President’s Message

Dear Fellow ACC Members,

Happy New Year!

As I write, the Club’s busy Christmas season is behind us, the new Board of Governors has taken office and the 2019 committees are being formed.  This year we have reached out via posters, the website and our e-newsletter to encourage Members to contribute to the success of our Club by volunteering to serve on a committee.  We hope that this will broaden the pool of volunteers and the range of perspectives represented on our various committees.  If you are interested in serving, please write to committees@americanclub.org.tw and indicate which committee(s) interest you and provide some background details about how your experience can help.  If your committee of interest has been filled for 2019, your application will be kept on file for next year.

Committees fill a valuable oversight role as well as being a conduit for Member feedback to Management.  In addition, committees undertake projects on behalf of the Board, some of which are continuations of work begun last year.  Examples include:

CLUB PERFORMANCE TRACKING INDEXES

Last month I shared average spend information comparing 2018 to previous years.  This showed a gradual decline in average spend with data up to the end of September, 2018.  The table below updates this with numbers up to the end of November, 2018, and are essentially the same as last month’s numbers.

	Weighted Average Membership Number	Avg Monthly Spent Per Membership w/o Joining Fee & Dues	Avg Monthly net income before depreciation EXCLUDING Joining Fee & Dues	Avg Monthly net income before depreciation INCLUDING Joining Fee & Dues
Year Ended June 2013	1,493	9,472	(4,560)	1563
Year Ended June 2014	1,513	9,918	(4,935)	1063
Year Ended June 2015	1,512	10,537	(4,757)	1693
Year Ended December 2015	1,504	10,577	(5,017)	1438
Year Ended December 2016	1,504	10,136	(5,467)	1508
Year Ended December 2017	1,511	10,072	(5,624)	1332
End of November 2018	1,510	9,785	(6,063)	1286

 

Our card access system also provides accurate information on the number of times Members visit the Club each month.  Data available for the period March through November indicates relatively low usage, particularly when one considers that many Members and their families are here almost daily.  The statistics show that the average Membership visits the Club just 1.6 times per month, or .8 visits per month by the Primary or Spouse Member and .6 visits per month per individual Member age 12 and up.

Increasing Member usage and Member spending is a priority for your Board and for Management.  Our new GM David Brightling has certainly hit the ground running and is already implementing Member suggestions and introducing new events to grow both use and spending, as you can see in his column opposite.  David and I will be discussing these subjects in our columns in the months ahead.

REVIEW OF ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Another project that was initiated last year is an independent review, by the Club’s auditors, of our accounting policies, procedures and internal controls.  Let me stress that we have no reason to believe that anything is amiss; rather we felt that such a review should be conducted every five years or so as part of our fiduciary duties to the Membership.  We are finalizing the timing of this now and recognize that the first quarter is a busy one for audits, and we hope to have the review completed and in the hands of Treasurer Bill Seto and the Finance Committee in April.

Elsewhere in this issue, you will see photos from the many festive season events we hosted over the past few months and a preview of many activities and events planned for early 2019.  As David mentions, these will include some Members taking out their dancing shoes!

Sincerely,

Ken Chen
President