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YOUR CAREER
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After the show is over
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Making just one good contact or bringing back one great new idea can easily return the cost of attending the Golf Industry Show to your facility. Photo © 2008 Bruce Mathews |
Nobody blames you for being tired. After all, you walked the trade show floor for three days, attended four seminars and shook countless hands. You’ve got the blistered feet and bulging briefcase to prove it. But the reality is, your work is only beginning.
Yes, it’s true. You had the opportunity in New Orleans to learn the latest tricks, to sharpen your skills and to interact with other professionals from around the country. Now you have a great chance to reward your employer’s faith in you with a healthy ROI (return on investment). Here are some tips for you to successfully return to your facility primed and ready to make a difference:
What did you learn that will benefit your employer? Begin looking for ways to immediately apply what you learned and help your employer and golfers understand the “whys.” Whether it’s a new technique for scheduling your crew or innovative ways to manage your budget to help the golf facility reach its goals in 2009, you should aggressively look for ways to apply your newfound knowledge upon your return.
Get back to what you left behind. Chances are you left home with a specific list of what you wanted to accomplish at the GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show. Don’t neglect these items — the greatest challenges you faced before leaving will still need your attention. Whether technical, managerial or strategic, find ways to apply what you learned to the problems you left behind.
Choose to be successful. If you put into practice what you learned and affect change, you will find success — for you and others at your facility. Actively implement what you learned in the classroom and from conversations with colleagues about new techniques and ideas. Doing so will actively demonstrate the benefit of the investment of your time (and your employer’s money) at the conference.
Be sure to follow-up. Did you promise someone a budgeting spreadsheet? Make sure you send it when you return to your office. Also, if you are able to add a personal note when you send it — no matter how brief — it will make an impact.
Write thank you notes. That laborious, hand-written chore from your youth can now be replaced with a short, polite e-mail to those with whom you networked at show. Remember that you need to maintain your contacts not only to find out what they can do for you, but also to offer your skills and abilities as well.
Your employer has shown tremendous faith in you to send you to New Orleans. Reward that trust by following a few of the steps outlined above for success upon your return.
Looking to hire? Advertise an open position on GCSAA’s Web site and reach 12,000 GCSAA members. The Employment Referral Service (ERS) job postings — a service that any golf-related facility can use — are designed especially for superintendent positions available all over the country. Other professional position postings have included sales or management positions with requirements in the superintendent or turfgrass fields. Visit www.gcsaa.org for more information, or call GCSAA at 800-472-7878. Today’s economic climate has forced everyone to reassess their budgets. To help superintendents navigate through financially challenging times, GCSAA has created the Economic Survival Kit, a collection of dozens of articles on golf course maintenance during periods of low productivity and economic downturns, as well as suggestions and ideas from other superintendents. If you would like to share your knowledge or experience on cost efficiencies and budget-tightening, e-mail mszabo@gcsaa.org. To access the new product online, go to www.gcsaa.org, click on the “Solutions/Tools” tab on the left-hand side of the page, and then click on |
