Today I would l would like to bring up a subject to which I really don’t have an answer. It’s been the subject in many of my chapters and has been the source of a tremendous amount of frustration. The subject is vendor-sponsored education. Here’s what I see:

Since the recession, perhaps earlier, it seems like chapters are competing for their member's participation with local vendors when it comes to education. Vendors are now offering their own brand of education such as the Wilbur-Ellis University, Winfield United Academy, Simplot Partners Seminar and the Target Specialty Products Lunch and Learn. I know the vendors aren’t intentionally trying to hurt the local chapters, but they are certainly providing a source of education that the chapters were primarily the source of before. Attendance at local meetings has dropped significantly over the last few years. For example, in Oregon, where there used to be over 300 attending their pest management seminar in December, it is now down to 140. This used to be the one place where the superintendents and the landscapers alike would receive 10 CEUs toward their Oregon pesticide license. If you attended this each year, you would accumulate enough points to renew your license automatically after 5 years. This was the one event that the Oregon GCSA would make most of their money for the entire year and now they must compete for every dollar they make to stay viable.

The chapters are caught between a rock and a hard spot when it comes to providing brand-specific education. I will be the first to admit that when I go to a distributor seminar, I learn specific measures on particular products in the industry and I find that very valuable. But if a chapter were to try to provide that, some products get left out, and that doesn’t make some happy.

Just as an example, I was at a chapter event when a former college professor who now works for a major manufacturer was making a presentation on disease control and was doing a great job keeping it generic. However, when he listed the names of products, he inadvertently left the company’s product logo next to his product's name. This infuriated a competitor who was also in attendance who then threatened the executive director to pull all their money from the chapter. So- now the chapter is forced to keep things so generic that I believe it has watered down some of the content that can be offered at the chapter meetings.

This has caused the vendors to realize that they can now host their own meetings and be as product specific as they want. They are also implying to manufacturers that if they want them to sell their products, then they need to come to the meetings and present, and by the way, pay $500 to do so. Now we have two sources of sponsor dollars being jeopardized at the chapter level.

In order to get around this, some chapters are offering what is called “pay to play”. They are offering the manufacturers and distributors an opportunity to sponsor an hour of education at a chapter event and provide as product specific content as they would like. However, this can come back and bite the chapter if the presenter is not polished and botches the presentation.

The bottom line is, local chapters are still extremely relevant, and the sponsors are equally as valuable. However, the dollar can only be spread so thin and eventually, a choice must be made as to where the dollar lands. I really don’t have an answer to this dilemma but here are some thoughts that have come up:

When distributors schedule events, can they be more aware of when the next chapter event is so there isn’t a competition of attendance? This goes both ways.

I have heard complaints from vendors that there aren’t as many qualified buyers at chapter events and trade shows. Then would it be possible for the vendors to encourage attendance at local meetings, so they could see more buyers? Vendors see more members regularly than anyone. They can be a huge asset to the local chapter by promoting events.

Superintendents also have a choice. Not only are chapter meetings educational, but they are also a great source for networking. Plus, you will more than likely get to see your local GCSAA field staff representative there as well.