2024 NECMA Foundation Expo and Betsy Gregory

Monday, January 29th, 2024

Wollaston Golf Club
Milton, MA

Host Managers
Charles Grandon, CCM, General Manager
Nicole Gulla, Clubhouse Manager
Michael Hogan, Executive Chef
Stephen Kiley, Food & Beverage Director
Makayla Avelar, Event Manager
Meghan Manoli, Food & Beverage Manager
Lisa Olsen, Food & Beverage Manager

Agenda

10:00am Registration

10:30am Education: Breaking the Rules of HR with Betsy Gregory, Congressional Country Club
You've likely followed Simon Sinek or Richard Branson and heard about the power of culture in great organizations. Building, improving and maintaining a competitive culture can feel overwhelming. Where to start, what will bring us the most ROI? Most importantly who is responsible for setting and guiding the culture? Ultimately it is the CEO/General Manager, however the individual(s) representing HR plays a significant role. Regardless of the size of your HR team 0-25, this session offers extensive take-a-ways that any club with any size team can implement at their club.

12:00pm Lunch & Chapter Business Meeting

1:00pm Education: Elevating Your Events into Experiences with Nick Weir, Little Owl Entertainment

1:00pm Sponsor Set Up

2:30pm Business Expo and Battle of the Chefs

4:00pm Expo Concludes

Attendees will receive 3 Chapter Education Credits and 1 AA Credit for attending both education sessions and the Chapter business meeting.

Chapter Member Education, Lunch & Business Exposition: $75
Club Registration for Education, Lunch & Business Exposition (Includes up to 5 attendees): $250
Club Registration for Education, Lunch & Business Exposition (Includes up to 10 attendees): $500

Speakers

Betsy Gregory joined Congressional Country Club in December 2015. Prior to working at Congressional, she worked at Bethesda Country Club, Rhode Island Country Club and J. Alexander's Restaurant Group. While her background is in Food & Beverage operations, Betsy had the opportunity to take her career on a new track and in 2013 she pursued Human Resources management. She attributes her success in leading organizational change and building culture to her experience in operations and having had the opportunity to lead so many people from various roles, backgrounds and cultures. 

Betsy is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University. Has worked up and down the east coast but moved to the DC region to be closer to family. Proud mom of two small boys!

Nick started Little Owl Entertainment in 2013 by combining his passions for live music, creative experiences and top-notch hospitality. Originally, a musician himself, Nick started producing events at a young age, which led to a career in working in both the music touring & hospitality industries. Nick has been around the world Tour Managing some of music's biggest names, while also producing events large and small for the private golf and corporate worlds.

Nick grew up playing drums and singing in an acoustic rock band with his best friends in his hometown of Sterling, IL. Eventually the band members ended up attending Iowa State University together and they performed as house band several nights a week at some of the campus' popular music venues. While attending Iowa State, Nick majored in Hotel Restaurant Institution Management with a main interest in the private golf and country club part of the industry. Nick was selected for a prestigious internship program at one of the elite private clubs in the country, Dallas Country Club. Near the end of his internship in Dallas, Nick's intern class was given the unique opportunity to operate a backstage VIP party for the country music group Rascal Flatts and their tour title sponsor JCPenney. It was this experience that changed everything for Nick. Growing up in a small town, the thought of landing in the music industry was far-fetched. Through some incredible connections made at this event, Nick was fortunate to land his first job out of college with a high-end experiential marketing company based in Atlanta. Seven days after his college graduation, Nick moved onto a tour bus to start his new journey as Tour Coordinator for JCPenney on the Rascal Flatts tour.

At the end of that tour, Nick moved to Nashville, TN, which has been his home ever since. Over the next couple of years, Nick was recruited by several agencies to tour manage brand activations on cross-country tours for many big-name musical acts. Some of Nick's Tour Managing credits include: COUNTRY Financial on the Train & Maroon 5 co-headlining tour + select dates on the Jake Owen Tour, the Dodge Dart Road 2 Vegas Tour & the Air National Guard on the Country Throwdown Festival Tour.

Nick was then recruited by rising country superstar Hunter Hayes to join his team as Tour Assistant, soon ascending to Tour Manager. After 6 years with Hunter Hayes, Nick spent the next couple years Tour Managing various acts in need for sporadic shows and tours with acts like: Jewel, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Ashley Monroe & JD and the Straight Shot (opening act for the Eagles). Nick was then recruited by the team of rising Christian Pop superstar, Lauren Daigle, to takeover as Tour Manager. Nick had an incredible 4-year run as LD's Tour Manager, a run which included a sold out arena tour in the US, multiple Christmas tours, a European Tour and a Tour in Australia & New Zealand.
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One of Nick's biggest passions in life is connecting good people with good people. Having taken a break from tour managing, Nick is focused on building the Little Owl Entertainment brand. Nick strives for Little Owl Entertainment to be known for supporting musicians, creating mind-blowing events, curating fun & unique live music experiences, and helping his clients elevate their event in exciting ways.

When he's not pouring into Little Owl Entertainment and his clients, Nick focuses on spending as much quality time with his beautiful wife and their hilarious 3-year old son.