Mark, We Hardly Knew Ye

I've already had a pile of calls and e-mails 20 minutes after it was publicly announced that Mark Woodward is gone as CEO of the GCSAA.

Here's what I know...absolutely nothing except that we all know what leaving to "pursue other career interests" means. I'm sure I'll get all the juicy details in a day or so, but this really was a surprise to me too. Mainly, because I wasn't paying any attention to them because I do not care what they do internally anymore.

There was a time when I paid a great deal of attention to the internal politics of the GCSAA. The whole PDI thing. Board members losing their positions. The saga of Steve Mona applying for other jobs. Their inability to lure several other prime candidates before the job eventually went to Woodward. Staff dissention and downsizing. It was a lot of fun for a while, but it's just gotten old.

Frankly, I've come to the conclusion that the GCSAA is largely irrelevant to the average superintendent -- and therefore to our editorial interests -- these days. Yes, they run a fine education program. Yes, the show is still an important -- if somewhat smaller -- platform for the industry. But does anything else that GCSAA does or says really mean a lot?

Where's the PR program? Where's the serious lobbying? Where's the much-vaunted effort to promote the role of the superintendent to owners? Where's the strategic research on how golf courses positively impact the environment?

I wish Mark well and I wish them well. But seriously, does this have any impact on your business?

August Issue Update

I'm currently vegging out on a beautiful Father's Day and awaiting the carnage that will be the final round of the U.S. Open on a golf course that -- thanks to Mike Davis of the USGA and superintendent Chris Dalhamer -- is so dry and windy it will kick the butts of the best players in the world. But, while I'm killing time waiting for the bloodbath to begin, here's the August GCI editorial preview that we sent out a few days ago:

Cover Story: The characteristics that make great superintendents great.

Feature: What's new in fairway mowing -- products and practices.

Feature: Painting greens -- a growing trend.

Product Focus: Turf varieties for greens renovations.

Special: The 2010 Golf Course Builders Excellence Awards -- see if your products were used by the winners.

Bigfoot Attacks GCI!

I'm sure that you've already made the GCI website your homepage and visit it hourly, but in case you haven't, click http://www.golfcourseindustry.com/ now to check out an extremely cool bit of digital marketing courtesy of our friends at Valent.

SPOILER ALERT! Don't read on if you don't want to know what happens. Last chance...

Okay, you'll notice that an animated Bigfoot jumps into the frame and "cleans" your screen for you. Pretty slick, huh? The animation programming was developed by Archer Malmo, Valent's Memphis-based agency, in cooperation with our digital geniuses here at GIE Media.

The point here is that we can help ANY client take a good idea and make it a reality. We truly are trailblazers in multimedia and digital, so let your imagination run wild and then give us a call to bring your brainstorm to life.

Coolest Cover Ever?

Okay, I've been involved with a lot of issues of a lot of magazines through the years, but this cover image might be one of the neatest I've ever seen.

It's a perfect complement to our story on how government and private industry do battle for revenue in the golf market (and, obviously, the differing views on whether it's even a good idea for munis to compete with daily fees).

Pretty slick, huh? I wake up every morning and thank my lucky stars that we have Andrea Vagas as our creative director and that she and Mike Zawacki are capable of dreaming up content & art packages like this that scream "OPEN ME UP AND READ ME RIGHT NOW!" every time an issue of GCI hits a reader's inbox.