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YOUR CAREER
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Pre- and post-show prep
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Calculating the money you |
While you’re packing your bags and planning your schedule for New Orleans, it’s not too early to begin preparing for what you’ll do with the information gained and lessons learned at the Golf Industry Show.
With the economic downturn and the challenge to make the most of every penny at your facility, you can gain additional value from your show attendance by documenting what you learn and using your experience as an opportunity to communicate with your employer and customers.
GCSAA’s Attendee Tool Kit provides a great foundation for your conference and show communication efforts. Available online at www.gcsaa.org/conference/toolkit/, the tool kit provides simple suggestions and ideas for promoting your attendance. By sharing your experience with your employers and customers, you verify the value of the trip and confirm that your attendance gives your facility an edge over the competition. Once you get home, you can begin to document your experience by:
• Creating a report for your staff and supervisor to educate them on what is happening in the industry and how that affects your facility
• Educating your golfers, whether through one-on-one conversations or a group presentation, about how what you learned at the show has a direct correlation to operations on the course and how that ties to their enjoyment of the game
• Evaluating the cost of attending the show vs. how much time and money it would take to participate in the same amount of education and networking if you had not gone
• Calculating the money you saved on show-only specials
And don’t let your communication be a post-show-only event. If you use a tip or idea from the conference and show throughout the year, be sure to let your employer know how the show benefited the operation any time of the year.
To let your local media know that your facility is up-to-date on the latest in the industry, complete a customized GIS attendance news release. They will be available at www.gcsaa.org after the show. You can use it as a starting point to share with your community what your facility has to offer.
Demonstrate the value of your conference and show attendance not only to your golfers, but to your employer as well. In this time of belt tightening, the Golf Industry Show provides the biggest bang for your buck in the industry. By sharing your experiences, you can make sure that you are part of the event in 2009, 2010 and beyond.
Learn how to maximize the Turfgrass Information File (TGIF), a search tool on the GCSAA Web site that’s available to all Class A and Superintendent Members, at next month’s GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show, Feb. 2-7. Pete Cookingham from the Michigan State Libraries, which facilitates the online search capability, will be on hand at the GCSAA Answer Zone on the trade show floor to help superintendents learn how to get the most out of TGIF, an archive of GCM magazine content from 1933 to the present, among other print and electronic resources related to turfgrass science and management. Cookingham will also hold classes on TGIF training on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 6, and on Saturday, Feb. 7, from mid-morning to early afternoon. TGIF can help turf professionals identify documentation to support decision making, validate product claims, review a specific topic, investigate new areas of opportunity and locate a specific item you remember seeing in GCM or another publication. For a detailed list of Cookingham’s training sessions, visit www.gcsaa.org/conference/ed/tgif.asp. |
