My First Season

My guest today and I worked together in Ria Bintan, Indonesia from 2001-2002. Everyone, Mr. Reggie Martin! Reggie’s first season was in the Mini-Club in Club Med Sandpiper during the Summer of 1997. Reggie takes us back to his first season where he thought he was going to be sent somewhere exotic, only to find out he was being sent to Florida! Reggie is originally from Chicago and now living in Macau, with 5.7 million followers on Instagram (check him out @reggiemartin10). Reggie truly believed he was living a millionaire lifestyle while at Club Med and he’ll tell you why. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

https://www.instagram.com/reggiemartin10/

My guest today and I have never worked together before, but we did meet at the EXGO Reunion in Cancun in 2008. Originally from Newport Beach, California but now lives in Atlanta, my guest had his first season in Club Med Sandpiper in 1990 as a Waterski G.O. and even drove down from Atlanta for his interview in the resort of Sandpiper itself. He tells a great story about teaching a blind woman named Kitty how to waterski and lets us know what it was like going to Club Med on vacation in the 70s as a teenager. Everyone, the one, the only, Rick Ross! (no, not the Mississippi rapper, the other one!) Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

.**My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review at Apple podcasts.

My guest today and I have never worked together, but I did meet him a few years back and was on guest on his radio show, the EXGO Radio Show. He was sent to Club Med Sandpiper for the 88-89 season as DJ and tells a very funny story about the guy in charge of Lighting & Sound Engineers for the North American Zone trying to tank the Cats show being put on one night to test him, but I’ll let him tell it. Everyone, give it up for Hiio “Joel” Kirby! Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest this week and I worked together in Otranto, Italy in the summer of 1997. I was Landsports and he was the Chief of Animation. His first season, however, was in Club Med Sant’Ambroggio-Corsica in the summer of 1995 as Animator. Originally from Marseille, France but now resides in California, Laurent “Jova” Minnitti didn’t actually feel that he went to some exotic location for his first season, as Corsica is an island off the coast of France. Not only that, when he arrived in the village, he soon found out that the village was rented for two months by an elderly group called “50 and More”. But I’ll let Laurent tell that story and more. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest today and I had never worked together before, but I heard his name constantly bombarded at me (in a very good way) by a very good friend in Columbus Isle, Bahamas (we’ll get to that funny story later) Everyone, please help me give a warm welcome to, LP! LP LeBlanc-Boucher shares his story of going to Club Med Playa Blanca as an au pair Animator in January of 1992. On his arrival to the village, he happened to be on the same bus as the "Atlantis"group that had bought out the village that week, but I’ll let him tell that funny story. He brings up a lot of names from the past that had a positive influence on him and some names you will recognize. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please check out LP's website. You can find an article there he wrote called "11 Reasons Why Being a Club Med G.O. Made Me a Better Person!"

http://blog.lplb.com/2016/02/22/11-reasons-why-being-a-club-med-gos-made-me-a-better-person/

My guest this week and I worked together in Cancun during the 2004-2005 season. His first season was in Club Med Cancun in November 2003, where he was the Entertainer/Animator of the resort and is none other than Bob Dougherty, AKA “Bobby D”. Bob worked for both Disney Cruises and Club Med, so that makes him a double-threat for this podcast. He is also able to offer candid insight on the differences between cruise ships and resorts. Bob even tells a great story of working with a pre-American Idol 7^th place finisher, pre-Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson aboard Disney Cruises. I admired Bob’s work ethic, sense of humor and commitment during my time in Cancun and I can’t wait for you to hear his story. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Please check out Bob's music videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUg56nAAJfs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW9-2KebO1I&list=PLrqqU5xLSq9Nr8qMPWdVJMEMz_JZ_MW_N&index=43

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9YXw4WTWvY&list=PLrqqU5xLSq9Nr8qMPWdVJMEMz_JZ_MW_N&index=33

My guest today had her first season as a Hostess in Club Med Turks & Caicos in November 1985, just one year after that resort opened. We had the pleasure of working together in Columbus Isle in Winter 1999/2000. She needs no introduction as you know her, love her, and cherish her. Everyone, my guest is none other than the amazing Angie Boucher! Listen as Angie recounts her interesting first interview, her ordeal with Hurricane Kate (and bar-beads) that passed over the island on November 18, 1985, and what it was like being a Hostess in the resort. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

My guest today has the rare distinction of working in a Club Med in the town where he lives. We worked together in Club Med Coral Beach in 2005, which is in Eilat, Israel. His first season as a Windsurf G.O. happened to coincide with my last season. Listen to my good friend Raz tell us about his first season and a very funny story about a humorous, touching gesture to the choreographer one night after The Jungle Show that hilariously spiralled out of control that season (for us, but not for cool-headed and very creative Raz). Raz also reminds me of a post I made on Club Med Planet back in early 2008 that I had forgot about. I’ll let him tell the tale, but long story short, he was looking for apple tobacco for his hooka, which was hard or impossible to find on Turks & Caicos. I made a post on CMP asking if anyone was going down to Turks and to bring him some, only Raz had to do his Jean-Claude Van Damme impression from the movie Bloodsport, to get it. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest for this podcast is none other than “7^th” Evan Eichler, originally from Wasaga Beach, Ontario. Evan shares his story about auditioning for Club Med in Toronto after hearing a group of people at a table discussing it at the bar where he worked. He nails the audition and heads to Club Med Sandpiper, Florida in January 2003 to be part of the Landsports Team. He recounts a surfing trip with a buddy along the Florida coast gone awry (for Evan) on his day off and lands a dream resort for his second season despite only having been at Sandpiper for about 3 months. Sit back, relax and enjoy!

*If you hear some background noise on this podcast, that is due to the fact that the only time Evan could record this podcast was while at the Gym/Physical Fitness Centre he owns, Eastern Shore Performance Center ESPC. If you are in the Stevensville, MD area and looking for a Gym, look him up at:

http://www.easternshoreperformancecenter.com/

And please give them a follow on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/easternshoreperformancecenter/

Welcome everybody, my name is Greg and this is the first episode of the podcast, “My First Season”. In this podcast, I will be interviewing people who worked for resorts, hotels, cruise ship and airlines and we’ll talk uniquely about their first season in the travel and tourism industry.

My first guest is James "Joker" Cradle from Boston. Joker and I worked together before in Club Med Lindeman Island in 2000/2001, briefly in Club Med Punta Cana in 2003 and then in Club Med Cancun in 2004/2005. In this episode we talk about James's first season in 1997 in Club Med Cancun as an au pair Village/Village G.O. Listen as Joker shares a story about trying to exit a gated community one early morning in downtown Cancun. Sit back and enjoy! Listen here or where ever you get your podcasts. **My First Season podcast has always been free to listen to. My First Season is available on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes.

**There may be some terms you are hearing for the first time, so if the letters, "G.O." come up during the podcast, that stands for "Gentil Organisateur". This is a French term referring to Club Med employees who work in the resort. The guests who stay there are called G.M.'s or "Gentil Membres".