Disney Magic

       This Sunday evening is the end of our summer family vacation. We have taken our kids to Florida and the Disneyland Parks this year for the first time. As a kid, my parents always vacationed at the New Jersey shore or the Pocono Mountains in PA. So my only experience with Disney has been through work related trips for Toro training events. 
       Well today I saw what all business' strive for, customers wanting a product at all costs....
And yes, we were 5 of them! With Tropical Storm Debby making the weather miserable, we headed off to Disney's Hollywood Studios. My wife's theory of people stay in when it rains like this was not so much on the mark. It was POURING and the park had hundreds of families with about 60% of them wearing their official Disney ponchos ($8.50 Each!!!). Being able to check wait times for things with my phone was cool but the scary part was there was even a wait time.
       Obviously Disney's product is first class and they get a premium price. They reinvest into their products and are constantly looking to evolve. But what is it that makes people feel like they need to be there during a tropical storm? So what is it that makes Disney still strong when it seems so many other extra curricular activities (Golf) are struggling? I am sure over the past couple of years, they have been below their average attendance but I will travel back home trying to understand what it is that makes that Disney Magic and does it translate to the turf business...


WJC

How Did I Get Here?

       The other day while traveling with a factory Representative, we were on the discussion of our background. I was telling him how my family was from the newspaper business and I was the only one that went a different direction. My Dad was the VP of production at the Philadelphia Inquirer & Daily News. My Grandfather and his brothers were all involved in the printing department. His response was "How did you get here?"
       Somewhat fitting with the US Open finishing today that it had a part in me getting in the golf business. My older brother was a greens mower for the 1981 US Open at Merion. So when I was looking for a new summer job, my brother suggested I call one of his friends who was an assistant. And the rest is history.
       Sometimes it is a single comment in a conversation that can cause reflection on who you are and how you have gotten to this point in your life.Though I chose a different industry than my family, I still learned a great deal from my Dad. His thirty five years at one company. His working his way up from loading trucks to being a Vice President. All great examples that hard work and loyalty are still important.
       As the end of another Father's Day comes to an end, I would like to wish all the Dad's out there and especially my Dad a Happy Father's Day! 


WJC

Bag Of Laundry With A Tie On!

       When I first started at Philly Turf, the sales force had tons of experience and I was just in my early twenties. The two senior sales reps were Barney McFadden & Bob Stokes. Barney end up working at PTC for 42 years and Bob for 30! They both were legends and I was very lucky to get to learn from them both. Barney passed away a few years ago and Bob just passed away this weekend at the age of 84.
       As word was spread around between the old PTC employees and customers, there were so many great Bob Stokes stories today. Bob's nickname was "Mother" Stokes. I always thought it was because Bob cared for his customers like a Mother would her kids. He always seemed to be picking up parts and running things around for customers. 
       But I don't think that is what I will remember Bob for....He was the king of the one liners!
I will never forget one of the first trips I took to a Toro training event, we had to be in shirt & tie.
As I walked across the court yard of the hotel, Bob was standing outside his room took one look at me and said " You look like a bag of laundry with a tie!". Obviously, a 23 year old kid might not get the importance of the ironing board in the room. I am hoping the old Milorganite book that someone was keeping with all of Bob's comments might surface at some point.
       I sent out an email to some of the customers who I thought would want to know about Bob today and I got this in response from one and I think it is right on:

"Without a doubt, Bob was one of PTC's finest. He always did his business with professionalism but added a sincere humanistic side when he visited. Quality you don't see often in today's world.
Rest in peace Robert!"     

We truly lost one of the great ones!



WJC

Recalibrate Your Process

       These past two weeks, I have had the pleasure of working with one of the people that I think is one of the smartest guys in the Turf business, Jim Nedin. Jim is a consultant with our company and has background like no one else. On the first day we were working together, I had gotten a call at 6:30AM from a Superintendent who had just put new nozzles on his sprayer and really did not like the pattern he was seeing. As we went through all the obvious reasons it might be, we did not come up with a quick answer. These had been the same ones they had used for years. Well after one phone call and a few minutes Jim had the answer....(It was the nozzles being at the bottom of their range).
      One of the best lines that I think Jim has in his sprayer calibration seminar is " You check you greens mower reels every morning, for as important as your sprayer is shouldn't you check that the same way?".
We have all heard the horror stories of an application that smoked a bunch of tees or someone who has to limp through the year with some fairways that are banged up because of a misapplication.
       What is your process? How often do you recalibrate? How often do you do a catch test? Is it in writing anywhere? Have you had your local distributor do a winter service/calibration on your sprayer?

Always a great project for that next rainy day!


WJC