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Please forward any weather-related sports field photos that showcase your field, crew, fans, games, or friends for the introductory video at the STMA Awards Banquet. GrasStains Productions, lead by Steve Legros, produces an exciting video each year to open the annual Awards Banquet, and you can be a part of it. Please send your high resolution photos in a jpg format to grsstains@yahoo.com. You are certainly welcome to send any sports field management photos, but those showing the full force of Mother Nature are highly desired! Please send them prior to Dec. 25. Thank you!
Conference Credentials Coming to You!
For those who register for the 2008 STMA Conference by Dec. 14, STMA will be mailing your Conference Credentials to you. We will send an email letting you know when your credentials were mailed, and to contact us if you don't receive them by the date specified in the email. Be sure to bring your badge and other credentials to the Conference to avoid waiting in line and incurring reprinting fees. The conference badge holders can be picked up onsite.
Represent Your School in the Student Challenge
We are currently taking registrations for the STMA Student Challenge. Teams compete in two-year and four-year categories on a cooperative exam. The exam is multiple-choice and also has a case-study question teams must answer. The Study Guide for the STMA Student Challenge can be found here.
Thanks to the generosity of The SAFE Foundation, teams will vie for a $4,000 first place prize in each category. And thanks to the continued support of Platinum Sponsor Hunter Industries, STMA Student Challenge participants get their conference registration paid for! To sign up for the STMA Student Challenge, simply complete the Student Challenge Section of the conference registration form and fax it back to STMA headquarters at 800-366-0391. So that STMA can maintain accurate records, each individual competitor must complete a conference registration form. STMA Student Challenge participants may NOT register for conference online. If you have any questions about the Student Challenge, please contact Patrick Allen at 800-323-387 or pallen@stma.org.
FORE!
After the once-in-a-generation ice storm that hit San Antonio last year and cancelled the SAFE/Jacobsen Golf Tournament, it seems STMA members are eager to hit the links! But even without hitting a single shot at The Quarry, STMA members who donated their entry fee and Jacobsen, who matched 50% of members’ donations, raised almost $18,000 for The SAFE Foundation.
Foursome’s are filling up quickly for the 8th Annual SAFE/Jacobsen Golf Tournament, which will be played at The Sanctuary Golf Course at Westworld. The Sanctuary, as it is commonly known in its hometown of Scottsdale, Ariz., was the 17th course in the world, and the first in Arizona, to earn Audubon Signature status, signifying a commitment preserving the natural environment while providing a spectacular and challenging golf course for the players.
To reserve your spot in the tournament, which is limited to 144 players, please register online or fill out the conference registration form and fax it back to 800-366-0391 with payment information included. If you have any questions regarding the SAFE/Jacobsen Golf Tournament, please contact Patrick Allen at 800-323-3875 or pallen@stma.org. Hit ’em straight!
Do I hear $25… $50…?
Participating in The SAFE Foundation’s raffle and auction is easy and the proceeds fund important scholarships, research and educational programs.
First, please consider donating an item for the raffle or auction, which will be held throughout the annual conference in Phoenix. Team gear, products, equipment or tickets to unique attractions in your area are ideal, and you can bring them with you to conference or send them in advance to STMA headquarters.
Purchase raffle tickets. SAFE is hosting two different raffles: a daily 50/50 raffle that a lucky winner will take home one half of the cash raised each day; and a raffle for a Disney Trip and a Nike Golf Tour!
Bid on Silent Auction items during each day of the trade show. This auction is different from previous years’ auctions because it will close Thursday night and new items will be available for bid on Friday.
You’ll have the opportunity to bid on a few, select items during the Pre-Banquet reception such as high-tech glasses that help you diagnose turfgrass problems. You will not want to miss this fun event!
If you are unable to attend conference and want to support this worthwhile foundation, please send your tax-deductible contribution to The SAFE Foundation, 805 New Hampshire, Ste. E, Lawrence, KS 66044.
Vote!
Voting members should have received their 2008 Board of Directors Election ballot, notice of annual meeting, and proxy information. Please follow the instructions on the ballot for submitting it, or click here to vote electronically. Take this opportunity to exercise this important responsibility of membership, and vote for the leadership of your organization. Complete biographies of the candidates can be found on-line.
CA$H for COTS
Send a Board Member to the Chapter Officers’ Training Session at the STMA Annual Conference, and receive $200! STMA will hold COTS on Tues., Jan. 15, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Phoenix. Again this year, the Chapter Relations Committee is pleased to offer the special $200 bonus to STMA Chapters that send a board member to COTS. Your chapter is welcome to send as many board members as it wishes to COTS, however, STMA’s refund is $200 per chapter. Dinner will be available at the beginning of the session. To find out more about this program, click here.
Hotel Rooms are Filling up in Phoenix
There are hotel rooms available for the STMA conference, but they are filling up fast. The host hotel, Hyatt Regency Phoenix, is sold out for Jan. 15; however, rooms are still available from Jan. 16-19 (reservations ph. 1-602-252-1234). If you are quoted a different rate than the guaranteed $167 per night, please contact STMA, ph. 800-323-3875. STMA has opened a block of rooms at the Wyndham Hotel (reservations ph. 602-333-0000), which is next door to the Hyatt, and is offering the same rate of $167.
STMA Historical Committee Meets
The STMA Historical Committee, chaired by John Mascaro, met in Lawrence Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, to begin formulating the STMA historical preservation and acquisition plan. Committee members include Steve Guise, Mike Schiller, CSFM, George Toma, Mike Trigg, CSFM, James Watson, Ph.D., and Steve Wightman. Time was dedicated to reviewing the personal and professional collection of Kent Kurtz, Ph.D., who passed away in 2006. Kurtz' materials were donated to STMA by his son and daughter and plans are to develop an STMA Dr. Kent Kurtz collection. Look for more information on this committee's progress and how you can become involved in the historical preservation initiative.
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This article is used by permission from Dr. John C. Maxwell's free monthly e-newsletter 'Leadership Wired' available at www.maximumimpact.com .
Manufacturers are closing their doors. Assembly lines are disassembling. Dilapidated farmhouses sit in empty fields. Mills and mines dot the countryside as historical relics. Why? Technology, technology, technology.
Human minds continue to replace human hands as more sophisticated machinery, equipment, hardware, and software are applied to the workplace. In 1949, about 40% of workers in the USA were employed in the service sector of the economy. By 1967, that percentage had grown to 55%. In 1986, 66% worked in the service industry, and presently, 75% of the nation’s employees are in services.
With the share of manufacturing jobs steadily shrinking, and the knowledge economy in full bloom, the landscape of leadership has changed shape. What implications does this shift have on today’s leaders?
Spinning Plates
Remember typewriters? It’s hard to believe they dominated office documentation for most of the 1900s and were standard into the 1980s. As we reach the 21st century, a regional office in Beijing can have a videoconference with associates in New York. Via the internet, schoolchildren in Houston can see and speak with “pen pals” in Amsterdam free of charge. Information that sailed across seas in bulky packages less than 100 years ago can be digitally transferred in nanoseconds today. Decisions traditionally made in consideration of customers in a local county now affect clientele on several continents.
What do these changes mean for leaders? Not only must they juggle more plates, but the plates are spinning faster than ever. Today’s leader is surrounded by incessantly buzzing or beeping devices relaying mass quantities of data. With the influx of information and more rapid pace of change, leaders are successful when they keep the mission clear. A leader focused on purpose and values acts as a compass in the maze of complexity.
The leader who spins the plates successfully:
• Sees with Clarity
• Repositions at Light Speed
• Navigates a Flexible, But Focused Path
What Happens in Vegas…
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…unless someone recorded it on their camera phone…and uploaded it to their computer…and posted it on a blog for the world to see.
The proliferation of information in the knowledge economy has made leaders more visible than ever before. Leaders should not be surprised when a speech given in a closed door meeting filters through the grapevine of the company’s interoffice email system. Nor should they expect to dam up the flow of information internally or externally. In today’s world, news travels at light speed and will find its way around artificial impediments.
The downfall of companies that cooked the books (i.e. Arthur Andersen) generated a movement toward greater corporate transparency and accountability. When communicating to media, shareholders, and boards of directors, leaders are demanded to be accessible and open. In an era in which leaders are held accountable for their promises, every executive misstep will be dissected and scrutinized.
Successful leaders in the knowledge economy:
• Keep No Skeletons in the Closet
• Communicate Forthrightly
• Underpromise and Overdeliver
Collaborator-in-Chief
In the words of Marshall Goldsmith, “The role of leadership has changed from the top-down — ‘I'm going to tell you what to do approach’ — to a more asking, listening, and participating [approach].” The antiquated model of a supervisor commanding underlings has been supplanted by a relational model in which managers collaborate with teammates.
In the knowledge economy, organizational charts have flattened. Today’s employees have a knee-jerk distaste for hierarchy. They won’t respond to authority leveraged solely by position, but they will respect a leader who cares about them, is honest, and expresses gratitude for their contributions.
Leaders excel as participatory managers when they:
• Listen
• Show Appreciation
• Match Words with Actions
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A Study conducted by Andrew McNitt, Diane Petrunik, and Tom Serentis at Pennsylvania State University shows that there are generally lower numbers of total microbes present in the infill or fibers of the synthetic turf systems tested compared to natural turfgrass rootzones and Staphylococcus aureus bacterium were not found on any of the playing surfaces. For the complete study, click here.
For information on symptoms, treatment and prevention from the Mayo Clinic, click here.
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