Dear Members,
Welcome to the Spring Edition of our City Tatts magazine. As always, it is hard to believe the year has gone so fast and we are now into the final months of 2019.
The second half of the year is always a much busier period for our Club. However, the amount of activity that has taken place to date here at the Club and at Boonoona is a sign of a vibrant and healthy Club. I feel sure that you have all noticed the excitement and activity.
I want to commend our staff on the execution of some incredible events held during the winter months. These include the wonderful hospitality Matt and Luanne provided Members staying at our Boonoona Ski Lodge, which doubled in occupancy and created record numbers in 2019. I should also note the great atmosphere generated during the State of Origin party that took place in Lower Bar, which saw Club and Rugby League Legend Bobby McCarthy and NRL star Willie Mason interviewed on stage by our CEO, Marcelo before and during the game.
In addition, we showcased the late-night Copa America 2019 football Championships, which saw the Club come alive in the late evenings and early hours of the morning. We also played host to current and former politicians through events including the Alan Jones Business Chamber evening in the Gadigal Room and we remembered and celebrated the life of Prime Minister Bob Hawke in the Lower Bar with a minute silence and classic “Hawke” beers.
Our Club also participated in a forum with Local and State Government officials as well as representatives from other entertainment hospitality organisations in an open discussion on the Lock Out laws and how these laws should be amended to allow for a more active Sydney, whilst at the same time ensuring the safety and well being of our community. Your Club was vocal at the forum and we look forward to working with Industry and Government in re-activating the City’s nightlife and night time economy.
Another great event held at the Club was the Go for Broke Charity Breakfast, which City Tatts co-hosted with our Cycling Club and the organisers from Go for Broke. Over 105 people attended raising over $5K for Lifeline Australia and our Club matched that amount.
Without doubt, the major highlight last quarter was our participation in our first ever City Tatts City2Surf, where more than 100 members, staff and business partners completed the fun run and afterwards had a ball in the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation Tent. Equally important and exciting was witnessing our City Tatts Cheetahs turn 60 years young, an amazing milestone that I am sure not many other sub-clubs in Sydney could boast about.
On the subject of milestones, our beloved former Chairman and current Club patron, John Healy, turned 90 years young on the 16th of August. As a surprise for John and his family, our Club coordinated an outing for John who as you can see from the photograph, had a wonderful time with those close and dear to him in Bryon Bay.
Focusing now on the next four months, let’s start by reminding you that the City Tatts Club Cup is being run at Randwick on the 26th of October. Whilst tickets to the luncheon have clearly been exhausted, Members are still able to have ATC Members tickets so you can enjoy the day at Randwick. We are trying to establish an additional marquee which members will be able to purchase tickets to. Please keep an eye for further communication on this exciting offer.
In keeping with our ‘horsy’ history, the Club will for the first time this November be part of the prestigious ‘Polo in the City’ event held every year in Centennial Park. Your Club has secured naming rights to one of the Cups and as a result of our involvement, we have also secured 60 tickets to a catered marquee. Members will be able to purchase tickets to this exclusive event via the Club’s administration in October when the allocations are released.
Our Club’s love of live entertainment has been up in lights recently. In mid-August we were a participating venue for the Sydney Folk Festival over three days, and we have had some happening and colourful salsa nights. The Divine Miss Bette also put on a big show, all helping to activate the night time economy. So keep an eye out for other events coming at your Club and I look forward to seeing you there.
City Tatts Young Professionals Committee
The best thing about our Club is its members and the fact that we have so many talented people in our database gives us a unique advantage over other venues in the City. For some time now, your Board has been thinking on how to best attract younger talent onto our Board. Having had Brad Duff recently stand for election, gave us the opportunity to connect with him and others just like Brad, to understand how the Board and the Executive Team can learn from talented young Members like Brad, Cassie Withers and Chris Ljubic. This will further develop engagement strategies which can add value to the future of our Club.
So, between July and August 2019, we came up with the City Tatts Young Professionals Committee, ultimately a group of six young professional Members, equally represented in gender, that would provide our Board and our CEO ideas on how to attract younger members into our Club. The young Committee is not to get bogged down evaluating Governance matters (that is the role of the Board). They are to think freely on the likely events we need to host in house and or externally and the brands that we may need to partner with, to increase our participation and relevance amongst other city based organisations.
Part of their first mandate is to recruit another two ladies and another male, to ensure we achieve the gender balance we are seeking. The frequency that this committee will meet will be left totally up to them, but they will be required to meet at least once a month two weeks before the meeting of the Board to submit any recommendations to the Board in writing via the Club’s CEO.
It is the Board’s view that in time this initiative will provide Members with a talent pool of younger Members who could ultimately serve on the Board if they desire and can add value to the greater Membership.
It is my pleasure to introduce this group of formidable young Members to the broader Membership and you can read more about them on the next section named, “Getting to know our Young Professionals Committee.”
To conclude, I would like to thank you for your ongoing support. Your willingness to help us develop a greater Club has clearly been noticed through the increased visitation and most recently through the feedback you gave during our last survey. An online exercise that saw an impressive 1,200 responses being submitted out of 8,400 emails that went out.
Once again thank you for your love and support of our Club.
Patrick Campion
Chairman
City Tattersalls Club
