Ask Thad: Looking back on the Golfdom Summit

(Graphic: Golfdom Staff)

Got a question for Thad? Tweet to @TerryHillsMaint and @Golfdom or email Thad at thadthompson@terryhills.com.

What was the best thing you saw at the 2021 Golfdom Summit? 

— The Golfdom Staff, Cleveland

First off, the Golfdom Summit is intense! There is so much information packed into three days that it can seem overwhelming at first. Everyone is treated like a VIP customer and peer. Companies are very interested in who you are, where you’re from and what can they do to make your job and life easier. There were myriad fantastic products and services represented in Orlando, and I was honored to be invited to hear about all of them. I have a backpack of information that I am still referencing as I think of course projects for the upcoming season. It is a tremendous resource to be able to meet with vendors in a laid-back setting. They get to connect with you, but you also get to connect with them. Win-win.

Golfdom Publisher Craig MacGregor (left) and Digital Editor, Joey Ciccolini caught up with Thad Thompson at that evening’s BBQ dinner. (Photo: Golfdom Staff)

The Golfdom Summit is about business, but it is also about human connection and having fun. Superintendents, vendors, guest speakers and the entire Golfdom staff are all intermingled throughout the entire event. Whether it’s during individual meetings with vendors, playing in the annual scramble golf tournament or having dinner, drinks and a laid-back evening to wrap up the day, everyone does it together. The friendships and conversations that spring up along the way are spontaneous and organic. The knowledge gained and the horizons broadened while listening to everyone’s theories, methods and insights are invaluable. Then, there are the stories. To get together with a group of like-minded people is to be able to tell those stories that our normal friends just don’t get.

So, the best thing I saw at the Golfdom Summit was the camaraderie. By the end of the event, it felt as we were all one. I left Orlando with new friendships and a sense of pride in our industry that was renewed by attending.