Trips
Last year our ski trips did exceptionally well both
financially and in terms of participation. Las
Lenas, Snowmass, Zermatt, Sun Valley, and Lake
Louise/Banff were all sold out events and Copper
was almost at capacity. Our Greece and Turkey
non-ski trip was also a great success, as we were
sold out from the very beginning. I attribute our
success this past year to drastically improved presentation
and marketing of our trips. We also had
a great group of trip leaders who followed through
on their commitments to promote and lead our
trips. With active marketing of our trips in our
Newsletter , website, and e-mail broadcasts, coupled
with a strong trip leader presence at our
happy hours and special events, we were able to
provide a consistent and professional presentation.
This past year, we saw tragedy on one of our trips
for the first time. The death of Steve Smith, who
suffered a massive heart attack while in Copper,
stunned us all. For many of us, this was the loss of
a dear friend who skied with the Club for years.
This was also an important lesson on the need to
get emergency contact information from our participants.
On the positive side, I remain extremely
proud of our members who stood in as Steve’s
family and helped coordinate his return to South
Florida where he was memorialized and laid to
rest with his parents. I strongly believe this event
stands as a testament to the integrity and moral
character of our membership. We also lost a longtime
and beloved trip leader, Lag Giannino. For
many years, Lag was the face of our annual South
America ski trips. While we will never be able to
recreate Lag’s South America experience, I think
we’ve done an excellent job of bringing on
Bariloche for the first time in years
As reported in several Newsletters, the negotiation of
this year’s ski trips was especially frustrating. With
increasing fuel charges combined with struggling airlines,
we have been seeing far fewer available flights
and a reluctance on the part of the airlines to accept
group bookings. As a result of these factors, the cost
of air has increased notably this past year. Hardest
hit with fuel charge increases are our international
trips and our domestic trips with airports that are not
hubs, specifically Steamboat (Hayden) and Big Sky
(Bozman). Even with these challenges, I think we
have an excellent roster of trips at a great value. We
have a tremendous variety in skiing terrain and pricing.
We’ve also sought to get ski-in and ski-out properties
for most of our trips. This year, only Vail is
walk-in and walk-out property. Take a look at this
year’s trip insert for more details. Last, but certainly
not least, is our ground breaking trip to Egypt and
Israel. We are looking forward to a spectacular trip
that will take us back in time and history.
Financials
We closed the year with profits totaling $18,214, a
significant increase over last year's loss of $4,173.
In the last 12 months we made substantive
improvements to several aspects of the Club. Most
notably, we almost doubled our net trip income
from last year's level to $34,430. Stronger promotion
and presentation of our trips coupled with
improved sales efforts by our trip leaders resulted
in substantially increased trip participation by our
members. Specifically, we expanded our descriptions
of our trips in the Newsletter and website
and supplemented with broadcast e-mails as needed.
For the first time in years, all of our trips, with
the exception of Copper, were sold out and we
were able, in most cases, to expand our trips to accommodate more participants. The Copper trip
ended up being close to capacity. Our Greece &
Turkey and Argentina trips provided the strongest
income. Our ability to expand these trips resulted
in unanticipated free positions that significantly
lowered our relative expense.
Another area of success was the 10 percent increase
in collected membership dues to $22,300. It seems
that several members actively sought opportunities
to bring in new members. While we did offer
incentives, such as free memberships to those
referring at least two members, it seems that none
of our members took advantage of our offering. In
other words, a sense of duty and responsibility to
the Club was a strong motivation as opposed to the
prospect of getting a free membership. Also, the
increase in the number of trip participants contributed
to the increase. Remember, you must be a
member to travel or ski with us.
One of the primary financial objectives last year
was to gain strong control and oversight of Club's
administrative expenditures. This past year, we
significantly lowered our liability insurance premium
and our printing expenses. That is not to say
that we decided to curtail our coverage, rather we
were able to find a different insurance carrier who
offered the same level of insurance coverage at a
significantly lower cost. We also refrained from
needless printing.
When it came to Club events such as the Picnic,
Snowballs and Springfest, we strategically
increased our budget. This past year, we enhanced
the quality of these events by seeking superior
venues and provided higher quality food. As discussed
last year, we eliminated the October
Snowball as this event has historically resulted in a
low turnouts. As a result of our fiscal conservatism,
we were able to allocate more money
towards Springfest, our year-end Gala.
Budget
Our 2006-7 budget is in the process of being finalized.
With the financial success of this past year,
the Board made an early decision to increase the
budget for the upcoming Picnic. This decision
was prompted by the fact that the Holiday Inn in
Hollywood was demolished, and the reality of
prices having gone up substantially. So this year,
we are looking at an upgraded venue, the
Riviera Country Club. Keep in mind, the Picnic
is where we launch the sale of our trips. This
event also draws more members than any other
Club social event. As we come off a very successful year, it is difficult
to resist the temptation to embark on discretionary
spending. The Board has demonstrated strong
restraint and is committed to shoring up our financial
cushion in light of rising fuel costs, harsher
cancellation clauses in our contracts, and a potentially
declining domestic economy (higher interest
rates, slowing in housing sales, etc.).
Special Events
This year, we did an outstanding job in providing
our membership with a broad array of special
events - whether its scuba diving in the Keys,
enjoying a night of dining and dancing, we truly
offered something for everyone. We brought new
experiences such as the King Tut exposition and
the Herald Hunt, and brought back some old
favorites such as the Keys Weekend. It is exciting
that we have had such strong membership support
of these events. Due to the small margins, special
events are not a major contributor to our financial
bottom line. However, these events are invaluable
in retaining our strong membership support.
External Marketing
While we are open to opportunities to promote the
Club, our success was hit and miss. In August, we
received terrific free publicity when the Miami
Herald devoted the front page of the Weekend section
to the Club with its "Sip and Ski: not everything
is about snow" expose. This article was effective
in highlighting the warm, friendly and inviting
nature of our members, especially at happy hours,
and the diversity of our events as well as members.
In March, we were invited to participate in the
Herald Travel Expo. While the event apparently
had great attendance, our panel was scheduled
fairly early on the Sunday, well before the crowds
began to arrive. As this was our first time with this
event, we were not fully aware of how best to maximize
our exposure. We are hoping to be invited
again next year, and we will be better prepared.
Summary
All in all, we have had one of the best years in quite
a while, and we are entering the 2006-07 season
with a strong treasury, an array of great trips, a
solid membership base and good leadership. What
more could we ask for? An even better year? With
everyone’s help, maybe we can! |
