Over the past two weeks we have been on the road at trade shows throughout the country, last week supporting NYSTA in Rochester, and this week the Carolinas GCSA in Myrtle Beach. These events are great for superintendents to further their education and network, plus see the latest technology for the industry.

As an example, last week in Rochester we ran into a couple of former superintendents, Greg Moore and Paul Boyd, that have partnered to offer the Air2G2 service to a 15-state territory. The Air2G2 machine is available everywhere and offers the ability to get all of the results of a deep tine aeration, but can be performed at any time of the year with no disruption to play. They have some fairly robust data already from clients showing significant improvement in percolation rates and root growth. Interesting technology for sure, and it was great to see former superintendents serving the industry well as Saturated Solutions LLC. www.saturatedsolutionsllc.com.

This is just one of many examples of great value in attending these events and supporting your regional associations. But as Peter correctly calls this the new golf economy, it has reduced many budgets, and continuing education and travel for it have been hit very hard. Luckily for those that cant attend events like GIS, the team at Turfnet covers it very well and gives you a chance to see the latest from the comfort of your office or home. Plus the forum gives you the chance to stay connected and network with peers to make up for the lost networking at the regional shows.

MAINTENANCE BLOG PROTOCOL REMINDER
For those that are in attendance at the regional events, we have been getting repeated questioning about a topic I covered in the first week of this blog content for maintenance blogs. I have also had a few of our career materials clients inquiring lately as well. Most asking had not read my posting on the matter, so I thought it would be a good idea to include that specific content again here as a reminder of what to do, and not do, on the blogs now that many of you are writing more this time of year.  So here is a recap of some solid advice on maintenance blog protocol excerpted from the original post, which covered more than these blogs.

The value of good and proper communication for superintendents cannot be underestimated. Arguably more valuable than Twitter, the maintenance blog is an excellent way to alert golfers to the goings-on at your club.

However, the most-asked question we receive regarding blogs is whether it should be included on materials such as resumes, websites, and/or portfolios. The answer -- it depends. Every club and superintendent is unique, so what you include on your blog and how its implemented vary greatly.

 If your club hosts your blog privately, where only members can view it while logged in to the website, then you have no issues and can freely go about your business. When it comes time to use the blog as part of your career materials for another position, you can pick and choose good posts to include in your portfolio to showcase your communications skills.

But if you use one of the free sites such as Blogger, this is where you have to be careful. Anyone on the internet can easily find your blog and discover that you, for example, had a problem year with your greens last year. Even if you did a great job communicating why an issue arose and fixed it promptly, a future employer doesn't want to see your past blemishes. They want to be impressed that their guy is the best and doesn't have issues, however unrealistic this vision may be.

One solution to securing blog content is to ask your club to host your blog on their private server, where only members can view it behind a secure login. If that is not possible, try to keep posts on your public blog to informative, boilerplate materials that help you communicate important tools you use in the agronomic program.

If and when an issue arises on the course, never post it on a public blog. Use an email blast or newsletter to the membership to cover the problem and how it is being corrected. This serves a dual purpose you protect your career but you also ensure a larger percentage of your club membership will view your timely communication on the issue before it gets out of hand.