Hello, we are the Ocean Reef Recreation Department and we're going to tell you all about what we do. And to start off, I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Chris Nelson. I'm the Recreation Activities Manager. of the Ocean Reef Club Recreation Department.
So what I do is I operate the beach and pool area that we provide for our members and guests. I spearhead the scheduling and payroll of our department with the assistance of my co-managers. I also do a lot of activity planning for our department and do a lot of the training for our interns and for a lot of our programs. There's a lot of other things that we do throughout our department and several key players in our department. Another one is here.
Haley Upton, who's sitting to my left. Thanks, Chris. My name is Haley Upton. I'm the recreation event supervisor here at Ocean Leaf Club.
I work primarily with private groups and private parties and member parties. I also, along with Caitlin, my manager, we work alongside of member events to collaborate on beach parties and street fairs. And then we host numerous member events and member groups that come in to use our accomplished facilities or they're members that own a house here and want to have a break.
a birthday party, things like that. And I'm going to pick my nose. My name is Caitlin Landers-Bennett.
I am the recreation events manager here at the Ocean Reef Club. I've been with the club now for nine years and what our job consists of is a lot of planning and a lot of creativity. So on what we do on a day-to-day basis is, like Amy mentioned, we do member events, group recreation, team building events.
However, we put a new spin to them. So it's no longer just the a mom and pop activity you're going to do, you're just going to do the arts and crafts, you're going to have the bonfire. No, we're going to decorate your event and we're going to take it to the next level.
So we work with, like Kaylee said, members, guests, conference sales, conference services, Buckingham Island with Chris and staff here. And we do a little bit about everything. So any type of event that happens here at the Ocean Reef Club, if you're on your vacation, if you're with a business, or if it's primarily a party, that's our job. So that is what we do.
Okay, and can you describe Ocean Reef and why it's different than other resorts in the area? Ocean Reef Club is different. We have 4,900 members at the club here.
We base our membership on equity members, social members, and summer members. And then, of course, the guests that come in. We have 1,900 equity members.
Equity members mean that they own property here at the club. Then they bring in their legacy members, which legacy members are their children. Then we have our social aspect. We have our non-and locals members, which means local members are coming all the way from Fort Lauderdale and down, and our non-local members are coming all the way from around the world.
And then we also have our guest aspect, which is conference services and people bringing in, of course, the members bringing in their guests. And then we have our summer membership, which just kind of ended because just how busy we already are. And summer is only from May 1st until October 31st.
I will... What makes us unique is we have our own fire department, we have our own ambulance, we have our own airport, we have our own tennis, fitness, spa, we have our own beach, we have pools, we have condos, we have yachts, we have dock space. But what makes us above them all is we're here for the members.
We're not here just to be here. We're here because the members have paid the money to make sure that they go to the most elite club that there is. And that is our job to make sure that they go to the most elite club that there is. sure that every day that they're here is paradise. With your members, most of them are able to check in and get to their home and not leave this area, is that correct?
That is correct. We do have members that stay here all year long. We have members that stay here for three months, six months, nine months out of the year.
We have members that come once a year. But during a week long stay, they're not going somewhere off property to eat? Most everything's on property?
Almost everything's here. Almost everything is restaurant based. They come to the restaurant.
They eat here, they sleep here, they dine here. I mean, there's rare occasions where they actually leave. Leave property.
So everything's here, so they don't need to leave. Well, that's interesting. All right, tell me a little bit about your background, so I'm going to give each of you about two minutes to figure out how you got to the position that you're in now.
All right. Chris, want to start? Yeah, absolutely.
So I started, I'm originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and I went to a state school in Minnesota, Winona State University. I started as a business major. And then found recreation through a friend of mine who thought that I would enjoy this line of work.
So I started to take those recreation classes. I then started majoring in recreation and minoring in business and ended up... which is a bachelor's in science with a major in recreation and tourism, minor in business administration, like I just said.
So then in order to complete the program, I had to complete an internship, so I applied for our summer internship program at Ocean Reef Club. I completed that. that successfully and after that I was offered a full-time job.
I was a coordinator for one year after that. So that was in September of 2011 is when I finished my internship. So I was a coordinator for one year.
Then in September of 2012 I was promoted to a recreation supervisor. I did that for two years and three months. So then December 2014 I was promoted to recreation activities manager and I've been doing that for...
just over a year now. So it's been a fun progression into the recreation industry. Ocean Reef has really allowed me to get my foot in the door in the recreation industry and starting my career. So I couldn't be happier with the opportunities that they provided me. One thing that Ocean Reef does pride itself in is promoting from within.
So I'm definitely a case example of that. And now that I'm a manager, I'd like to think that we do the same thing, where we'd like to teach and educate students that are interested in this industry and to continue you that linear example of promoting from within and getting people into our industry. Okay, thank you. Like I said, my name is Haley Upton.
I graduated, I'm originally from Wilmington, North Carolina, and I graduated from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina with a bachelor's in recreation management and my concentration was commercial recreation and tourism management. I graduated with a minor in communications. I started doing things like this program.
When I was young, when I was in high school, I used to do stuff like this all the time. I was a really big camp girl, so I really loved going to camp and playing games and coming up with new games and hosting parties, things like that have always been a big part of my life. So that made my decision for my major very clear and obvious for me because I really knew, I really felt my niche early on. When I graduated, I was about a couple months away from graduation and I applied for an internship down here and came down here right after I graduated. in December 2014 when I started.
And I have been here for just a little over a year now. I started out as an intern, then I became full-time, and now I am a full-time recreation events supervisor here. It's been a really fun progression, like Chris said. And Ocean Wave has done a really good job of facilitating my growth and helping me start.
I started out very young, and now they've helped me mature and grow into a professional. Well, very good. Thank you.
And Caitlin. Yes, I started out my career in a way a little bit different than most people. I decided in high school that I was going to take on internships to find out exactly what I wanted to do in my life because I was told that, you know, you only make it in the world of business.
So I was against that rule. So I started doing internships at golf courses. I started doing internships at local venues to do events, weddings, corporate events, anything that I could find. I really got my foot in the door.
Then went on for Johnson Wales University. in Providence, Rhode Island where I got my associate's degree in hospitality, sports, entertainment, and event management. I decided not to stay there and I moved on to SUNY Brockport, which is in upstate New York, SUNY school, and I got my bachelor's degree in recreational leisure studies with a minor in marketing and sales. I actually applied for this job and got the internship for the spring semester of my last school year in 07, but I decided to decline it.
And they asked me to come for the summer for the very first time they were ever having interns. So I moved down here in May of 2007. Even though I didn't really need an internship, I still wanted the experience. So I came down here, and I started my internship with the summer first time.
It wasn't very busy. There wasn't a lot going on, just corporate events. That was the time of the year where July you had it off.
That doesn't happen anymore. So in September of 2007, I became the recreation supervisor. More of a focus. on Reef Club Kids but recreation, then took on all of recreation as a whole as a supervisor.
We did that for three years actually and then in 2010 became the assistant manager of recreation, then 2012 became the recreation manager, and then just became the events recreation events manager, not supervisor sorry, in December of 2014 because the niche was they needed more events and they needed more... ...control over events and so much was growing within the Recreation Department in the past nine years that they needed to develop a position that was fully of events. And it doesn't mean just guests and groups, it means member events. So we kind of took a little bit of a roll over there.
and I've been here ever since. I got married here, I met my husband here, I have a house here. So Ocean Reef Club definitely believes in making the most of every employee that they have as long as the employee is giving everything they've got.
which is amazing. Okay and tell us a little bit about the seasons here because it's a little different. It really is a dual season now as Caitlin was previously relating there was a quiet time over the summer months obviously in Florida over the summertime is very hot and so the winter members would go back home because it's warm enough for them to live up north but now it really is a dual season so we have our holiday programming throughout December. and through spring break, through the Easter holidays, spring break.
And then our secondary season is the summertime. So, Caden can tell you more about our summer camp programming, but basically it's exploded. And with over 20 camp offerings and now an average of 600 camp participants in the summer, we actually have a higher staff number in the summertime than we do the season. And that's probably exactly the opposite for me. from every other department, such as food and beverage, which would be such a huge chunk of the staff at clubs. So we do boost our numbers in the summer to accommodate that influx of the summer camp programming.
Okay, and you want to add to that? Yes, so since we are now a dual season, we are no longer just a season and then, oh, are you so bored in the summertime? That doesn't happen anymore.
In 2009, they took it upon us to build a summer camp. We've only ever done three weeks out of... of the year. That started in 2005 with what's called a Reef Discovery Program.
It's a little bit of golf, a little bit of tennis, and a little bit of nature. Only three weeks out of the summer and that's it. So in 2009, they challenged us with the thought of building our own summer camp.
We did it. We did it with four different camps. One was a golf, one was a tennis, and one was Reef Club Kids, which is our kids'facility. After that, it was so successful, we went up to seven camps in 2010 and it kept growing and growing. So now we have over...
as Chris said, over 20 camps going at one time, but it's funny to think we actually gross more in the month of July than we do all year as the Recreation Department. So that's how successful our summer camp program is. So it's quite nice.
It's so different. Our summer camps range from a variety of different things. We do scuba, we do marine lab, we do golf, we do tennis, we do reef discovery, which is no longer focused on tennis, golf, and... and nature.
It's parasailing, it's snorkeling, it's jetpacking, or that's pretty strange. Stingrays. Swimming with the stingrays, swimming with the dolphins. It is trampoline parks. It is amazing.
So that's a more hybrid rediscovery camp. That is our camp. And that actually grows the most kids a summer. That's four weeks a summer.
That was so popular, we decided to make an adult-y camp, 14 to 18-year-olds. That's extreme camp where they jetpack. This year they're jet skiing.
They fly board over the water. It's amazing. So that one is a great camp. We have nature camp. We have a go camp, which Chris can talk more about.
We have a venture gal camp, which Haley can talk more about. What we've done, and it's amazing, we do contract out for some of our camps. We do.
But 10 out of the 20 camps are all the recreation department. So when Chris says 600 kids, that's, I mean, more than half of those are our children that are actually with us on a given day. So our weeks are definitely very long. long and our summers are very very very long.
So talk to me about the revenue a little bit so they um pay a one price for the week? They do, they do they pay one price for the week and that includes your lunch and every single thing that we do during that time so that's why the camps have been so successful. We run at 9 to 4 Monday through Friday where most people are the busiest on the weekends we're actually busier during the week so it's a little different than most people but the way the summer camps have progressed it's just just we're one week in july this is the month we run 10 camps in one week of july when do they book out they book well we start the booking process we try to in february um we're sometimes a little bit behind sometimes not they can do it in online service but last year our very first time doing it was very successful so that the members really liked that and then um to tell you that we sell out we don't agree with selling out of anything um there's minimums on things so we do put a cap on some of our events. We can only have certain people or a Marine Lab, but for the most part, we don't believe in saying no. So everybody's welcome.
So you add more staff as you add more numbers. Exactly. And then I just wanted to add something about the revenue.
Because of our summer camps and how big a lot of it is due to Caitlin and how big they have become, people actually plan their summer vacations down here based upon what our camps are. And we've already started to see it. People are emailing us asking us what the schedule is so they can plan their grandchildren. children's visit here so that they can attend that particular camp of the summer. And also because more people are coming in for their children to attend camp, that keeps everyone else in the club busy.
That keeps the restaurants busy. That keeps the shops open. So because of these summer camps, it's really generating a lot of revenue for the entire club and keeping us a more year-round club than just seasonally. So Chris, talk to us a little bit about the financial accountability of the Department of the Interns of the responsibility of your staff on a daily basis. Yeah, absolutely.
Well, first off, to start out, the recreation department itself is an amenity to our members and guests. I'd like to think that if we didn't generate $1 throughout the year, there would still be a handful of us employed to provide members and guests with activities and experiences. So with that philosophy, we're going to be here whether we make money or not.
And now, year after year, we've shown that we're able to make more and more money with the new and exciting programs we're able to offer. offer. So each year we snowball larger and larger our programs and offerings. And so our budgets have reflected that from year after year and now we're able to pretty much run wild in terms of what we want to program because we know that our members and guests are going to participate in our programming.
And so it's been very exciting and it's very fun to be able to first hire the folks that we know that we'll have business for. We're not worried about the cost of the program. picking somebody up last minute.
We know we can fully staff ourselves because the business will be here. Our members and guests like to come here and want to stay. And as Haley was referring to earlier, now their vacation plans are dictated by our activities and especially our summer camp programming.
So it is exciting for us, and we're able to plan far out in advance, and I'm sure these ladies will tell you more about that. So as you plan far out in advance, how do you stay? current how do you make that idea the new next fun hip thing that's happening that you've got to have for those teenagers so talk Haley you'll talk to me a little bit about that and then I'll have you add on I think we do a lot of we do a lot of networking we do attend conferences the RCRA conference and we see what's out there we recently just bought Flingoff which has been a lot of fun and so we're just constantly looking for what's new what's new we're always on the internet we're always looking we're always asking and honestly we ask our members we ask our our campers what they want and what they want to be a part of.
And I think that's a part of our club and Ocean View Club and what does make us unique is that we're here to serve the members. And so it might not always be what we want, it's what they want. And so a lot of our activities are dictated and our things are on what they liked last year and what they didn't like last year and what they might like next year.
So that's how we decide on a lot of our things. So what I'm hearing is it's not just kids that you guys deal with in the recreation department. You're programming for... Every age group. Every age group.
And have different things going on at all times. Absolutely. Absolutely. We have a mom's tennis camp just in the summertime alone. We sort of invite parents to snorkel and to dive.
So it's not just kids. It's not just three, four, five, six, seven-year-olds. It's every age and every person that we can facilitate with. And like Haley said, I mean, this is my 10th summer now with this camp.
And I have kids that I've been with for 10 summers. So when I tell you that they give us opinions, they give us opinions. opinions and we take that and when their parents give us opinions and it it's definitely yes we use our creativity and yes we we go out there and try to find the best the best but we also listen and we also and we also strategize and we have planning meetings and we have activity forums and we talk which is great yes um how many do you have on your staff all together as of right now as of now i'd say now we have 25 yeah 25 in the recreation department and events and everything red shirts red shirts okay and um Caitlin, can you tell us a little bit about the management level of the financial accountability of the department?
So how it works is we get handed our budget in a way in October. And each month we have to make certain revenue. Obviously, 50% of we are only allowed to expense 50% of what we made.
So if we didn't make anything, we're not allowed to spend anything. So we're always on the tip of our toes because what if that month we didn't make it? What if we didn't make it here? But what if he wants to sell a certain thing for an hour or two?
so hot, so cool, but there's no money in the children's activity budget so then we find money in another another department and another facet of the recreation department and we bring it over so there's ways to kind of puzzle it and there's ways to kind of maneuver the money in a way But we can never spend more than we make, obviously, and that's in any given situation. So just with Easter baskets alone for the Easter season, we have to buy everything in January because we have to make the 252 Easter baskets that we deliver on Easter morning. But we didn't make them.
that money in January, so now we have to account for it in March or April, whenever the Easter is. So when I say I'm always on the P&Ls, I'm on the P&Ls. You have to be. You have to be in this business. Right.
And I would add, just from a learning and student perspective, that getting to work with these budgets and getting to be a part of them was a huge contribution to my learning and growing, being able to just see and control the revenue and expenses for a camp that that I personally ran along with Caitlin and Chris, but getting to control that was a huge learning opportunity for me, and you really get to see how those things work and play into the bigger picture. Okay, and where do you see, like with the app for the department or for the resort, what are you doing with technology? Well, right now, we're still slightly archaic.
We still are a cashless-based system that accounts and accrues our money through a ticket that we write, we handwrite. Okay, so... So obviously getting onto a point-of-sale system where we can instantly charge a member or guest for the service would definitely increase our ability to forecast, but then also increase our ability to demand hours, expense, just to add it up with the calculator.
The instantaneous nature of that technology would definitely be a gain for us. I hope our boss sees this video. Thank you. the point of, or even with what Chris is saying, the ticket system, not only do we have to write the ticket system, but then we have to go back and we have to hand do all the revenue, all the inventory, everything, every day.
So it's an even longer process. So with the point of sale, everything's already in there. So it already, you buy the beach ball, you put in the beach ball, the beach ball's taken off the inventory.
So that's where we are heading. We haven't gotten there yet, but we are heading that way. Just with group recreation alone and member activities, they've developed a webpage for us solely as. member activities for. So if you were a member here and you didn't know that we offered kayak tours, you didn't know we offered birthday parties, you didn't know we offered anything, there's a webpage now just for you.
And that's brand new, just on the market on November. So that's exciting. And the group recreation guide, which is all our team building activities, is now on the web, which is new to us also.
It used to be a huge book. So we're getting there. We are getting there.
In 2017, I would say that we are ahead of our times and we have a point sale and there is no one. hours lost in that. But who knows? Alright, well thank you for your time today and as always with my videos, sometimes I'll pull pictures as you're highlighting some different events and stuff and they're able to see what's going on.
So how do they go to your website? It's www.oceanreef.com and then the scroll to events. Alright, thank you again.