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/560546
FROM THE SIDELINES T he STMA's committees' con- tributions to the success of the organization, and so indirectly to members' success as well, isn't publicized often. Volunteers do committee work behind the scenes and it's those efforts that have resulted in too-many-to-mention-here pro- grams and initiatives that greatly benefit the sports turf industry, and particularly its front line: you turf managers. The Editorial Committee of course is of special interest to this column as it provides article ideas, critiques of past issues, and a sounding board for a wide range of subjects, all with the intention of publishing the most useful product for you we can. For example in this issue, our lead story on "Managing sports turf in the transition zone" was born by a suggestion from a com- mittee member. Though it now appears as an obvious good idea, we hadn't covered that topic in years and it was overdue. Last month we began a two-part series that concludes on page 30 in this issue on "Aeration: hollow-tine, solid-tine, or both? When and where?" With the help of com- mittee member and new Technical Editor Joey Young of Texas A&M, we were able to develop good, specific questions that drew out great responses from turf managers and commercial members. Also in the August issue was a piece by Edit Committee member Joe Churchill of Reinders, Inc., titled, "Renewing your vows: understanding the customer/vendor relationship." If you missed it, I urge you to go back and read it. Entertaining and infor- mative, it speaks to nearly everyone in the industry. Thanks, Joe! Another article this month, "Overseeding bermudagrass athletic fields," was written by committee member Scott Stevens, CSFM, the sports turf manager at Elon University, Elon, NC. In my mind nothing beats having a working turf manager pen an article on a specific subject because no one, no one, can tell a story better than a person who has seen first-hand and had to deal with what works and what doesn't. Terrific job, Scott! We also use the STMA membership ros- ter in full to generate content. Though I was disappointed in the number of responses generated by my asking (via email), "How do you keep grass between the hashmarks into November?" the responses we did get were terrific. And that's what I've come to expect from STMA members when I email them asking a question or two—well thought-out answers. It's just another iteration of what many agree is the most valuable part of being an STMA member: receiving easily provided expert advice when you ask for it. If you are interested in being included on one of my lists, e.g., football guy/gal, baseball, transition zone, cool-season, warm-season, etc., please drop me a line via eschroder@ epgmediallc.com and become a de facto Edit Committee member. Your expertise will be appreciated by thousands of your peers. Thanks to this year's Edit Committee chair, STMA Board member Sarah Martin, CSFM, who is doing a great job, and to all the committee members, past and pres- ent. The latter include: TJ Brewer, CSFM; Cliff Driver, CSFM; Eric Fasbender, CSFM; Jamie Mehringer; Greg Petry; Jeremy Driscoll; Jim Cornelius, CSFM; Mark Frever, CSFM; Jeff Salmond, CSFM; Matt Hollan; Troy Smith, CSFM; and Young, Churchill & Stevens. ■ ST Eric Schroder Editorial Director Eschroder@epgmediallc.com 717-805-4197 6 SportsTurf | September 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com EPG Media & Specialty Information 10405 6th Ave. N., Ste 210 Plymouth, MN 55441 The Official Publication Of The Sports Turf Managers Association SALES REPRESENTATIVES Chris Pelikan Senior Account Manager - East Phone: (954) 964-8676 cpelikan@epgmediallc.com Peggy Tupper Senior Account Manager - Mid-West Phone: (763) 383-4429 ptupper@epgmediallc.com Leslie Palmer Senior Account Manager - West Phone: (248) 731-7596 lpalmer@epgmediallc.com EDITORIAL Group Publisher: David Voll Editorial Director: Eric Schroder Technical Editor: Dr. Joey Young Art Director: Brian Snook Production Manager: Karen Kalinyak SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES Phone: (845) 856-2229 Fax: (847) 763-9569 customerservice@epgmediallc.com REPRINTS Robin Cooper rcooper@epgmediallc.com GROUP PUBLISHER David Voll dvoll@epgmediallc.com DIRECT MAIL LIST SALES MeritDirect, Jim Scova Phone: (914) 368-1012 jscova@MeritDirect.com Publisher's Notice: We Assume No Responsibility For The Validity Of Claims In Connection With Items Appearing In Sportsturf. Reader Service Numbers Are Given To Facilitate Further Inquiry. Mention Of A Commercial Product Does Not Imply Endorsement By Sportsturf Or EPG Media & Specialty Information, Or Preference Over Similar Products Not Mentioned. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE WORKING FOR YOU (AND ME)