At the Field Club of Omaha, a weekly lottery is drawing members to the main dining room on Friday nights.
“Every member who has a tab open by 6pm will have their name added in the pot for the accumulator draw the following week,” says Rylee Roberts, Food & Beverage Director.
If the selected member is present at the time of the drawing, they are credited with the current lottery amount on their membership account. The lottery pot begins at $500 and increases by $25 each week if the selected member is not present.
The goal of this initiative is to drive increased traffic to the dining room while creating a fun, engaging event that members look forward to each week.
The program was first introduced by General Manager Greg Gilg, CCM, CCE, PGA, modified from a similar program at Blue Hills Country Club in Kansas City.
“[Gilg’s] idea of adding an additional name slip for each person who attends our accumulator happy hour has created consistent volume on Friday nights,” Roberts notes.
Each Friday night, a fishbowl containing the names of all eligible members is brought into the dining room, and one name is drawn to determine the accumulator winner. If the selected member is not present, three additional names are drawn for complimentary drink tokens.
Members look forward to gathering on a dedicated night, the excitement of the drawing, and socializing with other members in the process.
Roberts notes that even members who don’t win consistently have expressed appreciation for the lively atmosphere and strong sense of camaraderie the lottery creates.
In fact, Friday nights are now “consistently the busiest night of the week in the dining room.”
“So busy,” she says, “we have extra servers and bartenders on staff to handle the volume.”
