IPEMA E-Newsletter – Summer 2023

Summer 2023 E-Newsletter

Message from the President

Brad Pittam, IPEMA President

The IPEMA Board of Directors met earlier this month at our headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for its annual strategic planning session. This exercise gave us the opportunity to assess, strategize, and guide our organization’s trajectory. We were able to deliberate over long-term goals, discuss adapting to changing environments, and set the course for IPEMA’s continued success.

Alignment of Vision and Mission

At the heart of every successful organization lies a well-defined vision and mission. Our Board of Directors discussed at length IPEMA’s mission statement and how it provides a roadmap that drives decision-making at all levels. We felt it necessary to recalibrate it, with the intention of empowering the organization to move forward with a clear sense of direction. Our updated mission is as follows:

The mission of IPEMA is to serve as the voice for the public playground industry, communicate with and educate members and related audiences, and provide certification programs.

Long-Term Goal Setting

Strategic planning is inherently forward-thinking. This session allowed the Board of Directors to establish realistic and achievable goals that guide IPEMA's growth and development. By engaging in candid discussions during the session, the board assessed existing strategies, identified emerging opportunities, and addressed potential challenges. This proactive approach equips IPEMA to respond effectively to member needs and wants and ensures our association’s sustained relevance and competitiveness.

Adaptation to Changing Environments

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, adaptability is a prerequisite for success. The annual strategic planning session provided the Board of Directors with the necessary tools to anticipate, respond to, and capitalize on changes within and outside the organization. By encouraging an open exchange of ideas and insights, the session enabled the board to incorporate diverse perspectives into its decision-making, fostering a culture of agility and innovation.

Collaboration is the Key to Success

I really appreciate the collaborative nature of the strategic planning session. It is always a great opportunity to harness the collective expertise and insights of our board and staff.

Our strategic planning session is not merely an administrative formality; it is the lifeblood of organizational success. It empowers the board to steer IPEMA toward the future with confidence.

However, I want to point out that working together for the success of us all and for the benefit of our industry doesn’t only happen in the boardroom. IPEMA offers many opportunities for our members to get involved! Volunteer to serve on a committee, write an article or share your company’s news in our newsletter, or consider joining a task force. Please let our Executive Director Denise Calabrese, CAE or me know if you are interested in getting involved. I can say from personal experience that you’ll get more out of it than you’ll give.

Board Meeting 2023

The IPEMA Board of Directors met earlier this month at our headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for its annual strategic planning session.

Upcoming Webinar

Wired for Play! A 2023 IPEMA Educational Webinar (1 CEU)

Wednesday, September 27, 2023, at 1 p.m. Eastern

Presented by Dr. Stuart Brown, NIFP, and Tom Norquist, PlayCore

Join us for the first webinar in a series that will focus on the benefits of play and how your company and your job is reaching children and their families worldwide and making their lives better.

This series is offered as part of our support of the National Institute for Play (NIFP).

Research has shown that play brings benefits to the physical, social, cognitive and emotional wellbeing of those who experience play. Each of our next four webinars will focus on these benefits and will help you understand why the work you do is so important and valuable.

This webinar series is ONLY available to members of IPEMA and their employees. No need to register! Zoom access information will be sent to your inbox the day before the event. Attendees will earn one CEU.

Pictured Left to Right:

Row 1: Director Scott Liebelt, President Brad Pittam

Row 2: President-Elect Mike Sutton, Director Bill Stafford, IPEMA Legal Counsel Milton Chappell

Row 3: Director Tom Fitzpatrick, Immediate Past President Lloyd Reese, Director Rob Lockhart

Not pictured are Board members who joined the meeting by Zoom: Treasurer Randy Watermiller, Certification Chair - Equipment Mark Koch, and Certification Chair - Surfacing Mike Sebastian.

Dr. Stuart Brown, NIFP Tom Norquist

Member Profile

Andris Zobs ID Sculpture

Q: How long have you worked in the industry, and what drew you to it?

A: I have worked in the industry for ten years. As an architect with a background in digital fabrication and a new parent, I saw an opportunity to be creative and craft the experiences I wanted my own son to have.

Q: Tell us about your business, customers, etc., and what you do in your current position.

A: ID Sculpture designs and manufactures sculptural playground equipment and public art projects. We specialize in climbing boulders and thematic installations. While many of our projects are custom, our catalog has grown to the degree that it offers landscape architects and designers the ability to achieve a bespoke look and feel with a standard kit of parts. I am a principal owner and Chief Operating Officer.

Q: What’s been a key to your success in this industry over the years?

A: It is recognizing that every project is local and really listening to the vision and aspirations of the many stakeholders responsible for new playground construction.

Q: What is a project that you’ve done that you’re especially proud of, and why?

A: Cook Park Atlanta. This project, funded by the Trust for Public Land (TPL) and The North Face, was created to bring opportunities to climb to underserved communities. The Vine City neighborhood of Atlanta was decimated by a flood, and TPL took the lead in revitalizing this area. To achieve the project, I led a design workshop with local kids and climbed with them. Not only did they experience moments of personal growth, but they also left their imprint on the final built design.

Q: Have you faced any industry-related challenges lately, and what have you done to overcome them?

A: The pandemic was certainly a challenge that we are still recovering from; however, the most pervasive issue is labor cost escalation driven by an overheated housing market.

Q: How long have you been a member of IPEMA, and what are the biggest benefits of membership?

A: I’ve been a member of IPEMA for eight years. The IPEMA product certification program is an excellent learning opportunity and an important step for smaller manufacturers to establish credibility.

Articles Wanted for IPEMA e-newsletter

IPEMA is always looking for articles for this newsletter to keep its content relevant for our members. Articles should range from 200 to 500 words, and photos are welcome. Articles can be about a unique project you’ve been involved with, your company’s community involvement, an industry hot topic, an honor or award—really, anything you think your fellow IPEMA members would want to read about.

Email articles to IPEMAnewsletter@gmail.com

Committee Updates

What’s New with IPEMA?

Summer is here, and so are the efforts of the IPEMA Marketing Committee. As always, we’ve been promoting the benefits of certification, IPEMA membership and play through our social media channels – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Be on the lookout for the upcoming promotion and coverage in Landscape Architect in their August Q&A issue.

IPEMA has started its very own industry blog geared towards industry professionals. Published quarterly, the blog will be posted on IPEMA’s website, with articles shared on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

The Latest from Our Voice of Play Blog

3 Benefits of Play Therapy

May 25, 2023

The benefits of play for children and adults alike are welldocumented. Play is an essential tool in the toolbox for children’s growing minds, bodies, and social skills. What’s often overlooked, though, is the use of play as a therapeutic tool. Read up on our most recent blog post for three benefits of play therapy.

Screen-Time Obsession: 3 Tips to Support Social Media Boundaries

April 11, 2023

The social media world, even for adults and especially for children, can be challenging to navigate. It is ever-changing and evolving. Kids need to head outside and spend less time in front of their screens, and as parents, it’s crucial to implement some rules to help strike that balance. Read up on our recent blog post for tips on setting social media boundaries and encouraging play HERE

IPEMA and Voice of Play: In the News

Recreation Management

Proactive Problem Prevention

IPEMA President Brad Pittam shared his knowledge of the play and playground industries. He discussed the importance of balancing safety and risk in constructing playgrounds and how they can contribute significantly to childhood development. In his own words, “From teaching problem-solving to understanding how to self-assess risks, learning to take risks is an important part of development, and play at playgrounds can play a big role in that.” Read more from his expertise and perspective in this recent article for Recreation Management.

Playground Professionals

3 Overlooked Benefits to Building a Playground in Your Community

A recent interview with Playground Professionals featured IPEMA President Brad Pittam, who discussed the numerous benefits of building playgrounds in local communities. He emphasized that playgrounds are beneficial for children's health and social development and provide families with an outdoor space where they can bond, learn, and grow together. Additionally, these areas can contribute to the growth and wellness of neighborhoods by boosting property values and fostering a sense of community. Be sure to read more in this recent article for Playground Professionals.

Recreation Management Catch the Imagination

IPEMA’s President, Brad Pittam, was featured in Recreation Management regarding the importance of imaginative, themed playgrounds in communities. Themed playgrounds are taking off, which can aid in social confidence for children – they can come together, use their imaginations as a group, and work together as a team. Be sure to check out the article for more insight from Brad on themed playgrounds in Recreation Management.

Photo from Unsplash

Let’s Get Social

We’re always in the process of collecting quality photographs for Instagram and relevant business/industry content for LinkedIn to populate our pages, and we’d love your help. As always, reach out to Red Havas with anything you’d like to see featured.

Thank you in advance!

While you’re at it, be sure to follow and engage with all our current social channels! Have news to share or want to showcase a great playground? Tag us so we can repost:

Instagram: @voiceofplay

Facebook: facebook.com/voiceofplay

Facebook Group: Voice of Play: Play Tribe

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/ipema/

We Want to Promote You!

Share Your Story!

We want to hear what you’re doing – let’s collaborate!

We’re always looking for amazing content from the IPEMA membership to share, whether it’s for a blog or social post, or pitching media. Share news, photos, and updates with Red Havas by emailing katherine.kostiuk@redhavas.com.

Marketing & PR Committee

We’re looking for new members to serve on the Marketing & PR Committee, which is responsible for oversight of the IPEMA newsletter, media relations, website, social media and any other communication vehicles utilized to promote the association, its programs and membership.

The committee also oversees the Voice of Play initiative and works closely with the organization’s PR agency. Members of the committee are asked to participate in quarterly committee calls, and to periodically assist with input and review of articles, interviews and releases with industry media. If you have interest in applying, download the form here

What Emotional Connection Is and What It’s Not

by Jeff Tippett

Scott Edinger, founder of Edinger Consulting Group, said this about emotional connections:

“The ability to make an emotional connection is so often misunderstood because it’s not about being emotional or showing emotion. It’s about making a human connection –one person to another.”

We tend to think of emotional connections purely in the sense of familial or romantic relationships. But it’s important for a leader, in any setting, to be able to connect on a real, emotional level with those around them. For some people, connections come naturally; it’s at the core of who they are. But don’t fret if that doesn’t sound like you or your style. Like most of the traits we discuss, it can be learned.

Connecting with people is the very essence of effective leadership. It won’t be memos or emails that you send, or texts and phone calls about important projects. It’s the way you interact with people on a personal level that remains far after any of the ephemeral communications fade away.

Maya Angelou put it well: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

That’s every bit as true in the business world as it is in the political realm. Save for a few famous ones that stand the test of time, a speech given by a politician will be forgotten

soon after it’s delivered. But the emotional connection conveyed – that endures.

The same is true in your own leadership role, no matter the level. Your team members won’t remember much of what you said in yesterday’s meeting, but you can be certain they’ll remember how you said it. If you establish yourself as trustworthy, and really get to know those around you, it’s going to make a huge difference in the way your operation runs.

This connection isn’t just important in terms of how you interact with people within your business or organization. Gallup conducted research to determine how consumers engage with businesses based on their emotional connection. The data is unsurprising: Those who were both extremely satisfied and emotionally connected to their grocery store were far likelier to spend more and spend often at the establishment. It isn’t enough to give people a satisfactory experience; they also need to feel a connection.

This is particularly true today, in a world consumed by electronics, social media and technology in general. These tools make getting your message to people far easier, but they also eliminate a level of human, emotional connection. With automation and artificial intelligence being introduced into new sectors, it’s important to focus on maintaining that emotional connection with those around you.

Edinger cites the importance of emotional connections as you climb the ranks of your business or organization:

“Leadership has everything to do with how you relate to others and the quality and texture of those relationships. The higher up you go in an organization, the less important your technical skills become and the more your interpersonal skills matter.”

It’s important for everyone, no matter how new or inexperienced, to feel a connection in the workplace. When you move into a management position, your role shifts. You must learn how to deal with people in their context, and an emotional connection with them makes that possible.

One study found that nearly 90 percent of organizations claim that engagement is a top priority, yet only 15 percent of employees say they actually feel engaged. This must mean that people claim to support emotional connections but fail to put that into practice. Redouble your efforts, and you’ll see your workplace succeed.

About the Author: Jeff Tippett

Jeff Tippett is the international best-selling author of two books, Pixels Are the New Ink and Unleashing Your Superpower: Why Persuasive Communication is the Only Force You Will Ever Need.

Speaking to international audiences through keynotes and seminars, Jeff helps attendees increase their effectiveness, gives them powerful tools to reach their goals, and empowers attendees to positively impact and grow their organizations or businesses.

Welcome, New Members!

Action Attractions

Brighton, Colo.

Arbor Images Complete Tree & Shrub Care, Inc.

Burlington, Wis.

Bella Color, LLC

Bluffton, S.C.

Chino Valley Lumber

Chino Valley, Ariz.

Creative Play Solutions

Cullman, Ala.

Infinity Rubber Products

Springdale, Ark.

Missouri Organic Recycling, Inc.

Kansas City, Mo.

Rock Pros Landscape Supply

Lincoln, Calif.

Sawtooth Materials, Inc.

Social Media Icons

In 2014, Jeff founded Targeted Persuasion, an award-winning public affairs + communications firm. He has worked with renowned brands like Airbnb, The National Restaurant Association, The League of Women Voters, The League of Conservation Voters, plus others. Other industry experts have validated Jeff’s work with numerous awards including the prestigious The American Advertising Award.

Metro Style

Nampa, Idaho

Southern Carolina, LLC

Orangeburg, S.C.

Social Media Icons

Social Media Icons

Jeff is the host of Victory by Association with Jeff Tippett, a podcast that shares the victories of association executives with the world, highlighting the great work done across this country every day.

The Organic Recycler

Forest Hill, Texas

Metro Style

Metro Style

Jefftippett.com

VictoryByAssociation.com

IPEMA E-Newsletter - Summer 2023

Board of Directors

President

Brad Pittam

KOMPAN

605 W. Howard Lane

Austin, TX 78753

P: (312) 399 -1910

brapit@kompan.com

President-Elect

Mike Sutton

PlayPower

1145 Slippery Rock Road

Grove City, PA 16127

P: (724) 992- 8707

Mike.sutton@playpower.com

Treasurer

Randy Watermiller

Landscape Structures, Inc.

601 Seventh Street South PO Box 198

Delano, MN 55328

P: (763) 972-3391

RandyWatermiller@playlsi.com

Immediate Past President

Lloyd Reese

Play & Park Structures

544 Chestnut Street Chattanooga, TN 37402

P: (423) 356 -1871

lloyd.reese@playcore.com

IPEMA Legal Counsel

Milton Chappell

10321 Royal Road Silver Spring, MD 20903

P: (703) 770 -3329

mlc@nrtw.org

Director – Member-at-Large

Tom Fitzpatrick

Landscape Structures, Inc.

601 Seventh Street South PO Box 198

Delano, MN 55328

P: (763) 972-5277

TomFitzpatrick@playlsi.com

Director – Member-at-Large

Scott Liebelt

BCI Burke Co., LLC

660 Van Dyne Road Fond Du Lac, WI 54936

P: (920) 921-9220 sliebelt@bciburke.com

Director – Member-at-large

Rob Lockhart

Dynamo Playgrounds

661 County Road 9 Plantagenet, ON K0B1L0

P: (613) 446 - 0030 rob@dynamoplaygrounds.com

Director – Member-at-large

Bill Stafford

Flexground

2140 East Cedar Street Tempe, AZ 85281

P: (602) 954 - 0000 bill@flexground.com

Certification Chair – Equipment

Mark Koch

Blue Imp Recreational Products

766 14th Street SW Medicine Hat, AB, T1A 4V7 CANADA

P: (780) 451- 4182 F: (403) 529 - 0851 mark@blueimp.com

Certification Chair – Surfacing

Mike Sebastian

IMC Outdoor Living

2280 Schuetz Road, Suite 201 St. Louis, MO 63146

P: (866) 936 - 8524 mike.sebastian@imcoutdoorliving.com

Core Values of IPEMA: Uphold consistency of compliance

Demonstrate professionalism and integrity

www.ipema.org

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.– 5 p.m. Eastern Time

Executive Director: Denise Calabrese, CAE info@ipema.org

Director of Communications

Michelle Keyser communications@ipema.org

IPEMA’s staff wants you to get the most out of your experience with IPEMA. We are available to serve you, so please do not hesitate to contact staff with any question or concern that you may have. For a full staff listing, please click here