Following on from the fourth Leadership Institute Alumni conference at the Tattersall’s Club on November 22, we honoured our very proud 2019 graduates and their successful completion of a Diploma of Leadership and Management qualification.
The 2019 graduation ceremony was celebrated by our 11 participants and their managers, alongside our sponsors, alumni and representatives from Clubs Queensland as well as the 10 new leadership participants for 2020 and their respective managers.
The Leadership Institute program is only made possible through the generous support of our sponsors, new naming rights sponsor Hostplus, founding partner Carlton & United Breweries, Coca-Cola Amatil, CTA Training Specialists, DWS Hospitality Specialists and the Australian Club Management Institute. Many of the sponsors have supported this program since its inception in 2002.
The 11 graduates for 2019 were:
- Christine Menicanin, Assistant Manager at Algester Sports Club
- Ryan Newman, Senior Duty Manager at Arana Leagues Club
- Brooke Crowley, Duty Manager at Carina Leagues Club
- Jordan Tanzer, General Manager at Fielders Club
- Jade Czernia, Duty Manager at Ipswich Jets Rugby League Football Club
- Scott Davis, Senior Duty Manager at Magpies Sporting Club
- Leah Spence, Duty Manager at Nambour RSL
- Glenn Stevenson, House Manager at Southport Yacht Club
- Samuel O’Donoghue, Operations Manager at The Surf Club Mooloolaba
- Darren Wakefield, Operations Manager at The Waves Sports Club
- Meagan Wade, IT & Loyalty Manager at Yaralla Sports Club
There were three participants selected from this year’s Hostplus Leadership Institute class who received the prestigious awards on the evening:
- Brooke Crowley, Duty Manager at Carina Leagues Club awarded Passion for the Industry award sponsored by DWS Hospitality Specialists;
- Leah Spence, Duty Manager at Nambour RSL awarded Passion for the Industry sponsored by CTA Training Specialists; and
- Christine Menicanin, Operations Manager at Algester Sports Club received The John Dickson Future Outstanding Leader award sponsored by CTA Training Specialist.
Jordan Tanzer presented an enlightening speech on behalf of the 2019 graduates and we have some of our favourite parts to share with you to give you a glimpse into the world of a Hostplus Leadership Institute participant:
“Good evening everyone, it’s my absolute honour to be standing up here and speaking on behalf of the 2019 cohort.
I’d like to firstly acknowledge all of the Alumni members that are here with us tonight. It’s such a great tradition and one that I stand here tonight being very proud to be a part of.
A special mention to all of the major contributors of the program CTA, DWS, Hostplus, CUB, Coca-Cola Amatil and the Australian Club Management Institute - this course wouldn’t be made possible without the ongoing support you continue to provide to the leaders within this room.
A special mention to James for his continued support to each and everyone of us here tonight, James has been there for all us throughout the year.
To all of the General Managers in the room that endorsed us, we will forever be grateful for the opportunity. To all the clubs that have hosted our group on the various training sessions, thank you for giving up your time and showing us around the club. I know that we all took things away that we could improve on in our own venues.
I thought I would share with everyone a little of our journey this year…..
We all properly met at our first training session at the Southport Yacht Club, Glenn was a great host and this is where the competition started. First up off the rank and he pulls out that we will be heading out sailing this afternoon, we all looked at each other and said how the hell are we meant to beat this. From here the bond between the group started to form.
We headed off to Bundy for our first away trip which we were all really looking forward to. At this point we were no longer just a group we catch up with monthly we were a lot more than that.
The Ipswich cup was a great day out with CUB that we all thoroughly enjoyed and another highlight for the group was the CUB Immersion day - we all thoroughly enjoyed the time learning where the beverage industry is heading and the tour of the Metricon Stadium Facilities. We then got to enjoy ourselves on the Pirate Life deck enjoying the footy, a few drinks and a few good yarns.
The last two away trips were definitely ones to remember knowing that we were closing in on the completion of our Diplomas. Our Mackay trip was our last and one that will be remembered.
I couldn’t possibly summarise the last 12 months - we came in here as strangers and we are leaving as friends, we have continued to support each other time after time and I’m forever grateful. This has been one of the highlights of my year and one that I’m extremely proud of completing.
To the new 2020 Class - immerse yourselves in everything that this course is about. This course creates leaders, this course creates lifelong friendships. Support each other, there will be tough times but that’s when you reach out to one of your fellow classmates or even one of us and we can help.”
