This morning was a long time coming interview with aspiring PGA Tour professional John Raser.  John brings a refreshing, yet serious, energy to social media for the golf industry.  John is a member of the Business Golf Country Club and is an entrepreneur focused on bringing awareness to his sponsors through the effective use of Social Media.

John can be found at:

Web-site: www.gospeedraser.com

Twitter: @johnraser

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/johnraser

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-raser/8/867/a59

John Raser, aspiring golf professional who is working his way to the PGA Tour, will be making his appearance on the ClamBake Cafe.  John has been a member of the Business Golf Country Club for over a year. 

When it comes to Social Media, not many surpass John’s grasp of the golf market.  His influence on the game of golf and the internet has been phenomenal and was made famous online with the now infamous match between him and Christina Kim broadcasted live via their iPhones.

John brings the freshness the PGA tour needs to keep it going.  His interview on the ClamBake Cafe will bring you another opportunity to hear from him what his goals are from making the PGA Tour. 

My video interview of John will be posted Monday, August 23, 2010, on the ClamBake Cafe, the BGCC and other video sites.  Make sure to bookmark the CBC so you don’t miss this interview.

The ClamBake Cafe is the broadcast media division of Innovative Business Golf Solutions and is used to promote the Business Golf Country Club and its members.

On June 9th the Business Golf Country Club improved the world of golf with the launch of it first Chapter Club in Dallas, Texas.  Here is the ROLL CALL for who attended this very special gathering.

The mission of the BGCC Chapter Club is to offer the members of the private online business/social club an opportunity to gathering offline to play golf, enjoy food and drinks while making connections plus learn something they may not know about new business development processes.  the BGCC Chapter Clubs meet monthly at private country clubs.  Other activities we will be produced as the membership of the Chapter clubs grows.

The BGCC is open to College Students, Business Owners/Executives and Professional Golfers.  To join the BGCC Click here.

Next scheduled gathering of the BGCC Dallas Chapter is on July 22 3:30 to 8PM at the Las Colinas Country Club.  More information on the Dallas Chapter Club can be found HERE.  To join the Next Dallas Chapter gathering Click Here

You do What? Business Golf Country Club offers me What?   Say What?    So when I join the BGCC I get What?    The ClamBake Cafe™ is What?

I know..I get a LOT of questions asked of me everyday and I answer just as many everyday.  For some people answering these kind of questions would be questionably a waste of time, but for me, it offers an insight into how people perceive things they do not understand.

I have been talking with golfers and non-golfers about the changes the Business Golf Country Club is making towards accomplishing its mission to putting business back on course.  During these discussions with people around the world the question that seems to be asked about the most has to do with the ClamBake Cafe.  Why do you not talk about the ClamBake Cafe in your blog?

Where the ClamBake Cafe Came From

Alllrighty then, the ClamBake Cafe will be what I talk about more in the blogs since once I explain it I get more golfers to sign up for the BGCC.

The ClamBake Cafe is a product of a brain fart I had about five years ago.  Its creation was derived after reading a blog from one of the youngster of the golf blogger world the big dog golf sites picked up to fill their site with dribble.  Obviously, what was written about was Golf needing to change and get away from the Old Ways of promoting Golf.   

What I was seeing was the fact that many of the under 40 year old golf writers have little, if any, memory of the great days of golf when Hollywood celebrities became addicted to playing golf and as a result produced huge gatherings of their friends to ‘Party on the Golf Course’.  One of the little things many golfers today overlook about the great days of the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby golf extravaganzas was it all started during the Great Depression.  Yes, in an era like we are stepping into today.  And how they dealt with Golf back then applies to how golf should be dealt with today.

The Good Old Days of Business Golf

During the Good Old Days of Golf, Bing Crosby craftily dealt with golf’s downtrodden image in the mid-1930’s by renaming the gathers Clambakes.  What I like to highlight about this grander time in golf is the golf outings back then were also where the many icons of business of that era spent time getting to know each other better which resulted in some of the largest corporations in the world being created.  Yes, the Good Old Days of Golf played a huge part in helping get the country and the world out of the dumps it was in during the worst economic times in hundreds of years.

So, the misguided remarks made in that article about ‘golf does not need old ideas’ spurred me to thinking Golf does need the old ideas to get new ideas started.  As I searched for how I could help change young people’s minds about Golf’s great past, I could not keep from remembering how much fun it was as a young kid to watch the Bing Crosby ClamBake golf outings on early TV back in the 60’s and 70’s.  Where Bing would interview his friends on camera to ask them about their latest projects they where working on.  Little does most people under 40 know..those events then could be considered the first MeetUps or..hummm, with all the birdies being shot back then I guess they could of been the first..TweetUp.

Good New Days of Business Deals

As part of my personal and professional effort to help golf survive I looked to name a function or activity that best described how business golf is played today.  The Business Golf Country Club was what I named the golf community that needed to be built so modern techniques of business development could be shared, but there needed to be a function developed purposely for highlighting the Old and New ways of playing Business Golf.

So, I re-coined the name ClamBake as a symbol of how golf and business was done during the last time the economy sucked.  Then I thought, how is business done today?  How were the deals swung that made these hugely successfully tech companies the geeks of the world drool over? 

Interesting enough, I was finding more and more people were ditching their high-rise offices to just set up shop in coffee shops.  I also found business people were meeting each other online in chatrooms which someone tagged as a Cafe.   So the term Cafe took on a definition of where business was done today.

The Way Clambake Cafe Came About

My efforts to identify the function that would add old and new ways business is done started with the word ClamBake, the symbol of the old way business was done.  Then I added to the word Cafe, the symbol of how business is done today, to come up with ClamBake Cafe™.

That is how the name came about, but you are asking..

What does the ClamBake Cafe do and why is it an important part of the Business Golf Country Club?

Simply put, the ClamBake Cafe is the social media arm of the Innovative Business Golf Solutions endeavors to help golf and business survive these tough economic times.  The Business Golf Country Club is the golf community IBGS is building to bring together in a business/social environment the real golfers of the world..the real people who understand golf or want to get a better understanding of golf.  The ClamBake Cafe is where the old styles of business networking comes together with today’s new technology.

The ClamBake Cafe (CBC) is where video interviews of the members of the Business Golf Country Club will be shown.  The CBC will be the multi-media presence for the BGCC Chapter Club’s Live Streams.  As the BGCC grows so does the CBC.  Ultimately, the goal for the ClamBake Cafe is for it to become the name of the Conference Expo of the BGCC and IBGS.

Business Golf is not a new way to develop business.   It has been proven over and over for many years now how trust is the foundation of business and golf is one of the only ways to develop trust.  If you do not play golf many doors to opportunity will be tougher to open. 

The Power of Business Golf Shows in the Clambake Cafe

If you are not playing golf now you should and the Business Golf Country Club is a great way to add Purpose to playing golf which should drive you to want to learn to play golf.  The BGCC can help facilitate your learning the game through introduction to golf professionals in your area who are members of the BGCC or through the golf schools produced by the BGCC.

Join ‘The Club’ that makes a difference in your business as well as your personal life.  And, of course, let me know how I can help.

You do What? BGCC offers me What? Say What?  So when I join the BGCC I get What? The ClamBake Cafe™ is What?

I know..I get a LOT of questions asked of me everyday and I answer just as many everyday.  For some people answering these questions would be questionably a waste of time, but for me, it offers an insight into how people perceive things they do not understand.

Recently, I have been out talking about the changes the Business Golf Country Club is making towards accomplishing its mission to putting business back on course.  During these discussions with people around the world the question that seems to be asked about the most is on the ClamBake Cafe.

Where the ClamBake Cafe Came From

So, Alllrighty then, the ClamBake Cafe will be what I talk about more in the blogs since once I explain it I get more golfers to sign up for the BGCC.

The ClamBake Cafe is a product of a brain fart I had about five years ago derived from reading a blog from one of the youngster golf bloggers the big dog golf sites picked up to fill their site with dribble.  Obviously, what was written about was golf needing to change and get away from the Old Ways of promoting Golf.  Naturally this writer was probably real excited they landed a gig paying a huge salary to keep the golf site filled with stuff they did not know what they were talking about. 

What I saw was the fact that many of the under 40 golf writers have little, if any, memory of the great days of golf when Hollywood celebrities became addicted to playing golf and as a result produced huge gatherings of their friends to ‘Party on the Golf Course’.  The thing younger golfers overlook with that era, and most say they don’t care about, was the great days of the Bob Hope and Bing Crosby golf extravaganza’s all started during the Great Depression.  Yes, in an era like we are stepping into today.

Good Old Days of Business Golf

During the Good Old Days of Golf, when Bing Crosby craftily dealt with golf’s downtrodden image in the mid-1930’s, golf was an exciting activity for people to play.  I’ll not try to high the fact that the prohibition era was also winding down back then and golf gatherings became one of the only activities you could socially play and drink at the same time.  What I like to highlight about this grander time in golf is the golf outings back then were also where the many icons of business of that era spent time getting to know each other better which resulted in some of the largest corporations in the world being created.  Yes, the Good Old Days of Golf played a huge part in helping get the country and the world out of the dumps it was in during the worst economic times in hundreds of years.

So, the misguided remarks made in that article about ‘golf does not need old ideas’ spurred me to thinking Golf does need the old ideas to get new ideas started.  As I searched for how I could help change young people’s minds about Golf’s great past, I could not keep from remembering how much fun it was as a young kid to watch the Bing Crosby ClamBake golf outings on early TV back in the 60’s and 70’s.  Where Bing would interview his friends on camera to ask them about their latest projects they where working on.  Little does most people under 40 know..those events then could be considered the first MeetUps or..hummm, with all the birdies being shot back then I guess they could of been the first..TweetUp.

Good New Days of Business Deals

I took the name ClamBake as a symbol of how golf and business was done during the last time the economy sucked.  Then I thought, how is business done today?  How were the deals swung that made these hugely successfully tech companies the geeks of the world drool over? 

Right after I asked myself, “were are deals made today”, I received a call from a new potential client wanting to know if I could meet him in his office for a chat..his office turned out to be Starbucks.  For the next few months I was finding more and more people were ditching their high-rise offices to just set up shop in coffee shops.  As I looked into this phenomena I saw where a number of the big deals in business today where made in coffee shops.

During my study of how business is done today I also found that business people were meeting each other online in chatrooms which someone tagged as a Cafe.

So, I added with word ClamBake, the symbol of the old way business was done, the word Cafe, the symbol of how business is done today to come up with ClamBake Cafe™.

That is how the name came about, but you are asking..

What does the ClamBake Cafe do and why is it an important part of the Business Golf Country Club?

Simply put, the ClamBake Cafe is the social media arm of the Innovative Business Golf Solutions endeavors to help golf and business survive these tough economic times.  The Business Golf Country Club is the golf community IBGS is building to bring together in a business/social environment the real golfers of the world..the real people who understand golf or want to get a better understanding of golf.  The ClamBake Cafe is where the old styles of business networking comes together with today’s new technology.

The ClamBake Cafe (CBC) is where video interviews of the members of the Business Golf Country Club will be shown.  The CBC will be the multi-media presence for the BGCC Chapter Club’s Live Streams.  As the BGCC grows so does the CBC.  Ultimately, the huge goal for the ClamBake Cafe is for it to become the name of the Conference Expo of the BGCC and IBGS.

Since you hung in here this far into the blog about the ClamBake Cafe then let me leave you with this…

Business Golf is the new way to develop business.  In years to come,as it has been proven in years past, if you do not play golf many doors to opportunity will be tougher to open.  If you are not playing golf now you should and the Business Golf Country Club is a great way to add Purpose to playing golf which should drive you to want to learn to play golf.  The BGCC can help facilitate your learning the game through introduction to golf professionals in your area who are members of the BGCC or through the golf schools produced by the BGCC.

Join ‘The Club’ that makes a difference in your business as well as your personal life.  And, of course, let me know how I can help.

Several of you have been asking what happened to the interviews of the BGCC members on the ClamBake Cafe.  Good question..not sure I know the answer but do know that the New members of the Business Golf Country Club  are seeing the value of the exposure the ClamBake Cafe videos would give them.

The ClamBake Cafe interviews are posted on the CBC site, the BGCC Group Site, the BGCC Blog Site, on the scotduke.com site, on the BGCC Facebook fan page and the CBC Facebook fan page, on You Tube, Vimeo and any other platform for videos.  These interviews are viewed by over 5000 views each day and that is growing with more videos produced and posted.

The overall ranking of all of the BGCC ventures, including the ClamBake Cafe is going up with each post and each member that joins the BGCC. The Chapter Clubs of the BGCC are stirring attention to the sites that draws in the attention from people from all around the world.

The ClamBake Cafe interview format will be changing and more on site videos will be produced.  More value will be added with every new member that joins the club.  The BGCC concept of social media is just catching on.  Each month more energy is built up from golfers who are finding the club.  The ClamBake Cafe plays a huge part in showing the world who is a member and what they offer the game of golf as well as the business world.

Come join ‘The Club’ that everyone in the Golf industry will soon be talking about.  An interview on the ClamBake Cafe is what each member is offered, so take advantage of the best deal in business/social networking.

See you at ‘The Club’.

Last evening the room was filled with 15 very excited business golfers with Hundreds more watching, via live video stream, the launch of the Business Golf Country Club ’s first Chapter Club in Dallas, TX.  The attendees ranged from top business execs to startups: attorneys to accountants; golf professionals to beginner golfers..the virtual attendance probably more of the same. 

The atmosphere was Very electrifying, social media wise, with the WOW factor and OMG meter on Twitter and Facebook registering off the chart. 

It is very gratifying to know that so many golfers I have become friends with over the past five years came in to not just listen, but to JOIN my efforts to help Golf Survive through developing a greater purpose to play golf.  Truly, Dave and my efforts to..Put Business Back on Course..took a positive leap forward with the support of the golfers who attended.

Of course there were the pesky technical difficulties with the video feed..sorry for that..but I was very excited to hear that one of the attendees stream the entire 25 minute lecture I gave to the internet via his iPhone.  Plus the entire presentation was captured on tape so a Special Thanks to Mark Nease of Key Image Media Solutions.   If you missed the launch we will get the editing done and place the lecture right here for you to watch .

Clear Message

The message I received from those who attended was very clear.  “We love golf and want to help”.  The message I presented was even clearer…

For Golf to survive golfers need to develop a greater PURPOSE to playing golf that is above it being just a recreational activity.

Golf + Business/Social Networking = Business Golf

Yes, business golf combined with an operational style of social media is what the Business Golf Country Club is all about.  With the launch of the BGCC’s Dallas Chapter the scales are now balanced for the members to take advantage of bringing  the business/social networking done in the online club to the golf course..or in this case..the Country Clubs.

I will be writing more on this meeting and posting photos and videos of the launch in the next few days.  If you would like to learn more about what you missed, let me know, I would be glad to fill you in.

To join the Dallas Chapter of the Business Golf Country Club you first must be a member of ‘The Club’.  To Join you must post a photo of yourself and have a URL to a profile you have posted somewhere else online.  If you have these basic requirements then Click Here to Join the BGCC.  You then are eligible to join the Dallas Chapter…or any of the chapter clubs we have planned on launching around the country.  More info on signing up for the Dallas Chapter will be sent to BGCC members through the BGCC email.  So, join up..become a member of ‘The Club’.

Moving Fast

Yes, business golfers in Arizona, I hear ya..and with that roar of interest out there getting louder everyday, Dave and I are in the process of getting ready to launch the Phoenix Chapter.  Target is Next Month so hopefully you are ready for this new way of playing golf in Arizona.  More details are developing..literally as I am writing this blog..Dave is calling me now..so..I will be back with more news later on the Phoenix launch REAL SOON.

Let me know how I can help.

The tee goes in the ground at 4PM on June 9th to launch the Business Golf Country Club’s 1st Chapter Club.  The location?  Where else, right here in my backyard (literally) of Dallas, Texas at my country club.

Here we Go!

The BGCC will launch its 1st Chapter Club in Dallas, Texas on

June 9, 2010,

Brookhaven Country Club. 

The club is for golfers (of any level); business owners and executives who golf; and Professional Golfers.  The launch will have a 9 Hole Round of Golf, a Networking gathering and a talk on what the BGCC Chapter club has to offer business golfers.  Anyone interested in joining the club can contact me through this site or register to attend here…

Number of registrants is limited for the ‘Launch’ so make sure to sign up now.  Sponsor packages are available for this event.

What!?

The Business Golf Country Club (BGCC) is a 665 member private business/social networking group.  The mission of the BGCC is to build a safe online golf community for golfers, business owners, business executives and golf professional.  The private club environment encourages members to freely develop new business and advance their golf skills through the use of sound social media with other members around the globe.

Founded in 2007, the BGCC  is owned by Innovative Business Golf Solutions (IBGS).  In 2008 IBGS partnered with eGolfGroup , Dave Bisbee, for the managing of the club’s operations.  

The BGCC’s initial growth has come through word-of-mouth networking. In late 2009, the management team decided to create a greater online presence through the use of IBGS’s Social Media experience and, in light of the frail golf economy, adopted the slogan…

Help put business back on Course…the golf course.

Chapter Club Experience

The BGCC Chapter Club is offered BGCC members of the region an opportunity to meet and visit with fellow members of the club.  The Chapter club will gather monthly and each club will be managed by a member committee.  Typical monthly chapter club meetings will consist of at least 9 holes of business golf; an after golf Networking Session with food and drink; and an organized learning experience that highlights new or improved methods of developing business.

The BGCC Chapter Club targets business professional, owners and executives as well as golf professionals. Each member will go through an application process to make sure they meet the club’s requirements for membership.

The BGCC aims to balance the amount of golf activities offered with the same amount of Networking and Business development opportunities.  Members of the Chapter club will be required to be a member of the BGCC online private club.  The annual Membership dues will be determined by the number of club meetings the chapter committee decides they want to organize each year.  For more information on establishing a BGCC Chapter Club in your region contact me through this site.

The BGCC Chapter Clubs have been a long time coming and more club members benefits will be announced in the coming months.  We truly are dedicated to helping golf survive for the Business Golfer around the world through helping Golf survive.  The BGCC does this through bringing to golf clubs, golf resorts and country clubs all of the club’s offline functions.  If your golf facility is interested in learning more on what the BGCC can offer your facility contact me through this site.

Lets get out and tee it up so your can tell me how I can help.  See you in Dallas on June 9th.

From the Business Golf Country Club Blog

Each year about this time, just before the Masters, the buzz amongst business golfers starts. 

Hey, how about hitting the links next week?

…is the rally cry for many business people who play golf.  The difference now is finding more people who are interested in playing business golf.

The #1 question business golfers ask is…

Where can I go to find other business people who play golf?

The #1 answer is.. The Business Golf Country Club.

The buzz within the BGCC’s 645 membership has already started.  A large number of members have asked about BGCC producing a few get togethers so members can meet for business and a round or two of business golf. 

The BGCC staff answers..

Hey!?..Why not.

There are a few gatherings of members being pulled together around the country over the next several months.  If you are a member of the club and you would like to have a gathering in your area, contact the club’s managers.

If you would like to be part of these gatherings and be part of the ONLY true private golf community online then you need to join the Business Golf Country Club at http://bizgolfcc.com. 

The requirements to join are simple:

• Are you a REAL person?
• Do you Play Golf?
• Do You have a Headshot Photo?
• Do you work for or own a business?
• Are you serious about the game of Golf?

Then, that is all it takes to become a member.

Come join in the fun and learn more about how to improve your business by becoming a member of the Business Golf Country Club.

The ClamBake Cafe has really taken off.  As the media outreach arm of the Business Golf Country Club one of its primary functions is to work for the members of the Business Golf Country Club as a vehicle to bring attention to who they are and what they do to the market using Social Media tools.  The CBC features the Video Chat as a way to offer the greatest impact.

Why Video Chats?

As most consumes and business people know, Trust plays a huge part in what is required to do business today.  If trust is not demonstrated or earned then business will never be done.  The Video Chats show people there is a Real Person involved with the business and someone they could talk to.  The interviews provide an opportunity to outline what business the person is in or what the business the person works for offers to the market.

How to Be Considered for the Chat

First, you have to be a member of the Business Golf Country Club.  Then once you are a member you can ask to be interviewed.  We do ask for you to be patient since it will take a while to do 10 minutes recorded interviews with over 640 members.   Send your request to Scot Duke through the BGCC.

More is coming for the ClamBake Cafe..so stay tuned.  Advertising space is available on the CBC Site.  Information on being a sponsor can be obtained my contacting Scot Duke.