CMAE’s Management Development Programmes (MDP) Part 1 and Part 2, were successfully hosted at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club and the Park Hyatt, Dubai Creek during the last week of May.
Forty four delegates from golf, city, and sports clubs enjoyed presentations by leading educators, including Darshan Singh (Management & Leadership), Sharron Ruttlege (F&B), Bill Sanderson (Management & HR), Dr Anis Samet (Finance), Michael Braidwood CCM (Membership Marketing) Kevin Fish CCM (Strategic planning, Governance and Lumina) and Gregg Patterson (Customer Service and Managing Commitees) along with some practical example sessions from leading Golf Course Superintendent Craig Haldane on Course and External Facilities Maintenance, Health and Safety expert David Dickinson and Chris May CCM on Facilities Management.
On the Tuesday evening of the week a special education session was organised where leading club operators from around the world congregated for a Q and A session on Career Development. On the panel were Ed Edwards (Troon Golf), Chris May (Dubai Golf), Marc Newey CCM, CMAE President and CEO of the Roehampton Club London and Gregg Patterson formerly of the Santa Monica Beach Club and now Principle of ‘Tribal Magic’. They gave great insights into raising your personal profile and what employers are looking for.
“This was the second time CMAE have taken the MDP courses to the Middle East and were astounded by the response, “We were delighted by the response to the programme here in Dubai last year with 34 delegates. This year we decided to run our MDP part 2 as a follow on for last year’s delegates as well as running another MDP part 1. To have 44 delegates over all just shows how high the demand is for high-level club management education. We had delegates from 10 different countries so the networking was phenomenal” said CMAE’s Director of Education, Michael Braidwood CCM, who facilitated the MDP 2 week, whilst his colleague Darshan Singh facilitated the MDP 1.
Launched in 2011 the highly regarded MDP Pathway has already been held on 43 occasions throughout the UK and Europe and now for the first time the Middle East. The programme delivers top class education to club managers and senior staff on all 10-core competencies of modern club management.
Commenting on the success of the programme, Chris May CCM and CEO of Dubai Golf, who were the host for the programme, said “we are delighted by the success of the MDP here in Dubai. We have had a number of our colleagues travel to Europe to experience the programme in the past, so we were keen to bring it to Dubai to expose this type of education to a wider audience. The feedback this year has been exceptional with the MDP 2 delegates commencing on the increased intensity of the programme this time round”
MDP delegate Ed Edwards General Manager of Abu Dhabi and Saadiyat Beach Golf Clubs said of his day 1 experience “I thought Bill’s (Sanderson) presentation was spot on, not only from a content standpoint, but also the way it was delivered. It was the first day and I like many others was sitting back looking forward to the week, but secretly confident that I knew most things in the world!! However, the way he delivered the first session got us all to take notice and open our eyes which I am sure set the right tone and resulted in us getting the most out of the week.
“The quality of the presenters was second to none and has given all the delegates a new perspective and energy to take back to their respective properties.”
The MDP pathway was originally developed by the Club Managers Association of America and thanks to their vision and generosity has been given to CMAE who have adapted the materials for the European Golf, Sports and City Club Markets.
CMAE www.cmaeurope.org