cocktail hour after yeah, fun, great conversation.

I agree, and that's one of the things I really I really love about the events that the National Club Association that we put on is we really try to foster those conversations and keep a dialogue going. We try to, you know, keep that intimate kind of feel to our events and, you know, whether it's this type of event with 35 people, or, you know, our National Club Conference coming up in April with 350, you know we try to really focus on that experience and create that environment where people you know are collaborating and sharing experiences and networking and getting to know folks. So you know, that's a key component for me, you know, as the CEO of the National Club Association, to continue that into the future for any event that we do.

And it's going to sound so dumb and weird, but I don't know if you did it on purpose or not, but the room that the conference was in last year. I love an intimate room and I hate when a room is much bigger than the amount of people and the energy just kind of lost. So I liked how the room fit the amount of people perfectly and to keep to that intimacy, the stage was just high enough, meaning it wasn't. You didn't need a bunch of walkers and stairs to get up. It was nice. It was low, but high enough to have that intimacy with the speaker and the people on stage, the panelists and the audience members also. Sure.

Right, well, the fireplace didn't, didn't hurt, you know. I mean, you know, anytime you want to create that sort of, you know, intimate setting, you know, you know a fireplace does help.

So no, I appreciate that. I didn't want to get too close with like the product in my hair. I didn't want to go to flames.

Mind your beeswax. Gotta mind that beeswax. Yeah it was. It was a good event. Like I said, I think it was a good start and you know I've had many conversations with folks who are in attendance and you know ideas about, you know how we can improve the event and make it even better. So, yeah, I'm excited about that and you know we've gotten through that and now we're really intently focused on the National Club Conference coming up in April April 28 through the 30th next year and getting all the details worked out with. That will be down in Frisco, texas, at the Omni Resort and PGA headquarters and things are coming together there. I'll be actually heading down there at the end of this week and checking things out and scoping out some fun places to do events and getting things worked out there to make it just as good as every other event we've done and, even better, I love it. Well, obviously the holidays are coming up and clubs are busy, you know, entertaining members and hosting events, and so you know it's a busy time of year for private clubs and, and you know, I guess at this point I just would say happy holidays to everyone and I look forward to having more conversations in 2024. It's hard to believe. 2024 is around the corner. I know Unreal. Yep Indeed.

Hope you all enjoyed that episode. Joe, thank you so much for coming on, If you have not done so already like, share, subscribe. Any and all support is greatly and immensely appreciated. Until next time, catch on the flippity flip.