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.
