San Antonio CC’s Executive Chef Nelson Millán was invited to speak in front of members about the club’s F&B operation, its growth and evolution.
Having “clubs within the club” is a tradition for private clubs across the country. San Antonio Country Club is no exception. One of our most popular “clubs within the club” is called the Conopus Club.
The Conopus Club’s slogan is “We Do Nothing, but We Do It Well.” It is composed of approximately 200 members, mostly retired business owners from oil, natural gas, military, investors, banks, communications, medical field and more. They meet every Friday for lunch and we build a splendid buffet for them. They invite speakers each week to present on a variety of topics ranging from politics and city/government issues to manufacturing, education, investments, medical topics, community issues and more.
Last month I was invited to speak. This was such an honor and I was truly humbled and excited to do so.
So you have a better idea of the magnitude of this invitation, other speakers have included the mayor, the chief of police, the Army General and several other important community figures.
Naturally, I accepted the invitation and for the first time in my tenure here at SACC, I was going to speak at Conopus.
After the initial excitement wore off, the reality of what I needed to do sank in. What would I talk about that would spark the interest of such an important crowd of well-accomplished individuals?
After much brainstorming, I decided that I would talk about our culinary program here at the club and its progress over the last 8 years.
I started searching for pictures to help me put together a compelling story of our profound progress. This process was both refreshing and encouraging. To see all of the before and after pictures was like a blast of memories for me, reaffirming the path that we have travelled and highlighting just how far we’ve come.
When the day arrived for me to speak, I was incredibly nervous. I had worked diligently putting the slides together to showcase the story I wanted to communicate (you can view my presentation here). I also semi-rehearsed all that I wanted to say. Then, there I was in front of 125 attendees and I dove in. Twenty minutes later, I was done with my presentation and the floor opened for questions. To my surprise, several hands rose and members asked a lot of interesting questions. It was an exciting exchange for me and for them.
In the end, this experience was a far more enriching opportunity than I ever expected. The members truly enjoyed my presentation and found the topic to be fascinating. They learned some important aspects of our daily operation and walked away with a better, more comprehensive understanding of SACC’s food and beverage program and how our sales have grown from $2.3 million to $7.9 million over the last eight years.
Best of all, this opportunity gave our members—and me—even more confidence in the role F&B plays within our club and our clubs within the club.
