STMA in action
Growing STMA provides education & professionalism
N
EARLY 1,000 ATTENDEES enjoyed classic southern Califor- nia sunshine during breaks at the Sports Turf Managers Associ- ation's 23rd Annual Conference and Exhibition last month in Long Beach. STMA reported sports turf managers, academics and other practitioners from all over the world were included in
this audience. More than 1,600 folks participated in this year's event, nearly a 10% increase over last year's conference in Austin, TX.
STMA Headquarters staff, led by CEO Kim
Heck, once again ran a smooth show and the Long Beach Convention Center and surround- ing area was perfect for after-hours. Congratula- tions to Kristen Althouse, Patrick Allen, Leah Craig, Nora Dunnaway for a job well done. First-time exhibitors Chad and Cathy Kropff
of Bulldog Field Equipment, Roanoke, VA, were introducing their 4-way pitching rubber. They said traffic had been steady throughout
the exhibit hours. "Guys are ready to buy right now," Chad said. John Klesk of Graco also was introducing a
new product and reported heavy interest from buyers, and this correspondent had to wait until the show was officially closed to get in a word with Lindsay Merkt, whose g2 turftools won STMA's Innovation Award for products intro- duced in 2011, because of booth traffic. Attendees took advantage of nearly 90 hours
of sports turf specific education of- fered over 3 days. The industry's top professionals joined academics in presentations, and crowds en- joyed peer-to-peer networking events such as the Industry Seg- ment Networking Sessions, Wel- come Reception and Awards Banquet Reception at the 4-day event held at the Long Beach Con- vention Center and three nearby hotels.
CEO Kim Heck said Friday
morning's session, Sportsturf 101 in Spanish, had seven participants and afterward the students, accom- panied by translators, toured the trade show floor. Selected educational sessions
were video recorded and synchro- nized with PowerPoint presenta- tions, the STMA said, in conjunction with Peach New Media. Twelve different presenta- tions will be available, see www.stma.org/knowledge-center
HERE IS THE NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR STMA: Back row (l to r): Jeff Salmond, CSFM; James Graff; Rene Asprion; Debra Kneeshaw; David Pinson- neault, CSFM, CPRP; Mike Goatley, Ph.D.; Mike Tarantino, CSFM. Front row (l to r): Ron Hostick, CSFM; Jay Warnick, CSFM; Jeff Fowler; Martin Kaufman, CSFM. Not pictured: Troy Smith, CSFM; Allen Johnson, CSFM
14 SportsTurf | February 2012
www.sportsturfonline.com
