Education for Uncertain Times

Fall has arrived in Arkansas! The crisp mornings and cooler days are always a welcome relief from summer. Even in this crazy year, football is providing a welcome distraction and the Razorbacks are giving us some hope with their recent wins (and year two of that natural grass playing surface sure looks nice on television).

I know that the string of event cancellations this year has been disappointing and we will all miss being together in Hot Springs in January. However, when the Board considered the status of the annual conference earlier this year, it was apparent to all of us that an inperson event was simply not practical. We could not risk exposing attendees to illness and penalties with the convention center and hotels would have been financially devastating to our organization if we had moved forward with an in-person event and had to cancel at the last minute or had low attendance.

The exciting upside is that a virtual event will allow us to have a greater variety of speakers than we have had in previous years. We will learn from a variety of turfgrass and extension experts from around the country, as well as from our local U of A faculty and graduate students. Talks will be geared towards our usual tracks of golf, sports turf, and lawncare and will provide credits for pesticide recertification for the state of Arkansas and professional development points for GCSAA. We will also be presenting our annual awards for Field of the Year, Golf Course of the Year, and Turf Site of the Year.

We hope that the low registration price of $90 per person, coupled with the lack of travel costs, will allow more attendees than ever before to experience our outstanding education opportunities. Classes will be scheduled throughout the week of January 25–29 and will be recorded for those who wish to watch later. The recordings will be available through February 5.

Your association needs your continued support! Education is one sure way to improve your business and make yourself a more valuable employee. Also, we recognize that many of our members are experiencing financial challenges with reduced budgets this year and we have asked our presenters to include information in their talks about cost savings and low-cost options during this time.

I am looking forward to learning with you all in January and especially looking forward to our 2022 Annual Conference when we can all celebrate together again!

Richard Covert

ATA President