ways to improve Club Social Time

[[email protected]]

My club is doing well and growing but our set up is not great for socializing. I think it would be nice if there were a few more excuses for people to hang out after flying to further build friendships.
We just moved from another airport that had no good club house or club space other than the hangar. We have an office / clubhouse now but it is pretty basic. When we are done putting all the aircraft away people mostly split and go home.
I think if we had a few more features it would help make the club more family friendly and more social.
I was thinking some picnic tables, chairs, bean bag toss game/"cornhole", horse shoe toss etc.
A pool might be nice but not in the budget. What works well at other clubs?

Any kids stuff work well?

Chris

[[email protected]]

Beer and peanuts.

[ND]

On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-5, wrote:
> My club is doing well and growing but our set up is not great for socializing. I think it would be nice if there were a few more excuses for people to hang out after flying to further build friendships.
> We just moved from another airport that had no good club house or club space other than the hangar. We have an office / clubhouse now but it is pretty basic. When we are done putting all the aircraft away people mostly split and go home.
> I think if we had a few more features it would help make the club more family friendly and more social.
> I was thinking some picnic tables, chairs, bean bag toss game/"cornhole", horse shoe toss etc.
> A pool might be nice but not in the budget. What works well at other clubs?
>
> Any kids stuff work well?
>
> Chris

At harris hill we have a club picnic once per month year round. picnic is a loose term, as at least 1/3 of these events take place inside. as it happens, one of them is a banquet. i think having many social events is a great way to get it started and make connections.

at our club sometimes people have informal bring your own meet/drinks picnics during the summer. an email gets put out usually the day of or something, and it's another chance at a social setting. we also dedicated full on instruction on wednesday evenings which usually has two towplanes, 3-4 gliders, and goes until sunset. often times they'll make 25-30 flights. there's always a ton of people around, and the vibe is social since there's usually a line to get instruction.

you do also have to find a way to make it a place families want to come and hang out. but once you get some friends ships started amongst non pilot spouses, and kids alot takes care of itself as long as you have many gatherings.

appoint a social events officer maybe?

[ND]

On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 1:19:56 PM UTC-5, ND wrote:
> On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-5, wrote:
> > My club is doing well and growing but our set up is not great for socializing. I think it would be nice if there were a few more excuses for people to hang out after flying to further build friendships.
> > We just moved from another airport that had no good club house or club space other than the hangar. We have an office / clubhouse now but it is pretty basic. When we are done putting all the aircraft away people mostly split and go home.
> > I think if we had a few more features it would help make the club more family friendly and more social.
> > I was thinking some picnic tables, chairs, bean bag toss game/"cornhole", horse shoe toss etc.
> > A pool might be nice but not in the budget. What works well at other clubs?
> >
> > Any kids stuff work well?
> >
> > Chris
>
> At harris hill we have a club picnic once per month year round. picnic is a loose term, as at least 1/3 of these events take place inside. as it happens, one of them is a banquet. i think having many social events is a great way to get it started and make connections.
>
> at our club sometimes people have informal bring your own meet/drinks picnics during the summer. an email gets put out usually the day of or something, and it's another chance at a social setting. we also dedicated full on instruction on wednesday evenings which usually has two towplanes, 3-4 gliders, and goes until sunset. often times they'll make 25-30 flights. there's always a ton of people around, and the vibe is social since there's usually a line to get instruction.
>
> you do also have to find a way to make it a place families want to come and hang out. but once you get some friends ships started amongst non pilot spouses, and kids alot takes care of itself as long as you have many gatherings.
>
> appoint a social events officer maybe?

jesus my spelling and grammar sucked. its friday afternoon in the office, deal with it.....

[JS]

On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 9:26:02 AM UTC-8, wrote:
> My club is doing well and growing but our set up is not great for socializing. I think it would be nice if there were a few more excuses for people to hang out after flying to further build friendships.
> We just moved from another airport that had no good club house or club space other than the hangar. We have an office / clubhouse now but it is pretty basic. When we are done putting all the aircraft away people mostly split and go home.
> I think if we had a few more features it would help make the club more family friendly and more social.
> I was thinking some picnic tables, chairs, bean bag toss game/"cornhole", horse shoe toss etc.
> A pool might be nice but not in the budget. What works well at other clubs?
>
> Any kids stuff work well?
>
> Chris

Air conditioning.
Clean bathrooms with showers.
A full kitchen and indoor/outdoor dining areas.
Onsite accommodation.
Cold beer available in the club house doesn't hurt!
Just spent 3 weeks at a club with the above that has expanded operations considerably in the last year.
Jim

[DaTruth]

Food, booze. Ladies drink free, men pay triple. You do have decide who you want sticking around, pilots, or pilots + family. Kids can amuse themselves anywhere, only trick is keeping the moms happy. If the moms want to be there the kids have no choice. Free booze, clean bathroom. Same marketing the world has used forever, something shiny to attract women so men follow. And Wifi some people can't survive long without suckling on their izombie devices.

[Dave Nadler]

Jim, you forgot the kangeroos!
Hope to get down there again one of these days...

[Jonathan St. Cloud]

On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 10:46:37 AM UTC-8, DaTruth wrote:
< Ladies drink free, men pay triple. >

Just like in real life. Food and drink are the social lubricants, but must have a comfortable ambiance for the ladies to stay.

[Dan Marotta]

On 12/9/2016 11:18 AM, wrote:
> Beer and peanuts.
....And a brass pole.

Winter's almost here...
--
Dan, 5J

[[email protected]]

On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 12:26:02 PM UTC-5, wrote:
> My club is doing well and growing but our set up is not great for socializing. I think it would be nice if there were a few more excuses for people to hang out after flying to further build friendships.
> We just moved from another airport that had no good club house or club space other than the hangar. We have an office / clubhouse now but it is pretty basic. When we are done putting all the aircraft away people mostly split and go home.
> I think if we had a few more features it would help make the club more family friendly and more social.
> I was thinking some picnic tables, chairs, bean bag toss game/"cornhole", horse shoe toss etc.
> A pool might be nice but not in the budget. What works well at other clubs?
>
> Any kids stuff work well?
>
> Chris
When we started our operation almost 40 years ago, I asked my mentor, an old timer who had been in the sport since the thirties, what the most important things were to making a go of it.
He had a one word answer- Picnics.
We have simple burgers and dogs picnics once a month in the hangar after flying. Everybody brings something to put on the table. We always have 50 or 60 people and we see a lot of the wives. The juniors have their own group and table and commonly now man the grill.
Sometimes we'll do a theme, like Chili night.
A swing set is nice if there are enough of the right age youngsters.
Having a grill in the hangar makes it easy to have a few people stick around after flying and do an impromptu meal. Drinks in a refrigerator lube the system also.
Not fancy but it helps with the sense of being part of the group.
FWIW
UH

[Charlie Papa[_2_]]

On Friday, 9 December 2016 12:26:02 UTC-5, wrote:
> My club is doing well and growing but our set up is not great for socializing. I think it would be nice if there were a few more excuses for people to hang out after flying to further build friendships.
> We just moved from another airport that had no good club house or club space other than the hangar. We have an office / clubhouse now but it is pretty basic. When we are done putting all the aircraft away people mostly split and go home.
> I think if we had a few more features it would help make the club more family friendly and more social.
> I was thinking some picnic tables, chairs, bean bag toss game/"cornhole", horse shoe toss etc.
> A pool might be nice but not in the budget. What works well at other clubs?
>
> Any kids stuff work well?
>
> Chris

My club, www.yorksoaring.com, began renovations to the clubhouse about a decade ago. First up was renovation of the washrooms. The old ones violated the Geneva Convention, with a bucket under the leaking urinal, water-stained cold only sinks, etc. Got a grant, and put in restaurant quality, and accessible, tiled floor new fixtures etc. Next up was the kitchen. A member salvaged cabinets from a lease ended kitchen store, and funds raised by a social committee bought new appliances (2, fridges, 2 stoves, dishwasher). Most important: a beer fridge. It's locked until the gliders are packed in the hangar, and then open for the 'debriefing'. The old kitchen became a classroom, with computers for member use, and wifi in clubhouse and campground. A propane gas fireplace and a laminate floor and gyprock ceiling transformed the pilot's lounge, which the social committee filled with folding leg round tables and stacking chairs. A/C in the office only for the comfort of the volunteer taking care of selling flights and entering data into the member accounts.

Each improvement inspired the next. We started with the washrooms because they were the worst. Then the next worst, the old kitchen became a compelling target to follow. The kitchen is used for group dinners once a month or so, and lunches are frequently off the BBQ on the adjoining flight deck. Hangar flying in encourged, with the pundit's stories offering insights into the as yet unobtained farther reaches of gliding's never-ending learning curve.

Collegiality is the glue that all-too-often distinguishes a club from an FBO. But successful FBO's also offer club-like social sides (think Ridge Soaring of Seminole Lake). It's an important aspect of soaring as a choice vs.. power.

[JS]

On Friday, December 9, 2016 at 11:10:30 AM UTC-8, Dave Nadler wrote:
> Jim, you forgot the kangeroos!
> Hope to get down there again one of these days...

(Dave has been to Lake Keepit before)
Sorry, forgot the kangaroos, cockatoos, magpies, goannas, kookaburras, parrots, galahs, mynahs, etc that you wake up to.
There were 3 new cabins I hadn't seen before, with more coming. Stayed in one new cabin, very nice.
The club house kitchen has grown. The indoor dining area is much larger than you last saw, and air conditioned.

Driving to Williams tomorrow, there is now a spacious air conditioned kitchen, dining and party room adjacent to the offices, bunk house and "studio".
Jim