Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/50980
romthgreenside.com's Rick Munro had the opportunity to speak with outgoing WCTA President Scott Mitchell in mid December and got Scott's thoughts on his year in service... Turf Line: You were the President for a 'short year' with your inauguration in March 2011 at the Canadian Turfgrass conference held in Vancouver and you will be passing on the gavel in the third week of January 2012. What are your thoughts on what seemed to be a very busy year given your term was only 10 months? Scott Mitchell: It was a busy year for the WCTA as we packed 12 months of work into a 'short year' as you put it. The challenges and pressures from the world around us are not our choice nor was my short term and I'm very happy with what our board has accomplished. I would be remiss not to mention that a lot of our initiatives coming to fruition this year were started by previous boards and at the same time, a lot of things started this year won't be fully integrated and beneficial until sometime in the future. It's often about small steps and small victories and every once in awhile we can make a big splash like the major change to the Turf Line News launched a couple months ago. As for other thoughts, we can only do the best we can with the information we have at the time while using our combined knowledge and experience to make the best possible decisions considering all the options available to us. Without a doubt, this was a really great year for the WCTA and the fact that we're holding the line on memberships while other groups see large declines tells me there is tremendous value and pride in being a member of the Western Canada Turfgrass Association. TL: You will have served on the WCTA Board for six years when your term as immediate Past President ends or even seven if the association moves to a 2 year Presidency term. How has your time changed your attitude towards turf management? (i.e. politically, as a member of the WCTA and as a member of the turfgrass industry. SM: My time on the board has shown me that we need to remember all of our members, as turf managers, not just one sector or another. We have a wide range of members, and it isn't easy keeping everyone satisfied. Sometimes issues seem simple on the surface, but once you look at it from someone else's point of view, they can become very complicated. I think we have a very open atmosphere on the board, everyone is encouraged to voice their opinion and all opinions are considered. This sometimes slows down decision making but in the end I believe it results in good solid decisions. TL: Knowing what you know now, would you have done anything differently for your year as President ? SM: I honestly feel that I have prepared myself as well as I could for my tenure as president. I have been in the business over 16 years now, worked in several provinces, and been an active member in several associations. I have attended many turf conferences, both here and in the United States. I feel that I have received lots of help from this association and wanted to give something back, which started by being able to sit on the board in a two year director position. In hindsight I am glad that I sat on the board for the three years before I became the Vice President. This allowed me to become intimate with the functions of the board, and to be comfortable and confident expressing my concerns and opinions. I suppose that the only thing I would have liked was more time to be able to devote, as a volunteer member it is always hard to devote the amount of time you would like to a position like this. TL: You mentioned starting initiatives that will need to be finished by future boards. Was there any in particular that you wish would have been finished? SM: I was hoping to be able to bring the WCTA, the BCGSA, and the NTA to the point where we were really working together, not just on research, but on anything where we could find synergies. I am happy with the way this project is progressing; we have a person that acts as a BCGSA liaison now and have made some good progress in regards to the research committee sharing information with the NTA and they have now appointed a formal liaison which solidifies our relationship even further. I feel that unless these things are put into policy, with the way the turnover is on these boards, it's easy to forget where we have come from and the reason why we need to work together. I would hate to see us go backwards. TL: Do you believe the presidency would be better served as a 2 year posting? SM: I believe there are pros and cons to changing the Presidents' term to a 2 year posting. On one hand it would help with the situation that I described above, there would be more time to see projects through to completion. On the other hand, it is already a significant commitment, to become a director is two years, then the Vice President position would take two years, then the Presidency would also be two years, and the Past President would also take two years to complete the role. This is a commitment of 8 years at the very least, and it might be too taxing for people who are volunteers. I am thankful for the support I have been given by Target Products Ltd, but not all companies are so supportive, and 8-10 years is a big commitment to ask for. TL: For continuity what programs or ideas did you carry forward from Dave Duncan and wish to see carried forward by your successor? SM: As I mentioned before, one of our main focuses has been working with other associations to make us all stronger. I have carried this over and hope future boards will keep this going. We are always stronger together than we can ever be apart. We also started as far back as the Nanaimo conference, by scrutinizing all of our expenditures as an association at the trade show and throughout the year. We could see that in the future there would be some lean years and tried to make the most of our dollars without sacrificing value for the members. We started asking all the members in as many different formats as possible, "What SCOTT MITCHELL WILL STEP DOWN IN LATE JANUARY is it that you want from these shows?", and "How can we give you better value?" The answers we got were plain and simple, two things, education, and networking, and I couldn't agree more. The show this year has had a number of changes that I feel are all positive and they do two things - they allow the members more time for networking, and education that in turn shows excellent value making it easier for members to justify attending the show whether it's being paid for by their employer or if they are paying their own way. TL: Aside from the pesticide issue, what do you see as the most pressing issue facing the turfgrass industry now and within the next 10 years? What can we do to prepare or prevent these issues from adversely affecting the industry? SM: The biggest issue on the golf side is the lack of rounds, or the lack of real revenue being made by golf courses. Golf, for the majority of clubs, is a business and no one in their right mind can or will continue to run a business in these times of economic downturn and lose money. The biggest issue on the sportsfield side is a little harder to pin down but it always seems to come back to the high demands of user groups that put pressure on the limited number of facilities and the limited resources available to maintain these facilities. In either case, we're talking about a product that we're trying to deliver that needs to perform to the expectations of the end user. That's why we educate ourselves, go to seminars and conferences, read the research reports and magazine articles, talk to our neighbours and continually improve as turf managers. I do believe we have to become more focused on our target market, and figure out new ways to provide what is needed while still adhering to strict budgets and in the case of private business, still bring in a profit. This may mean cutting back on any number of things depending on your own situation, but not cutting back on the value. Yes, that's easier