Golf Industry Show: Must attend seminars and sessions

Each year we take a dive into the must attend seminars and sessions. If you are arriving early and haven’t scheduled any paid seminars, there are still lots of great opportunities for to attend some FREE sessions.

Monday

Take Control of Your Career – seminar

Although we are a bit bias, given the faculty teaching this great seminar, this is great one each year. Carol Rau and Bill Brown, CGCS continue to update this seminar to keep you on the cutting edge of finding your next job or elevating your current position.
William Brown, CGCS, CEO, Turf Republic, Kennett Square, Pa. Carol D. Rau, PHR, Career Advantage, Lawrence, Kan.

When it comes to your career, do you feel prepared? Take control and call the shots. In this seminar, attendees will learn:

• How to separate yourself from the competition and position yourself on the leading edge of the golf course superintendent career path
• Proven strategies to stand-out in a job search: resume, cover letter, interviewing, portfolios, career web sites
• Golf industry trends and economic factors impacting career choices
• Technology options to enhance both current job performance and career advancement: smartphones, blogs, twitter, etc.

Turfgrass Talk Show – FREE Session
8:30am – 10:30am
Ballroom 6AB

The topic for this changes each year. This year, plant health has been chosen.

Join talk show host Thom Nikolai, Ph.D., Michigan State University, and co-host Don Roth, at Crystal Downs Country Club, for a lively discussion on the hot topic of turfgrass health.

Over the past 25 years, our industry has gone through phases of IPM, sustainability, and more recently, turfgrass health as focal points for how to manage a golf course. These presentations and panel discussions will include the cultural, mechanical and chemical practices that promote turfgrass health given different growing conditions.

Panelists will discuss how to promote or improve turfgrass health with poor irrigation or soil quality, how to alleviate daily plant stresses due to traffic, moisture, or temperature stress, the truth about mowing heights and disease, and methods to measure turfgrass health.

Preventative maintenance strategies for turf equipment – FREE Session
10:30am – noon
Room 3

Stephen Tucker, EM at Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walk Disney World and Mike Kriz, EM at Arrowhead Country Club provide insight into preventative maintenance strategies. Both gentlemen are viewed as top in the industry.

Preventive maintenance (PM) is the heart and soul of your turf equipment maintenance program. We will discuss why a well-defined PM program will enhance your facility’s maintenance activity. We’ll dive deep in the how and why, and provide concrete examples of success stories. Your PM program will save un-scheduled maintenance down time, dollars and headaches, ensuring equipment is ready to operate when needed.

Career hot topics: Take your career to the next level – FREE Session
1pm – 3:30pm
Room 2

Hear from two search industry experts, a superintendent, and a GM on what it takes to be ready when opportunity knocks. What essential skills do you need to focus on when making your next move, or re-invigorating yourself in a current role? Get tips on how to hone your skills to meet and exceed expectations of hiring decision makers and current employers. Determine your next right career move. Bring your questions and walk away with answers, guidance and a strategic plan for your next steps.

Moderator: Carol Rau, PHR – @Careergolf

Presenters:

Richard Kopplin

Kurt Kuebler

John Cunningham, CGCS

Patrick Finlen, CGCS

Tuesday

DIY for your facility: Ideas that make an impact – FREE Session
8 – 9:45am
Room 5AB

Your peers are ready to share their Do It Yourself ideas. Hear solutions other superintendents have created and how they’ve implemented them to solve their facility’s challenges. Speakers will share their projects (anything from turf reduction projects to using bats on your course to reduce pesticides) that you can adopt and adapt to work for your organization.

Great topics for this session include:

– Sharpening your equipment manager partnership

– Bats! Without harming the Player Experience

– Undertaking a turf reduction project: A case study at Bernardo Heights

– Going native with grasses, soil health testing, and organics

– Ideas for equipment modification

Solutions spotlight: Career growth and course management strategies for today’s AGCS – FREE Session
3:15pm – 5pm
Room 2

Join experts in golf course agronomy and career advancement as they create a ‘solution room’ for assistant superintendents. This is not a lecture on a single topic, rather an interactive process to share knowledge found throughout the world of golf course maintenance. Work with experts and your peers toward concrete solutions to challenges at your course. Attend this highly interactive session; solve problems through collaboration, and walk away ready for success!