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MABT Update For 14 July

Thanks to everyone who continues to participate in making a better TAC! it’s our Club, and each of us has a role to play in securing its future.

Per Lance Lee’s recent note, we’ve been quietly working in the background looking for positive ways to bring the Club back on to a solid financial footing. While not everyone will agree with our approach, we are operating under the following principles:

  • §   Our core principle is that our role is to identify potential solutions to the challenges ahead of the Club, not to attribute responsibility or blame to individuals or groups. We are united in believing that we don’t have time to play politics.
  • §   We have insisted that TAC is an American club, and that its positioning and differentiation depends on this fact.
  • §   We have affirmed that the Club is, well, a club and exists solely to serve its members. Even more clearly stated, we are not a for-profit business.
  • §   We have clearly acknowledged that our staff are our second-most important asset after the members, and that almost without exception do an outstanding job. We salute them.

We think we’ve made some solid gains so far:

  • §   For what we believe is the first time, the BoG has given management budget guidance ahead of the budget process. That guidance: run the Club to hit the xxx target.
  • §   The F and B Committee has been asked to prepare an operating plan that breaks even exclusive of undistributed costs.
  • §   We have suggested a target of recurrent savings of ¥400 million from non member-facing costs.
  • §   We have proposed that the goal of “becoming the premier club in Asia” be dropped in favor of something more relevant and achievable (and measurable!).
  • §   We have agreed that current management costs are beyond the Club’s means, and that an immediate review against market benchmarks is appropriate. We have proposed an aggressive target for reductions.
  • §   TWG2 will soon be holding a series of Open Meetings to listen to you ahead of releasing an interim report to the BoG and members. We emphasize “ahead”. The meetings will operate under the principles identified above. Please support us by participating energetically!
  • §   We have recommended that the current practice of 14 months of dues be removed in favor of 12 equal payments.
  • §   Although it is very early in the process, Japanese mega-banks have indicated that it might be possible to achieve significant reductions in interest charges when the time comes to re-finance our loans.
  • §   We have identified Governance as a very significant issue for discussion once more urgent priorities have been resolved.

There are many other points that have been discussed, so we believe there is much work still to be done. Current priorities include the framing of RFIs for potential outsourcing opportunities, the potential to better leverage marketing opportunities, and setting the framework for the BoG to create a medium-term strategic plan.

Again, we know that not everyone will agree with our principles and priorities. That’s your right, and we expect you all to continue to be passionate about the future of our Club. So please stay / get in touch … and come along to the proposed meetings!

Terry White for Making A Better Tac (MABT)

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TAC Email from President Lance Lee

—– Original Message —–
From: “Lance Lee” <@tac-club.org>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2010 11:21:02 AM GMT +09:00 Japan
Subject: President’s TWG Update
Dear Members,
On behalf of the Board of Governors, I would like to thank all members who voted on the recent proposal for a special assessment, as well as those who took the time to attend and share their concerns in the Special General Meeting (SGM) on June seventh . We on the Board are committed to addressing all concerns expressed with dispatch. At the same time, we are looking forward to an increasing number of members becoming actively involved as we work towards our shared vision — superior member service and satisfaction with sound financial management.
In this spirit, the Board passed Resolution #3649 which creates a team to spearhead action plans in resolving many difficult issues raised at the SGM giving top priority to the financial issues. This new nine-member team is returning to the work of the original “Transition Working Group” (TWG) established in 2009 to analyze and plan an optimal strategy for ensuring earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in conformance with the debt-service coverage ratio (DSCR) called for in our loan covenants. The members of the TWG include four members of the Board of Governors (BoG) and five non-Board members. The TWG Chair is Mr. Dieter Haberl who is not on the BoG and the vice-Chair is Ms. Barbara Hancock who as Women’s Group President has Board status. The other Governors on this reconstituted TWG are Mr. Brian Nelson, Mr. Dan Stakoe, and Mr. Per Knudsen; the other non-Governor members are Mr. James Ashley, Mr. Bryan Gould, Mr. Takashi Maruyama, and Mr. Terry White.
The full text of Resolution #3649 will be found on the TAC web site.
The Board further resolved to thank the original members of the TWG for their intensive efforts to date.
Members will be regularly apprised of the work of our reconstituted TWG and we hope they may have your support as they progress in their complex undertaking.
Lance E. Lee
President
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A Quick TAC Analysis on the Vote

There is an understandable urge to parse and analyze the vote results for deeper meaning. Both those who voted “No” and those who voted “Yes” may be inclined to search for verification of “their” position.
Looking at the bigger picture implications (rather than the micro-analysis of how which sub-group voted) we can say that – with a turnout of nearly a thousand votes – one thing above all is clear: we all want to see the right actions taken to ensure a successful future for our club.
A thousand votes is more than 3 times the average turnout for a board election. That sort of active participation is exactly what we need. Tell us your concerns and ideas of how to make a better club. Your opinion matters, your voice counts.

There is an understandable urge to parse and analyze the vote results for deeper meaning. Both those who voted “No” and those who voted “Yes” may be inclined to search for verification of “their” position.
Looking at the bigger picture implications (rather than the micro-analysis of how which sub-group voted) we can say that – with a turnout of nearly a thousand votes – one thing above all is clear: we all want to see the right actions taken to ensure a successful future for our club.
A thousand votes is more than 3 times the average turnout for a board election. That sort of active participation is exactly what we need. Tell us your concerns and ideas of how to make a better club. Your opinion matters, your voice counts.

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Proxy Analysis -TAC June 7 vote

The analysis of the proxy vote as a  download under BOG on TAC’s web site.
Someone spent a lot of time on this analysis and it is revealing:
* The Japanese vote was mostly in favor of the levy (60:40). About one in five votes cast was by Japanese.
* The USA vote was narrowly against the measure.
* The other country nationals were overwhelmingly againt the measure.
The lesson here is that Japanese members  vote and as they make up about a third of eligible voting members, their vote is very important. They are the most likely to be swayed by messages (or propaganda) from the BOG as they are long-term resident members.

the analysis of the proxy vote as a  download under BOG on TAC’s web site. Someone spent a lot of time on this analysis and it is revealing:

* The Japanese vote was mostly in favor of the levy (60:40). About one in five votes cast was by Japanese.

* The USA vote was narrowly against the measure.

* The other country nationals were overwhelmingly againt the measure. The lesson here is that Japanese members  vote and as they make up about a third of eligible voting members, their vote is very important. They are the most likely to be swayed by messages (or propaganda) from the BOG as they are long-term resident members.

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Tokyo American Club MABT Update

Suggestions are flowing in from the membership and many are adding comments.  Please keep contributing your comments and stay positive.  Quick update points are

-Tomorrow, the BOG will be meeting to discuss how to proceed with communicating better with the TAC membership as represented through the MABT.

-We are encouraging the BOG to have a real Townhall meeting and get people a chance not just to make suggestions but to get involved.  We would like to see this by the end of July.

Members Comments-

-A member from the finance industry suggested that the current TAC is “much like we have built this Tokyo American Club Taj Mahal that cannot sustain itself.  All the governance systems need to be rethought and brought to date”.  The TAC needs to be run like a business that is competitive.

Updates

-135 people visited this website yesterday.  110 visitors on Monday.

We’ll keep you posted of new developments.   We will only send out emails to all membership as barely necessary.  There won’t be much email because we are collaborating via this website.  You can subscribe to updates via the RSS feed below.

Staying positive and construtive with you!

Making A Better TAC (MABT)

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All Members Email

—– Original Message —–
From: “Better TAC Team” <editors@wordpress-644826-2102161.cloudwaysapps.com>
To: “Tac_members” <tac_members@wordpress-644826-2102161.cloudwaysapps.com>
Sent: Monday, June 21, 2010 7:19:51 PM GMT +09:00 Japan
Subject:  Making A Better TAC (MABT)- Need Your Feedback
Dear Fellow TAC Members,
With the push for a “Yes” vote on increasing costs to TAC members by the current leadership, the vast majority of the TAC membership has risen up in alarm. This was evident in the three town hall meetings and materialized in the vote result.
Although not organized at the time, a number of us were able to get an email out to demonstrate how a “Yes” vote was the wrong decision (posted on the website). If you were one of the members in the packed room on 7 June, you will know that people were very concerned about what is going on with the Board of Governors (BOG) and especially with the management of the club.
We have amazing people in retail, IT, operations, hospitality, entertainment, finance, marketing, and many other areas that can help the club keep the glow that it has had and blossom as it goes back into these amazing new facilities in a few months time.
Our goal is to better involve our membership as we have found out few things about TAC that concern us.
  • -TAC does the majority of work house and outsources little to keep costs competitive
  • -The average salary for the top 10 managers at TAC in 2009 was XX million yen according to the website. Quick marketing checks would have this as 40% above market rates in Japan.
  • -Apparent over-staffing in certain areas of the Club
  • -There seems to be no check or balance on the management we employ
Democracy has spoken and the Board of Governors is listening after your “No” vote. The group of members that has been working towards fixing and helping the club has become known as Making A Better TAC (MABT). We have a website with close to 100 visitors each day since we set it up earlier this month. Clearly all members that want accountability and transparency are a part of MABT.
Five of initial MABT membership will begin work with the BOG shortly to help better represent the membership on the whole. The rest of our growing group will be monitoring the status. We will use the website to collaborate with each other.
We will remain a voice of the membership and independent from both the management and the BOG. Let’s all stand together to continue our momentum. The site can use more ideas from you of how
  1. To Reduce Cost
  2. Generate More Revenue
  3. Improve the Tokyo American Club overall
Please check out the site and comment in the appropriate section so that we can open the lines of communication and make everything clear.
We are looking forward to working together to make an even better TAC.
Sincerely,
Making A Better TAC (MABT)
www.abetteramericanclub.com
PS. Please feel free to change, remove or add your email to this list by following the links below. We apologize that this email address is not monitored, but encourage everyone to communicate via the website. (There is a link on the top page of the website for the mailing list as well).
_______________________________________________
Tac_members mailing list
https://abetteramericanclub.com/mailman/listinfo/tac_members_abetteramericanclub.com
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Today’s MABT Team Meeting Summary

Today’s Making A Better TAC (MABT) meeting was effective.  This was the second meeting but was a good chance for various members concerned about the mismanagement of the club to pitch in and discuss what we as all, as member-owners of the club, that we should do to make sure the TAC goes back into the new facility with the influence and image it has had.  A number of points for the meeting.

-One of our leaders was approached by the TAC to select five people of our growing MABT (membership) to work with the current board of governors (BOG)to work with them to begin working on transparency and fixing the club.

-Feedback from a vast majority of the membership sees the BOG as tainted for pushing financially unsound “assessment” without really trying to fix the true problems.  We need to help fix that.

-The board of governors is not united in leadership

-Much of the club’s problem lies with the management that we have hired and relied on too heavily.

At this meeting, we decided to give the 4 our numbers a chance to work with the BOG and try to help them rebuild the rapport with the club and fix the real problems.

The cross section of the group agreed to give the small group a chance to meet with the BOG and see how progress is one month from now.

MABT will continue to work a watchdog and encouragement to help the club rid itself of any practices, costs, or even people in the wrong positions that may be dragging it down.  More importantly, we shall be an independent branch and voice of the membership and keep remain independent from the current apparently broken committee system.

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People Power- We did it! Next Steps

Thanks to all who have supported the Action Group – your comments, ideas and –  most importantly – your “No” vote have meant that we have been able to argue a solid case for change going forward.
The Action Group is currently talking to the BoG about how we move ahead. In those discussions, our key focus continues to be the principles of (1) a sense of urgency; (2) absolute transparency; (3) inclusion; and (4) accountability.
We expect to be able to let you know the detailed mechanisms for building a comprehensive Action Plan in the next few days. Our hope is that all parties can come together to solve the large problems we face. All members and staff deserve our complete commitment and collective effort.
In the meantime, keep the comments and ideas coming! We will only be successful if we continue to earn your support.
Help build a better American Club by being part of the change you want to see!
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Great Job Tokyo American Club Staff- Gold Star

From: Mamoru Ohara
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 9:57 AM
To: ‘TAC – Member Services Desk’
Subject: TELL TAC
Dear Management, HR and HR Committee,
I know that many of the employees that take good care of me, of all members everyday are worried about their jobs.  My letter is intended to be a gold star, a mark of exceptional service, for each employee that has served me since we became members in 1988.  I take their welfare personally and I want to make it very clear to you all that I don’t want to see the budget cuts start with the Garden Café staff like Kumaran, Satoko, Ayumi, Mariko, Chika, Allan, and the managers Osamu, Christophe, Armand – I may not remember all their names but their faces I know very well.
The same goes for the Vineyards – Mina, Minjee and all the gracious staff who have already had their hours cuts.  Let’s not forget the Grille with Suzanna, Miki, Jason, Wede, Antonio and the rest of the staff who manage to remember every dish and drink my husband and prefer.  Banquet staff, American Room staff as well – we enjoy the brunch service and the special events there.
Then there is video and book library with Akisato san and her lovely ladies that apologize for each video that I return late, apologize for not remembering my number and the most gracious library staff who help me find books, extend my check for my books – Keiko, Joe, Erica – and the others who are more polite than most of the members.
The parking lot guys who meet us with a smile and a greeting – they are the front line, the first persons we see and they are the face of TAC.  Their skill with taxi drivers, people with luggage and stuff – is above the call of duty – all of them know me by name.  The MS Desk, most members would be lost without them.  Hayashi san always helps me with my exhibition issues, all of them remember my name and greet me with a smile and will do anything to help me and my guests.
My favorite pool staff – they are at top performance this season and the best at what they do and I want you to insure that they have the full support they need to do their job to keep us safe and happy during the hot summer months – Masa, Mac, Toshi, Ken, Ray, Beni, Yasuko, Altiani, Dylan, Harrison, Reina (shes’s the queen) Max, Henry – just to mention a few.
The Rec. Desk and the Gym – Noriko, Harumi, Gerry, Hide, the new guy Ronny, all of these folks keep it clean and running smooth and patiently explain to members who date back to the Black Ships and chauffeured cars that not all classes are ticket and what each class offers.  And don’t forget the trainers – Taka, Lori, Travis, Koichi, Kaori – they are the face of the gym and make the place special by making us feel special.
The kitchen staff who bake my chocolate pie, make my salad just the way I want it and season the dish of the day to my taste – I don’t know their names but I know they know mine.
Last but not least housekeeping and grounds keeper who work tirelessly to keep this place clean and comfortable – they clean the restrooms, the lobbies, the drive way, decorate, make sure the pool pump is running – I like the way they do their job and I don’t want them outsourced to Duskin or some other faceless company because they won’t really care if the work is up to standard.
Without all these folks this is not the best club in all of Asia.  Let me be clear – we want to see them after cost cutting measures, and any other way you find to trim the fat, get rid of the dead wood.  These people are not to be replaced by outsourcing, or any other hair brain scheme you dream up because they make the Club, they are the Club and without them there is NO point in coming to TAC.  After all I have NOTHING in common with the boors who berated the Board at the last debacle, I don’t date back to the Raj and I drive my own car or walk – those folks, well they are just passing through but I will be here long after most of you are gone.
I may not be the longest membership, I may not be the one who spends the most but I have spent many years working with these folks to make this club better for every member.  In my efforts I have had to endure insults, scorn, and rude behavior from other powerful members.   But I have helped to create Masters Swim, Adult Swim, Stroke Development and Core Class and I can honestly say members enjoy the fruits of my labor and the club has benefited.  So remember my voice is very powerful among the members and we own this club.
Sincerely,
Veronica Ohara
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Salaries of Managers At Tokyo American Club

A large number of members have asked what the General Manager, Assistant GM, and the various other managers are making in annual salaries and bonuses at the TAC Townhall meetings.  It has just been posted on the Tokyo American Club website.

Management compensation (top 10 managers) comes in at 30-40% higher than industry standards. Also it should be noted that in the market these managers are bilingual Japanese and English speakers services clients in either language.

This bench marking is according to our multiple members running hotels in Japan.  This does not include secretarial services for translation.

Could this be part of the problem causing the financial bleeding of the club? Mr. Rike Woottens letter to the Board seems to be spot on.