They put up a public discussion forum and invited thousands of clubmakers to come talk about the idea - several hundred signed up and participated in the early discussions, with the results being an early decision to create an Exploratory/Organizational Committee to digest all of the public input and decide if there was a need for a new organization.
The committee weighed all of the input from several weeks of active and lively debate on the public forum and decided that yes indeed, there was a need for a new clubmaking organization. They then went on to publish a set of abstract documents in support of the goals expressed by the initial forum participants.
After publishing their findings, the next step was to select a Steering Committee to define and execute the implementation details, which took the reins in October of 2008
The following report was issued in the discussion forum by Alan Hubble - facilitator of the Exploration/Organizational Committee.
On July 9th I posted a message introducing the Forum and the potential organization to which we referred to as the Clubmakers Guild; which we now refer to as the International Clubmakers Guild. The founders of this Forum felt we should see if there was interest among our numbers to create a new organization. At the time, I characterized the new organization as one which should be independent, international, created from the outside-in (aka ground up) by its members, and driven by its members to be relevant and value-added. Recently an organizational/exploratory team was formed to synthesize the comments posted on this Forum and to propose a new structure. They have done so.
Attachment 1 (all three require Adobe Acrobat to read which is a free software program) is a graphic that illustrates the three key components to a golfer's successful experience with the game; Equipment, Swing Techniques & Equipment Optimization (aka fitting). The proposed structure of the ICG proposes a harmonious balance between those three to the ultimate benefit of our common customer, the golfer.
Attachment 2 is a macro view of the proposed core structure and focus of the ICG. The ICG proposes to promote brand recognition among global golfers through interlacing connections among user groups, equipment companies and technique instructors on a regional yet international scale. A committee is devoted to Brand Recognition in this new proposed format.
Secondly, the building blocks of the organization will be placed at the local level, where not only our members reside but more importantly, where our mutual industry customers practice the game. Education, technical support and certification will be formalized centrally and disseminated locally through the enhancement of the chapter concept. Where distance between members, particularly overseas, makes regular chapter meetings cost and time prohibitive, we propose a “virtual chapter” to be available on-line. The Education Committee will be tasked with these areas.
Finally, four membership groups are recognized: Clubmakers, Industry Related, O.E.M. and Suppliers. Clubmakers take into account clubmaking, fitting and repairs. Industry Related will focus on the contribution from pro shops, technique instructors and media in the synthesis of the three key components on slide one. Suppliers provide the building blocks for clubs such as components, analysis equipment and education/software. And finally the O.E.M. manufacturers who provide the ready-to-hit equipment which can be furthered optimized by the sister-Clubmaker level members.
Coordinating the direction of the ICG will be a ICG Steering Committee comprised of cross discipline members such as user groups, equipment manufacturers, golf related companies and of course, clubmakers/fitters. It is the ICG Steering Committee that will be responsible for creating and maintaining the goals & objectives for the ICG, setting the strategy on which the committees will base their tactical initiatives, and to monitor their progress.
Attachment 3 is a more detailed view of the macro structure illustrated in Attachment 2. Note : there are 5 slides in this file. It is premature to comment at this more detailed level as the Steering Committee, once seated, may likely choose to diagram their own details.
We invite your comments but please keep in mind that a set of golf clubs which have been optimized for one golfer, can still be used constructively by other golfers; i.e. what is being proposed may not be perfectly fit to your concept. But the question is, can you support and make use of it to your benefit?
We also solicit recommendations for ICG Steering Committee members with support as to how they could best create and drive this new organization forward. As indicated above, we are looking for representatives from instruction groups, international representatives, equipment producers either O.E.M. or components, golf related associations and clubmakers/fitters with vision and organizational expertise.
Alan Hubble
on behalf of the ICG Exploratory & Organizational Committee
- David Eagar
- Don Johnson
- Jacques Intriere
- Jim Cook
- Ken Alterwitz
- Rick Canter
The Startup of the International Clubmakers Guild was guided by an initial Steering Committee who worked with the first committees to build up the membership to a level when a general election of a Board of Directors was appropriate.
The Guild owes a debt of gratitude to these members who had the necessary enthusiasm to step up and take charge from the start. The Steering Committee was comprised of the following members:
- Rick Canter - Chairman
- Ken Alterwitz
- Jim Cook
- David Eagar
- Jacques Intriere
- Jim McCleery
- Eric Ng
- George Sigeti
The saga continues...
