ASSOCIATION UPDATE
What’s New? Thanks for asking, quite a bit actually. In the fall of 2016 the MiGCSA Board of Directors approved a total overhaul of the chapter website at www.migcsa.org. This was a needed change to be more mobile and member friendly. After much research and discussion, the relationship with our longtime website service provider Gaslight Media in Petoskey was renewed and a budget of $18,000 was approved. Work began with the formation of the Website ad hock committee lead by Chairman Jesse Shaver from Gull Lake Country Club and Western District MiGCSA Board Member. Joining Jesse on the committee was fellow MiGCSA Board Member Jeff Hopkins from Muskegon Country Club, Past MiGCSA President Steve Hammon, Traverse City C.C., Country Club of Detroit Superintendent Ross Miller, Eric Davey from Prestwick Village and Adam Garr from Gold Industry Partner Sygenta. Thank you for all of your work on this important investment in the MiGCSA and our members. A few of the new and improved features are mainly housed in the members only area. Once you are logged in there is a complex invoicing system and the ability to save your credit card to your account. This will make membership renewal and event registration a breeze with just a few click of a button on your phone or computer. We also now have a much easier auction interface for the items and services donated each month by our Industry Partners. Make sure you also check out our new online store and the multitude of MiGCSA logo products that can be purchased easily online and delivered to your door. Of course, with any new website there are some bumps in the road and a few bugs in the system that we will be finding and correcting as we get into the daily use by
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Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association
you the members. Please let me know at info@ migcsa.org if you find some areas that are outdated or not working correctly. This is the main hub of activity for management of the chapter and for membership interaction and a significant investment of chapter resources, and another example of how important the support of our Industry Partners is from our members. Please remember to support the companies that support you and thank them for helping us fund this state of the art website. One other new thing you may notice on the website and in other areas is a new official chapter logo. The GCSAA is trying to bring some more cohesive branding and marketing of Golf Course Superintendents and to help promote the profession. Part of this is their hope to help strengthen the brand recognition of their logo. One thing I often talk about is the us and them concept with GCSAA. The MiGCSA is an Affiliated Chapter of the GCSAA, we are not an independent separate group, we are a part of the GCSAA. This is a very good thing as anyone who has visited HQ can attest they are the best resource in the world for Superintendents. Check out page 52 and 53 for our Rob Steger, CGCS our Secretary/Treasurer’s take on this to maybe better understand what is going on in Lawrence. The hope from GCSAA is for all chapters to eventually incorporate their logo into the chapter logos to form that more cohesive brand and message. The board approved a very similar logo to the one many other chapters are now using while still incorporating our very popular mitten logo which is the one we use on all of our marketing material and products. As always please let us know if there is something you need or have seen in other areas that we can do to further our mission to provide value to our members through programs and services that enhance and promote our profession and have a great summer.
Adam Ikamas, CGCS MiGCSA Executive Director
| www.migcsa.org