The best of times

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” You probably recognize this partial quote as the opening lines to Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities,” but it’s also a pretty apt description of the GCM staff’s feelings about each January’s issue of the magazine.

January GCMs are the biggest issues of the year, every year, without fail. That is, of course, because January is our annual Golf Industry Show issue, in which we try to bring you a comprehensive look at what you can expect at conference and show in the way of new products, networking opportunities and GCSAA educational offerings, which for members and ourselves really are the best of times.

But for those of us who toil in the GCM fields, it can also be the worst of times. Coming up with new ways of making the conference and show information engaging, relevant and, yes, exciting is an annual challenge for us, tempered though, because there is never a lack of excitement at the event. Our test each year is to find that singular approach that will bring to life in these pages the scope, planning and importance of GIS to our members and to the entire golf industry.

Our yearly search for the best way to convey conference and show’s intensity is evident on each January cover. Because GIS rotates among the same cities, and because we need to symbolize in some way the atmosphere of the host city, we rack our brains — starting in early fall — to come up with a representation that encapsulates each year’s theme. We think this year’s cover does the job well.

But as difficult as the challenge is, GCSAA’s excursion into the Big Easy offered the staff a “best-of-times” chance to do more with this January issue because February’s event will mark the fulfillment of a promise the association and its members made to New Orleans three years ago after Hurricane Katrina. Although the city was unable to accommodate us after the devastating effects of what New Orleans’ residents just call The Storm, GCSAA promised to be back, and we’re on our way and bringing help.

This year, our GIS coverage previews GCSAA members working with Habitat for Humanity to build homes for host city residents. We also take a look at what New Orleans’ rebuilding convention business — and GCSAA’s convention business in particular — does to rejuvenate the community.

Fresh takes on GIS topics also include what new technologies are bringing to the experience and how they are helping shape the face of this and future shows, and a profile of longtime Education Conference faculty member Rick Brandenburg, Ph.D., of North Carolina State University’s Department of Entomology.

Add to this GCSAA member views on why coming to New Orleans is now different — and important — and you have the kind of coverage we strive for and a package that we stress over each year. It’s clearly our “worst of times” again becoming “the best of times.”