SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/120370
STMA in action By Shant S. Thomas, STMA sales & marketing manager Conference attendee and exhibitor survey results AS MANY SPORTSTURF READERS ARE AWARE, the Sports Turf Managers Association's 24th Annual Conference and Exhibition was held January 15-18, 2013 in Daytona Beach, FL and featured a number of milestones for the association, including a significant increase in the number of educational sessions offered, as well as the wider implementation of new web-based offerings and a nearly sold-out trade show. Approximately 981 sports turf managers, from high schools and parks districts to Major League Baseball and NFL groundskeepers, converged on the Ocean Center Convention facility for more than 90 hours of sports turf specific education, dedicated networking functions and exhibitor demonstrations. The week's events were capped off by STMA's Annual Awards Banquet on Friday evening, where the association's highest honors were presented. These included the association's premier honors, the STMA Founders Awards, as well as the Field of the Year Awards, SAFE Scholarships, STMA Commercial Innovative Award, President's Award for Leadership, Student Challenge trophies and more. Additionally, STMA's non-profit charitable foundation, Foundation for Safer Athletic Fields for Everyone (SAFE) used its 13th Annual Golf Tournament, played at Arthur Hills Golf Course at LPGA International, Casino Night at the Welcome Reception and the live auctions, raffles and other fundraising endeavors to raise more than $35,000 for the foundation. The conference drew 35 international attendees from Argentina, Canada, Chile, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Spain, England, and Scotland. This international representation is the most STMA has had at any prior conference (with the normal amount being 10-12). Following the conference, STMA sent out two surveys: one for attendees and one for exhibitors. The results below are a snapshot of some of those results. Of the several hundred attendees that responded to STMA's survey: • 98.1 percent rated their overall conference experience as "excellent" or "good" with 1.9 percent rating their experience as "fair" and 0 percent rating "poor". • 93.9 percent rated their overall expo experience as "excellent" or "good" with 5 percent rating their experience as "fair" and 0 percent rating "poor". • 96.8 percent rated their overall education session experience as "excellent" or "good" with 3.2 percent rating "fair" and 0 percent rating "poor". Quotes (unattributed) to place next to data: • "This is one of the most well organized and professionally managed conferences I attend." • "Really like the variety of choices in topics and things to do, just hard to get to all of them at the same time." • "Better each year - good to reorder things." • "Very kind and professional people, an excellent trade show." • "Keep up the good work. I feel the conference has continued to get better each year. Thank you for the experience." • "It was my first conference and I really enjoyed it." • "I think it is a great show dedicated to sports turf." Of the several hundred exhibitors that responded to STMA's survey: • 84.4 percent thought that the 24th Annual Exhibition was a good show overall, while 15.6 did not. • 73.3 percent thought the exhibition "was the best show they'd ever attended" or "a good show worth attending", while 26.6 thought the "show needed improvement" or "wouldn't recommend it." 40 SportsTurf | April 2013 Attendees conference experience Excellent or Good - 98.1% 1.9% Fair - Poor - 0% 0 20 40 60 80 100 Attendees expo experience Excellent or Good - 93.9% Fair - 5% Poor - 0% 0 20 40 60 80 100 Attendees education experience Excellent or Good - 96.8% Fair - 3.2% Poor - 0% 0 20 40 60 80 100 Exhibitors experience 84.4% Thought that the 24th Annual Exhibition was a good show overall 84.4% 15.6% Exhibitors experience 73.3% Thought that the 24th Annual Exhibition "was the best show they'd ever attended" or "a good show worth attending." 73.3% 26.6% www.sportsturfonline.com