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Rave resolve
GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show shrugs off adversity with high-quality event.
Terry Ostmeyer
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Photo by Bruce Mathews |
The 2006 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Atlanta will forever be marked by the industry’s ability to overcome adversity. The show and its trademark all-encompassing trappings was rescheduled twice — from New Orleans to Houston to Atlanta — in the wake of last fall’s hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, causing the staffs of presenting partners GCSAA and the National Golf Course Owners Association to compress two years of planning into five months.
It came off without a serious hitch. The show’s main measure — raw numbers — were understandably down, but, taken in context, not by much and certainly there were silver linings.
“We gain feedback through informal and formal measures, but the early returns are overwhelmingly positive,” said GCSAA CEO Steve Mona, CAE, in an association release in February following the show. “It’s a credit to all of the sponsoring organizations that the show was so well received. Both exhibitors and attendees were particularly impressed with the quality of the trade show.”
Between the lines
For the record, attendance was announced at 18,900, down from the all-time high of 22,723 at last year’s inaugural GIS in Orlando, and also below the original projection for New Orleans. But this was still several hundred better than Atlanta in 2003, which was the low-water mark over the last decade when the event was known as the GCSAA International Golf Course Conference and Show.
The trade show drew 756 companies, covering 244,200 square feet — off Orlando 2005’s lofty levels, but the number of companies bettered seven of the last 10 trade shows. Qualified buyers in Atlanta numbered 6,650 compared with 8,154 last year.
“We knew the numbers for Atlanta would be below Orlando for a variety of reasons,” Mona said. “First, Orlando is traditionally a higher-attended venue due to the family attractions. Second, weather challenges in many parts of the nation during the past year kept some people at home. Third, the relocation back to a Southeast venue meant many who attended Orlando the previous year bypassed Atlanta.”
Atlanta 2006 in review Duich, Lopez honored at Opening Session Wake-up call at Golf Industry Show General Session |
Mike Hughes, CEO of the owners association, said during a media roundtable on the final day in Atlanta that he believed the 2006 edition was a more integrated event among the presenting partners and their supporting allies, such as the Golf Course Builders Association of America, the American Society of Golf Course Architects and the National Golf Foundation. The Club Managers Association of America comes on board as a third presenting partner next year.
Also, while the attendance of NGCOA members slumped from 1,100 last year to 900 in Atlanta, Hughes pointed out that more golf courses were represented this year because more multicourse owners were present.
“From the NGCOA’s perspective, the second Golf Industry Show was a major win and added more evidence to our belief that this is the year’s most important gathering of industry leaders,” Hughes said in a later statement. “Owners were impressed with the quality and consistency of educational offerings, the solutions to business problems they were exposed to and the networking opportunities. I think we left Atlanta with a lot of momentum for Anaheim (Calif.) in 2007 and the years ahead.”
Echoing Hughes and his own assessment that the real measures of the 2006 conference and show are the elements of quality and content, Mona added, “Our true satisfaction comes in the positive feedback we have received from those who were there to conduct business.”
Good vibes
A case in point was a message GCSAA staff received in the week following the show from exhibitor Randy Dufault of Dakota Peat & Equipment out of Grand Forks, N.D., and East Grand Forks, Minn., respectively: “We didn’t have high hopes with all that happened in the last year. Boy, were we wrong! I don’t know if it was the great location, our presentation or our new line, but it was one of our very best shows. We also noticed the international presence seemed higher than normal.”
Typical of the level of importance manufacturers attach to the show was the activity of agribusiness giant Syngenta, which unveiled one new product, new labeling for another and also announced a $10,000 donation to The Environmental Institute for Golf’s hurricane relief program.
“We try to make this show a significant opportunity for superintendents,” said Joe DiPaola, golf market manager for Syngenta. “I don’t know if there is a perfect way to build an awareness of a new product, but GCSAA and the Golf Industry Show bring together thousands of people. I can’t picture a better opportunity.”
Learning never stops
The factors that caused decreases in many of the attendance figures in Atlanta weren’t in evidence at the education conference, where 100 seminars drew 7,229 attendees — more than at four of the last seven shows.
“Continuing education is not an option for golf course superintendents – it is a necessity,” said Sean A. Hoolehan, CGCS, the new GCSAA president. “I believe the quality of the programs and the number of attendees is a testament to the importance golf course superintendents and employers place on GCSAA programs.”
Likewise, the new president of NGCOA, Henry DeLozier, vice president of golf for Pulte Homes Inc., a leading developer and multicourse owner, pointed out that owners at the show spent 13 hours on the trade show floor compared to eight hours last year.
“That’s a huge commitment to our exhibitors and suppliers,” DeLozier said at the media roundtable, adding that his company considers the GIS to be the “ultimate in one-stop shopping.
“We work with golf course designers, we work with golf course builders, we work with the National Golf Foundation and we’re proud of all of our golf course superintendents,” he said.
“It seems to me that this (the Golf Industry Show) is such a right-minded program — and we’re still warming up. We haven’t gotten to the point where we have been able to engage all of these organizations to their fullest capabilities. We’re all still learning how to get this right. There is no doubt that our allies are dedicated to bringing out their A game.”
The A team
Underscoring the comment at the Opening Session by outgoing GCSAA President Timothy T. O’Neil, CGCS, that the Golf Industry Show is “where the world of golf course management comes together,” were some of the representatives of the supporting allies during wrap-up media event.
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| Joe Duich, Ph.D. (right) accepted the Old Tom Morris Award from 2005 GCSAA President Timothy T. O'Neill, CGCS, during the Opening Session. |
“The one thing I noticed was that the flow on the trade show floor seemed good. Things seemed spread out well. Overall, we were very pleased with the results,” said Paul Foley, executive director of the GCBAA.
Tom Marzolf, president of the ASGCA said the Atlanta show was the best ever for ASGCA, which had 77 of its 171 members in attendance, with 30 of them involved in the education program. He also noted that more of the architects’ clients — owners and developers — were at this show.
“We’re grateful to GCSAA and the National Golf Course Owners Association for the opportunity for such a small organization to play such a prominent and beneficial role,” Marzolf said.
Looking ahead, Mona said the show’s integration will expand even more as the co-mingling of organizations’ members in the education conference and other show activities increases.
“Our vision is for this to be the one place in golf to go,” he said. “All the resources are available, and the club managers coming in is one more big step. Next year this could go to a whole new level.”
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