In this episode of Crushing Club Marketing, Ed Heil sits with a 30-year Disney executive, Barry Jacobson, to discuss his extensive experience at Disney and private clubs. The conversation focuses on what it takes to create exceptional guest and member experiences through culture, standards, and leadership. Watch to learn how your club can elevate service quality, build community, and foster a passionate team to deliver memorable moments.

Summary:
00:00 Introduction to Barry Jacobson's Career Journey
02:56 The Disney Experience: Creating Magical Moments
05:51 Private Club Management: A Personalized Approach
08:52 Hiring and Onboarding: The Disney Way
11:50 Attention to Detail: Standards and Behaviors
14:55 Core Values and Team Dynamics
20:04 Transitioning Club Culture: Listening and Learning
22:42 The Importance of Leadership in Experience Management
24:09 People, Purpose, and Profit: The Disney Philosophy
27:11 Hiring for Fit: The Role of Assessments
30:28 Consistency and Quality in Service
32:47 Adapting to Generational Shifts in Club Membership
39:58 Creating a Sense of Community in Clubs
42:35 Building a Positive Work Environment for Staff

Episode Description:

Gregg Patterson has been studying private club culture since 1974. What he's found is that the generational divide everyone worries about is mostly a story clubs tell themselves.

In this episode, Ed sits down with Patterson, longtime general manager of The Beach Club in Santa Monica and founder of Tribal Magic, to dig into what actually holds a club together across generations. They cover the real purpose of a rigorous admissions process, why board education starts years before anyone gets appointed, and how a general manager functions less as an operator and more as an institutional compass.

Key Moments:

• 3:16 Why the Generational Divide Is Overstated
• 6:17 Tribal Magic and the Role of Admissions
• 7:58 What a Rigorous Process Is Actually Screening For
• 13:20 The GM as Educator and Influencer
• 16:35 Smelling the Future: Board Culture and Governance
• 23:17 How to Develop Board Members Before They Serve
• 32:41 Repairing Culture After the Pandemic Membership Rush
• 36:43 Building the Right Team Around Your Gaps

Producing a video for one of the most historic clubs in the country is one thing. Producing one that actually does it justice is another.

In this episode, Ed sits down with StoryTeller's Creative Director Steve Mulholland to revisit the brand anthem video they produced for The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Three days of filming. Two very different locations. A club with more than a century of history. And a bar that was, by everyone's admission, set pretty high.

Steve walks through how the project came together, from the planning decisions that shaped the shoot to the choices that made the final piece memorable. They talk about why messaging comes before cameras, what smart interview subject selection actually looks like, and how the first 15 seconds of a video can either earn a viewer's attention or lose it.

Key Moments:
00:00 Introduction to the Olympic Club Video Project
02:57 The Scope and Planning of the Production
06:13 Crafting the Messaging and Storytelling
08:59 Interview Selection and Participant Dynamics
11:57 Cinematic Techniques and Visual Storytelling
18:57 The Role of Music in Video Production
28:07 Memorable Elements of the Olympic Club Video