#GCITweetup16

It’s hard to believe we’re about to hold our fifth annual TweetUp soon in San Diego. The first one began pretty inauspiciously in a windy parking lot outside the Las Vegas Convention Center in 2012. We just wanted to create a place for people with an interest in social media to gather and connect in the real world. That simple idea was more complicated than we thought.

The show organizers weren’t too thrilled with the idea of us doing it back then, so we decided to go guerilla and just hold it outside. We didn’t have any kind of sound system (or, for that matter, any clue what we were doing) so we went to a Best Buy or someplace and bought a cheap plastic bullhorn.

I liked the crazy bullhorn idea not only because it made me even louder, but because it was a little reminiscent of the scene in the movie “Dog Day Afternoon” where Al Pacino is yelling “Attica, Attica!” and stirring up trouble. I’m all about stirring up trouble every once in a while.

Since then, the TweetUp has grown and become something really special (thanks in big part to our friends at Aquatrols who sponsor it, nurture it and help to promote it on their excellent social media channels). The number of superintendents and others using Twitter and other platforms has skyrocketed. Dr. Micah Woods recently did a quick study and suggested that there are at least 23,000 turfheads on Twitter globally. More than 9,200 follow us on Twitter alone … the most of any golf/turf media. That’s pretty cool.

And the sophistication of how you’re using social media has also grown dramatically. Yes, there are many who still just lurk and listen (which is valuable in itself) and also many who just post the occasional course condition bulletin. But, for a growing number, it’s become a way to tell stories about their agronomic and non-agronomic programs, share ideas with colleagues around the world and build relationships that often turn into valuable “real-world’ friendships and connections too.

I liked the crazy bullhorn idea not only because it made me even louder, but because it was a little reminiscent of the scene in the movie ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ where Al Pacino is yelling ‘Attica, Attica!’ and stirring up trouble. I’m all about stirring up trouble every once in a while.”

We try to identify and recognize those who are using social media in effective and innovative ways through the GCI Super Social Media Awards. Now is the time to enter so please feel free to email me with your suggestions (and don’t hesitate to nominate yourself). The goal is to identify and promote best practices on social media so that others can learn from the best, just like every other aspect of our business. Get your nominations in today!

But, allow me to return to the bullhorn for a minute. It still sits on the shelf in my office. For me, it’s become a symbol of what GCI is intended to accomplish in the market. It allows voices that otherwise might not be heard to be broadcast loud and clear out to you. It continues to be part of our TweetUp logo but it’s grown to represent our whole philosophy. Without that bullhorn, you might not hear voices like Tim Moraghan, John Kaminski, Jeff Brauer, Henry Delozier, Monoe Miller, Bruce Williams, Terry Buchen, Brian Vinchesi and Paul Grayson. That would be unacceptable to me, and I hope you’d feel the same.

The bullhorn has become a symbol for GCI because it represents our role in this business: to inform, to provoke, to stimulate and to advocate. I’ll bring that old plastic megaphone along and have it at our booth at this year’s GIS in San Diego as a reminder of where we started … and where we’re going.