December 8, 2025 • 7 mins
Holiday season at the club means packed banquet sheets, nonstop member events, and inboxes that will not quit, so let us turn that boring out of office reply into a tiny hospitality win. In this episode, I walk you through a simple way to turn your autoresponder from a dead end into a warm, useful touchpoint that actually drives engagement. You will hear a real world example from my buddy and fellow club pro, Sean Bleyl, whose OOO emails use playful subject lines, personal details, and smart links to feel human and helpful.
We talk through easy plug and play ideas for every role at the club. Chefs can drop a seasonal recipe or tease the New Years Eve menu, golf pros can link a winter warm up or holiday scramble registration, and events teams can push a wine dinner or family night with direct RSVP links. Underneath it all is a simple idea, hospitality lives in the little moments. Update that one tiny setting in your inbox and you will set better expectations, get more smiles, and quietly nudge members toward the next best thing at your club.
Follow us on the socials
Private Club Radio Instagram
Private Club Radio Linkedin
Denny Corby Instagram
Denny Corby Linkedin
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance, andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteran,just getting your feet wet, or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, Denny Corby.
Welcome to the show.
In this episode, once again,it's a short but really
important one.
We are heading into theHolocaze.
You're busy, I'm busy.
Your club's probably slammed.
You have banquets, you havemember events, you have emails,
but in the middle of all of thiscraziness, you probably are
gonna slap on an out-of-officeemail and an out-of-office
(00:42):
autoresponder.
And chances are it's probablygonna be boring.
Probably gonna be generic,personality free, very cold.
I'll be out of the office withlimited access to my email.
Come on, we all know.
We all know that's a lie.
You're checking it on your phonewhile you're hiding in the
bathroom from your families.
We do it.
We all do it.
Um, but we can do better.
(01:03):
And not just for this year, butmoving forward.
So let's make your out-of-officeemail something worth reading.
It doesn't have to be cold andit doesn't have to be that
serious.
To me, a good out of officeemail is a chance to show some
personality, to connect withwhether it's your members, your
people, your staff, your team,um, and even a great place to
(01:23):
plug things that are happeningin and around your world, in and
around, in and around your club.
And most of us for anout-of-office email, we waste
that opportunity.
Now, real quick, let me get youstarted as to where this idea
and where this episode camefrom.
Um, because as you know, I gottatell you about my my good buddy
Sean Blyle, fellow club pro,members first, amazing, amazing
(01:44):
human.
And he has the most amazingout-of-office emails and
autoresponders.
There was one I got from him afew weeks ago.
Even the subject line juststarted off great.
There was an emoji with somebooks, and it said school's out
equals Sean's out.
And then in parentheses, well,I've got something for you
inside.
Right away, fun, light, theemoji in the subject line.
(02:08):
What what a welcoming thing tosee for me personally.
Um and then in the email, it wasso personal, it was so
personable, it was so him.
Yeah, in the email, he said, uh,the kids have off today, so I'm
spending time with them.
Pretty sure they're notinterested in raking leave, so
we're probably gonna be figuringout Halloween costumes in
(02:29):
instead.
Boom.
There's personality, there'srelatability, and uh, you know,
he's a good dude, you know he'sa good human, and it gives you
something to connect with um,you know, on a human on a
human-to-human basis, on ahuman-to-human level.
But then here's a genius part isin the email, he also adds a
link to some upcoming webinars,recent some recent showcasing of
(02:51):
some of their client stuff, uh,ways for you to book a meeting
with him and a clear contact incase you do need help with
something, uh, you know, ASAP.
So literally almost turning yourout of office email into a mini
newsletter, and it works andit's personal and it's helpful
and it's friendly and it'suseful.
And it made me think we can alldo this.
(03:14):
We can all utilize this in whatwe do.
So think about how you how youcan use it at your club.
You're the chef.
Uh, maybe you're gonna be out,you drop a holiday recipe in
there, um, something tosomething easing for easy for
them to uh try out, yourfavorite recipe this week, or
something that you read andthought was interesting.
Uh sneak peek at the New Year'sEve menu.
(03:34):
Uh you're the golf pro.
So maybe it's a link to a newwarm-up or something to do in
the cold months.
If you're up north in the coldwhere I am now and it's
freezing, I'm looking at snowoutside.
Uh, or a re you know, a reminderto register for the holiday
scramble.
Um, if you're in events andmarketing, you can plug the
weekend's wine dinner.
You could plug the amazingcomedy, magic, and mind reading
(03:56):
show by Denny Corby that youbooked.
Shameless plug.
And speaking of shameless plug,if you or your club is looking
for one of the most fun memberevent nights for 2026 and even
2027, booking far in advance.
Reach on out dennycorby.com fromfun member event nights, um,
golf tournaments, member events.
I do really well at these stagevents uh because the show is
(04:18):
very crowd work focused.
So it's a way for me to havesome playful jabbing, uh, mixing
the magic, mind reading, and thecomedy all in one.
It's a really great experience.
If you want to learn more, headover to dennycorby.com.
But you're picking up what I'mputting down, making it
personal, making it you, gettingpeople, giving people a little
sneak peek behind the behind thecurtain.
(04:39):
Taking a long weekend with thewith the fam, but here's what's
coming up at the club that I'mreally excited about.
Literally any department, anyrole, you can add a spark of
personality and sneak helpfulinfo into your OOO.
And here's the fun part is sinceit's the holidays and clubs are
usually always busy around theholidays and just generally
busy, um, you can pretend you'reout of office just to set up a
(05:03):
fun autoresponder.
So with the craziness of theholidays coming up, you can say
something like, Hey, we're infull holiday event mode, might
be a little slower than usualgetting back to you, but while
we're here, while you're here,did you sign up for the holiday
gala yet?
Here's the link.
Did you do that?
Right, giving people a call toaction.
This is that time of year.
My inbox is wilder than theBlack Friday sales last week.
(05:25):
So while you wait, check outwhat's going on in the club this
week.
You know, something easy,simple, effective.
And I think the bigger point,the bigger picture of all of
this, it's, you know, we we wetalk about in clubs and
higher-end hospitality, touchpoints, member engagement, and
all these big ideas.
But sometimes it's it's these,it's the little things.
It's these little things.
(05:46):
It's an out-of-office email thatis a tiny moment of surprise.
It's a it's a potential to givesomebody a smile, a spark of
delight, a reminder that they'renot just a facility, you're not
just a place.
They're a club where you'rewelcomed and you're appreciated
and where we love to have peopleand we love to have you.
(06:06):
And and these little things addup over time.
Our buddy Joe Joe Smith has apodcast all about the little
things, right?
It's these little things thatadd up.
These are why people renew.
This is why they show up.
It's why they tell theirfriends.
So as we're heading into thiscrazy December, before you're
taking a few days off, rememberbefore you slam the out of
(06:28):
office on, add some you into it,make it fun, give people
something useful, make it alittle better than it was last
time.
Just like what we try to doevery day, a little bit better
every day, a little bit betterthan yesterday.
Uh, just like what we're alltrying to do here in the
industry and in our lives,right?
It's not rocket science, it'snot anything crazy, it's just
hospitality, it's just thepeople business.
(06:49):
And it's giving people a reallygreat experience.
So that's it.
That's this episode.
Appreciate all of you listeners.
If you're enjoying the contentthis holiday season, you can
help me out.
Give me a five star review onwhatever platform you are
consuming this content on.
You want to book some funentertainment?
Hit me up, dennycorby.com.
(07:10):
But that's this episode.
Until next time, catch y'all onthe flippity flip.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Private Club
Radio Show, where we give youthe scoop on all things private
golf and country clubs frommastering leadership and
management, food and beverageexcellence, member engagement
secrets, board governance, andeverything in between, all while
keeping it fun and light.
Whether you're a club veteran,just getting your feet wet, or
somewhere in the middle, you arein the right place.
(00:20):
I'm your host, Denny Corby.
Welcome to the show.
In this episode, once again,it's a short but really
important one.
We are heading into theHolocaze.
You're busy, I'm busy.
Your club's probably slammed.
You have banquets, you havemember events, you have emails,
but in the middle of all of thiscraziness, you probably are
gonna slap on an out-of-officeemail and an out-of-office
(00:42):
autoresponder.
And chances are it's probablygonna be boring.
Probably gonna be generic,personality free, very cold.
I'll be out of the office withlimited access to my email.
Come on, we all know.
We all know that's a lie.
You're checking it on your phonewhile you're hiding in the
bathroom from your families.
We do it.
We all do it.
Um, but we can do better.
(01:03):
And not just for this year, butmoving forward.
So let's make your out-of-officeemail something worth reading.
It doesn't have to be cold andit doesn't have to be that
serious.
To me, a good out of officeemail is a chance to show some
personality, to connect withwhether it's your members, your
people, your staff, your team,um, and even a great place to
(01:23):
plug things that are happeningin and around your world, in and
around, in and around your club.
And most of us for anout-of-office email, we waste
that opportunity.
Now, real quick, let me get youstarted as to where this idea
and where this episode camefrom.
Um, because as you know, I gottatell you about my my good buddy
Sean Blyle, fellow club pro,members first, amazing, amazing
(01:44):
human.
And he has the most amazingout-of-office emails and
autoresponders.
There was one I got from him afew weeks ago.
Even the subject line juststarted off great.
There was an emoji with somebooks, and it said school's out
equals Sean's out.
And then in parentheses, well,I've got something for you
inside.
Right away, fun, light, theemoji in the subject line.
(02:08):
What what a welcoming thing tosee for me personally.
Um and then in the email, it wasso personal, it was so
personable, it was so him.
Yeah, in the email, he said, uh,the kids have off today, so I'm
spending time with them.
Pretty sure they're notinterested in raking leave, so
we're probably gonna be figuringout Halloween costumes in
(02:29):
instead.
Boom.
There's personality, there'srelatability, and uh, you know,
he's a good dude, you know he'sa good human, and it gives you
something to connect with um,you know, on a human on a
human-to-human basis, on ahuman-to-human level.
But then here's a genius part isin the email, he also adds a
link to some upcoming webinars,recent some recent showcasing of
(02:51):
some of their client stuff, uh,ways for you to book a meeting
with him and a clear contact incase you do need help with
something, uh, you know, ASAP.
So literally almost turning yourout of office email into a mini
newsletter, and it works andit's personal and it's helpful
and it's friendly and it'suseful.
And it made me think we can alldo this.
(03:14):
We can all utilize this in whatwe do.
So think about how you how youcan use it at your club.
You're the chef.
Uh, maybe you're gonna be out,you drop a holiday recipe in
there, um, something tosomething easing for easy for
them to uh try out, yourfavorite recipe this week, or
something that you read andthought was interesting.
Uh sneak peek at the New Year'sEve menu.
(03:34):
Uh you're the golf pro.
So maybe it's a link to a newwarm-up or something to do in
the cold months.
If you're up north in the coldwhere I am now and it's
freezing, I'm looking at snowoutside.
Uh, or a re you know, a reminderto register for the holiday
scramble.
Um, if you're in events andmarketing, you can plug the
weekend's wine dinner.
You could plug the amazingcomedy, magic, and mind reading
(03:56):
show by Denny Corby that youbooked.
Shameless plug.
And speaking of shameless plug,if you or your club is looking
for one of the most fun memberevent nights for 2026 and even
2027, booking far in advance.
Reach on out dennycorby.com fromfun member event nights, um,
golf tournaments, member events.
I do really well at these stagevents uh because the show is
(04:18):
very crowd work focused.
So it's a way for me to havesome playful jabbing, uh, mixing
the magic, mind reading, and thecomedy all in one.
It's a really great experience.
If you want to learn more, headover to dennycorby.com.
But you're picking up what I'mputting down, making it
personal, making it you, gettingpeople, giving people a little
sneak peek behind the behind thecurtain.
(04:39):
Taking a long weekend with thewith the fam, but here's what's
coming up at the club that I'mreally excited about.
Literally any department, anyrole, you can add a spark of
personality and sneak helpfulinfo into your OOO.
And here's the fun part is sinceit's the holidays and clubs are
usually always busy around theholidays and just generally
busy, um, you can pretend you'reout of office just to set up a
(05:03):
fun autoresponder.
So with the craziness of theholidays coming up, you can say
something like, Hey, we're infull holiday event mode, might
be a little slower than usualgetting back to you, but while
we're here, while you're here,did you sign up for the holiday
gala yet?
Here's the link.
Did you do that?
Right, giving people a call toaction.
This is that time of year.
My inbox is wilder than theBlack Friday sales last week.
(05:25):
So while you wait, check outwhat's going on in the club this
week.
You know, something easy,simple, effective.
And I think the bigger point,the bigger picture of all of
this, it's, you know, we we wetalk about in clubs and
higher-end hospitality, touchpoints, member engagement, and
all these big ideas.
But sometimes it's it's these,it's the little things.
It's these little things.
(05:46):
It's an out-of-office email thatis a tiny moment of surprise.
It's a it's a potential to givesomebody a smile, a spark of
delight, a reminder that they'renot just a facility, you're not
just a place.
They're a club where you'rewelcomed and you're appreciated
and where we love to have peopleand we love to have you.
(06:06):
And and these little things addup over time.
Our buddy Joe Joe Smith has apodcast all about the little
things, right?
It's these little things thatadd up.
These are why people renew.
This is why they show up.
It's why they tell theirfriends.
So as we're heading into thiscrazy December, before you're
taking a few days off, rememberbefore you slam the out of
(06:28):
office on, add some you into it,make it fun, give people
something useful, make it alittle better than it was last
time.
Just like what we try to doevery day, a little bit better
every day, a little bit betterthan yesterday.
Uh, just like what we're alltrying to do here in the
industry and in our lives,right?
It's not rocket science, it'snot anything crazy, it's just
hospitality, it's just thepeople business.
(06:49):
And it's giving people a reallygreat experience.
So that's it.
That's this episode.
Appreciate all of you listeners.
If you're enjoying the contentthis holiday season, you can
help me out.
Give me a five star review onwhatever platform you are
consuming this content on.
You want to book some funentertainment?
Hit me up, dennycorby.com.
(07:10):
But that's this episode.
Until next time, catch y'all onthe flippity flip.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.