The lights just dimmed over our Golf Industry Show booth, indicating the end of a successful first day. I’m blogging from New Orleans today where Abita beer and shrimp gumbo flow as freely as the nearby Mississippi River.
We saw steady traffic in our booth and throughout the show. Some came to meet Clemson’s Dr. McCarty and walked away with a complimentary, signed copy of his book, “Color Atlas of Turfgrass Weeds. Others tested their knowledge in Turf Jeopardy rounds, signed up for a free laptop and LCD projector to be used for their local GCSAA chapter, learned about BASF herbicides from BASF and heard how they can apply research on their course from FarmLinks’s Mark Langner. Today’s dish: education with a side of fun.
Once the official show hours began at 11 a.m., sixty superintendents raced to our booth and lined up to meet Dr. McCarty. After his book signing, Dr. McCarty held an impromptu Clemson alumni reunion with (photo, l-r) Dr. Renee Keese, Dr. McCarty, Dr. Kalmowitz and Campbell Cox. Some great minds and personalities from the ACC.
We hosted rounds of Turf Jeopardy in the spirit of Alex Tribek so we’ll have to forgive our game’s emcee if he phrases responses in the form of a question for the next couple of days after the show. Under the category of ‘Water Wise’, this one stumped the players: “Flowers need 25% less of this. Not even a guess from the participants. Again, the category is ‘Water Wise’. Answer: “What is water? Funny. Another stumper and way less intuitive was “Wayne Meyers shot this lowest golf score. Answer: “What is 57? What a round, and now we know.
Show traffic started winding down after 5 p.m. and from the sound of random conversations a lot of the attendees planned to congregate later tonight in this city’s great bars and restaurants. Industry peers who were on their feet all day will somehow find that second wind to stay on those feet later tonight on Bourbon Street. That’s part of the appeal of this unique town.
Tomorrow brings more fun education. Dr. Joe Vargas will be signing his book, “Management of Turfgrass Diseases, which should draw an enthusiastic crowd. We’ll have technical presentations on ‘Understanding Product Labels’ and ‘Weed Control in Naturalized Areas’ from BASF’s Todd Burkdoll and Kyle Miller, respectively, and we should have a good crowd at 2 p.m. when we host Turf Media Jeopardy with media editors Larry Aylward, Seth Jones and Scott Hollister. My next post will let you know how it all goes.
Keep learning! Keep having fun!
Posted at 2:41 pm
About the Author
Heather Mueller
Heather Mueller is a public relations professional for Padilla Speer Beardsley in Minneapolis, Minn.
