“Counting” on You
By Richard Weinstein
Senior Vice President, Membership
Numbers, they often provide certainty, enable us to confirm and sometimes even delight. Some are constant and never change like Newton’s Gravitational Constant 9.8 m/s², you are likely very familiar with this every time you fall down on the pickleball court. Others are just plan irrational like Euler’s e=2.71828…a never-ending decimal that cannot be displayed as a fraction. And just for fun, some are not even real numbers like the imaginary i= as there are no two same numbers that can be multiplied together where the result is a negative number.
At Ocean Reef Club we have numbers that are just as important, especially to those that are assigned one. We are talking about our Social Members in Waiting who have their number on the waitlist. Each position is assigned in order (a very rational approach) and they are provided with their current position on the Waitlist. The very next Social Member that completes their application and all the required background checks and interviews will be assigned the waitlist position of 272.
Of our current 2350 Social Members (our own Ocean Reef Constant), which is the defined “sweet spot” to balance use of Club facilities among all membership types, we see a renewal rate of approximately 93%. That 7% attrition is typically a result of life changes for those Social Members and their families. With that, we anticipate 165 positions will open in January for our Members in Waiting to step off of the waitlist and take an active position on our Membership roster. As you can see, we are already at the point where there will be a number of Members in Waiting who will see their position on the waitlist change and be reassigned a new waitlist number.
Depending on when a prospective Social Member joins the Waitlist, their wait time will range from 11-19 months. Because we know with practiced certainty that every year we will lose at least those 165 Social Members, our Membership development team are always interested in maintaining the strength of the Club’s waitlist for Membership. Since the inception of the Social Member Waitlist, we have seen close to a dozen prospective members make the decision to forgo time as a Social Member and move straight to Equity Membership just to avoid having to wait before enjoying our Unique Way of Life.
Our numbers are quite rational. The waitlist gives the Club strength and stability while supporting the objectives for all Members to have balanced access for dining, golf, tennis, pickleball and the many other activities that make Ocean Reef such a special club. With that, our Membership team is always looking for your help to find the right prospective members to join our waitlist. Your Membership team are happy to assist with an introduction to Ocean Reef for your friends and business associates.
With your continued support, you not only earn further recognition with Team Ocean Reef. Team Ocean Reef Members have a new recognition display in the Membership office and are our most ardent supporters in keeping the Club and our Members vital and renewed with future memberships. You will also earn a dining certificate for four people when you introduce and sponsor a new Member. You can use this to enjoy time with your newly sponsored friends or for a quiet evening with your current fellow Members. Your choice who you dine with and where you would like to take them. Raw Bar, Gianni’s, Islander, even the Member’s only Clubhouse. With your support we can continue to grow our waitlist and keep the Club and the desire for membership strong. This is not some imaginary dream, it is a mathematical certainty and…we are counting on you.