As AI Slowly Makes Inroads in our Lives, More & More Residents Would Want to Work from the Club
Clubs All Over the World Allow Official Meetings & Networking
I recall our Club was conceived by its founders to be like a second home for residents of 15A, where they could spend good quality time reading books, playing cards, eating and drinking and engaging in other meaningful activities. At that time, computers were not so prevalent and we had recommended that the Library buy a computer for young members to use to explore the digital world.
That was thirty years ago and the present laptop and mobile phone culture was far away. Things have changed tremendously since then and with Artificial Intelligence (AI) slowly taking over it is going to be a new world in the next 5 to 10 years. One of the most important changes will be that people are going to spend a very large time of the day in and around their homes. Not going to a proper office and working out of homes will become increasingly common.
Quite a few individuals in Gurgaon and Delhi work over a cup of coffee from a quiet corner of a Coffee Shop, tapping and scrolling on their laptops and mobile phones. Coffee shops like Café Coffee Day encourage them to use their free internet facilities especially during the day when it’s down time for the cafes. This culture is growing at a fast pace and will soon become the norm.
Our Club bigwigs should embrace this culture and see what’s in store and get ready, or, rather, encourage members to use the Club during the day when it’s down time and the Club is almost empty even while all the facilities are kept available because the Club is officially open. In order to encourage members to use the Club for recreation and business, the management should provide exciting corners (like at the open deck) with charging stations and other self-help facilities like free coffee/tea biscuits etc. Free facilities like these are already available in places like the IHC Library.
Recently, in one of the 15A Whatsapp groups, somebody posted a picture of a youngster working on a laptop in the area in front of the Pizza joint and wondered if this was allowed because he was occupying a certain area just for himself. Reactions to the post were many, most were in favour of it but a few were against it. The person who posted did not realise that the youngster was Siddharth Anand and he was working on the Pickle Ball project of the Club. But the post opened a Pandora’s box of views to dwell upon, keeping in mind that many more such youngsters would want to use their Club for working on business projects, research writings and other work.
Clubs all over the world now allow official meetings & networking inside the club and encourage members to use the facilities. Rajesh Malik (SDF) posted: This video I have taken at the Chinese Swimming club in Singapore. You can see a small seated area where the members, especially young working youngsters, can be seen using the Wi-Fi connection and do some personal work in quiet and privacy! It would be nice if we can have a small similar facility at our Club against a restricted used and usage charge! Maybe the conference room or the coffee deck area… (see the video of a Singapore Club posted by Rajesh Malik (SDF).
This change requires a different mindset from the management. We recall when Sanjeev Sareen was Club Secretary, we recommended that the Club should become ‘young-mother-friendly’ and he immediately grabbed the idea. Within weeks swings for children, one side basketball for tiny-tots and a skating rink were put in place. He even went to the extent of installing a diaper-changing station for the convenience of young mothers. This move has changed the entire ethos of the Club, especially in the evenings. Young mothers feel wanted and cared for, and it has become an exciting, colourful and happening place when toddlers and young mothers come and spend some quality time with their little ones. This time we are recommending that the management thought process should move with the times, keeping in mind our working youngsters, and encourage them to use the Club.
Happy Clubbing!!
