Sports Turf Manager Association

Look for the STMA 2006 Membership Survey coming electronically to you in early April. You will receive a personalized e-mail with a link to the survey. Click on the link, and spend a few minutes providing feedback about the services and benefits you receive through your membership in STMA. Your honest feedback will help STMA direct its resources to programs that are of the most value to you.

All responses are confidential and anonymous. The software does not track nor store e-mail addresses of those who take the survey; thus, every response truly is anonymous. STMA will post the results in the members-only area of the website in May.

Thank you in advance for spending a few minutes to help us on this very important project.

STMA Wants You to be a Presenter at the Conference

Share your ideas and expertise with your peers and increase your credibility with your employer!

STMA invites you to be a part of the Education Program at the 2007 STMA Conference in San Antonio, TX. Click here to access the easy-to-fill out, on-line ‘Call for Presentations’ form. It is due back to STMA by May 2. If you need the form in a Word document for faxing or mailing, please contact STMA headquarters at ph. 800-323-3875.

Committees Gear up for 2006

The STMA Committee notification process is underway for 2006. All who volunteered to participate have been placed on a committee, and should be contacted soon by the committee chair or STMA staff. Nineteen committees and/or task forces will focus on enhancing core programs and services of the association to help advance the association’s goals. STMA appreciates the dedication of its volunteers!

Redefining Membership Categories

Much work has been completed to clearly define STMA’s membership categories.

During 2005, the Membership Committee and its subcommittees refined membership category definitions and created categories to help expand STMA membership. The STMA Bylaws Committee subsequently began work on realigning the Bylaws language with these newly defined and created categories.

At the STMA annual conference, President Mike Trigg, CSFM, gave an overview of these revisions and reported that information would be presented to the membership throughout the year in preparation for a membership vote on the Bylaws. Here are some highlights from those redefinitions:

Currently - There are 8 categories of voting membership:
Category I Professional Sports Turf Facilities Managers
Category II 4-year Colleges and Universities Sports Turf Managers
Category III Other Schools Sports Turf Facility Managers
Category IV Parks and Recreational Sports Turf Facility Managers
Category V Commercial
Category VIII Research, Teaching & Cooperative Extension Personnel
Category IX Honorary Lifetime
Category X Past President

There are 2 categories of non-voting membership:
Category Va Additional Member from Same Commercial Company
Category VI Student

Proposed – There shall be 6 categories of voting membership:
Category I Sports Turf Manager (Person with primary responsibility of employment in the management/maintenance of sports field(s)
Category II Sports Turf Manager Associate (Person with primary responsibility of employment in the management/maintenance of sports field(s) AND who is employed by the same organization, team, city, or company as a Category I member)
Category III Commercial (same as current Category V)
Category IV Academic (renamed - same as current Category VIII)
Category V Past President (same as current Category X)
Category VI Honorary Lifetime (same as current Category IX)

There shall be 3 categories of non-voting membership
Category VII Student (same as current Category VI)
Category VIII Commercial Associate (same as Category Va)
Category IX Affiliate ( NEW - includes coaches, athletic directors, administrators, owners, trainers, equipment managers, volunteers, etc) Person who is indirectly or on a part-time basis, involved in the maintenance/management of sports fields

In defining the Proposed Categories, the Membership Committee concluded that it really does not matter who your employer is – if you do the work of a sports turf manager, you should be classified as a Sports Turf Manager or a Sports Turf Manager Associate. The Associates will pay lower dues to help the budgets of those facilities that support the association with multiple members. However, for board service it is critical that there is appropriate representation from each segment of its membership. That representation has been clearly defined under Board Representation in the Bylaws and has not changed from the current make up. The Proposed Categories are also revised to list in chronological order.

Is there anyone reading this that hasn’t had some sort of ‘miscommunication’ in their daily work? It’s like the road sign I saw, "Eat here and get gas."

Today, there are seven valid Touch Points of Communication, which are seven ways we can foul up any relationship (business or personal). They are: e-mail, voice mail, regular mail, telephone, fax, face-to-face and instant messaging. Of these, three are SYNCHRONOUS, which means that the communication is instant, and four are ASYNCHRONOUS, which means that we wait for an answer.

Touch Point #1: - The Telephone and Cell Phone. Our surveys show that more than 80% of all business transactions involve a phone call at one point or another. The telephone is synchronous, meaning we’re in sync with the person we’re communicating with and we have a simultaneous, two-way exchange of information.

This doesn’t mean that you need to agree with the person; just that you are both able to communicate immediately. The best part of this touch point is the ability to hear tone of voice. The telephone is much like the radio. You hear and your imagination takes over. No sight -- just sound. The telephone is a most effective method of communication. You can get answers quickly and respond rapidly.

Touch Point #2: E-mail - This method of communication is asynchronous, meaning you communicate one at a time, and you may not get immediate communication back. With e-mail, you have relinquished the interpretation of the tone of voice to the other person, which can cause miscommunication. Many hurt feelings have come about due to insensitive writing. Practice your ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ etiquette. Short, terse, one-word answers can be perceived as ‘rude.’ E-mail is a delivery method that has the ability to ‘sit’ for hours, sometimes for days without an answer. When there are more than two e-mails on the same topic back and forth, it may be time for a face-to-face or phone meeting.

Touch Point #3: Voice Mail - Voice mail is an asynchronous means of communication, too. You can leave a voice mail for someone, and when you get an answer, if ever, it’s up to that person, not you. It’s not as instantaneous as speaking with someone directly on the phone. There are three types of voice mail that you can leave - a poor, an average, and a great one. When you leave a voice mail, make it a great one. Remember, you get to use your tone of voice. That’s a real plus. The called party can hear the laughter, the smile and the tone. Use it to your advantage. It’s a fact: messages that are received in an upbeat, positive tone are returned faster than a monotone, negative voice mail.

Touch Point #4: Letters - The U.S. Postal Service was one of the very first methods of communication, and it’s still used as a great method of communication. It is similar to e-mail because the written word can often be miscommunicated very easily. E-mail, voice mail, and the U.S. mail are very similar communication styles. All make you wait for an answer.

Touch Point #5: Fax - Add this to the list in Touch Point #4 above. You’ll wait for an answer. Remember when the fax came on the scene, and we didn’t know how we could operate without one! Today, it trails far behind the other touch points. Yet, it’s still there and being used, just not as much or as often.

Touch Point #6: Face-to-Face - This obviously needs very little explanation. When we communicate face-to-face, we have it all -- sight, sound, tone of voice, facial expressions, body language -- the entire package. It is the ultimate synchronous touch point. And yet, with all these helpful tips, somehow we still continue to miscommunicate with each other.

Touch Point #7: Messaging - This method is fairly new compared to our other channels of communication. It is synchronous, providing that the person you IM is also online at the same time. This method can also be combined with a phone call.

Bottom line: There are many ways to communicate and consequently miscommunicate in today’s world. A good rule of thumb for written communications is to ask yourself if you would want your message to appear on the front page of newspaper. In verbal communications, refrain from using the word “you,” which can be accusatory. Also be cognizant of the word, “but.” Anything you place after that word negates what you just said previously.

Nancy Friedman is President of Telephone Doctor, a customer service training company in St. Louis, MO.

Synthetic Surface standards have been addressed by the work of committee F08.65. Its recent work includes:

F1015-03 Standard Test Method for Relative Abrasiveness of Synthetic Turf Playing Surfaces

F1551-03 Standard Test Methods for Comprehensive Characterization of Synthetic Turf Playing Surfaces and Materials
See also WK935 for information on a proposed revision to this standard.

F1936-98 Standard Specification for Shock-Absorbing Properties of North American Football Field Playing Systems as Measured in the Field
See also WK4097 for information on a proposed revision to this standard.

WORK ITEMS under the jurisdiction of F08.65

WK935 Proposed Revision of F1551-03

WK4097 Proposed Revision of F1936-98

WK10311 Shock-Absorbing Properties of Multi-Sport Fields and Sports Fields other than North American Football Systems as Measured in the Field

To order any of these standards, click here.