On August 15 and August 16, we had the privilege of having almost all of the Executive Directors from the South Central Region meet in Dallas, Tex., at the Four Seasons Resort at Las Colinas for a summit meeting to educate, inform and discuss the ingredients necessary for successful chapter management. 

Darlene Curlee, 18 years with the Texas Gulf Coast GCSA, Mary Beth Rogers, 15 years with the Arkansas GCSA and Arkansas Turfgrass Association, Carol Cloud, 5 years with North Texas, Central Texas, Rio Grande, Lone Star GCSA's and Southwest Turfgrass Association and Texas Sports Turf Association, Cindy Herridge, 2 years with the West Texas GCSA, Katie Flowers, 9 months with the Texas Turfgrass Association and Carrie Cole, 3 months with the South Texas GCSA were all present for this meeting.  Dawn Coleman with Oklahoma GCSA had a last minute family emergency and was unable to attend.  Steve Randall from GCSA was also present to facilitate this meeting.

We met for dinner on Wednesday night so that all could get acquainted and great conversations and discussions started immediately.  We convened the next morning at 7:30 a.m. to get the day started so the ladies could leave at a decent hour to get back home on Thursday night. The morning started with a presentation from our gracious host, Anthony Williams, CGCS, and two of his assistants on his 25-plus years perspective as a chapter leader in Georgia and now Texas. Steve Randall then presented some data on current memberships with GCSAA and the current GCSAA initiatives that are ongoing like the State BMP project, Grassroots Ambassadors, and Rounds 4 Research. Steve also showed the ladies the resources that are available on the website that will help them manage their chapters. This presentation created a great discussion among the ladies as they spoke about how they use the website to help them with their jobs.

We broke for lunch and had some photo opportunities at the Byron Nelson statue and were joined by the Greens Committee Chairman and the General Manger of the Four Seasons Resort. We reconvened after lunch to discuss Board Orientation, Board service and expectations and succession plans for each chapter. This round table discussion was extremely productive for the entire group and led to the ladies deciding to create a Facebook page and group text so that they can stay in constant communication throughout the year. This meeting was very appreciated by the entire group and discussions have already started on when to meet again.

I would like to thank everyone for their participation and a special thanks to Steve Randall for travelling to Dallas, and Anthony Williams, CGCS for helping me with the hotel, meeting room and especially all of the meals. This was a great event and I feel that all of our regions should consider a similar event for their area.