 |
President's message |
March on!
|
That’s what I say to all those who have been involved with me and GCSAA this year. 2007 was remarkable and positive for our members. I thank our staff in Lawrence, the GCSAA board, the members who volunteered their time and energies so passionately, and our industry, which helped us again and again. It was truly a team effort.
The year saw the launch of our LPGA agronomist program. John Miller, CGCS, has hit the ground running and is developing relationships with all of the LPGA’s host superintendents. The program exists to provide the Tour’s players with consistent playing conditions week to week. The LPGA is excited about this partnership, and our profession is poised to reap rewards from this new and positive exposure in golf’s marketplace.
This relationship is one more way to connect the value of golf course conditions and what we do to the enjoyment of the game. Once this is recognized, it helps salaries, security and appreciation at golf facilities where we work, and it’s only going to get better with time.
The Golf Industry Show last year was a tremendous event. Our members consumed more education than ever. Record numbers attended seminars, programs and the trade show. Our GIS is becoming a must-see event. It’s a place to network with your peers and to develop relationships with your managers and owners. Sharing knowledge about our profession almost always helps owners learn about superintendents’ complex careers.
This has led to respect and appreciation for the profession. If you haven’t had your employer at our show, I highly recommend you consider it.
What does the future hold for our association? You have a lot to look forward to. Your board has worked to streamline its set of indicators down to 15. These indicators assign metrics of success for the profession and GCSAA. Some of these include basic numbers such as membership growth, total revenue, net revenue and GIS attendance.
One new metric is the net promoter score. This measures how strongly a member will recommend GCSAA membership to a colleague. This really gets down to the nuts and bolts of how we are serving our members. We have a baseline number to start with, and our business plan is built upon moving this number upward. I look forward to seeing GCSAA continue to provide excellent member resources.
After serving this association for more than 10 years, I believe the tools are there for member success. The hardest part is communicating these available resources and then actually getting them into the hands of our members. We often are just too busy to try new things; too comfortable with what we are doing because the outcome is pretty good.
In this, my last message as president, I challenge each of you to step out of your comfort zone. I ask you to learn more about your association and the many tools, resources and people standing by ready to help you in any way. It has been a great year, and I thank everyone for their support throughout it.
RECENT issues
 |
 |
January |
December |