DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A town best known for rowdy spring
breakers and race cars tempoararily became sports turf managers central, as
turf pros from around the country flocked to the annual STMA show.
As the Sports Turf Managers Association’s 24th
Annual Conference and Exhibition in Daytona Beach, Fla., wrapped up, the news
seemed to be good. Attendee numbers appeared to be up, action on the trade show
floor was good and both attendees and exhibitors seemed to be happy.
“It’s been excellent, we’ve had more pre-registrants this
year than we’ve had any other year,” Kim Heck, CEO of the STMA, said. “The
numbers aren’t final yet, but we expect this year’s attendance to be larger
than last year’s.”
Zach Holm, head groundskeeper for the York (Pa.) Revolution,
was attending his sixth STMA conference and said the show was going in the
right direction.
“It seems like there’s a few more (people), but not terribly
bigger, but bigger than my first year when it was in Phoenix. And there seems
to be more and more students,” Holm said.
Chris Vernon, vice president of marketing and product
management for Jacobsen, was thrilled with the crowd they saw on Thursday, the
first day of the show. Jacobsen was unveiling their new 5-gang fairway mower,
the LF510 (pictured), and that event “brought a lot of people” to the Jacobsen booth,
Vernon said.
“I think last year wasn’t quite as good,” Vernon told Athletic Turf News. “I think last year’s
show wasn’t as attended, so I think they’re recovering and getting more
attendees.”
Peter Moeller, director of marketing, The Toro Co., also
noticed an uptick in people as well as in overall optimism. Toro was showing
off their new Tier 4-compliant engine, as well as new rotors on the irrigation
side.
“I’ve felt a renewed buying interest from the customers who
are here,” Moeller said. “I’ve talked to many in the municipal sector who have
seen their buying budgets come back a little bit. In general I feel like
there’s some optimism. It feels like attendance is up, and a better mood than
in some of the recessionary times.”
Will Wolverton, general manager, North America for
Wiedenmann, said his booth had a huge influx of people when the show’s doors
first opened. He was crediting some of his success to the fact that one of his
products was discussed at a seminar that day.
“We got two new products for synthetic turf. The Terra Clean
100 is a pull-behind, it sweeps debris up, seperates the rubber crumb and
collects the debris and puts the rubber crumb back on the ground,” Wolverton
said. “It was mentioned during one of the seminars.
“The STMA is a really good organization, they’ve always been
fair to the vendors,” Wolverton concluded.
Tracey Hawkins, market development manager, sports, for
Profile Products, believed that the STMA show was doing the right thing by
adding more educational opportunities to the agenda.
“They’re really pushing the new educational speakers they’re
having,” she said. “I think (the STMA is) learning from the GCSAA and local
chapters that education is important, and it’s been well received.”
Blair Elliot, who works for the City of Aspen, Colorado’s
Parks and Recreation department, serves on the STMA’s environmental committee,
and says education is definitely the biggest draw to the STMA conference.
“Some of the speakers and classes I attended were excellent.
They always are,” Elliot said. ”But it’s also important to see what the vendors
have in store for us.”
For Elliot, he was most intrigued by Netherlands-based
company Campey and their verticutters. This was Elliot’s 15th time
to attend the STMA conference.
“They get a lot of people, from NFL and Major League parks
to local ball fields, they get everyone here,” Elliot said. “Is it growing? No,
I don’t think so, but I think it is stable. I would say that this year’s show
is bigger than last years.”
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