President's Report for 2013 Annual General Meeting

Prepared by Tab Buckner

As my term of President comes to an end, this year  has been a very difficult one for our association.  Major challenges we were and are still dealing with include attracting new members, adding value to WCTA membership, putting on a worthwhile and financially viable trade show, strengthening allied partnerships and exploring new avenues of revenue generation just to name a few.

I’m happy to report your Board has made substantial progress.  Sometimes victories are small and tedious, like reviewing and updating our operations protocols and sometimes they are large and will have lasting effect like our partnership with the Sports Turf Association or our advocacy efforts to provincial MLA’s in regards to the pesticide issue.  I would like to say I’m confident we’re heading in the right direction and before going too much further, I wish to thank each Director for their efforts over the past year.  They are:

Keith Lyall, Vice President
Scott Mitchell, Past President
Brett Finlayson, Director
Peter Sorokovsky, Director and Research Committee Chair
Brett Lamontagne, Director
Jason Pick, Director
Mike Schellenberg, Director
Trevor Smith, Director
Jeff Bennett, Director
Larry Olson, Director
Brian Holl, Director  

I would like to give special thanks to both Larry Olson and Brian Holl for their time and effort on the Board but who have both decided to resign from their current directorship. Brian has agreed to continue on with the Association’s Constitutional Review Committee which also includes Director Trevor Smith.

It’s also extremely important to recognize Immediate Past President, Scott Mitchell, for his tremendous efforts over the years as his long tenure on the WCTA Board comes to an end.  From the entire Board and membership, thank you Scott!  I would also wish Keith Lyall the best of success as he prepares to take the reins of presidency for the coming year. 

Association Foundations

Membership:
Our association remains strong and is showing modest growth with 767 current members versus 748 at conference time last year.  I would like to welcome new members to the association and thank everyone who has already paid their 2013 dues.  70% of our members have done so, which is very positive and allows staff to spend time on more productive endeavours.

Communication:
The new look of the TLN has been well received since the first issue came out late in 2011.  It’s an example of one of those large victories which was spearheaded by then President, Scott Mitchell.  Our goal with the Turf Line News is to present relevant educational and information articles and reports that interest our members.  It’s also one of our important revenue generators and I would like to thank all our advertisers for their support.  I encourage all turf managers to support these suppliers as best they can.

Our new website was launched earlier this year and has also been well received especially in the last thirty days as the busy season winds down.  We’re glad to see our members using this valuable communication resource.  There are plans to make improvements to the site over time like online purchases and payments, CEC record lookup and even a member only section.

CEC Program:
There were fewer overall CEC opportunities this year but the WCTA continues to encourage seminar organizers to apply for CEC point accreditation if their seminar applies to pesticide use and IPM.  If you plan to attend a seminar that you think should be awarded points, have the organizer contact us.  With Viola retiring, there has been a lot of work for Leslie Carnell but she is now completely up to speed and is able to answer any of your CEC program questions.

Research:
2012 projects are in progress and we’ll report on those results next summer.  The 2013 call for proposals deadline was December 3rd and we received 16 submissions to consider for funding.  This year, the call was executed by the Ontario Turfgrass Research Foundation on behalf of several regional funding groups including the WCTA.   The final funding decision will take place at our February 15h Board meeting and will be announced at the AGM.

We continue to put a very high priority on turf research funding and I would like to hear your ideas on how to increase the dollar value of this program.

Allied & Advocacy:
The WCTA was represented at many allied events this year as we continue to strengthen our relationships with similar organizations.  Personally, I was able to get down to the NTA Conference in Oregon, the STA Field Day in Toronto, the BCRPA Spring Training, Sports Turf Managers Conference in Florida and two BC Superintendent Association meetings.  In Florida, STA President Paul Gillen and I met with the STMA Executive to discuss the newly formed STA/WCTA partnership and how it will benefit sportsturf managers nationally. I will be attending the Sports Turf Association Annual General Meeting held in conjunction with the Ontario Turfgrass Symposium in February as the WCTA designate to be elected as a Director on their Board. 

The STA membership deal is starting to gain traction with 20 of our members signed up.  If you have not heard of this offering, anyone residing in Alberta or BC can join the STA through us for half price.  This is obviously directed toward our sportsturf people but some of the golf course superintendents out there might find the TGIF subscription quite valuable.

We continued representing our golf members at the Allied Golf Association of BC table with Director Trevor Smith and Executive Director Jerry Rousseau as our representatives.  The AGA of BC continues to advocate for golf in this province including everything from the pesticide issue to the unfair tax treatment of golf courses. 

Conference:
The 2012 Conference and Trade Show that took place near the end of January in Victoria had its ups and downs but overall, it was considered a successful event with a slightly higher delegate attendance than the Nanaimo show in 2010.  Weather wreaked havoc on ferry and air travelers but the education program was as good as we’ve ever presented including the first ever ‘State of the Game’ symposium held on the golf track and an all new, non-turf manager program.  As always, the financial performance of the show is a major contributor to our operation for the rest of the year and we would like to thank all delegates and suppliers who participated.

We’re now getting ready for our 50th Anniversary Show and it’s important we see a good turnout from our membership to make sure it’s a success.  The conference brochure went out with the December Turf Line News and if you’ve had a chance to look through the program, you’ll soon see it’s very comprehensive with 30 hours of seminars being offered and an expanded allotment of dedicated trade show time. 

The pre-conference seminars consist of one for golf and one for sportfields both to be on Sunday, March 3, 2013 in the afternoon from 1-5pm. In the past, the pre-conference was an all-day seminar however with two coffee breaks and a lunch break, it only actually provided 5.5 hours of education time.  The new format provides 4 hours of education at a greatly reduced cost because food and beverages are not required.  But the best benefit is that in most cases, you can travel to Penticton on Sunday morning to partake in the pre-conferences thereby reducing a one night hotel charge.

I’m pleased to report the trade show has seen a lot of interest and at the time of writing, we were 95% sold out.  Twenty-six new exhibitors are signed up with several more who are very interested in participating.  What this means for delegates is many more new products and services on display at the show than ever before.

We’re also excited about the social events this year which kick off with our President’s Reception / Opening Ceremony / Awards Presentation on the Sunday evening.  The Monday afternoon Fest-of-Ale on the trade show floor is the most popular function of the conference and that will be followed by the BC Superintendents Monday Night Social and Dave Creamer Memorial Hockey Game.  All registered education program delegates receive a free ticket for Monday night so be sure to attend.

TARS
The WCTA board concluded this year that since the BCGSA was doing such a great job organizing the TARS events at their local chapters, that we would provide our executive director, Jerry Rousseau for support but at a reduced capacity and redirect some of his energy towards other events and recruitment initiatives.

So, the 2012 Travelling Annual Roadshow, our summer education delivery program traditionally targeted to the golf sector, saw a major change with two new events held in 2012 dedicated to the sportsfield sector.  The first, held at Nat Bailey Stadium in Vancouver was hosted by Tom Archibald and the second took place at Blanchard Field hosted by Ken Hilchey of the City of Victoria.  Both were informative and excellent networking opportunities for sportsfield managers while being relaxed and mildly entertaining.

The golf TARS were also highly successful with the WCTA contributing to, helping organize and attending all five events including the Vancouver Island stop at Eaglecrest Golf Club, host Brent Shanley; the Lower Mainland stop at the Redwoods Golf Course, host Peter Szarka; the Northern stop at Prince George Golf & Curling Club, hosted by Murray Kutyn, the Interior stop at Sun Peaks Resort hosted by Keith Lyall and to wrap things up, the Kootenay stop held at the Cranbrook Golf Club and hosted by Kevin Schiefner.

Administration:
Behind the scenes there is a lot that must be done to operate our association and the more experience you gain as a Director, the more you see this.  We have been working hard to improve our administrative functions over the last few years and while there is still much work to be done, the progress has been steady.  Innovation is critical and when we can do things like acquire licensed copies of Windows 8 Professional for almost no charge through a special program for not-for-profit associations, it saves us a huge amount of money but it also helps us become more efficient.

In closing, I would like all WCTA members to know there are many other irons in the fire and ideas on the table that we will continue to pursue and communicate to you.  I welcome any suggestions and constructive feedback that would make our association even stronger - my email is tbuckner@tol.ca and office phone 604.532.3504.

Regards,

Tab Buckner, WCTA President